The Father's Commands by Louis Bartet

The God we serve is a God of grace. This lesson will reveal the Church's place in the restoration process. EMAIL US

SERIES TITLE: The Prodigal Son
MESSAGE TITLE: The Father's Celebration
MESSAGE TEXT: Luke 15:23-32
DATE: July 15, 2001
"23'bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry ; 24for 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. 25Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing . 32'But we had to be merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'"
INTRODUCTION
I was going to say attending some churches is like visiting a funeral parlor, but after some thought I realized that I might have to apologize to the funeral home. Some funeral parlors offer a more festive experience; people hug each other and exhibit genuine emotions. All too often life is evident before and after Church services, but is absent during them.
· One Sunday morning, Pastor McGhee noticed that little Alex was staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. The 7-year-old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the boy, and said quietly, "Good morning, Alex."
"Good morning, Pastor," replied the boy, focused on the plaque. "Pastor McGhee, what is this?" Alex asked.
"Well, son, these are all the people who have died in the service," replied the pastor.
Soberly they stood together, staring at the large plaque.
Little Alex's voice barely broke the silence when he asked quietly, "Which one, the morning or the evening service?"
· Philip Yancy said, "Like a victorious locker room, church is a place to exult, to give thanks, to celebrate the great news that all is forgiven, that God is love, that victory is certain."

This was sure the case at the father's house. He was filled with a joy that could not be contained, a joy that demanded expression. It was time for a celebration!

There are three things about the father's celebration that I'd like for us to explore.

I. IT WAS EXTRAVAGANT
II. IT WAS ENLISTING
III. IT WAS EXUBERANT

I. IT WAS EXTRAVAGANT - "and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry" (v.23). The fattened calf was stall-fed (Mal. 4:2) and allowed to eat all he wanted. It was fattened up in order that it might be killed for some very special occasion. The first occasion that called for the slaying of the fattened calf was to honor a special guest. (See 1Samuel 28:24.) The second was as a special sacrifice or offering unto the Lord. (See Amos 5:22.)

· ex·trav·a·gant (¹k-str²v"…-g…nt) adj.
1. Given to lavish expenditure.
2. Exceeding reasonable bounds.
3. Extremely abundant; profuse. .

The father of the prodigal spared no expense in celebrating his joy.

Our God is an extravagant God, i.e., he exceeds reasonable boundaries and is extremely abundant in His provisions and blessings.

A. LAVISHED GRACE UPON US - "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He LAVISHED upon us" (Eph. 1:8). "…where sin did abound, grace ABOUNDED all the more" (Rom. 5:20).
B. THE HOLY SPIRIT - "He saved us…by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us ABUNDANTLY through Jesus Christ our Savior" (Titus 3:5, 6).
C. FEEDING OF THE 5,000 - "and they ate, and were satisfied. And they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, 12 full baskets" (Matthew 14:20).

· Lagniappe. "Lagniappe" is a word derived from Louisiana French which means, "an unexpected surprise, a treat that you did not anticipate." God must be a Cajan, because Paul tells us He "is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).

The table of the Lord is lavishly supplied with all the benefits that Christ's finished work purchased. There is deliverance from sin's penalty, power and ultimately, sin's presence. Whatever you need can be found in abundant supply in Christ Jesus.

II. IT WAS ENLISTING - "…let us eat and be merry…and his father came out and began entreating him" (vvs. 23, 28). The "let us" in this verse was extended to anyone who could hear the father and the invitation was not to share the cost, but to share in the benefits! Both the servants and the sons were invited to feast on the father's provisions. Likewise, God invites us to feast on His provisions.
A. Isaiah 55:1 - "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost." Isaiah invites his readers to participate in the benefits obtained by the Suffering Servant of Chapter 53. The hearer can partake of these "without money and without cost," because they are abundantly supplied by Christ's finished work.
B. Revelation 22:17 - "And the Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come,' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost."
C. Luke 15:6 - "And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"
D. Luke 15:9 - "And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!'"

The Elder Brother misinterpreted the Father's Celebration. He thought his father had killed the fatted calf for the prodigal; that he was rewarding the prodigal's errant behavior. He failed to understand that the celebration was an expression of father's joy. The elder brother's of our world are haunted by the fear that someone, somewhere might be happy. They insist that everyone be as miserable as they are and they will do anything they can to kill joy. Please note that the father did not stop the party for his eldest son. The party continued full speed ahead and that with great exuberance!

III. IT WAS EXUBERANT - "let us eat and be merry And they began to be merry he heard music and dancing we had to be merry and rejoice" (vvs. 23, 24, 25, 32).
· ex·u·ber·ant (¹g-z "b r- nt) adj.
1. Full of unrestrained enthusiasm or joy.
2. Extreme gladness of heart

It was as though a tourniquet had been taken off of his soul and life rushed in to fill the places that grief had emptied. Uncontainable explosions of joy shattered the darkness of grief's long night.
A. IT WAS CONTAGIOUS - "They began to be merry."
· CHRISTMAS IN JUNE. It was June and people were waiting in the clinic to see the doctor when an older couple arrived. "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas, everybody!" the older gentleman greeted the room of people. His enthusiasm was infectious. Most of the patients ignored the outburst; but Donald Castle, an Episcopal priest, responded, "Merry Christmas to you, too!" Sensing a sympathetic ear, the wife of the well-wisher explained quietly: "It started this past year. For no reason, my husband would begin to get into the Christmas spirit. At first we dismissed it, but then we realized how much joy it brought him. So we started decorating the house, singing carols, having a spur-of-the-moment celebration. You know, after doing this a number of times, we look forward to it."
B. IT COULD NOT BE CONTAINED AND HAD TO BE CELEBRATED - "We had to be merry and rejoice" (32).
· ROD COOPER. "I used to be the chaplain for the Astros and the Oilers when I was in Houston, Texas. After I'd do a chapel, they'd give me tickets. One time in the Astrodome I watched Earl Campbell run over everybody, his own men included, to get to the goal line. When he got to the goal line, he put the ball down. The place went crazy. People were giving high fives and jumping around. The score board went off. The same thing happened when the Astros hit a home run. It was a ringing shout, because their man scored a touchdown.
I'm not saying that when you come to church you need to give each other high fives or do cartwheels down the aisle, but worship is a time of anticipation and expectation. We come together because all week God has been knocking home runs and scoring touchdowns in our lives. Worship is a time to celebrate what God has done for us." …in us, and through us!

CONCLUSION

1. In addition to EXTRAVAGANT and EXULTANT, any celebration in Father's House should be EXALTING. We can express our joy without demeaning His dignity or His holiness. The dancing mentioned in scripture was not sensual or vulgar. To the contrary, it was an expression of the joy that is imparted by the HOLY Spirit. It was not meant to entice, but to exalt.

2. Liberty. Please know that no one is mandating how your joy should be expressed. Some of you will dance, some of you will sing, some of you will clap and some of you will be too overwhelmed to do anything. The worship that God seeks is found in the sphere of spirit and truth. Please don't violate either of these vital aspects of God centered worship. Whatever you give God, make sure that it is a true expression of your heart that honors Him! Do not judge others by your standard, for only God knows the heart.

3. The father did not allow the Elder Brother's attitude to diminish his joy. Likewise, we must decide if we are going to celebrate our problems or God!

· COUNT IT ALL JOY PARTY. Mike Huckabee tells of a pastor in Florida who used to have count-it-all-joy parties every now and then. He so believed this verse, that when he would face a difficult situation, he would call friends over to his house. He'd say, "I want you to come over to my house for a party." They'd say, "Oh, is it a birthday?" "No," he would say. "Uh, you got a promotion?" they'd continue. "No," he'd say. "What's the situation?" they would finally ask.
"Well," he'd say, "I'm going through this incredibly difficult crisis right now, and I'm having a count-it-all-joy party. We're going to celebrate the difficulty, because I know that this difficulty is going to bring something of special value to my life. I don't know what it is yet, but I want you to come and count it all joy with me."
Have any of you ever thrown a count-it-all-joy party? I haven't either. To tell you the truth, it's tough to consider it pure joy, because it hurts. Yet it's important to realize that unless we go through some test, we will never know what our faith is made of.

PRAYER
Father, You have given us every reason to rejoice and be exceedingly glad. We choose to join You in Your joy and to give expression to that joy. We ask that You meet with us; that Your presence be made real to every heart.

© 2001 by louis bartet, all rights reserved.