No Sweeter Name for God than “Father”

Have you seen this picture?

This is Alistair Campbell. He’s the father of a 6-year-old little girl named Charlotte who just got her 2nd cochlear implant. Charlotte needs the implants to be able to have a better sense of hearing.  To show his daughter how much he loves her, to show that he’s in this with her, to tell her that he can go through a little bit of pain, the pain it would take to get this tattoo even though it pales in comparison to what she has gone through, Campbell got this tattoo. It’s the only tattoo he’s ever gotten. And it may be the only one he’ll ever get.

Mr. Campbell is a good father. He gets it.  This tattoo on his head is just a simple expression of his love for his daughter. An attempt at oneness with her. To communicate when communication is not always easy that he loves her beyond measure.

A.W. Tower once said, “What you think about when you think about God is the most important thing about you.”

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What do you think about when you think about God?
Some see God as a loving grandfather in the sky. He’s there cheering you on from a distance. Loving & kind. Some see God as a traffic cop, waiting to bust you every time you make a mistake. Waiting for you to make the next wrong move. Some see God as some version of Santa Claus, which I guess could be good. He is the giver of every good & perfect gift.

Some can’t really picture God at all. The reason? So much of our picture of our heavenly Father is based on our picture of our earthly father. And if we haven’t had a decent earthly father, it makes it really hard to imagine what our Heavenly Father must be like. If your earthly father has been absent, or gone through failure in your eyes, or been abusive, or…. the list goes on & on… Don’t get me wrong, there are NO perfect earthly fathers. But if you never experienced the love of a good earthly father it makes it really difficult to picture the love of your heavenly father.  But I believe of all the names that capture the heart & essence of God, there may be no sweeter name than this name: Father.

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It’s an amazing & humbling idea to know that the King of kings, the God of the universe, the One who spun the stars across the sky & painted rainbows across the canvas of the clouds wants to be known, intimately known, as your Father. Not just any father. The perfect Father. The one who’s love is unchanging & unconditional. The one who loves you perfectly & who will never fail you.

How do you think about God? Do you think of Him as Father? Jesus often referred to God as Father during His life & ministry on earth.

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And this is important. What you think about when you think about God is important because it affects what you think about you.

What you think about when you think about you matters. What God thinks about you may be very different than what you think about you.

If you can get there, if you can picture God as the perfect father, it has the potential to change everything about you. Because if God is your perfect father, then you are a son, you are a daughter of the most high God!

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Maybe the story that illustrates this truth greater than any other story is one of the most famous stories in the entire Bible. It’s a story found in Luke’s gospel. Before we read the story, let’s back up & set the scene.

Luke 15.1-2 says this…

“Now all the tax collectors & sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees & the scribes were grumbling & saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners & eats with them.”

Before we read & share in one of the most famous stories Jesus ever told I want you to hear who’s in the room. Standing in front of him are tax collectors – the lowest of the low. Luke could have just lumped them in with sinners — but apparently they’re worse! He has to separate them out & say that tax collectors & other notorious sinners were present. They were worse because they were employees of Rome.  And worse than that, worse than working for the enemy, the empire, they stole money from their own people to pad their own pockets. It doesn’t get any lower than this.

But there was another group present as well: the Pharisees & scribes. These were the religious leaders & teachers. These were the spiritually elite. So in front of Jesus you have both ends of the spectrum present.

Pause.

Don’t you just love this about Jesus?  He can draw a crowd. Everyone from every background is coming to listen to him. What if our churches matched the audiences that Jesus drew? Wouldn’t that be awesome?! Jesus attracted all people but more than that… he loved all people.

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So with these two groups of people right in front of him, Jesus tells 3 stories. The first 2 are about a lost coin & a lost sheep. The stories are simply about something that was lost, the searching for that which was lost & the joy in the finding.

Then we come to the third story. And this is where Jesus turns up the heat. This is where Jesus takes it up a notch.

Luke 15.11-32
…Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons.  The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.  About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.  He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.  The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!  I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.  His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’

“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.  And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on.  ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’

“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends.  Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’

“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.  We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

Who is the story about, really?
The First Son
Some have said this is a story about a prodigal son. About one son who was lost & came home. And we’ve often read the story that way. That this is a story about a wayward sinner welcomed home.

The Second Son
Some have said the story is about the second son. The son who kept all the rules. Who did everything right.  But the older son was just as lost as the younger son, wasn’t he? Did you notice that the father met both sons outside? Both sons were invited inside to the party. But only one son came in.  Jesus here is redefining what it means to be lost & what it means to be saved.  Jesus seems to suggest that keeping all the rules can serve to separate you from God, especially if the rules replace the relationship with your father.

But there’s more to the story than what happens with the two sons. Because the central figure in the story isn’t the younger son, it isn’t the older son. It’s the father. And what do we learn about the father from the story?

The Father
He really is the perfect father, isn’t he? He honors his younger son’s request, even though it is shameful for him. Even though it is embarrassing to him. Then the father is pictured as a father who waits & looks & longs every day to catch a glimpse of his son. Hoping he will come home. And when he does see him, after days & weeks & months of waiting & looking, he runs. It would have been dishonorable for him to run. But he’s not concerned with honor. He’s concerned with his son. So he runs to meet his son. And he throws a party for his son.

And he wants both his sons at the party. But the older son can’t get his mind around this moment because he has kept all the rules. He has done everything right. He can’t understand what his father is doing in this moment –  throwing a party for the rule breaker. He thought like you & I think sometimes. That it’s all about the rules. That we have to do this life just right.

But this story is about the perfect father. And the perfect father loves perfectly. For the perfect father the story is about restored relationship with both sons. For the perfect father the story is about the party inside & a desire that EVERYONE would come inside to the party. This is what the kingdom of Heaven is like, Jesus would seem to say. The kingdom of Heaven is like a lavish party throw by a loving father. And it’s not about who kept the rules the best, it’s about who’s in relationship with the Father.

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And this Father has demonstrated his love for us. Mr. Campbell, in order to identify with his daughter, got a tattoo of a cochlear implant on his head. God, in order to identify with you & me, became one of us. Showed us what God our father is like. Taught us what God our father is like. And then stretched out his arms & gave his life for us on a cross so that you & me & all of us could be invited & welcomed into THE party! Into the Kingdom of Heaven. If we would receive the free gift of perfect love from our perfect father & come inside.

MESSAGE: Carry Your Name: No Sweeter Name than Father
TEXT: Luke 15.11-32
PODCAST: Click Here

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