Today our pastor has the flu. Our “community pastor” stepped up to share the word with us. The main idea in his sermon was how Christians should respond to the world. He used Luke 15 as his text in which Jesus told three parables … all pointing out how the Father seeks out the lost!
Some time ago, I read Timothy Keller’s book, The Prodigal God with a church group. The book sparked great discussion as we reviewed the definition of prodigal, and examined the text concerning the older brother. The parable in Luke 15 is a bit of a cliffhanger – the Scripture says -” The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.” The parable ends without telling us if the older brother was persuaded … if he joined the celebration … or if he stayed outside – sulking in his anger.
Today the pastor pointed out that the Father ran to the younger son and then left a party to seek out the older son. The Father is continually seeking out the lost to bring them to himself! That’s just plain amazing! The world doesn’t need my condemnation. The world needs for me to point them to the God who seeks them.
We sang … Come, ye weary, heavy-laden, Lost and ruined by the fall; If you tarry till you’re better, You will never come at all. Too often Christians want their lost friends to clean up first before coming to the Father. If any one of us waited until we were clean “enough” … we would never come at all!
I am reminded of the grace extended to me – the Father was persistent in seeking me out! I’m grateful for the amazing love of the Father, the extravagant love … the prodigal love … the Father has for me, his daughter. In the quiet of this afternoon … I sing of his love for me …
I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
Oh, there are ten thousand charms. (Joseph Hart, 1759)
My prayer this week is to help in the search and rescue!
