The Good Father | The Good God Journey Week 2

The Bible describes God as a “father.” Great, so he’s going to ignore me and then judge me when I don’t measure up, right? Not so fast. Today Brian talks about how God is a good father who loves you regardless of where you’ve been or what you’ve done.

  • 00:00:01
    The best way to watch Crossroads Church is on your smart TV,
  • 00:00:05
    because that's where your family hangs out
  • 00:00:06
    and plus taking a break from your phone and tablet
  • 00:00:09
    feels good.
  • 00:00:11
    Download the Crossroads TV app on your smart TV
  • 00:00:14
    and your TV becomes your church,
  • 00:00:17
    your community,
  • 00:00:19
    your new rhythm,
  • 00:00:21
    your "I finally went to church this week."
  • 00:00:25
    Set a time to experience church on your TV.
  • 00:00:28
    See, you've already made your TV smarter.
  • 00:00:30
    Download the Crossroads TV app.
  • 00:00:33
    It'll give you the boost you and your family need for your week.
  • 00:00:48
    - Hi, everyone, and welcome to week two of The Journey,
  • 00:00:51
    The Journey is a five week series.
  • 00:00:53
    We're going to be talking about the goodness of God.
  • 00:00:55
    - Because it's a little bit hard to see in today's world,
  • 00:00:58
    it's often filled with pain.
  • 00:00:59
    And so we've got a plan to spread a little bit of joy
  • 00:01:01
    Let them see the goodness of God.
  • 00:01:03
    We've come prepared.
  • 00:01:04
    - Here we go.
  • 00:01:07
    - We've got helmets, because safety first.
  • 00:01:09
    We don't want to spread the joy of God without helmets.
  • 00:01:11
    We've also got some masks here to put on.
  • 00:01:14
    We don't want to spread anything there.
  • 00:01:16
    - Mask up.
  • 00:01:17
    - Perfect.
  • 00:01:18
    Scooters, yellow, just like the streets of heaven.
  • 00:01:22
    It's going to be great. And --
  • 00:01:24
    - Oh, my helmet.
  • 00:01:25
    - I got it. I got it. There it is. Put your helmet on.
  • 00:01:29
    I don't know if you noticed, but we've got a couple --
  • 00:01:31
    Oh!
  • 00:01:33
    I don't know if you noticed,
  • 00:01:34
    we've got a couple of balloons.
  • 00:01:36
    Just a couple to give away. Let's go.
  • 00:01:37
    - Let's do this!
  • 00:01:39
    - Joy. Spread joy. Spread joy.
  • 00:01:45
    - Ok.
  • 00:01:46
    - All right.
  • 00:01:48
    Let's go find some people who need a little bit of joy in their day.
  • 00:01:50
    - Hi, how are you?
  • 00:01:51
    Hey, life's hard enough. You deserve this.
  • 00:01:54
    - You're so welcome.
  • 00:01:57
    - Oh, yeah you do. Hold on, I got you.
  • 00:01:59
    - Here you go, buddy.
  • 00:02:00
    Hey, did you have a rough morning?
  • 00:02:01
    Did you have a great morning?
  • 00:02:02
    You deserve that, man.
  • 00:02:04
    Have a great day, guys.
  • 00:02:05
    - Now you do.
  • 00:02:08
    - Have a great day.
  • 00:02:11
    - This is just to remind you,
  • 00:02:13
    no matter how hard life has been in 2020,
  • 00:02:15
    it can get better.
  • 00:02:18
    Do you need a balloon?
  • 00:02:19
    Yeah, you need a balloon, here you go.
  • 00:02:21
    Just enjoy that balloon, baby kale.
  • 00:02:23
    I'm sure you're going to love it.
  • 00:02:25
    Don't let go, don't drop it.
  • 00:02:26
    OK, you're dropping it. I'll take it back.
  • 00:02:27
    That's -- That's kind of on you.
  • 00:02:29
    I don't know why you dropped that.
  • 00:02:30
    Here today, ma'am, would you like a balloon?
  • 00:02:32
    You don't need a balloon.
  • 00:02:33
    Okay, you're already happy. That's good.
  • 00:02:35
    - Have a good one.
  • 00:02:37
    - You guys want a balloon back there?
  • 00:02:38
    _ There you go. Thank you so much.
  • 00:02:40
    I hope you have a good day.
  • 00:02:41
    - Here we go.
  • 00:02:42
    You're having a meeting.
  • 00:02:43
    Do you want to balloon for your meeting?
  • 00:02:46
    This woman's about to fly away.
  • 00:02:51
    Do you need a balloon? - Oh, thank you.
  • 00:02:55
    - How about that?
  • 00:02:57
    There you go.
  • 00:02:58
    - Thank you.
  • 00:02:59
    - Would you like a balloon?
  • 00:03:00
    We're just spreading joy around the store.
  • 00:03:02
    - That's awesome, thank you.
  • 00:03:03
    - Yellow balloon. You want a balloon?
  • 00:03:06
    Yeah, there you go.
  • 00:03:07
    - Yay!
  • 00:03:09
    Thank you for being here.
  • 00:03:10
    We love your service. Have a great one.
  • 00:03:14
    - I wish we had more balloons.
  • 00:03:19
    - Man, we just had so much fun.
  • 00:03:23
    And I think we did a little bit of good there. I do.
  • 00:03:26
    We spread some goodness of God inside Kroger
  • 00:03:29
    with some balloons. Unbelievable.
  • 00:03:31
    - And that's what this week is all about, so let's get started.
  • 00:03:35
    - Is God good?
  • 00:03:37
    Is He good on day one of working from home?
  • 00:03:39
    How about day 180?
  • 00:03:41
    Is God good when school is online?
  • 00:03:44
    Is He good when your business is struggling?
  • 00:03:46
    Is He good even when everything in the world
  • 00:03:49
    makes you want to scream, "Good God, what is going on?
  • 00:03:52
    And where are you?"
  • 00:03:53
    That's a fair question and actually a great prayer
  • 00:03:56
    because we believe there is a good God with good answers.
  • 00:04:15
    - Hey, welcome to Crossroads. My name is Brian.
  • 00:04:17
    Welcome to week two of The Journey of The Good God.
  • 00:04:22
    You know, I'm here right now in my house.
  • 00:04:25
    This is my house.
  • 00:04:26
    I've got so many memories in this house.
  • 00:04:29
    Most of the memories revolve around family.
  • 00:04:33
    This is the place where my family comes to have meals.
  • 00:04:36
    They come to visit dad.
  • 00:04:38
    A lot of good memories.
  • 00:04:40
    I know there's a lot of us right now
  • 00:04:42
    that really have no interest in going home
  • 00:04:45
    to be with our parents
  • 00:04:46
    or we're living with our parents right now and it's awful.
  • 00:04:49
    It's difficult and we don't like it, do we?
  • 00:04:53
    We want to have a place to go and have a good time
  • 00:04:56
    at Christmas, Thanksgiving, even Halloween.
  • 00:05:00
    We wanted to have a dad or a parent that would
  • 00:05:02
    walk us around the neighborhood holding our hand
  • 00:05:04
    to feel that sense of closeness.
  • 00:05:07
    And unfortunately, too few of us have any warm memories
  • 00:05:11
    inside of a home with family.
  • 00:05:13
    And that's why many of us have a really hard time
  • 00:05:18
    referring to God as Father
  • 00:05:20
    or Him being a good Father or a good God.
  • 00:05:23
    It's because if our family life wasn't right,
  • 00:05:27
    it likely was because our dad wasn't right.
  • 00:05:30
    He was physically absent or if he was physically present,
  • 00:05:34
    he might have been physically abusive.
  • 00:05:36
    He was emotionally absent,
  • 00:05:37
    or if he was emotionally present,
  • 00:05:39
    he might have been emotionally abusive.
  • 00:05:42
    I believe the struggle we have with understanding God is good
  • 00:05:47
    or we have a good heavenly Father is the struggle
  • 00:05:49
    of reconciling that with the only father figure I had
  • 00:05:54
    that isn't much like God at all.
  • 00:05:56
    We'll we're going to park off to the side
  • 00:05:59
    our family of origin garbage.
  • 00:06:01
    And I want us to see who the real God is,
  • 00:06:04
    who the real Heavenly Father is.
  • 00:06:08
    Jesus tells a story about that God.
  • 00:06:12
    Jesus tells a story that's very, very well known,
  • 00:06:15
    but it's really not known.
  • 00:06:18
    Like a lot of church people have heard this story,
  • 00:06:20
    but they don't really know the fullness of the story.
  • 00:06:24
    Let's read it and talk about it today.
  • 00:06:27
    It comes from the Book of Luke, Chapter 15, here's what says:
  • 00:06:47
    This is known as the Prodigal Son,
  • 00:06:51
    it's the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
  • 00:06:54
    We know it as that, but Jesus never called it that.
  • 00:06:59
    In fact, that's not the main thrust of the parable.
  • 00:07:03
    If there was a title, it would be summed up
  • 00:07:05
    in the very first thing we had: A father had two sons.
  • 00:07:10
    It's about a father and two sons.
  • 00:07:12
    And both of these sons struggle with the concept
  • 00:07:17
    of their father, their dad being good.
  • 00:07:21
    The younger brother goes to his dad and he says,
  • 00:07:26
    "Dad, give you my share of the inheritance."
  • 00:07:29
    What he's saying to his dad in ancient middle culture speak
  • 00:07:33
    is, "Dad, I wish you were dead.
  • 00:07:36
    Dad, I don't want to wait for you to die.
  • 00:07:39
    Dad, I don't want you; I only want your money.
  • 00:07:42
    Dad, I don't want to be with you.
  • 00:07:43
    I just want to be with the stuff that your richness affords.
  • 00:07:46
    Dad, I'm not really interested in being relationship with you.
  • 00:07:49
    Dad. I just want to kind of have an unruly life,
  • 00:07:51
    have a self-centered life.
  • 00:07:53
    I wish you were dead.
  • 00:07:54
    How about we make this clean?
  • 00:07:56
    You give me my share of the inheritance right now."
  • 00:07:58
    This is -- this is utterly stunning to me.
  • 00:08:02
    This younger son is like many of us.
  • 00:08:07
    And this father represents God.
  • 00:08:12
    Many of us are going to God and we're saying,
  • 00:08:15
    "God, I don't want any of you.
  • 00:08:17
    I'm not really interested in being with you.
  • 00:08:19
    I just want the perks of who you are.
  • 00:08:22
    I want your perks. I don't want your presence.
  • 00:08:25
    I want the riches. I don't want relationship."
  • 00:08:30
    And I'll tell you what, if my son came to me
  • 00:08:33
    and told me that, you know, I'd say to my son?
  • 00:08:35
    "Well, screw you, dude. No, sorry.
  • 00:08:38
    No, no inheritance for you, in fact, ever.
  • 00:08:41
    Not with that kind of attitude.
  • 00:08:42
    No inheritance for you ever."
  • 00:08:44
    And fortunately, my Heavenly Father, our Heavenly Father
  • 00:08:48
    isn't like me in that way, because this dad
  • 00:08:51
    accommodates this selfishness, the sinfulness,
  • 00:08:56
    and he says, "OK. If you want it, you can have it."
  • 00:09:01
    And he gives it to his son and away he goes.
  • 00:09:08
    So let's keep going, let's continue on. Verse 13.
  • 00:10:12
    So his dad gives them all of his inheritance.
  • 00:10:14
    He divides his estate in half, gives him early inheritance.
  • 00:10:18
    Says, "There you go, son."
  • 00:10:19
    And he gets up and he takes off.
  • 00:10:23
    And he goes off to a far land, Jesus says.
  • 00:10:27
    And when he gets there,
  • 00:10:28
    he spends all of his resources on wine, women and song.
  • 00:10:34
    He buys the best drinks he can have.
  • 00:10:37
    What were the best drinks you would have?
  • 00:10:40
    Would it be lemonade, margarita on the rocks?
  • 00:10:43
    They wouldn't have done margarita on the rocks,
  • 00:10:44
    because they didn't have ice back then,
  • 00:10:46
    but whatever his favorite beverage is
  • 00:10:48
    or maybe your favorite beverage is,
  • 00:10:50
    if you have tendencies like this younger son,
  • 00:10:54
    you just spend it.
  • 00:10:55
    You just do it. Whatever you feel, you do,
  • 00:10:57
    whatever you want, you do it,
  • 00:10:58
    whatever would bring you satisfaction, you do it.
  • 00:11:00
    And that's what he does.
  • 00:11:01
    Blows it on women, women of the night.
  • 00:11:04
    And he finds himself partied himself out
  • 00:11:07
    and spent himself out financially to have nothing.
  • 00:11:11
    To the point where he's now going to find people
  • 00:11:13
    who he's partied with
  • 00:11:15
    who may have businesses to work for them.
  • 00:11:19
    And one of the jobs he has is feeding these pods to pigs.
  • 00:11:23
    Now, Jesus is Jewish.
  • 00:11:26
    He's speaking to a Jewish culture.
  • 00:11:28
    They understand that feeding pigs,
  • 00:11:31
    being around pigs is a no-no.
  • 00:11:34
    Pigs in the ancient Jewish customs were known as unclean,
  • 00:11:38
    actually, not ancient Jewish custom,
  • 00:11:39
    modern religious kosher Jews
  • 00:11:43
    understand pigs as being unkosher.
  • 00:11:47
    They're not things that you can eat.
  • 00:11:50
    Let's -- let me just say, for those of you who are kosher
  • 00:11:53
    or Jewish in nature, man, God bless you.
  • 00:11:56
    I don't want to make you stumble,
  • 00:11:58
    but I'm telling you, bacon is freaking awesome.
  • 00:12:01
    It's not just bacon, but bacon wrapped shrimp.
  • 00:12:04
    Oh, amazing.
  • 00:12:08
    But sorry to cause you to stumble.
  • 00:12:10
    He is feeding unclean creatures.
  • 00:12:13
    That's how far he's gone from God.
  • 00:12:17
    He's run away from God, who the father represents God.
  • 00:12:21
    And now he's doing something
  • 00:12:22
    that he would have previously never dreamt of.
  • 00:12:24
    Sometimes we get to the end of our rope,
  • 00:12:25
    we do things that we will never thought that we were would do.
  • 00:12:30
    And he's doing it.
  • 00:12:31
    And he starts to come to his spiritual senses,
  • 00:12:33
    going, "What am I doing here?
  • 00:12:36
    I'd be better off working for my dad."
  • 00:12:39
    So he works out this script in his mind.
  • 00:12:41
    "I know what I'm going to do.
  • 00:12:42
    I'm going to go back to my dad and tell him,
  • 00:12:44
    "Dad, I've offended you. I've sinned against you.
  • 00:12:48
    Could you just take me back as a hired servant, as a hired hand?
  • 00:12:52
    And that's what I want to do."
  • 00:12:56
    He basically says, "I know I can't be a son of yours anymore,
  • 00:13:01
    but I hope I can be a slave to you right now."
  • 00:13:07
    This is the relationship
  • 00:13:08
    and the understanding many of us have with God.
  • 00:13:10
    We think that we have to work our way to God.
  • 00:13:13
    We think that we have to do the right things for God to have us.
  • 00:13:16
    We think that God will only have us in His presence
  • 00:13:20
    as long as we're not drinking, so long as I'm working out,
  • 00:13:22
    maybe if I work out then God will like me more.
  • 00:13:25
    Or if I don't have caffeinated coffee
  • 00:13:27
    or if I go to church or if I have morning time with God.
  • 00:13:31
    All these things may be fine and good to do,
  • 00:13:34
    but if we're viewing God as a slave master,
  • 00:13:38
    as a task master, we're going to be drawn
  • 00:13:40
    to slave our way back to God.
  • 00:13:42
    And that's what this younger brother thinks.
  • 00:13:44
    He thinks his dad was standing in the way of his joy before
  • 00:13:47
    and he thinks the way to get back
  • 00:13:48
    to some sense of happiness is to do enough
  • 00:13:52
    to satisfy his dad and slave away for his dad.
  • 00:13:57
    So he decides to go back.
  • 00:13:59
    And by the way, as he goes back,
  • 00:14:02
    he's not expressing a desire for his father.
  • 00:14:06
    He's not expressing a desire to be in a relation with his dad.
  • 00:14:09
    He just wants his life to be a little more comfortable.
  • 00:14:12
    And as he walks back, we get this picture of the dad
  • 00:14:18
    who has been longing for his son for a long time.
  • 00:14:22
    We get this picture of this dad
  • 00:14:24
    who's been scanning the horizon,
  • 00:14:27
    looking to see if the son will come back.
  • 00:14:32
    A good father never feels good
  • 00:14:33
    when a child is separate from him.
  • 00:14:36
    I believe the father is longing
  • 00:14:39
    for reconnection with his child.
  • 00:14:41
    He's looking over the horizon every day,
  • 00:14:43
    just looking to see if there's just a turn,
  • 00:14:46
    if just maybe that is the day that the son comes home.
  • 00:14:51
    This is the way God is with you.
  • 00:14:52
    He wants to see a turn.
  • 00:14:53
    He is looking and he is longing for you to be with Him
  • 00:14:56
    because that is what's good.
  • 00:15:00
    So the son makes his way home.
  • 00:15:02
    And I've got to think that he's not excited about this walk.
  • 00:15:05
    It's literally a walk of shame.
  • 00:15:09
    He is thinking about
  • 00:15:12
    the stupidity under which he's operated.
  • 00:15:15
    He's regretting his choices.
  • 00:15:17
    He's regretting how he squandered the money.
  • 00:15:19
    He's probably thinking through what his dad's reaction
  • 00:15:22
    was going to be and what his dad's reaction is going to be.
  • 00:15:25
    I've got to think he's just rehearsing
  • 00:15:26
    the lines in his mind.
  • 00:15:27
    He's going, "Father, I've sinned against you.
  • 00:15:34
    Would you give me a job? Would you --
  • 00:15:36
    Would you please accept me back as one of your hired hands?
  • 00:15:39
    I don't need much. I just need, dad--"
  • 00:15:40
    As he's rehearsing this painful monologue in his mind
  • 00:15:45
    and wondering how is going to work out,
  • 00:15:47
    he has no idea of the goodness of the father
  • 00:15:51
    who's not just waiting for him, looking for him.
  • 00:15:57
    Because here's how the story continues:
  • 00:16:38
    This father sees his son coming.
  • 00:16:42
    And we get this picture as if he's coming off the porch
  • 00:16:45
    and he actually runs to him.
  • 00:16:47
    He doesn't sit there and go, "Well, here he comes.
  • 00:16:51
    I hope he's come to his senses.
  • 00:16:53
    Well, it's about time he understood
  • 00:16:56
    he had a good deal living with me."
  • 00:16:58
    It's not that at all.
  • 00:17:00
    He sees his son and he takes off after him.
  • 00:17:03
    He would have had a long garment back then.
  • 00:17:05
    He would have taken it up and bunched up between his legs
  • 00:17:07
    in what's known as a girding your loins.
  • 00:17:09
    He would have tucked it into his belt,
  • 00:17:11
    which is very unbecoming for an older man
  • 00:17:14
    in the Middle East, actually very unbecoming for me.
  • 00:17:17
    I wouldn't want to do that.
  • 00:17:18
    You'd see my bird legs.
  • 00:17:20
    He sticks it in there and then he runs. He runs to him.
  • 00:17:25
    This is a picture of what your Heavenly Father does.
  • 00:17:29
    All He wants to see from you
  • 00:17:31
    is the slightest of bit movement towards Him.
  • 00:17:34
    All He wants to see is if you want to be back around Him.
  • 00:17:41
    All He wants is us to want Him to be in relationship with Him.
  • 00:17:46
    And he cuts him off, cuts him off.
  • 00:17:48
    He says, "Hey, that calf you've been working on,
  • 00:17:50
    that calf we've been fattening up to make a huge,
  • 00:17:53
    bring him in.
  • 00:17:54
    We're going to -- we're going to have a celebration.
  • 00:17:56
    He gets a robe. He wraps the robe around him.
  • 00:17:59
    That calf represents I'm going to throw a party for you.
  • 00:18:03
    This robe he wraps around him
  • 00:18:05
    represents I'm going to give you my identity.
  • 00:18:08
    We're going to talk about that in just a moment.
  • 00:18:10
    And he takes his ring off his finger, sticks on this ring.
  • 00:18:12
    It would have been a signet ring,
  • 00:18:14
    a ring you seal things with that represents his credit.
  • 00:18:17
    It represents his wealth.
  • 00:18:19
    He gives it to him.
  • 00:18:21
    It's like he again cuts his estate in half for him again.
  • 00:18:28
    All the father wanted was to see his son coming.
  • 00:18:33
    Now, you think that it's over right now, but it isn't over.
  • 00:18:39
    In many ways, it's just getting started.
  • 00:18:44
    As he runs and as his father embraced his son
  • 00:18:48
    and as this son enjoys the generosity
  • 00:18:53
    and the favor of his dad, the older son gets wind of this.
  • 00:19:00
    Friends come and say, "Hey, did you hear what your dad did?
  • 00:19:03
    Did you hear what your dad did?
  • 00:19:05
    He's creating quite a scene with your younger brother."
  • 00:19:12
    Actually, here's how the verse reads:
  • 00:20:20
    Everybody can relate to something in this story
  • 00:20:24
    because everybody in this story is either
  • 00:20:26
    a younger brother or is an older brother.
  • 00:20:31
    Everybody there's roughly seven versus
  • 00:20:33
    describing the younger brother
  • 00:20:34
    and seven versus describing the older brother.
  • 00:20:36
    There's actually 861 words in the English language
  • 00:20:41
    describing and translating
  • 00:20:43
    what happened with the younger brother
  • 00:20:46
    while there's 971 words for the older brother.
  • 00:20:52
    Actually, the older brother gets more space here.
  • 00:20:57
    And I think this is important for us because the kind
  • 00:21:01
    of people that generally watch church services online,
  • 00:21:08
    the kind of people that are drawn to spiritual content,
  • 00:21:12
    are generally older brother types of people
  • 00:21:16
    vs. younger brother types of people.
  • 00:21:19
    There are two types of people who are with us today though,
  • 00:21:20
    both are being equally addressed.
  • 00:21:23
    There is the younger brother, there's the older brother.
  • 00:21:26
    There's the partier and there's the rule follower.
  • 00:21:30
    There is the immoral and there is the moral.
  • 00:21:34
    There is the rebel and there is the religious.
  • 00:21:39
    Two different personality types, but the same core problem,
  • 00:21:43
    a misunderstanding of the character of the father.
  • 00:21:47
    This older brother is not happy
  • 00:21:50
    that this younger brother is getting grace.
  • 00:21:54
    That's what he's getting, he's getting grace.
  • 00:21:56
    He's getting forgiveness. He's getting a second chance.
  • 00:21:59
    He's getting love when he doesn't deserve it.
  • 00:22:02
    And he's not happy about it at all.
  • 00:22:05
    Is it because he recognizes that
  • 00:22:07
    half the estate has already gone to him
  • 00:22:09
    and now what's his is going to be eating into?
  • 00:22:13
    Is it because of that or is it just the principle of it,
  • 00:22:15
    of, "Oh, you've done this and now you're getting this?"
  • 00:22:18
    This is the way older brothers are
  • 00:22:21
    who are filled with churches and watching church streams
  • 00:22:24
    and watching things on YouTube all over the place
  • 00:22:26
    right now, we're drawn to things that verify
  • 00:22:29
    and validate our worldview.
  • 00:22:31
    And our worldview says if I do the right things,
  • 00:22:37
    then God will reward me.
  • 00:22:40
    And if someone does the wrong things,
  • 00:22:42
    then God will punish them.
  • 00:22:44
    And yet here we have a younger brother
  • 00:22:47
    who does the wrong things and they aren't punished.
  • 00:22:52
    They're actually given grace.
  • 00:22:55
    And here we have someone who is doing all the right things
  • 00:22:59
    and actually there's some huge, massive cracks
  • 00:23:03
    in their characters.
  • 00:23:05
    If you want to dig deeper into this topic,
  • 00:23:08
    I think the best book ever written on it was by Tim Keller.
  • 00:23:11
    And he says this:
  • 00:23:43
    We have the free spirit and the religious spirit,
  • 00:23:46
    the partier and the scholar,
  • 00:23:48
    the irreligious and the hyper religious.
  • 00:23:52
    I like this story for so many reasons.
  • 00:23:54
    Part of it is I see myself in it.
  • 00:23:57
    And I see myself in both sons at different times.
  • 00:24:04
    I grew up and going to church.
  • 00:24:05
    My mom played the organ, dad sang in the choir
  • 00:24:08
    and I was just a church-y kid.
  • 00:24:10
    And the older I got, the more I rebelled against it
  • 00:24:14
    and the more I just had zero interest in church
  • 00:24:16
    or anything God.
  • 00:24:17
    I, in high school, turned into your classic partier.
  • 00:24:20
    I don't know what your high school was like
  • 00:24:22
    or what your high school is like right now,
  • 00:24:24
    but if there's a kid in your high school
  • 00:24:25
    that it doesn't matter what the party is,
  • 00:24:27
    he's at that one, that was me.
  • 00:24:30
    If there's a guy in your high school that everybody
  • 00:24:33
    had a story every Monday about what so-and-so did
  • 00:24:37
    or how much so-and-so drank or -- that was me.
  • 00:24:40
    That was me. I was that guy. I was the rebel.
  • 00:24:42
    I just wanted to enjoy life
  • 00:24:45
    and enjoying life for me meant getting wasted
  • 00:24:48
    and doing all the things associated with that.
  • 00:24:51
    And I ended up coming to understand who God was.
  • 00:24:56
    I ended up coming to want Him as my dad.
  • 00:25:00
    And I had a profound, boy, gosh, you could call it
  • 00:25:03
    a conversion experience. A profound experience
  • 00:25:06
    that really changed my trajectory.
  • 00:25:09
    Unfortunately, years later, I find myself in seminary
  • 00:25:13
    and I find myself to be the older brother.
  • 00:25:18
    I find myself to now be the religious son.
  • 00:25:21
    I was the rebellious son.
  • 00:25:22
    I now find myself to be the religious son.
  • 00:25:25
    I was priding myself, just like this son was in Jesus parable,
  • 00:25:28
    he was priding himself on how diligent he was
  • 00:25:31
    working the fields
  • 00:25:32
    and how diligent he was doing the right things
  • 00:25:33
    and how he wasn't squandering the father's money. And how --
  • 00:25:36
    I found myself priding myself on, yeah,
  • 00:25:38
    but I could be going after a career that made more money,
  • 00:25:40
    but I am going into the ministry.
  • 00:25:43
    And I found myself being prideful
  • 00:25:45
    for the theological terms that I knew
  • 00:25:47
    and how I was learning original languages
  • 00:25:50
    and how I was doing certain things.
  • 00:25:53
    And, you know, I used to when I was a rebellious son,
  • 00:25:56
    I used to chew tobacco and I was like,
  • 00:25:57
    "Now, I don't, I don't smoke. I don't you chew.
  • 00:25:59
    I don't date the girls who do. None of those things.
  • 00:26:01
    I am a good person."
  • 00:26:03
    I found myself incredibly impressed with my theology
  • 00:26:06
    and my standards.
  • 00:26:08
    There were people I went to school with who would tell you
  • 00:26:10
    about the time how I argued one time, I'm ashamed of it.
  • 00:26:13
    I argued how Mother Teresa wasn't going to heaven.
  • 00:26:18
    Yeah, I had my problems.
  • 00:26:19
    I had massive, massive, massive problems
  • 00:26:22
    and so does and so did this older brother in Jesus story
  • 00:26:28
    had a massive, massive problem.
  • 00:26:30
    Now, he had all kind of -- Part of it was his lack of love.
  • 00:26:37
    He talks about this, his brother.
  • 00:26:40
    He doesn't even say,
  • 00:26:41
    "Now this younger brother of mine comes home."
  • 00:26:45
    He says, "Now this son of yours."
  • 00:26:48
    He doesn't want to even identify that he shares DNA with him.
  • 00:26:52
    He's completely separated from him.
  • 00:26:55
    Now, both of these folks, both these brothers,
  • 00:26:58
    actually have some things in common.
  • 00:27:01
    We're going to use this triangle a few times here.
  • 00:27:05
    And this triangle is actually an arrow.
  • 00:27:10
    I want my life to get some place. I hope you do, too.
  • 00:27:13
    If you want your life to be on the move,
  • 00:27:14
    if you want your life to get some place,
  • 00:27:18
    you have to be firm in the goodness of God.
  • 00:27:22
    You have to be aware that there is a good Father
  • 00:27:26
    who loves you and cares for you and is for you.
  • 00:27:30
    Here's how this works.
  • 00:27:31
    There is a God who is above and beyond us, our Father.
  • 00:27:37
    That's one element.
  • 00:27:38
    Another important element to understand is who we are,
  • 00:27:42
    what is our identity?
  • 00:27:43
    And then another element is our works
  • 00:27:48
    or how we obey, the things we do,
  • 00:27:52
    the good religious things that we do,
  • 00:27:54
    the good moral things that we do.
  • 00:27:56
    Both of these brothers, what they were trying to do
  • 00:27:59
    was the older brother, "Hey, I've been doing the works,
  • 00:28:03
    I've been doing my works.
  • 00:28:04
    I've been doing the things I should do around the house
  • 00:28:07
    and so therefore, I am your son because of those things
  • 00:28:11
    and therefore I should get to you and your riches."
  • 00:28:17
    At the same time, we have the younger brother
  • 00:28:20
    who once he's rebellious, he thinks,
  • 00:28:22
    "OK, I've got to get back to my dad.
  • 00:28:24
    I've got to get back to my Heavenly Father.
  • 00:28:27
    I've got to be a servant.
  • 00:28:28
    I've got to be a servant, because I'm not worthy
  • 00:28:30
    to be called your son, a servant. I'm not worthy.
  • 00:28:33
    But maybe someday if I do these things
  • 00:28:36
    and I work these things, then I'll be able to be there.
  • 00:28:38
    And maybe someday I'll get back in my dad's graces."
  • 00:28:44
    This is the path of slavery.
  • 00:28:48
    This is the path of religion.
  • 00:28:52
    This is the path of duty.
  • 00:28:55
    This is the path of wearing yourself out.
  • 00:28:59
    This is the path of God being some far off distant entity
  • 00:29:03
    that I may get to someday, but I'm not worthy of right now.
  • 00:29:08
    This is not the path of understanding the Good Father.
  • 00:29:12
    Here's actually the way this works.
  • 00:29:15
    The way this works is exactly the opposite.
  • 00:29:20
    God tells us who we are.
  • 00:29:23
    He gives us our identity.
  • 00:29:26
    When Jesus gets baptized, it says in the Bible,
  • 00:29:30
    "The spirit descends upon Him like a dove from heaven,
  • 00:29:32
    and the Father says to Him,
  • 00:29:34
    "This is my son in whom I am well pleased."
  • 00:29:36
    God tells Him who He is.
  • 00:29:38
    Today it seems so enlightened for us to allow our kids
  • 00:29:42
    to discover who they are.
  • 00:29:44
    That's not a good parents do.
  • 00:29:46
    Good parents don't allow their kids to discover who they are.
  • 00:29:49
    Good parents tell their kids who they are.
  • 00:29:53
    No kid at two years old has any idea who they are,
  • 00:29:56
    let alone even 12 years old.
  • 00:29:58
    Good fathers, good mothers, love, build into,
  • 00:30:02
    notice their kids and they tell them who they are.
  • 00:30:06
    You are a Tome.
  • 00:30:08
    You are a leader.
  • 00:30:11
    You are a good person.
  • 00:30:13
    You are a good man in the making.
  • 00:30:16
    We tell them who they are and out of that comes our works.
  • 00:30:22
    When Jesus was told who He was,
  • 00:30:23
    out of that came his teaching and His miracles.
  • 00:30:27
    He has no teaching record in the Bible,
  • 00:30:29
    no miracles that are recorded in the Bible
  • 00:30:33
    until this happens and this comes out.
  • 00:30:36
    This is the way it works.
  • 00:30:38
    I'm rooted in the goodness of God.
  • 00:30:41
    I'm rooted in understanding and out of this goes --
  • 00:30:44
    Friends, I'm tell you, this is massive. This is huge.
  • 00:30:47
    The number of people I know who believe that,
  • 00:30:50
    "Man, I've just got to --
  • 00:30:51
    I've got to be in constant self-improvement mode
  • 00:30:54
    and God will be happy."
  • 00:30:55
    Where does it say in the Bible
  • 00:30:57
    you have to be constantly improving yourself?
  • 00:30:59
    Where does it say in the Bible
  • 00:31:00
    we have to be constantly trying to lose weight,
  • 00:31:03
    constantly trying to eliminate caffeine from your life,
  • 00:31:07
    constantly trying to add more volunteer
  • 00:31:09
    opportunities in your life?
  • 00:31:11
    It may be good to volunteer more,
  • 00:31:12
    it may be find a drop some pounds,
  • 00:31:14
    maybe caffeine's starting to jack you up,
  • 00:31:15
    but don't think for a minute that what you do impresses God,
  • 00:31:20
    says, "Oh, now they're doing it.
  • 00:31:22
    Now they're separating their recyclables. Oh-ho-ho.
  • 00:31:24
    I've got to start saying yes to some prayers that they ask.
  • 00:31:28
    Oh, my gosh.
  • 00:31:29
    Now they just helped a little old lady across the street.
  • 00:31:33
    OK, now -- now I'm going to start listening."
  • 00:31:36
    It's not the way it works, friends.
  • 00:31:38
    We all have our own morality we slap on us.
  • 00:31:40
    We all have our own systems that we're trying to operate.
  • 00:31:43
    And this system, this backwards system is not--
  • 00:31:48
    This is God's system.
  • 00:31:49
    This is God's.
  • 00:31:50
    There is an entity that wants you and I
  • 00:31:54
    to work this backward system
  • 00:31:56
    that just wears us slap out and doesn't work.
  • 00:31:59
    Here's how Jesus refers to this opposing entity
  • 00:32:03
    or this opposing father in the Book of John 8:44, he says
  • 00:32:07
    to a bunch of religious people who are older brothers, he says:
  • 00:32:33
    There is an evil one, there's an evil entity
  • 00:32:35
    that speaks lies to you and he tells you,
  • 00:32:38
    "Work, improve yourself
  • 00:32:40
    so you can earn the right to get to God.
  • 00:32:43
    Work and improve yourself so God will love you.
  • 00:32:46
    Work, improve yourselves
  • 00:32:47
    so that God might actually care about your life."
  • 00:32:49
    Friends, this is a lie. It's a lie.
  • 00:32:53
    That your brother did nothing,
  • 00:32:55
    did nothing of his own accord. Nothing.
  • 00:32:58
    All he did was make a turn and go in the direction
  • 00:33:02
    of his father and his father ran to him.
  • 00:33:07
    You do not have to work for God's approval.
  • 00:33:10
    You do not.
  • 00:33:12
    And you don't have to do X, Y, Z
  • 00:33:16
    to make you be secure in the love of God.
  • 00:33:19
    God does care about our work. He does.
  • 00:33:22
    He cares about whether or not we obey Him. He does.
  • 00:33:26
    But He mostly cares about it because
  • 00:33:29
    it's an indication of whether or not we're in
  • 00:33:32
    an abiding, loving relationship with Him.
  • 00:33:35
    He wants us to lean into His goodness.
  • 00:33:37
    He wants us to lean into His presence.
  • 00:33:39
    He wants us to be satisfied with Him and Him alone
  • 00:33:43
    and then as a national outpouring
  • 00:33:46
    to be a blessing to those around us and pour into those.
  • 00:33:49
    My kids. Do I want my kids to be well-behaved?
  • 00:33:53
    Yeah, I do. I do.
  • 00:33:55
    But I want them to be well behaved because
  • 00:33:58
    they feel confident in my approval.
  • 00:34:00
    I want them to naturally want to do chores around the house
  • 00:34:03
    because they understand what it's like to be at my table.
  • 00:34:06
    They understand how many blessings I've given.
  • 00:34:09
    I want them to enjoy to be around me,
  • 00:34:11
    come around to be around me,
  • 00:34:13
    not, "I've got to come to Dad's house to do some chores."
  • 00:34:17
    And when they want to be around me, everything falls into place.
  • 00:34:21
    And when you want to be around God,
  • 00:34:23
    things just starting to fall into place.
  • 00:34:25
    Now, there's one final twist to the story, a fascinating one.
  • 00:34:31
    The older brother, not only was he messing up
  • 00:34:33
    and not getting his way to God,
  • 00:34:36
    trying to get his way to God the wrong way,
  • 00:34:37
    but the older brother had missed the plot a lot earlier.
  • 00:34:42
    All ancient cultures understand that the oldest son,
  • 00:34:46
    the oldest brother, has a responsibility for the family.
  • 00:34:50
    He's not only going to be in charge of the family later on,
  • 00:34:52
    but therefore he has a responsibility for the family
  • 00:34:54
    now, and should act that way.
  • 00:34:57
    That older brother should have gone out
  • 00:35:00
    after that younger brother.
  • 00:35:03
    That older brother had a responsibility
  • 00:35:05
    in the cultural context of that day
  • 00:35:06
    to go out after his younger brother.
  • 00:35:09
    That older brother doesn't do it.
  • 00:35:12
    During the Vietnam War there was an American GI
  • 00:35:15
    who was lost and they couldn't find him and know where he was.
  • 00:35:20
    And there was an older brother that flew to Vietnam
  • 00:35:25
    and went in search of his younger brother.
  • 00:35:28
    And according to the story, the Vietcong heard about this
  • 00:35:33
    and allowed this brother to do what he needed to do,
  • 00:35:35
    going in search of because Vietnam of the '70s
  • 00:35:38
    was closer to an ancient Middle East culture than we are today.
  • 00:35:42
    And they understood this value of the older brother
  • 00:35:46
    going out to look.
  • 00:35:47
    He was featured on the front page of Life Magazine.
  • 00:35:51
    Here's what's really wild with this.
  • 00:35:53
    While Jesus is communicating to us
  • 00:35:57
    the true identity of our Good Father,
  • 00:36:00
    He at the same time is the older brother.
  • 00:36:03
    The Bible refers to Jesus as the first born of creation.
  • 00:36:08
    He's the oldest brother, He is the first born.
  • 00:36:10
    What does he do? He goes after us. He comes after you.
  • 00:36:13
    You know what? You're here right now.
  • 00:36:15
    You're listening to this right now.
  • 00:36:16
    You might be understanding this right now
  • 00:36:18
    because Jesus is coming after you,
  • 00:36:20
    because He wants you to see, He wants you to understand.
  • 00:36:24
    He's wooed you into watching this.
  • 00:36:26
    He's wooed you into hearing these life-giving words.
  • 00:36:31
    It's not by accident.
  • 00:36:32
    It's because Jesus is chasing you down.
  • 00:36:35
    And He's chasing you down because He wants you
  • 00:36:37
    to understand the goodness of your Heavenly Father.
  • 00:36:43
    He's good and cares for you, He loves you.
  • 00:36:48
    He just wants you to be around.
  • 00:36:51
    He's created you and He has plans for you
  • 00:36:54
    to be in his family. That's a Good Dad.
  • 00:36:58
    Let's pray about that right now.
  • 00:37:01
    God, I'm astounded by Your goodness,
  • 00:37:03
    not just Your goodness to be one who blesses,
  • 00:37:06
    but Your goodness to come after us,
  • 00:37:12
    Your goodness to bless us with grace
  • 00:37:15
    and forgiveness and a second chance.
  • 00:37:19
    I thank you for that and for the person
  • 00:37:23
    and grace of Jesus, you are Good. Amen.
  • 00:37:30
    - Man, I really love what Brien said
  • 00:37:32
    about God being a Good Father.
  • 00:37:34
    - It's a Journey for sure,
  • 00:37:35
    this idea of trusting God is a Good Father.
  • 00:37:37
    As I've become a father I know it's become clear to me
  • 00:37:40
    that's not just an automatic thing
  • 00:37:41
    that kids trust their parents.
  • 00:37:43
    It's a process and it involves every single part
  • 00:37:46
    of our lives, including our money.
  • 00:37:47
    - Absolutely.
  • 00:37:48
    And we can trust God with our money because
  • 00:37:51
    He's a generous Father and so He wants us to be generous, too.
  • 00:37:54
    And you can practice generosity right now
  • 00:37:56
    by going to Crossroads.net/give.
  • 00:37:59
    - I don't know where you are in your journey
  • 00:38:00
    of trusting God as a Good Father,
  • 00:38:02
    but we're about to catch up with a friend of mine
  • 00:38:04
    who has an incredible story about learning to trust God
  • 00:38:07
    as a Father despite having an earthly father who let her down.
  • 00:38:31
    - Hey, Dawn, how are you?
  • 00:38:33
    Good to see you. Thanks for having us.
  • 00:38:35
    - Woo, it's hot. - It is, it's a little bit hot.
  • 00:38:43
    - Just a little bit.
  • 00:38:48
    - Well, hey, Dawn. - Hey, Kyle.
  • 00:38:50
    - It's so good to be here.
  • 00:38:51
    Thank you for for talking to us today.
  • 00:38:52
    We're talking about God as a Good Father,
  • 00:38:56
    which I know can be a really hard concept to grasp,
  • 00:38:58
    particularly if you've not had the best relationship
  • 00:39:01
    with your earthly dad.
  • 00:39:02
    Which I know is kind of where your story starts.
  • 00:39:04
    So take us to the beginning. Talk about you and your dad.
  • 00:39:08
    - Well, mother and father divorced
  • 00:39:10
    when I was really little.
  • 00:39:11
    I don't remember my dad being in the home.
  • 00:39:14
    My dad was very abusive.
  • 00:39:17
    He beat my mom a lot.
  • 00:39:21
    And actually, I believe it was the last beating.
  • 00:39:26
    He beat her while she was pregnant with me.
  • 00:39:29
    My mother after that ran for her life, ran for our lives.
  • 00:39:33
    So my father would blow in, I would like to say,
  • 00:39:35
    like every seven years or so.
  • 00:39:37
    I talked to him on the phone on occasion.
  • 00:39:39
    - What did that feel like as a kid?
  • 00:39:41
    You had to have like friends and see them with their dad
  • 00:39:44
    and you don't have a dad. What did that feel like to you?
  • 00:39:48
    - Yeah. I was jealous and envious.
  • 00:39:51
    I wanted a dad so bad.
  • 00:39:53
    I wanted to have this relationship.
  • 00:39:56
    I wanted to be able to sit down and talk to my dad,
  • 00:39:59
    sit on his lap.
  • 00:40:00
    And I wanted him to say to me, like, "You're my baby girl."
  • 00:40:03
    And I longed for that
  • 00:40:05
    and that was something that I didn't have.
  • 00:40:07
    And the way it manifested itself was in a lot of anger.
  • 00:40:11
    And the way that manifested outwardly is
  • 00:40:15
    I got involved in a gang.
  • 00:40:18
    I started smoking and drinking when I was really little
  • 00:40:21
    and just really doing things that I shouldn't be doing.
  • 00:40:23
    I got into a lot of fights in school.
  • 00:40:25
    My dad was not big on affirmation,
  • 00:40:28
    so I didn't get it from my dad,
  • 00:40:30
    so I would look for affirmation from other people.
  • 00:40:34
    And if a man told me, like, "Oh, you're good looking,"
  • 00:40:37
    or whatever I was, "Oh," you know, I really took that in.
  • 00:40:42
    And that cost me because the first year of my marriage,
  • 00:40:45
    I committed adultery
  • 00:40:47
    and I carried that secret for 17 years.
  • 00:40:50
    And it was torment.
  • 00:40:52
    I remember like somebody told me like
  • 00:40:55
    I could have this relationship with God.
  • 00:40:57
    And I really wanted to cultivate that.
  • 00:41:00
    And I remember it was during a time of just prayer
  • 00:41:04
    and fasting for me and I was reading this book.
  • 00:41:07
    And in this book, I felt convicted that
  • 00:41:14
    I was carrying this deep, dark secret
  • 00:41:17
    that I needed to share with my husband.
  • 00:41:20
    And I really didn't want to do it because
  • 00:41:22
    I knew it was going to cost me.
  • 00:41:25
    But I also knew, like, I wanted to get closer to God.
  • 00:41:28
    I wanted this relationship that I heard people talk about.
  • 00:41:32
    And this was the boulder that separated us.
  • 00:41:36
    And I felt convicted that I had to tell.
  • 00:41:40
    And I did and it was rough,
  • 00:41:42
    but the person who I was at the point of sharing it,
  • 00:41:47
    I was a very different person.
  • 00:41:50
    I had repented to God first and asked Him to help me
  • 00:41:55
    to not do that again and to help me to know,
  • 00:41:59
    like, how did I get there?
  • 00:42:01
    Because I believe if you don't know how you get to a place,
  • 00:42:05
    you're destined to be there again.
  • 00:42:06
    And I needed to know how did I get there?
  • 00:42:10
    And what He let me know is that
  • 00:42:12
    I was looking for love in wrong places, wrong faces.
  • 00:42:16
    It has been miraculous.
  • 00:42:18
    I can say my husband and I had been married for 37 years
  • 00:42:22
    and that is to God be the glory.
  • 00:42:25
    So God has done just a redeeming work in our marriage.
  • 00:42:31
    And then God saying, "You are my daughter
  • 00:42:34
    and I'm well pleased with you."
  • 00:42:36
    And it was a time of weeping
  • 00:42:40
    and really just receiving God's truth
  • 00:42:42
    that I am who He says I am.
  • 00:42:45
    And so all of the other things that I've dealt with
  • 00:42:49
    just really just washing over and just washing out
  • 00:42:53
    because they've been replaced with some truth,
  • 00:42:57
    the truth that I need it so desperately in my life.
  • 00:43:00
    I now see myself as a daughter.
  • 00:43:04
    And I am a woman that I never thought that I could be
  • 00:43:07
    because I have a dad that I never thought that I could have,
  • 00:43:10
    and that's my Heavenly Father.
  • 00:43:12
    And while I don't have my earthly father here,
  • 00:43:15
    I still wish that I had him, but that's not the case.
  • 00:43:19
    I have a Heavenly Father who loves me despite anything.
  • 00:43:23
    He loves me unconditionally
  • 00:43:25
    and that has been transforming for me.
  • 00:43:28
    So if I get up and my hair is turned to the other side
  • 00:43:32
    or whatever, He loves me just the way I am.
  • 00:43:36
    And that's the kind of dad I want.
  • 00:52:35
    - Thanks for being with us today.
  • 00:52:37
    Don't let your experience stop here.
  • 00:52:38
    The Journey has three critical parts to it.
  • 00:52:40
    - And the first part is to watch the weekend service,
  • 00:52:43
    and you already did that, so congratulations.
  • 00:52:45
    The second part is to do the individual personalized work.
  • 00:52:48
    And the third part is to get into a group.
  • 00:52:51
    - And the group part is absolutely critical
  • 00:52:54
    to your experience
  • 00:52:55
    and it's incredibly easy to jump into one.
  • 00:52:57
    Just go to Crossroads.net/journey
  • 00:52:59
    and we've got online groups, in person groups for you.
  • 00:53:02
    We'd love to connect you with the right people for you.
  • 00:53:04
    - Like I said, that individual work is such a critical piece
  • 00:53:07
    and you can get that work by downloading the Crossroads app
  • 00:53:11
    wherever you download your apps.
  • 00:53:13
    - We will see you next week for the third week of The Journey.
  • 00:53:16
    Between now and then, me and Hannah,
  • 00:53:17
    we're going to keep rocking the yellow onesies just like this.

Oct 10, 2020 53 mins 27 sec

Recent Series