Preached in Markham Baptist Church, June 13, 2004.

THE PRODIGAL SON

Luke 15:11-32

Recently I came across something very startling in a book by Watchman Nee.  Watchman Nee was a devoted Christian of a previous generation.  And in his book The Normal Christian Life he tells of meeting with a mentor of his.  He tells how he met with this wonderful man of God and how they talked of Christ for many hours.  But of all the things that the man said to him one thing stood out for Watchman.  The man said to Watchman, “Do you know that I cannot do without [him] Christ.”  Of course that doesn’t sound too astounding.  We hear that all the time.  We can’t live without Christ.  Without Him in our lives, our lives would he so much less than what we know.  But it’s what the man said next that startled Watchman, and startled me when I read it.  The man said, “Do you know that I cannot live without Christ.  And do you know that He cannot live without me?” ¹

Now that’s the startling part.  “Do you know that He cannot live without me?” Of course there is a sense that God can live without me.  He is all-powerful and all knowing and ever present.  He can get along without me just fine.  He is not needy.

But there is a sense, and this is the startling part, there is a sense in which God cannot do without me. He cannot do without you.  His love for you is such that He just cannot do without you.  His desire, His compassion, His care, for us is so strong that He just cannot do without us. 

This is illustrated for us in the parable that we often call The Prodigal Son. When we think of this parable we often focus on the son.  We focus on his rebellion and his coming to his senses (verse 17) and recognizing his need for his father.  But Watchman suggests that this is not the focus of the parable at all.  The focus of this parable is on the father.  One other scholar, I forget who, suggests we should call this parable the parable of the waiting father.  For the heart of the story is the father, how his son was lost but now is found. 

This story, suggests Watchman is not a question of what the son suffers, but what the father loses.  This is consistent with the two parables that come before this one.  The parable about the one sheep that is lost and the shepherd goes out in search of it, leaving the 99 behind.  Who is the loser in that parable the sheep or the shepherd?  The shepherd is the loser.

The next parable tells of a coin that is lost and a woman who sweeps the whole house to find that one coin.  Who is the loser in that parable the coin or the woman? 

And in our parable who is the loser the son or the father?

The father loses; he is the sufferer in this parable.  And so is God with us when we turn our backs on him and reject him.  He is the sufferer; he is the one who loses. 

This is the nature of God’s love for us.  It is such that his heart is broken if we are not with Him.  It is the heart of a lover for his/her beloved.  It is the heart of a parent for a child. It is the heart that pounds with love for you and for me and is broken when we are not with Him.

What kind of love is this exactly?  Well, clearly this is a first love.  Notice that the son has a prepared speech to make.  But he doesn’t get to make it before the father runs out to him and welcomes him home (verse 20).  The father’s love was a first love.  He did not wait for the son to “come clean” he loved him while he was still unrepentant and threw his arms around him and kissed him. 

This is the kind of love that God has for us.  He does not wait for us to be perfect morally or in any other way before He loves us.  His is a first love.  In fact it is the basis of our love for Him.  In 1 John 4:19 we read, “We love because he first loved us.”

But God’s love for us is also a searching love.  Notice that it was while the son was still a long way off that his father saw him.  The father was searching the horizon for his son.  His heart longed for his son and ever day searched the distant plain for any sign of his son.

So with God.  His love for us is a searching love.  He longs for us. If we turn our back on Him he doesn’t turn his back on us and say to Himself, “O well, I guess that’s the end of that.  I suppose I’ll move on to my next project and hope it will turn out better.”  No - He is continually searching after us, continually sending us messages of his Love, continually trying to get through to us that His heart is for us and that He never turns His back on us.

Our God’s love is a first love, it is a searching love, and then this, it is a generous love.  The father lavishes gifts on the returning son.  There is the best robe, and ring, and sandals for his feet and the fattened calf is killed for a wonderful welcome home party. It is the best, and it is generous.

And so God is with us.  If we turn our backs on Him and say no to Him, if we sin and go against His heart but then turn from our sin and come back to Him with sorrow in our hearts and a desire to be with Him again, what does God do?  Does He stand there with His hands on His hips and say, “Well, it’s about time you came sniveling back.  You have squandered everything and wasted so much.”  Does He wag his finger at us and say, “Now get back inside and don’t you disobey me again!”

Is that the way God reacts to us prodigals?  No. A thousand times no.  He welcomes us back with a wonderful hug and tells us how much He missed us and He lavishes his love and blessings on us.  He tells us that everything He has is ours.  We become His children, heirs of the kingdom (Romans 8:17).  Every spiritual blessing is ours through faith in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).  Our God is generous so that now there is no condemnation in His voice.  That’s the kind of love God has for you.

Finally this, God’s love is a sacrificial love.  You will notice in the parable that the father “runs” to the son (verse 20).  I remember reading somewhere that elder men of the Middle East don’t run, they walk.  It is not dignified to run.  This father runs.  It demonstrates that the father was willing to sacrifice all dignity, all social rules; he was willing to sacrifice for his son.

Our God has sacrificed for us. He has given us His Son.  I was listening to a tape of a sermon by Eric Alexander the other day and in it he asked, “Do you know who crucified Jesus Christ?”  Some think it was the Jews crucified Christ out of anger.  But it wasn’t the Jews.  Some think it was the Religious leaders of the day who crucified Christ out of jealousy.  But it wasn’t the religious leaders.  Some think it was Pilate out of self-preservation.  But it wasn’t Pilate.  Do you want to know who crucified Christ?  It was God.  This is what we read in Acts 4:27,28: “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.  They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.”

You see God crucified Christ.  He handed him over to be crucified; He allowed it to happen for your sake and my sake. God’s love for you is a sacrificial love. 

My friends we need to take it in that our God loves us, He searches for us when we go astray.  He doesn’t wait for us to love Him, but loves us first.  His is a generous love, it is a sacrificial love.

Sometimes we get so down on ourselves we think that we are worthless.  We get to thinking that we are useless.  We fall into self-loathing, self-contempt and self-rejection.  O how we need to hear the message of the “waiting father”.  O how we need to take it into our hearts that we are of immense value because we are immensely loved by God who would do anything to have us by His side.  Indeed has done everything so we can be by His side and enjoy His life to the full. 

You may be thinking that God is angry with you, that He will not welcome you back after the sin you have committed against Him.  But the truth is his heart is for you and do what you will to Him, His heart is still for you.  He longs for you, searches for you, and loves you generously and sacrificially. 

My friends do you know that we cannot do without Him? Even greater, do you know that He cannot do without you? 

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - June 2004
 

1. Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life, (Wheaton, Illinois, Tyndale Publishers, 1957) page 111.