Our Heavenly Father's Love
Uchenna Uchegbu · Tidal Church Moncton · June 18, 2023
Uchenna Uchegbu looks at Luke 15 and the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin and prodigal son. On Father's Day, he shows how God searches for the lost, welcomes them home, restores them as sons and daughters, and rejoices over each one.
Topics: Love, Forgiveness, Identity
Transcript
[0:00] Good morning, church. Good morning. Do we have excited people today? Good morning, church. Good morning. I'm so happy to be with you today. My name is Uchenna, and first of all, I want to thank you for trusting me to serve in the board for the last two years. I'm not just here alone. I am a father. I have a wonderful wife, Chino. I have three wonderful kids. I also have my father visiting here today. It gets better. I also have some wonderful people here. Over 112 countries are celebrating these people today. They are special. They make sacrifices for people.
[0:46] They do things at, you know, to please they, you know, they pray, they, they make a lot of sacrifices for their family and for things to move smoothly. They are our fathers. So I'm here on behalf of the church and local boards to welcome our fathers. I wish them a happy Father's Day. So you're gonna do me a favor. You're gonna look to your right or to your left. And if you're sitting down with a father or a father figure, I want you to just look to the person and say, "Happy Father's Day. Thank you for what you do." Yeah, I can see that some fathers are saying, "Oh, I wish I sat close to some people to tell me Happy Father's Day." Well, as you know, I know that people are happy to be appreciated, but also it could be that there are some fathers here that are looking and saying, "Whoa, I feel imperfect.
[1:47] I've missed out on some things I was supposed to do. I've been imperfect in some of my relationships." Which of us is perfect? Who is perfect? You know those little T-shirts when you have a little kid, you go and you, when you're choosing the first T-shirt, you want the one that says, "I have the coolest father of all." But then when the child becomes a teenager, the child is saying, "Oh, my dad, sit down there. I want to sit on your other side." You know? But we have someone, in all His life, He kept talking about His Father. He was so full of His Father from childhood even until death. And this person is Jesus. And we share the same Heavenly Father.
[2:32] So today I'm gonna be talking about a Heavenly Father's love. But before I start, I want to tell you about how Jesus was consumed about His Father. At age 12, He was in the temple. And at the temple He stayed back when His parents returned. So they lost Him for one day. Three days later, they had found Him. After asking so many questions, and they asked Him, they said, "Oh, son." Mary, you know, mother's always anxious, and we love them for that. They're like, "Oh, didn't You have any concern for us? We've been looking for You all this while. My, Your father and I have been looking for You." And you know how Jesus responded in Luke 2:49? He said, "Didn't you know I will be in My Father's house?" I can imagine how Joseph would've felt. "What do you mean?" You know, He was talking about His heavenly Father, and you just need to threaten Jesus like, you know, the Pharisees.
[3:28] And Sadducees. Jesus would spend all night praying to who? His Father, while He was going through the cross, He would pray and say, "Oh Father, if it's Your will, let this cup pass over me." At the point of that, He said, "Father, unto You, I sacrifice unto You. I submit my spirit." And even when He had to teach us how to pray, how did He start? "Our Father in heaven." So you don't need to push Jesus too much. He will start talking about His Father. So today in 1 John 3:1, the Bible says, "See what great love the Father, that's the heavenly Father, has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God. And that is what we are."
[4:20] So we're going to hear how Jesus, from Jesus Himself, how He tried to explain or express His Father's love to us. Now, I'll be trying to look at Luke chapter 15, the whole verse, we will not read the whole chapter. We'll just take some parts, but I beg you, when you have some time, spend some time and read that chapter again. So in Luke 15, from verse 1 to 2, I want to, you know, just bring a context to this story. The Bible says, "Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.'" This was not like, a situation where Jesus was prepared to talk about His Father.
[5:18] He was not given note. He was not given a advanced notice that You're gonna be talking about Your heavenly Father. But this was a situation where Jesus was gathering around a set of people that the whole world had some questions or did not like. They didn't like the tax collectors of the Roman Empire because they felt they were on the other side. And the sinners, they looked at them as if they were flawed. You didn't need to look far to find something wrong with them. Oh, maybe this man is a liar. Maybe this woman talks this way. Maybe this, you would find a flaw in them. But Jesus was in their midst. Now, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, who by the way, were looking out to get Jesus for political or other reasons, came by and they saw Jesus sitting down with these people.
[6:18] And I can imagine on that day, hands rolling in excitement. "We've got Him." In their mind, "We have finally found Him. We found a flaw in Him." And while they were looking at themselves, it came from, it was no longer thought. They started murmuring words. This man, they didn't call Jesus Rabbi. They didn't call Him Son of Man. They didn't call Him teacher of the law. In fact, they questioned His title. They said, "This man sit with what? Sinners. He even welcomes them." That's not all. He does what? He eats with them. Can you imagine?
[7:04] And Jesus was there. He had to defend Himself. That was not a very good introduction. But you know, Jesus, you just need to touch Him a bit, and we start talking about who His Father. And this was His response. He responded with three parables. Now, the first parable in Luke, the same Luke 15, we're gonna read from verse 3 to 7. He says, "Then Jesus told them this parable, 'Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, doesn't he leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.
[7:51] Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me. I have found my lost sheep." I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.'" Now you wonder, sheep, this was in their time. This could be something that you used to define your affluence or, you know, your state in the community. Remember when the Bible talked about Job as the richest man in the east? He said he had 7,000 sheep. Now you lose one. I don't know why the, you know, the Bible sometimes humors me. He had a hundred.
[8:41] So if I say a hundred percent, he lost 1%. I tell you, when I was in school, I had 99%, 70% was okay for me. He lost one. And he will leave that one. And I'll leave the 99 and go out for one. Don't we do the same? We, in our professional lives or we in our daily lives, we take stock. Sometimes we take stock and we say the only thing that stops me from getting to the next position is my negotiation skills or maybe my communication skills or maybe how I express myself. And what do we do? We forget everything. We lay down all the degrees, all the trainings, all our strengths.
[9:28] And we burn the midnight candle, reading books, listening to mentors, getting certifications. And when we get certified, we go to our social media page, Linked I am now a certified negotiator and everybody puts it on our shoulder. We rejoice and everybody says, well done, well done, well done. Jesus didn't have any problem with that. But he said, my heavenly Father does this in the same way I, my, I told you that in the same way my heavenly Father rejoices in heaven over one sinner who repents. So what excites him is that a lost person has come back. He's found someone that has been lost.
[10:16] That's what excites him. That's what is in his LinkedIn page. That's what's in his, that's what gets heaven excited. That someone who was a sinner, repents he loves in 99. But one person that changed and sees the love of the Father and submits to the love of this father, gives the heavenly Father a heavenly Father joy. He then went further and talked about this woman in Luke chapter. So the first thing I want you to know is God is interested in your salvation. He's rooting for you to be saved. Heaven celebrates beyond description over every soul that is saved. Now the second thing, when we look at, in Luke 15, 8-10, He says, "Or suppose a woman has 10 silver coins and loses one, doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me.
[11:18] I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Now, I don't know about you, but I can tell you that I've lost a lot of things and I keep misplacing even precious things to me. Like my key, my wallet, my ID card. And every time I misplace something, my mind is wired to searching. Answering one simple question, where was the last place you were in when you misplaced this key? I will check the couch because maybe that's the last place. Turn it over. Even though I've checked it a couple of times, I'm going back there again.
[12:05] Maybe I'm not checking too well. And then when everybody's looking at me and saying, "You've done it again," right? Like, "What? What have you lost this time?" I'm like, "It's my ID card, but it's somewhere here. It's somewhere here. Just look, it's somewhere here." Because my mind is wired to look for things where I last sat. But that's not the story of this woman. This woman lights a lamp. I can understand that it's possibly dark. I need lights to check on that for my keys. But then she takes, she starts sweeping the house. Oh, I don't want something new. I'm looking for a key. The objective is not cleaning the house. You know, she then takes a broom, she sweeps the house and she searches carefully until she finds it. So two things are done. She, the house is clean and she finds that which is lost. And then she goes, celebrating and rejoicing. "I have found what was lost."
[13:07] Now this speaks to method. When we talk about a Heavenly Father, when He says in the same way, "I tell you," a Heavenly Father is deliberate and He is thorough and illuminating in His search for the unsaved. Do not think that your coming here is actually a mistake. The heaven, our Heavenly Father may have been sweeping from time to time. You might have been somewhere, somebody may have invited you. You may have just said, "Oh, that banner looks good. Let me get into this church." You might be tuning in. And you know, you came across, you know, the website or the link might have been shared with you.
[13:53] It's not a mistake. The Heavenly Father is what? Sweeping. He's sweeping and He's presenting Himself openly. And He's saying, "Here I am. I am your Heavenly Father. I have so much love for you." And if you receive the Heavenly Father, what does He do? He's rejoicing in the presence of angels over one sinner who repents. Now somebody will say, David, in Psalm 139, from verse 1 to 4, he described how the Lord searches for people using his own experience. He said, "You have searched me, Lord. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar.
[14:40] You discern my going in." Sorry, "You discern my going out and my lying down. You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, Lord, You know it completely." You can't run from God. He knows it all. "Where can I go from Your presence?" Lord, You are with me all of my days. You can't run. He sees you. He knows you. And He's searching and saying, "My love is revealed. I'm here to reveal Myself to you." And when we accept that love, He transforms us. He changes us. Now the parable refers to, it helps us answer this question, what happens if I have been with God and I decided to take a break and I want to return? Does God kick me out? Does He say, "Oh, you useless son, you've blown your chance"?
[15:40] Now this story, it's a long story, I'll tell you, but, and then we read some of the scriptures, was about, we call it the, the story of the prodigal son, a father who had two sons. He gave these two sons the same training. He taught them, well, he had hired servants, but yet he made the children work the field. And then he taught them that, "I am building an estate for you." They knew all this. They had quick access to him. You could express yourself to him. And one day the younger son felt, well, "I think I can, you know, speak to my father." Said, "Oh, Dad, can I have the time with you?" He said, "Sure, I know you're a good father, oh, I'm happy you know this. I know you're building an estate for me." I said, Oh, I'm happy that you're beginning to, you know, realize this.
[16:30] I don't know how he convinced his father. I said, "But one thing I want you to do is give me my own share. Give me my own share of these estates." And I want my own share of Jesus. And the Father did what he gave him. Now, this son, the Bible says, it didn't take too long, he started thinking of going to a distant land, this distant land. Invariably, if the father asked him that morning, "Son, where are you going?" "To say, 'Dad, I'll figure it out when I get there.'" Have you had kids who tell you, "Dad, I'll figure it out. Don't worry, I'll figure it out when I get there." How would you do this? How would you fend for yourself? "I'll figure it out."
[17:15] "I just want to be on my own. I want to think for myself. I have all the equipment and everything I need for myself. I just want to go to a distant place for myself." And he traveled and went out, and as he traveled, he, you know, when we leave this place, you have the loud noise and every other thing outside. And he chose the wrong lifestyle. He went really wild. The Bible says he went and spent all he had on wild living. He spent it on wild living. You know, trust me, if you are in the wild part, for you to get, you know, they talk, they tell you when you're new in a place, you study the place and you try to fit in.
[18:09] So if you try to fit in the wild place, you need to be what? Wild. So I would not be surprised he would be sponsoring the wild living in that wild place till he became broke. He had lost all and there was famine. You know, the truth is, life is not all rosy. We all face those difficult periods, but it's difficult to face it outside in the wild. Now, in the wild when he had lost all, he had the opportunity to think again and say, "I will go back to my father's house." But he said, "No, I will help myself." That was the first thing: "I will help myself." So he hired himself out to someone who was rich and he said, "Well, I will start again and I will help myself."
[19:01] Now, I can imagine if this was a, he had to describe his job responsibilities or his resume or he was in an interview and they asked him, "Can you feed the ship? Can you feed the pigs?" He said, "Yes, I can." "What qualifications do you have?" He said, "Well, I know how to work the fields. I know how to get the right pods. I know how to design the right quantity and they will be good," and say, "Oh, you sound so, ah, where did you learn this from?" If he thought back, he would say, "In my father's house." That would have been a pointer to think back there. But he in his mind was, "I want to be on my own." So he hired himself out.
[19:48] And of course, while he was there feeding the pig, he was hungry, he was starving, and he wanted to eat out of the pots from these pigs. And when he wanted to, "No, that's not for you, it's for who?" The pigs. Well, thank God, from verse 17 to 19, the Bible says, 17 to 19. He says, when he came to his senses, now notice what happened when he came to his senses, he starts talking about his father. When he came to his senses, he said, "How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare? And I'm here starving to death. I will set out and go back to my father and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
[20:42] I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.'" It was all about his father when he came to his senses. Now, it's not easy at that point, because at that point a lot of things could have been running in his head. Are you strong enough to go back to your father's house? You're so weak and hungry. What if you die? Like, oh, I will go back to my father's house. What if, will he receive you? I will go back to my father's house. What if he says... I will go back to my father's house when I get there. I will say, "Don't even make me son, make me servant." He was determined. He was determined that "I will go back to my father's house." And as he was returning, the Bible says, from verse 20 to 24, "So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him."
[21:43] He ran to his son, threw his arm around him and kissed him. The son said to him, "Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and he's found." So they began to celebrate. While he was still far away, the father was always looking far away. It's possible the hired servants were imagining, "Oh, this our master is looking at the beautiful view. He has wonderful view."
[22:28] But he was looking out, "When will my son return?" And when he saw his son still far away, he didn't tell his servants, "You go get that naughty boy." He didn't say, "You run after and tell him don't come into my house." The father didn't have to say anything. What did he do? He took it upon himself, broke all protocols. He started running. I can imagine the servants, the hired servants on those days with him. "See, my master is running. What do I do? Let's run as well." So he runs. He sees his son, he kisses the son. The son, of course, his mind is made up. He's saying, "Oh, make me a servant. I have sinned against you and against heaven." Oh, "I don't deserve to be called your son."
[23:14] And after he allows his son to express himself as he's, he says, "Son, hold on." He then speaks to the servants. He says, "You know what? Go and bring the best robe, I want the best robe." God takes away our filth and He places the beautiful robes in us. The robes of righteousness, love, peace, joy, long suffering, patience. He gives us all those beautiful things. The names we carried or we have carried along. He drops it when we reach Him, when we come honestly to Him and He says, "Oh, give him that ring. You are mine. Take off the sandals he has. Get him the best. Where is the best cattle I have? What are you doing? Go.
[24:01] Let's have some celebration." Now let me let you know this. Our heavenly Father is forgiving. That's the third point. Reaching out and willing to break all protocol to receive the lost. He is the He. Our heavenly Father restores what is lost. He takes out the ruggedness, the wrong identity we have borne. And He replaces it with His best robes. What else does He do? That's not all. A heavenly Father reconfirms our sonship on repentance. He said, "For this son of mine was dead and he's now alive again." The son was coming and saying, "Call me servant. Call me servant. Call me." Father said, "No, you are, what, my son."
[24:49] "Oh, you call me this, call me that." No, you are, what, my son. It's all I'm using. When Jesus met people, that people call different names, if you read every encounter He had, they will call her, "Oh, this woman that was an adult." He'll call her daughter, this daughter of mine. He will look at someone that will like, they will have called a. And even they say this son of mine, He called him, what? Son. Now of course the older son came back from the field and he was angry when he heard what was happening. First heard music, he said, "This is weird, what's going on?" And when they told him what was going on, he said, "Wow, how come my father did such a thing? He commanded me to go to the field and I obeyed. Why would he give this?
[25:37] My brother who spent his life with prostitutes, this kind of celebration?" And he was so upset. How does a heavenly Father expect us to receive the ones who have found God's love? In verse 31, He says, "My son," that's the heavenly Father speaking to this boy you have. "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." Next point, our heavenly Father tells us, tells other Christians who sometimes feels offended by sinner's redemption, to be glad and rejoice. Why? Heaven is rejoicing. Our heavenly Father is rejoicing.
[26:29] We have a heavenly Father who is for us, who loves us, who can break all protocols to receive us. And our heavenly Father is rooting for every one of us here today. Now, how does God, how does our heavenly Father ex- What does His expectation from earthly fathers like us, even in our family relationships? Okay, now we'll just quickly look at these five points and then we'll end. He says, "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." This is the principle. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. How do you do this? Wives, submit to your husband as you do unto, who? The Lord. Husbands, what do you do? Husbands, love your wives.
[27:20] Just as, who? God gave Himself up for the church. What about children? Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. What do you see common in all these things? The Lord, just as He gave us the example, we should follow suit. Jesus should be the foundation, the center point of our family. It should be the reason behind what we do. When Jesus was called out for sitting with sinners, He would only look back and say, "My Father cares for them. And that is why I'm here.
[28:14] My Father is the reason I'm here, to show my Father to these ones. I am here with them. I'm here to listen to them. I'm here to hear their pains and take that burden from them and show them the Father's love." Our family relationship should be Christ-centered. It is difficult to stay the family unit without a solid relationship with Christ. A foundation without Christ is a shaky foundation that could fail with the onset of a storm. But the good news is that we have a heavenly Father who is ready to jump in and save that sinking ship.
[28:59] So I want us to just close our eyes for a minute and I want to give some opportunity for anyone who just wants to speak to the Father. You know, you want to just express yourself to your Father. I say, "Oh Lord, today is Father's Day. But I just want to come as I am. You've sought for me. You are searching for me, just like that woman who has been sweeping. And I'm here today, but I want You to deal with this issue that has been with me for a long time today. I want to drop it and I want to have the Father's love." If you wanna pray that prayer and you also want to feel free to come out and say, "I want someone to also pray with me." You know, I just agree with someone in the prayer team.
[29:45] Feel free to just come out and say, "Father, here I am, just as I am. I know You've done all the work. You have given Yourself to me, You have done every single day. But today I have come just as I am." Remember in Revelation 3:20 says, "Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and I will eat with that person and they with me." So as the song goes on, if you feel led that you want someone to pray with you, please come forward and the prayer team will also come in and also pray with you after, just after the last song. But bless you.