Prodigal Son, Compassionate Father, Call to Foster Homes

But none of those things are going through the father's mind. He's been looking for his son, the horizon because when he sees his father still a long way off, he starts running to him. And the feeling that he gets when he sees him is compassion. Not anger. Not, oh baby, I'm about to open a big old can of I told you so on this kid. He's so overjoyed to see his son that he picks up his robes and he starts to run to him. Something a dignified man at this time would never do. It was humiliating for a dignified man to run like this. [00:28:40] (36 seconds)  #FatherlyCompassion

The son said to him, father, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. This is the speech that he's rehearsed. Right? The speech that he's probably been saying the whole way home. But look, the father interrupts him before he even finishes. The father told his servants, quick, bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it. And let's celebrate with a feast because this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate. [00:29:38] (36 seconds)  #WelcomeHomeParty

You see, the father doesn't wait for his son to even finish what he's rehearsed. He interrupts him before he can offer to work for the father, and the father just says, you're home. Let's celebrate. The father has no desire for his son to work his way back into good standing. He doesn't even make him feel the shame. He just wants to party. He kills the fattened calf. That would only happen on the rarest occasions and the biggest of celebrations, and it would mean that the whole rest of the town has gotta come together to help eat all this food. The father is saying, my son is back. My whole city should celebrate. [00:30:14] (39 seconds)  #GraceNotEarning

He stuck close to the father. He'd worked for the father. He'd made all the right decisions. He'd followed all the father's rules, but he had no love for his father. The older son didn't want the father either. And one of the main ways we can tell that is when you love somebody, you know what makes you happy? When they get something that makes them happy. And this father has been in anguish all these long days while his youngest son is out being a prodigal out in the world, maybe dead. This father has been in anguish. And now, when the thing his heart is longing for appears and the father is overjoyed. Anybody who loves that father would also be overjoyed and be ready to celebrate and party. [00:32:51] (47 seconds)  #ObedienceWithoutLove

See, the first sin was probably the sin of discontentment. Not being content with all that the father provided and wanting more than the father was giving. You know, it's interesting when you look at the 10 commandments that the command that God gives us is to love God with all of our hearts, soul, and mind. And so to love God supremely, the tenth commandment is not to covet, not to want things that God the father hasn't given us. Right? Not to covet our neighbor's possessions, or our neighbor's spouse, or our neighbor's status. [00:36:55] (31 seconds)  #DontCovet

Do you feel that longing, that aching, that man, I feel that every time I have a rough day and I go and and I and I, like, rage buy something on Amazon because I think it'll make me feel better. And you know what it does for about three seconds? And then I'm like, oh, I don't feel it anymore. And I'm like, maybe when it gets here and then it gets here and I'm like, oh, I unbox it and I'm super happy. And then I'm like, oh, wait. I'm still me. You know? It's like that with everything. Everything that I pursue that's not Jesus, and I finally get it. And I'm like, wait. But I'm still me. [00:38:08] (30 seconds)  #BuyingDoesntFix

Because of Jesus, we can be content when life is off the rails and when we've lost everything and when nothing is going according to plan. That sounds too good to be true and that's the gospel. Jesus is too it seems like he's too good to be true, but it's true. Paul says, I found it. Found the secret. It's Jesus. You see, all of our longings, all of our coveting, all of our our discontented hearts is causing us to be displaced from our home. To be displaced from our father. To go out like the rebel and try to grab onto experiences and things, or even to stay close to the father like the self righteous kid, but not really be at home with the father. [00:40:15] (46 seconds)  #JesusIsContentment

That's how good of a father we have. That even when he's around the people who deeply wrong him, he has compassion. He's loving. He goes overboard. It's silly and embarrassing how loving he is for this kid. He kisses him and slobbers all over him. He's forgiving. He doesn't let his son get to the point of payback or penance, but he just goes right into restoring him into the family. He's overjoyed. He throws the biggest party you could think of for this kid coming home, and he is a father who is eagerly looking for his kids. Whether you're out in the pigsty or out in the field, he just wants his kids to come back home. [00:43:33] (37 seconds)  #ExtravagantForgiveness