Louie Giglio - Let God Love You
The message today comes out of the greatest story ever told. And when I say that, I don't know what comes to mind for you. But for me, this story that Jesus told is the greatest one of all. And when the curtain falls on this story, we don't know how it resolves. And I don't know if that creates tension for you or not, but as the curtain drops, we know that there's a party going on inside. We know, number two, that the lost son is found. We know that the older son is ticked, and we know that the dad is pleading. And then the curtain drops, and we don't know. We don't know.
Did the older son storm off, and say, "Look, my younger brother apparently has lost his mind, and now my dad has lost his mind also. I am the only one in this family that is sane". Or did, maybe a light bulb come on for this older son, and he went, "Whoa, I miss it the whole time. I've been out here grinding, and working, and striving, and it's always been about my father's love for me. How did I miss that? I'm going in". And he came in through the doors, guns blazing, "We're partying tonight. Not only is my brother home, but I'm home". We don't know. You know, the context of this Prodigal son's story are the do-gooders. The professional, religious people, the Pharisees in the time of Jesus, and the teachers of the law. These were the people that this story is for.
So, it's not really for me, it's not really for you. The story is really aimed towards them. They didn't like who Jesus was hanging around with, and they're murmuring about it. "Who is this guy? Claims to be from God, claims to be this, claim to be that. But look, He's hanging around with all the wrong people". And so, Jesus said, "Hey, before you come to a conclusion about me, can I tell you a few stories"? He tells them these stories of lost things, and what He's trying to show them is the heart of God. And what is the heart of God? As you see these stories unfold, the heart of God is to seek and to save that which is lost. The heart of God is rescue. The heart of God is mission. The heart of God is movement towards people who need help.
And this is what Jesus is doing on planet earth, and this is why He's hanging around the wrong people, and this is why He shares these stories. And there is this crazy son, and the shocker of the story, when it's preached, and we preached it here a hundred times. The shocker of the story, when the story is preached is that the father jets off the porch, bolts down the stairs, heads into the pathway, runs into the street. And here's dignified dad, holding up his robe, showing his legs, running down the street after his son. And you're like, "What difference does it make if he shows his legs or not"?
It's a cultural thing. A dignified nobleman would never show his shins, but he had to in this moment, so that he could get full speed going down the road. He'd heard the son was coming, news was trickling back, "I think I saw your boy. I think it was your kid. Looks like he's heading this way". So, dad's been watching, dad's been waiting. And when he sees him a long way off, bam, he goes into motion. The text says, "Jesus said, 'He was moved by his heart, for his son.'"
But the culture tells us he was moved by something else, and that's called cultural shame, community shame. This town could vote on this kid. He had not only embarrassed his dad, he'd embarrassed all of them. And they could, in the day of Jesus, vote together and say to the kid, "You're never coming back here". So, the dad sprints into motion. That's why it says, we're in Luke 15. That's why it says in verse 22, I love it as Jesus is telling the story, it says, "He gets there," the dad does, "and then he turns to his servants, and he said, 'Quick!'" exclamation point.
In other words, "We got a few seconds here to change the narrative of my son's life. And here's how we're going to do it. In a hurry, get shoes, get a ring, get the best robe, and do it quick. There's no slowing down here, because as soon as news gets out to the community that he's here, they can gather, they can vote, and they can put shame on this kid. And the kid never can come home again. So, we're going to change that before they even get here".
Put shoes on him. That means, he is not a servant, he is a dignified member of the community, and the family. He has now got a ring on his finger, which says, this kid's got a seal and authority. He's got the best robe on, so that people know if they don't know who he is, he's somebody 'cause look at that robe. He said, "Put that robe on him". So, all of a sudden, this kid who's trying to get a speech out, he's got on shoes who are giving him position, a ring that's giving him status, and a seal and a robe that's telling everybody he's a somebody and the father's army is around him. And the father is covering him now, and saying, "Yeah, you might've thought you could shame him, but you can't shame me, and he's with me now".
That's how they walked home. "He's with me now. See his shoes? See the ring? See the robe? He's with me now. Oh, and by the way, we're having a party tonight at our house". This message today really wasn't necessarily orchestrated for you, if that's you. But if that is you, and the enemy has planted a seed in your mind that said, "You have blown it, yes the worst thing you can do is go back to God". I'm telling you, Jesus is telling you a different story today, and He's telling you, the very best thing you can do is to turn toward home. Because your dad in heaven is waiting for you. And community shame is over.
You're like, "Yeah. You need to tell my family that". No, your family maybe they didn't get it, but don't let 'em put it on you. Because Jesus took it, so that people who turn toward home get shoes, and they get a seal, and they get a robe, and they become somebody. Now, there's always a footnote in this talk and, you know, so we'll put it in again, today. Yes, it matters how you live your life. Yes, God doesn't want you to make stupid choices. Yes, they're consequences to the things that we do, but that's not the point of this story. Yes, God's calling us to a different kind of life, He's calling us to a higher standard, He's calling us to obedience. Yes, all of that is true, but that's not the point of this story.
The point of this story is, if you fall short of that standard, if you blow your opportunity, if you see it all go up in smoke because of your foolish decisions, there's still a father waiting for you. And the shame bearer will meet you on the road, and walk you home. And when people wanna put something on you, He will already have His arm around you, and He'll say, "No, they're with me. No, they're with me. They're with me, and that shame was already put on me. So, notice the shoes, notice the ring, notice the robe, and notice that I'm risen from the dead. So, welcome home. We're having a party at our house tonight".
If you are out in left field, come home. But quickly, Jesus turned the tables, and He squared this thing up pretty much, right at the professional, religious people. And He said, but there was another son obviously, in this story. We knew that from the beginning. And He brings Him in to view. This is in verse 25, "Meanwhile the older son". Now, this is a small thing, but I want you to notice this. It starts, Jesus says, with this position of this boy that we're now looking at as the older son. We always refer to him as the older brother. Anybody you hear talk about this story, preach this story, I bet you're gonna hear, "And then the older brother, the older brother, the older brother".
God didn't start with the older brother, God started with the older son. When Jesus is now bringing him into focus, it's not just as a brother to a crazy kid. It says, "A son to a father". And I think that's important. "The older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing". So, if the music wasn't bad enough, oh, they're also dancing. "So he called one of the servants and asked him, what was going on. 'Your father has come,' he replied. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So, his father went out and pleaded with him".
He'd already gone out to spare one son community shame, and now he's gone out to plead with his other son to come in. "But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.'" That rang a bell for somebody just now. You went, "Yep, that's my story. In fact, I've used that line all my life. I've been doing X, and not doing Y. All my life, I've been showing up. All my life, I've been the responsible one in our family. All of my life, I've been..."
"He says, 'And you never gave me even a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. But when the son of yours who squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you killed a fattened calf for him!' 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.'" He went from being the older son, pretty quickly, to getting angry, and becoming the older brother. And while they were carving the beef on the inside, he was counting all the years on the outside. And I think it is because his life had been about performing the whole time.
All of a sudden, young son is in the house, under this blessing called, extravagant, unconditional love of God. Has anybody ever experienced that before? I didn't earn it, I know I don't deserve it, but I got it. And it is flowing down, and it doesn't seem to be stopping. It is not based on anything I have done, or have not done. It is God's love pouring down on me. This other brother is living his whole life, he's out in the field, he's in the grind, and his blessing is I'm doing good. His blessing is the blessing of doing good. And he's out there living under that blessing, the blessing of his own good efforts, while this kid has figured out there's a different kind of blessing, and it is the unconditional love of God.
And God is wanting all of us today, to get under that blessing, so that then we can go and live the lives that God is calling us to live. The issue wasn't with this older son. "Hey, just come in so we can celebrate your brother who's back". The invitation was, "Come in, and let's celebrate you, 'cause you're also my son. You've always been with me, and everything I have is yours. I'm pleading with you, this party ain't gonna be everything it can be, unless both my sons are at the party". That's why this message is called, "Let God Love You". Let God Love You. We know what it is to live under the weight of performing towards perfection. And somehow, getting that into our mind that that's the way it is with God. And what God is wanting to do today is invite us in, and He's inviting us to let Him love us.
Henri Nouwen wrote the classic, "The Return of the Prodigal Son". The one that Has the Rembrandt painting as the cover. He said, "For most of my life I have struggled to find God, to know God, to love God. I have tried hard to follow the guidelines of the spiritual life. Pray always, work for others, read the Scriptures. And to avoid the many temptations to dissipate myself. I have failed many times but always tried again, even when I was close to despair. Now, I wonder whether I have sufficiently realized that during all this time God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me. The question is not 'How am I to find God?' but, 'How am I to let myself be found by Him?' The question is not, 'How am I to know God?' But, 'How am I to let myself be known by God?' And, finally, the question is not, 'How am I to love God?' but, 'How am I to let myself be loved by God?' God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home".
See, the music is playing. The question is, can you dance? Will you come in and dance? Will you come in from the mindset of performing, and can you dance? God is inviting somebody in this room today, who's been living under this sense that, "my acceptance with God, comes from my performance for God". And what He's saying to you is, "The music's already playing, man. Like, we're gonna not start the band up when you think we're ready to start the band up. The music's already playing, I'm just inviting you to understand that I am your Father, and you are my son. And I've always been with you, and everything I have is yours. And I love you, not because of your performance. I love you because I love you".
There is a blessing that God wants to put on your life that is not contingent on your performance. Does God want you to live a great life? Of course, He does. Does He want you to be your best? Of course, He does. Does He want you to have an attitude of whatever you do to be best in class? Of course, He does. But the blessing that every one of us came out of the womb longing for, which is the blessing of a father to say, "I love you. I believe in you. I will show up for you".
That blessing coming from our heavenly Father, is not contingent on our performance. And if you want proof that that is true, blow your life up. I am not recommending that today. But if you want proof that God's love for you is not tied to your performance, fail. And get ready, when you turn away from your failure to see a Father blazing a trail called mercy towards you. Consequences, of course. It's not the point of this story. Are dominoes gonna fall? Yes, they are. It's not what this story is all about. This story is about a father whose love cannot be trumped by our best effort, or our worst effort. It is about God's great love for us. And it is an invitation today, for you and I to understand, and to see that He made the first move.
We see it in the story. Jesus comes down to the Jordan river to be baptized, and the sky opens up and a voice booms, and it's His Father saying, "This is my Son, whom I love". And that part all makes sense. Of course, it's your Son and of course, you love Him. But then this next line not really sure, "In whom, I am well pleased". You're like, "Well, if a dad's well pleased, if father is well pleased, then this kid must have really done something great". Probably like, "What has He done"?
Well, He has done something amazing. He stepped down from heaven and came through a virgin womb on to planet earth as the Savior of the world. God and human skin, so that's something. But He hadn't walked on water, not as far as we know. Had not healed one person. Had not raised the dead, had not touched a leper, had not preached a sermon, had not cast out a demon, had not fed 5,000, had not calmed a storm. And the Father is saying, "That's my Son and I love Him and I'm so pleased with Him". Oh, Jesus went on to perform many miracles. If the books were written about all the amazing things that Jesus did, the world couldn't even contain 'em. And ultimately, He did what only He could do with determination, and grit, and obedience, and unwavering focus, He paid the price.
Beat death, and hell, sin and the darkness and the grave. But He didn't do it so that He could get His Father's approval. He did it because He already had it. And God is inviting you. Yeah, there is a blessing that comes with doing good. You might be recognized as someone who does good. You might be, in your own eyes, you know I'm somebody who did good. And there's a blessing that comes with that. It's not the best blessing in the world, but there's a blessing that comes with that. But it is not anything close to knowing that there is a waterfall of God's love, His unconditional love. That then moves you to wanna live a life for Him, not so that, but because.
You know, it's interesting that this older son is out there comparing like, "I've done all this, and he did all that. But I hadn't gotten this, and he did get that". And, you know, I think that's just one of the ways we can know that we have this sense in us that it is the driver in our life, this desire to perform, that is giving us our value. Versus just, "I know I'm a loved son, a loved daughter of God and that's causing me to wanna be my very best for God". That's just the natural outcome of knowing who we are. That's different than that being the driver inside of us that says, "My value, my worth, my position is gonna be determined by what I do".
And the way that you know that that thing is driving you and it's not the thing actually that's the fruit coming out of you, is how you react when other people get restored. And when you see somebody else fall, and all of a sudden, they're welcomed back in and you're like, "Oh, you are... What? I don't think so. And you people that welcomed him in, I don't think so". To see somebody that stumbles, and then all of a sudden, people help them back up, and maybe they're actually at a thing, and maybe, I don't know, they're actually dancing. And you're like, "I don't know. This is not working for me. No, thank you to y'all".
And, you know, when you find someone like that, and you kinda take a quick survey of their life, typically, they've crossed out just about everybody in their lives but themselves. And they're the last person standing in their story, 'cause nobody else was good enough. And that's how you know that it's the driver and not just a good outcome and goal. It's the thing that's causing you to derive your value, based on the way you perform. And God wants to set you free today, I know this as much as I know anything in this moment. God brought somebody to church today to break the chains of performance off of your life, and to invite you inside. Not to celebrate your little brother, but to celebrate your perfect Heavenly Father.
This isn't just a party for a kid who came home, this is a party for the kid who stayed home. This is not just a party for the kid who messed it all up, this is a party for the kid who has on the same shoes, and has on the same ring, and has on the same robe. Whose shoes? The father's shoes. Whose ring? The Father's ring? Whose robe? The father's robe.
It's waking up and going, "What have I been doing? I've been acting like a slave when the whole time I was a son. I've been counting the days instead of enjoying the relationship with my father". And I'm telling you what, I hear the music playing and I am not storming off. I am not writing everybody off. I'm going in, and I'm coming in guns blazing. And I know this is your party, but it's my house. And we're all dancing tonight in the grace of God. Let Him love you.