©2006 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship

06-18-06

Feeding The Hunger, Healing The Soul Pt. 3

6/18/06 Feeding The Hunger Pt. 3

Given several of the responses I received

from some of the things we looked at last week

I think maybe I was more successful than I at first realized

in accomplishing what hoped to accomplish.

Several of you were frustrated enough with what you heard me say

to talk with me about it

and to let me know that you had some problems with it.

And I am so very glad you did.

And to get us back into our study this morning

I want to spend a little time

with at least one of those sticky points that troubled some of you,

offering a little more explanation

about why I said what I said.

It concerns the comments I made

about submission - our submission to God.

Part way through our time together last week

I said that, when it comes to our relationship with God,

we need to know it’s not about power,

it’s about love - His love for us.

He’s not after our submission,

He’s after our heart,

our trust in Him.

And then toward the end of our time together I said that

this whole creation thing from the very beginning

is all about relationships.

That is why God created us.

That’s why we exist.

That is the central issue,

the central theme of all of existence.

It’s not about control,

or submission,

or obedience,

or even worship,

it’s about love - our discovering His love for us,

and then our responding to that love by loving Him in return.

If it was simply about worship and submission

God would have stopped creation just before He created us.

Even now,

even with all of the corruption brought into the physical creation

as a result of our sin,

still, even now, the entire physical creation

simply screams praise and worship to the Creator

for His wonder and creative genius.

Paul says it better in Romans 1.

ROM 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

That’s Paul’s way of saying to the human race,

“Open your eyes, you fools, and stop playing intellectual games with God.

Every aspect of the physical creation

simply blasts the reality of the Creator.

And even now it operates under His jurisdiction

and submits to His control.”

If it was all about submission and obedience,

God could have ceased His creative works

just before He created Adam,

and the entire creation would have perfectly glorified Him

and submitted to His will,

and testified to His true nature.

But that wasn’t what He wanted.

That wasn’t what it was all about.

It wasn’t about submission,

it was about love -

His bringing into existence

creatures with whom He could both give and receive real love.

Now, certainly there is a place for the right kind of submission

between us and our Creator,

but it is not the goal,

it is simply a byproduct of our entering into His love.

But when some of you heard me say

that God’s focus in His relationship with us is not on our submission to Him,

it made you suddenly wonder if possibly you’d somehow gotten hooked up

with one of those weird cult groups you’re always being warned about,

and maybe the most godly thing you could do

is to run like the wind.

Now, before I offer some added words of explanation,

let me say first of all

that I said what I said last week

not because I wanted to cause turmoil in you

but because I wanted to be sure that I had your attention,

and sometimes getting your attention requires a little intellectual jolt.

During the past two weeks

we have talked extensively

about the difference between life with God on the basis of the Old Covenant

and life with God on the basis of the New Covenant in Christ.

But all of us have been so deeply exposed to the law-based religious world around us

that breaking free from some of the most destructive lies

that are imbedded in that religious world

is rarely easy.

From our earliest entrance into the world of religion,

which for some of us began in early childhood,

we are given the message that the goal God seeks in our lives

and the goal we are to aim for ourselves

is submission and obedience to the laws of God,

and that if we obey and submit

God will pour out His blessing on us,

and if we fail to obey and submit

we can expect His judgement, His wrath, and His condemnation.

And because that message is so deeply ingrained in all that happens in the religious world,

even when we hear the offer of salvation through Jesus Christ

what we really hear is that through Christ

God offers us a second chance to try again -

that He wipes our slate clean of past offenses,

but the fundamental rules of life with God

have not changed.

And then we wonder why so many Christians

survive within the church world

by becoming highly skilled at creating an acceptable external facade,

while living out their entire lives

with this huge emotional distance between themselves and their Lord.

The problem, you see,

is that there is no law-based, performance-based relationship with God

that has ever been able to lead the human spirit

into true righteousness or joy in the presence of God.

We may grudgingly respect the Law-Giver in our life,

we may even choose to submit to His demands,

but we will never love Him,

our spirits will never reach out to Him,

and we will certainly never find ourselves seeking His presence

with our hearts overflowing with praise and thankfulness and gratitude.

I like the way Paul said it to the Galatians.

GAL 3:21-22 “... if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

You see, it’s not that submission or obedience to God are not important.

It’s that there are two radically different approaches we can take

to establishing a truly submissive walk with God,

and one of them works

and the other does not.

The one that works,

the only one that works

is the one in which submission is not the goal,

it is the byproduct of our discovering and then immersing ourselves in the love of our God for us.

The one that does not work,

but the one that forms the core foundation of nearly all religious systems

is the one that seeks to target submission to God as the goal,

and then tries to bring about that submission

through bringing external motivations such as fear of condemnation,

or guilt feelings for past failures,

or ego or competition motivations between people,

or promised rewards for acceptable performance.

Now, I know I’m making this more complicated than it needs to be,

so let me offer you what I’m trying to say

through what I consider to be the most brilliant and powerful parable

ever given to us by our Lord.

It is one I refer to often

because it is a parable in which these two approaches to submission and obedience

are illustrated with incredible power and clarity.

It’s the parable of the prodigal son.

Typically we use this parable

as a powerful illustration

of the redemptive heart of God,

and of the way in which He eagerly waits for our return to Him

and wholeheartedly restores us to Himself

when we reach out to Him for forgiveness.

But there is a second theme woven into this remarkable story,

one that grows out of the contrast between the two brothers.

For, in the most remarkable way,

the Lord used this contrast

to illustrate the difference between the obedience and submission to God produced by the law

and the obedience and submission produced by our discovery of

and response to His love for us.

And I think, given the importance of this contrast,

it’s worth my taking the time to read the parable for us.

LUK 15:11-30 And He said, "A certain man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father,' Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' And he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need. And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men. "' And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' And they began to be merry. Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things might be. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he became angry, and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began entreating him. But he answered and said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I have been serving you, and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a kid, that I might be merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him.'

Now, it is impossible to miss the power

of what is being said about this second son

when we realize that Christ was seeking to give us a mental image

of what is taking place between us and God Himself

when we cry out to Him for forgiveness.

To me

the most powerful phrase in the whole story

is that single sentence that says,

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him.”

If ever we had a clear view into the heart of God for us,

it’s in that sentence.

There is only one reason why that father

could have seen that boy

while he was still a long way off.

It’s because he was ever watching, waiting, hoping for the boy’s return.

And it doesn’t stop there.

This father knows where his son has been,

he knows all the junk his son has been immersed in,

he knows what his son has been doing with his life.

And yet look at his response.

Where is the justified condemnation?

Where is the righteous indignation?

Where are the words of condemnation this boy deserves on the basis of his actions?

And yet, not only are the words not there,

but it gets still better,

because we are allowed to see right into the very heart of the father.

And look at what we see.

And the father felt compassion for the boy.

He knew the helplessness,

and the shame,

and the sense of failure in the boy,

and he felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him.

Ever been there?

I have,

and when I was and then realized

that what I was feeling

was the same thing my God felt for me

it transformed my understanding of my Creator forever.

But there is something else going on in this account as well,

something carefully designed by Christ

to communicate to us

the difference between the obedience generated by religious duty

and the obedience that flows out of a love response to the Father.

At the beginning of this parable

we have two boys,

one of them serving the father and obedient to his every command,

and the other rebellious in spirit

and unwilling to follow what the father says.

At the end of this parable

we have two boys whose external actions

are both in line with what the father wants.

But one of them is filled with rage,

and resentment,

and bitterness at a father who cheated him,

a father who demanded everything and gave nothing in return,

and the other is filled with a heart of gratitude,

and thankfulness,

and a love for the father

that became the driving motivation of his life.

And with those two boys

Christ is illustrating for us

the difference between a life driven by the law and a sense of religious duty

and a life lived in response to the discovery of the Father’s love for us.

So here’s the way this whole thing plays out

in our relationship with God here and now.

Satan will seek to pull us into an approach to God

through one of the countless religious systems around us,

an approach based upon our obedience to Him.

The religious system will clearly define for us

what God requires from us.

It will define “service to God” for us,

and most of those definitions are carefully designed

to help perpetuate the religious system offering us the definition.

There will be a list of religious duties

aimed at pleasing God,

and then a list of “service” duties

aimed at fueling the religious organization.

And the clear message offered to us

is one that assures us that, if we adequately fulfill those duties

then we will earn God’s blessing

and be acceptable to Him

and accepted by Him.

But the clear target in all of this,

the goal we are seeking to achieve

is the goal of submission and obedience

in exchange for acceptance and approval.

And if we seek to approach God on this basis

one of two results will take place.

If we succeed,

if we successfully achieve the level of performance

that we feel God is requiring from us,

we may find some mental level of peace with God based on our performance,

but we will have no personal awareness of the depth of His love for us.

And when pain enters our life,

when something happens that causes us to hurt,

it will bring about within us

that same response within us

that we saw in the elder brother.

For so many years I have been serving you, and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you...

I paid my dues,

I did my part,

and yet look at what you’ve done.

Or, if we are able to maintain the performance level,

and no huge tragedies enter our lives,

we will live with a subtle, but oh so ugly arrogance and pride.

Rather than reaching out to a hurting and confused and pain-filled world,

we will look on their lives with disgust,

telling ourselves that it’s only right for them to reap what they’ve sown.

We will walk through life caring our high standard of measure,

holding it up to all we meet,

and find them weak and contemptible.

And no one will ever find healing through us.

Or, if we aim at acceptance through obedience to the system,

and then fall short,

if we fail,

if we discover we simply cannot pull it off,

it will create within us

a sense of shame and guilt that will drive us away from our God.

Those are the options available to us through religion.

But that is not what God offers us through Christ,

and it isn’t the path He seeks to bring us down

as He calls us to Himself.

You see, He doesn’t begin by calling us to submission,

He begins by calling us

to the discovery of His love.

It’s never an easy discovery

because the first step

is the same for us

as it was for the prodigal son.

And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses...

But when He came to his senses...

The first step in our discovery of the love of our God

is His giving us eyes to see ourselves honestly.

For the prodigal son

it meant he had to see what his choices had done to his life.

“Look at me!

I’m wallowing in filth with the pigs,

eating their food,

and pretending I’m free.

I am destroying myself.

I have nothing -

no life,

no future,

no hope.”

And maybe you think this isn’t fair.

Maybe you look at these two brothers

and think the younger son could so easily see the disaster of his life,

but what was the elder brother suppose to see?

How could he “come to his senses”?

He’d done everything just right,

diligently serving the father and never neglecting his commandment.”

Well, if he would have been willing

to see himself honestly,

there was more than enough in his life

to bring about the same deep conviction

and sense of unworthiness.

“Look at me!

I am filled to the brim with the worst kind of arrogance and pride.

I am judgmental to the extreme,

filled with bitterness against a Father who has given me everything,

and filled with hatred and condemnation

for those who most need my kindness,

and my compassion,

and my love.”

My favorite radio preacher, Steve Brown of the Key Life Radio Network,

is fond of saying that when God really wants to use a man

He will either allow him to sin greatly,

or allow Him to see the greatness of his sin.

Which explains, of course,

why we are so much more inclined

to gravitate toward religion

than to allow God to lead us into the discovery of His love

through bringing us first

to an honest recognition of who we are on our own before God.

But there it is.

There is simply no other way to get there

then to allow our God to bring our own personal sewage out into the light

so that we can see how He responds to us

in the presence of our filth.

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.

And once we have seen into His eyes,

and felt His arms wrapped around us,

once we’ve discovered

that what He felt for us was not disgust or revulsion,

by compassion and lovingkindness,

once we’ve seen the living reality of His love for us,

the obedience and submission thing

begins to fix itself

because obedience and submission are seen

as the only logical response

to a Father God who loves us the way He does.

I told you last week

that God does not begin with submission and obedience

because if we start there

we have no hope of discovering the true nature of His love for us.

What He does begin with

is His own perfect plan for each one of us

designed to lead us into our own living discovery of the depth of His love for us.

And if we allow that process to take place,

if we allow Him to take us there,

then, and only then can we hear what He’s saying to us about submission and obedience

and respond from the heart to what He says.