Father's Day Talk: 2020

The Father’s Love

A sermon given at Sydney Young Nak Church 
Telopea, NSW
Sunday 7 September (Father’s Day) 2020

          Shalom, to the members of SYNC, to the pastoral staff and volunteers, and those who are investigating the claims of Messiah among us. What a pleasure to return to SYNC as you have kindly welcomed members of our organization over the years.

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I appreciate that you have been studying the book of Genesis in your church services lately, and last week you studied Genesis 21, so naturally today you should be studying chapter 22. In that chapter you see Abraham taking Isaac up Mount Moriah. If I were preaching on that passage today, I would mention a father walking his son up to the top of a mountain and offering him to the Lord. But I have another sermon to give on this Father’s Day. I hope it is welcomed deep in your soul.

In less than two weeks, Jewish people all around the globe will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah, that is the Jewish New Year. Unlike other celebrations like we have here in Sydney with fireworks and drunkenness, Jewish New Year begins with serious concerns about sin and repentance, and long sessions of prayer.

Concerning sin, the teachings of the Bible are clear. The 10 Commandments and seemingly every prophet arranges lists of Jewish mistakes so that we have plenty for which to repent every New Year.

Take Jeremiah, for example. He chides Judah for all their boasting, their confidence in their building by which they are safeguarded and warns them to amend their ways. He lists our sins, one by one, and sometimes repeats them, until we finally might actually acknowledge our sinfulness and repent. 

Jeremiah says, “if you truly practice justice (meaning we were practicing injustice) between a man and his neighbour,  if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin” (7.5-6)
And again
“Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known?  Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” declares the Lord. “And now, because you have done all these things,” declares the Lord, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer” (9-13)

Jeremiah is not only chiding; he's derailing us from our thinking we are a-ok. What will be the result? Dispersion and the ruin of the Temple, “as he did at Shiloh.” (verse 14) From where does this sinful activity come? It boils down to a misunderstanding and disobedience to the First commandment. What is that First commandment? Love God, and Him only. “I am the Lord thy God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” It’s barely a commandment at all; just an appeal to know Him. 

Often our response to God’s conviction of our sins is something we could call Reformation or Rehabilitation. We will make it right with God. We will fix our own lives. We will pray more. We will fast twice a week. We will rise early and make food for our neighbours. We will donate to charity. Honest, Lord, we’ll do better next week. 

Now, don’t get me wrong. I think repair is great. I think restitution is often right with people. But rehab and doubling down on our efforts of religion is never going to impress the Almighty. Our righteous deeds are like filthy menstrual rags in his sight. We can never out-maneuver and out-religion God. He knows our hearts. He sees our insides. He understands our motives, way better than we do, and certainly more than our closest friends.

Listen to Jeremiah’s next lines: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh. For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people.” (21-23)

The point is this: be personal with the Living God. Listen to Him. Love Him. Hear Him. Be real. Be His person. Your religious chatter and your pretend devotion stink in His nostrils. Idolatry, the replacing of the Lord with anything less than Him, whether the Queen of Heaven, and getting dysphoric about God, or championing the rights of those who oppose Him, is entirely worthy of judgments.

Neither the false ideas and proclamations in the ‘safe haven’ of the Temple, nor the afternoon picnic to the Queen of heaven can safeguard the Jewish people. Just two decades later, we were taken captive by the Babylonians and God’s judgment fell on us severely. We had leaders who calmed us with words that predate, but channel Neville Chamberlain, but are nothing of real healing. We had teachers who taught of their own initiative but didn’t really bring us the powerful words of the Almighty. And we did nothing. We spread out bones and saw death all around us but didn’t turn to Him.

Dear friends, this is what the Lord wants us to understand today. A relationship with Him, in the Messiah Yeshua. That began for me about 49 years ago and I remember it like yesterday. All my good deeds, my mitzvahs were fine, but in terms of gaining God’s approval, as if those were enough to bring in God’s amazement and satisfaction, is laughable. What had to happen? I had to acknowledge my own sin, not only my sins. Let me explain. Sins are the deeds I commit against God or people. Lying, cheating, hating, etc. Sin is the inner fault in my heart that actually makes me do those misdeeds. In other words, I commit sins because I have sin. Sin is the attitude; sins are the actions. I am not a sinner because I sin. I sin because I am a sinner.

What does the Newer Testament say about this subject? I want to read two portions and show you a famous painting from Rembrandt. The two portions are taken from the Gospels, one in Matthew and one in Luke. Both equally famous. And significant for Torah-considering people. In Matthew, Yeshua is teaching His disciples and the crowds about the Kingdom in what later will be titled the “Sermon on the Mount.” 

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, You who practice lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7.21-23)

Who casts out demons in the name of Yeshua? Believers in the New Covenant. Who prophesy in the name of Yeshua? Teachers of the Bible. Who perform miracles in the name of our master? Great preachers and TV Bible thumpers. And to them he says, “Depart!” What? This is horrible. If they don’t get into heaven, how can I get in? It’s as if there is no guarantee. 

The Judeans in Jeremiah’s day counted on the presence of the Temple as their safe haven; some people in modern days are counting on their religion of Jesus-proclamation to save them. By that I mean, their quiet times and their fasting and their other religious activities are something they would highlight if questioned about their faith.

But 600 BCE and today God’s answer is still the same, “I never knew you…. Because you do not know Me!” Obedience is fine, as long as it’s honest and personal and real. And one more thing. As long as you are not counting your mitzvahs as ENOUGH to get you God’s approval. That’s the rub. 

Listen to what the disapproved people said, “Did we not prophesy? Did we not cast out? Did we not do miracles?” Every one of their punch list of approval considerations were things they did. All good to be sure. BUT if you are seeking to be in God’s pleasure, then you have to RECEIVE what God has done, God’s kindness and stop trying to earn it. It’s a gift. No wonder He said, “I never knew you, (and I add) because you do not know Me.” Maybe we should go back to the most basic of beginnings in the story of the Prodigal Father and see what this really means.

Luke 15 features three short stories of lost things, and the joy in finding them. First is a sheep that is lost and the owner searches diligently, leaving the 99 others in the flock, and finally finds the missing one, and there is rejoicing. I get that. Like searching for my keys just yesterday.

The chapter continues with the story of the lost coin, and again the long search and finally the finding. And again rejoicing. Each story ends with this tag line: Luke 15.10 “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Then comes the story I want to focus on today. And the painting by Rembrandt. The story is the Prodigal Son or lost son who leaves his father and family and lives riotously, squandering his entire inheritance, and wakes up in a pig pen. He realizes his life is in ruin, and he decides to change, to amend his ways, and to go back to his father. You have heard this titled the Prodigal Son. But friends, prodigal means lavish, not wayward. And the son and the father were both prodigal in my understanding.

This image by the famed artist Rembrandt is worthy of deep appreciation. 

It’s a simple and rather basic painting, with five men and dark shadows. That’s it, really. So it’s an artistic study of the people. There is barely any other reference point. No scenery… no landscape… no fruit bowls… no animals. Just five men, like a basketball team. 

Look closely at the image, though and the light shines brightest on the two on the left and the furthest to the right. 

My friend Amer Olsen works in New York City and is an artist by training. I asked him to tell me what he saw in the painting here of the Return of the Prodigal and he wrote me a long description, parts of which I relate to you here. 

“Visually, the strongest light in the picture falls directly on the location of the returned, received son - his back, the father’s face and hands - falling onto the ground around them, though the son’s face is turned toward the shadow. But the son’s face isn’t so much turning from the light, as it is being enveloped by the father’s figure, resting in his bosom. In fact, when you look closely at the son’s face it looks surpassingly serene and beatific. This is in great contrast to his tattered rags, worn sandals and calloused feet - even his shorn head reminds me of a slave or forced-labour victim. Also, the son’s face is the centre point, not of the dimensions of the canvas, but of the vanishing lines of perspective (only hinted at by the two steps to the bottom right), which is the artist’s way of saying: “This is where I want your eyes to be drawn. This is where the heart of the message is.”

Do you know the whole story? It’s complete at the end of the sermon here in the notes. Please read the whole thing. Back in those days, fathers didn’t run to meet their sons. They didn’t run at all! Running was undignified. But in this story the father runs. Nothing else mattered to the father. 

The father seemed to take everything in stride, even the negative attitude of the older brother. So many stories we could discuss; so many trails to follow.

The emphasis is clear. The father has run back to welcome his returning son. The son has no pretense of good works. He falls on the mercy of his father. The father has no consideration of the son’s waywardness; he only is seeking reconciliation and restoration of the relationship. The son doesn’t say, “I have done great things in your name.” The son doesn’t even say a word of self-honor. He actually says, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

The father only welcomes the son. At the beginning of the story, the son says, “Father, give me my inheritance.” That phrase is shocking. He is saying, “Dad, I wish you were dead.” Remember, a person only receives an inheritance when someone dies. And the father gives him the 1/3 of the estate. (The older brother would receive double for caretaking purposes.) The father prodigally extends a third of the estate to his younger son, whom he knows will live wrongly. At the end, the son practices his lines in the pig pen by saying, “Dad, make me as one of your servants.” In the beginning the son said, “Dad, give me.” In the end, he said, “Dad, make me.” That’s the essence of the son’s change. It’s not about himself; it’s about the father. 

I grew up an Orthodox Jew, practicing my religion with great dignity, and shame in my failures. I went beyond my family’s commitment to their practices and when I was 16 years old, I began to seek God through that effort, but to no avail. Only when I threw myself on the mercy of the Almighty, found in Yeshua, the Messiah, my salvation, did I ever come to know Him. I am the lost son, the kneeling one, tattered shoes and cropped hair, the loser, the failed, the needy—that’s how I come to God. And that’s how God wants us all to come to Him. 

Not on the basis of all the good things we do and should continue to do for others. But on the basis of God's awesome love. The Father’s awesome love. We are the lost ones. Fall on His mercy and ask, in fact, beg, to be forgiven and brought into His family. Let His arms wrap around you.

Jeremiah says, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. (9.23-24)

So will you do this just now? Will you confess Yeshua as your messiah and Lord? Will you turn to Him in faith and ask God to make you into the man or woman you should be? Will you acknowledge that without Him, you have no hope for eternal life? Yeshua died for you. He died to restore you to the Father. Hopeless mankind, in a pig pen, separated from the Almighty, now has a single method of real restoration—the death of Messiah, to bring us back into relationship with Daddy, with our Father in heaven. 

Then we will hear Him say, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” In other words, he one who knows me will enter. And again, “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Matt. 25.23

The ministry of Jews for Jesus is about getting people to hear and understand the good news of eternal life in Jesus. We have a book shop in Bondi; we meet with Jewish people online and in their homes, in their offices and in coffee shops throughout the country, in fact, throughout the world, to teach them about Jesus, and God’s good love. Your prayers matter a lot to us. Your financial support, like you give to the missionaries in Cambodia and even here in Sydney, will help us reach Jewish people. 

If you’d like to donate, use this Square up the back (online use this link:  www.jewsforjesus.org.au/giving), as a tap-and-go device. We also have products you might want to purchase like books and other items. Stop at the back table after the service, if you’d like to donate or buy anything. Please fill out that white card and turn that in also, so that you will continue to hear more about our mission among the Jewish people. Many of them are listening; pray that they keep opening to the Gospel. Thanks.

In our sermon today we learned that the joy of your master is eternal life. Let’s go there!

Have a great September and stay Covid-safe in the Lord. Shalom.

 

Bible Verses:

Exodus 20.2 “I am the Lord thy God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

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Jer. 7:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, ² “Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the LORD!’” ³ Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. ⁴ “Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘¹This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ ⁵ “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, ⁶ if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, ⁷ then I will let you dwell in this place, in the ^band that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

 

Jer. 7:8 “Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail. ⁹ Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, ¹⁰ then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ — that you may do all these abominations? ¹¹ “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” declares the LORD.

Jer. 7:12 But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. ¹³ And now, because you have done all these things,” declares the LORD, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer, ¹⁴ therefore, I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. ¹⁵ I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim.

Jer. 7:21   Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh. ²² For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. ²³ But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’”

 

Matthew 7.21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, You who practice lawlessness.’ 

 

Jeremiah 9.23-24 “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

 

Luke 15:11   And He said, “A man had two sons. ¹² “The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. ¹³ “And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. ¹⁴ “Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. ¹⁵ “So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶ “And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. ¹⁷ “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ¹⁸ ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and ¹in your sight; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ ²⁰ “So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him,and ran and ^2aembraced him and kissed him. ²¹ “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; ²³ and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

 

Luke 15:25 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. ²⁷ “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ “But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. ²⁹ “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never ¹neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; ³⁰ but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ ³¹ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live and was lost and has been found.’”

Matthew 25.23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful. You were faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’”