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“IF GOD HAS A REFRIGERATOR, YOUR PICTURE IS ON IT”
January 14, 2007
Luke 15:11- 24
Rev. Tonya Arnesen

Introduction

For centuries, philosophers and theologians have pondered, “What do we think about God?”  Is God all-powerful and omnipotent, or are God’s actions limited by humanity’s free will?  Did God create the universe, then withdraw His presence to tend to other more important Godly business; or is God the direct cause of every blessing and every tragedy?  Does God favor the poor, or is wealth and prosperity a sign of God’s preference?  Is God capricious and fickle – blessing the scoundrel and bringing adversity to the saint? 

It matters what we think about God.  In fact, your concept of God can shape your character, mold your understanding of humanity and inform your decisions.  If you believe God is capricious and inconsistent, you are likely to become fatalistic and cynical.  If you believe God is judgmental – always looking for your faults, you are likely to treat others the same way.  If you believe God is remote and unconcerned about humanity, you certainly won’t be likely to pray!  Yes, it matters very much, how we think about God. 

But what matters MORE, is what God thinks about us!  And we don’t have to wonder about it – for in Luke Chapter 15, Jesus tells a series of parables which describe what God thinks about us.  The parable of the lost sheep illustrates God’s concern for lost persons – God seeks them out and saves them from peril.  The parable of the lost coin reminds us that NO person is inconsequential – God will not give up until every person is fully restored to His loving care.  This third parable reminds us that God loves his children unconditionally, celebrates them unashamedly and forgives them unreservedly. 

(Read Luke 15:11-24)

Sermon

When the children were younger, our refrigerator was literally covered with their pictures:  class pictures, scouting pictures, recital pictures, and candid shots of family times together.  Those pictures were testimony to my love for them – how important they were to me.  And no matter how they may have disappointed or hurt me – even when they rebelled and seemed to reject everything their Dad and I had taught them; those pictures remained on my refrigerator as a reminder that my children were precious to me.

This morning, I want to tell you that if God has a refrigerator, your picture is on it!  How do I know?  Because the Bible tells me so!  The story I just read describes God as a devoted, compassionate parent… who loves His children unconditionally, celebrates us unashamedly and forgives us unreservedly.  Let’s look together at these three qualities of God’s love, described in Jesus’ story of the prodigal son. 

First, God loves us unconditionally.  The younger son says to his father, “I want RIGHT NOW what's coming to me.  My inheritance, please!”  In that culture, it would have been like saying, “Drop dead, Daddy-o!”  Dr. Kenneth Bailey, who taught at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, writes that he knows of only one case in modern village life where this kind of brash and disrespectful request was made.  An older son asked his father to divide the family inheritance, and the father, in great anger, took a stick and drove his son from the house, never to permit him to return again.  All the neighbors in the village applauded! 

But as hurt and insulted as the father must have felt, he doesn’t react the way we expect him to.  Instead of slamming the door and changing the locks; instead of disowning his foolish son and focusing all his paternal attention on his remaining “good” son, the father watches and waits for the reckless boy to come to his senses and return home.  Given the boy’s insult, that father had every right to say, “You made your choices – now you’re dead to me.  You are no longer part of this family.”  Certainly, the BEST that boy deserved was for his father to treat him like a slave or hired hand.     

But the father doesn’t give the son what he deserves.  Instead, he gives the boy his unconditional love.  He holds a vigil – watches and waits for his boy to come home.  And when he spies his son in the distance, Dad dashes out to greet him – his robes flapping in the wind, his heart so full of joy and relief, he doesn’t even flinch at the stench of pigsty.  He gathers his son into his arms and weeps into his neck.  That’s unconditional love.

David Leroy tells this story about unconditional love.  He grew up in a small town in Louisiana, where his dad owned a grocery store.  His father worked hard and saved money for years, to purchase a brand new 1928 Buick.  It was their prize possession.  And even though David Leroy was only eleven years old, he loved to drive the car around in the yard… he never took it out on the road – he was only eleven years old.  But he looked for every excuse to drive that 1928 Buick around the yard. 

One morning, David Leroy’s mother announced that she needed to take the clothes to the cleaners.  “I’ll move the car around for you, Mom” said the boy… and he was out the door.  The car was in the garage.  And David Leroy was so excited to be driving; he forgot to close the driver’s side door.  As he backed out, the open door smacked against the garage entryway, ripped off completely and landed with a sickening thud on the garage floor!  Can you imagine?  David Leroy had knocked the door off his father’s brand new 1928 Buick!  Of course, his mother was not happy!  “Look what you’ve done, young man!  You just wait till your father gets home.  He is so proud of that car and you’ve ruined it… I’ll intercede for you the best I can, but I don’t know what in the world your father’s going to say!” 

Dad arrived home for supper… but David Leroy had lost his appetite.  He stood behind the kitchen door and listened as his mother broke the news… The boy braced himself for the worst, but to his amazement, his father said, “Well, you’re right, Ruby.  The car is precious to me, but not as precious as David Leroy.  Just as you said, he didn’t mean to do it.  He was trying to help.  We can get the car fixed.  The main thing is no one got hurt… He’s our son, and he must feel awful right about now and we just need to love him through this.”

Well, David Leroy survived that trauma and grew up to become the great American preacher, known as Dr. D. L. Dykes!  Dr. Dykes is in heaven now, but listen to what he wrote about the day he knocked the driver’s door off his daddy’s 1928 Buick, “Mom interceded for me and Dad forgave me… and I learned a lot from them that day about what God is like.  I learned from them that day the meaning of grace… I learned from them the meaning of unconditional love.”  God loves us unconditionally – that’s the first thing Jesus’ story teaches us.  

And second, Jesus reminds us that God celebrates us unashamedly.  Can’t you just imagine that father running down the road towards his son?  Remember, this is a man of means – he has some stature in the community.  But he doesn’t care what the neighbors think, all he cares about is that his son who was lost, is now found.  So he throws a party to express his unbridled joy.  Yippee!  My son has come to his senses.  Yahoo!  He’s come home to make a fresh start.  God celebrates us unashamedly!

Dr. Fred Craddock tells of a boy born out of wedlock in a small town in west Tennessee in the early 1900’s.  Life was tough for that poor illegitimate kid – parents wouldn’t allow their children to play with him; he was shunned on the playgrounds.  People whispered behind his back and called him ugly names.  He felt rejected and worthless… and lonely.  When he became a teenager, he started going to church.  People were nice to him there – but he felt self-conscious.  Each week, as soon as the preacher finished his sermon, the boy slipped out the back door quickly before services ended. 

Until one Sunday morning as he was leaving the sanctuary, he heard the preacher call out his name.  The boy stopped and turned as the minister asked that dreaded question, “Whose boy are you, anyway?”  He froze in horror, felt his whole body tense up, and wished that he could disappear.  The minister continued, “Hey, I know who you are!  I know who you belong to!  I can see it now.  I see the family resemblance.  You, my boy, are a child of God.  I can tell by the way you act that you must be close kin to God.” 

Well, the boy was speechless as the minister laid his hands upon his shoulders and spoke this word of blessing:  “Son, you have a great heritage.  Now you go out there in the world and claim it.” 

That brief incident changed the boy’s life; gave him a new identity, a new sense of worth and purpose.  He finally claimed the truth that God loved him unconditionally; God celebrated him unashamedly.  And the boy grew up to be an amazing man – Ben Hooper – who is fondly remembered as one of the most effective and beloved governors the State of Tennessee has ever had.

God loves us unconditionally and celebrates us unashamedly.  And God forgives us unreservedly.  The father in Jesus’ story might have said to his rebellious son, “You made your bed, now lie in it.  After all you’ve done, you can’t just crawl home and expect me to pardon you.”  But instead, he forgave his son freely, graciously, completely. 

Jesus paints a picture of a compassionate God, who watches and waits for His children to come to their senses.  God is grieved when we are rebellious and disobedient, for God knows our sin brings us nothing but trouble and heartache.  Even still, God continues to love us – never gives up on us – watches and waits for us to come home.  And when we do, God says, “Now let me help you make a fresh start.” 

A fresh start!  Friends, God forgives you without reservation!  No holds barred.  It’s as if He casts your sin out into the deep waters of his love, and then posts a “No Fishing” sign over it.

In his wonderful book, No Wonder They Call Him Savior, Max Lucado tells the story of a loving mother Maria and her beautiful teenaged daughter Christina.  Christina wanted to leave their poor Brazilian village and see the bright lights of Rio de Janeiro.  Knowing that her mother would not give permission, Christina packed a few things and left home one morning before dawn.  She left a note for her mother.  

Mother Maria was heartbroken. Quickly she packed a few things and prepared to go in search of her daughter.  On her way to the bus station she stopped by a drugstore to get one last thing--lots of pictures.  She sat in the photography booth, closed the curtain and spent all she could on pictures of herself.  Stuffing these into her purse she boarded the next bus for Rio.

Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money.  She also knew her daughter was too stubborn to give up.  When pride meets hunger, a person will sometimes do things that were unthinkable before.  Knowing this, Maria began her search...bars, hotels, nightclubs, any place with a reputation for street walkers and prostitutes.  At each place she left her picture--taped on a bathroom mirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin board, fastened to a corner phone booth.  And on the back of each photo she wrote a note.

It wasn't long before both the money and the pictures ran out.  Maria had to go home.  The weary mother wept as the bus began its long journey; she knew her daughter was still somewhere in that urban jungle.  

A few weeks later, Christina descended some hotel stairs.  Her fresh face was tired.  Her brown eyes no longer danced with youth, but spoke of fear and pain.  A thousand times she had longed to trade these countless beds for her secure pallet back in the village.  But the village was so far away in so many ways.  As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she noticed something familiar.  She looked again, and there on the lobby bulletin board was a small picture of her mother.  Christina's eyes burned and her throat tightened as she removed the small photo.  Written on the back was this compelling invitation: "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter. Please come home."  And she did.

Dear people, that is God’s message to you today:  “Whatever you have done, whatever you've become, it doesn't matter.  Please come home!"  Come home to the One who loves you unconditionally; come home to the One who celebrates you unashamedly; come home to the One who forgives you unreservedly. 

Rev. Tonya Arnesen

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