The Extravagance of God

July 12, 1992

No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly . . .blessed is that person who trusts in You! Psalm 84:11,12

Introduction - Father God; Is He Indulgent or Extravagant?

There is a world of difference between an indulgent parent and an extravagant one. [Maybe in our modern use of the words they have become interchangeable; but they are not the same!] The difference, I think, lies in the motives and in the wisdom of the father or mother as they lavish either gifts or love on their children.

Oversimplifying, perhaps: an indulgent parent gives a child what it wants, and usually for selfish reasons. Instead of spending self by giving direct attention and listening/hearing the child, the indulgent parent finds it easier to spend money and buy trinkets or toys, big or small.

An extravagant parent, on the other hand, may enjoy buying things, too. But the extravagance is in the love itself; in the sheer delight that comes [at least occasionally] in giving far beyond what the child "deserves." [ "I deserve it!" is another sermon! ]

Most children, at least on the surface, would probably like a rich and indulgent parent. But common sense tells us that real joy and happiness can be found in homes both rich and poor, and real meanness and sorrow, too.

What sort of Parent is God to us? Are Christians really "better off" than unbelievers? Does it "pay to serve Jesus?" What does it mean to be "blessed" by God?

I. THERE IS MYSTERY INVOLVED IN GOD'S BLESSING

  1. God is God! No question about it, there will always be things about prayer and answers to prayer and blessings and things spiritual which we may never understand. God will never be manipulated!

    We can never reduce God Almighty to our "cause-and-effect" manipulation.

  2. Make the faith statements! God is GOD! And God is GOOD! But we can never be certain WHY things happen; why they are PERMITTED to happen. When we look into the Book of Job (which is a text on suffering) it is full of 'very wise sayings' that simply ARE NOT TRUE! (but reflect the common ways that people think, even to this day!)

II. THERE IS THE FACT OF STRUGGLE IN ALL OF HUMAN EXISTENCE

Good OR bad, religious or not, every human that lives finds challenges and frustrations:

  1. The Bible declares "The way of the transgressor is hard (Proverbs 13:15)
    1. It doesn't always seem that way. In fact many of the richest people in the world seem to be the most wicked; or at least they flaunt their unconventional morals.
    2. But ultimately, rich or poor, life gives back what has been sown; Galatians 6:7 "Be not deceived; God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
    3. In the end the transgressor faces eternal separation from the GOOD and the HOLY that is our loving, lavish God!
  2. But even in the life of faith THERE IS LIFE-AND-DEATH STRUGGLE!
    1. There is a struggle to break through INTO life itself! God rewards those who SEEK Him! (Hebrews 11:6)

      Jesus said, "Strait (constricted) is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life everlasting!" (Matthew 7:13,14) To CONFESS and to REPENT and to ACKNOWLEDGE OUR NEED OF GOD is never easy! (Greek word is AGONIDZOMAI)

    2. There is the FIGHT OF FAITH . . . for God's Way demands that we trust His love— that we renounce our humanistic-centered answers, our self-centeredness, our demands for INDULGENCE, and learn to make the desire of God's will our way of life!

      Isn't that a pretty dismal way to live?

III. THE FACT IS: GOD IS NOT INTERESTED IN MAKING OUR EXISTENCE DISMAL OR SMALL

Just because the world does not center in our perceived needs does not mean that God does not have our best interests in His mind:

  1. Our God is a sun and shield! Do you remember Romans 8:28? "In all things God works!" God WILL give grace and glory! God is in the CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS! His best promise to us is not so much "I will GIVE you..." as it is "I will MAKE you!"

    [The Prodigal Son story (Luke 15) begins with the prodigal saying to the father "Give me!" But it ends with him crying "MAKE me!"] God takes delight in bringing His people into the stature and likeness of His only begotten Son! I John 3:1,2 say, "Beloved NOW are we the children of God, but it doth not yet appear what we SHALL be; for we KNOW that when HE shall appear we shall be like HIM!"

  2. God's way brings deep satisfaction:
    • FREE FORGIVENESS
    • SENSE OF DIRECTION (which I confess must be renewed from time to time)
    • ONCE IN A WHILE A DEEP PERSUASION OF GOD'S LOVE
  3. Permit me two personal insights. They sound so simple and trite that I am almost embarrassed to repeat them.
    1. JESUS IS PRESENT WITH ALL BELIEVERS! HE IS PRESENT WITH ME!

      I remember when this has been deeply reinforced. I can only describe it as the sense of loving contact with a PRESENT Friend.

      Jesus is NOT my "peer." He is NOT my equal. His opinion is NOT to be considered along with the opinions of others until "I decide!" But Jesus IS my Friend! Jesus is YOUR Friend!

    2. WE ARE USHERED INTO CHRIST'S COMPANY / FELLOWSHIP / SALVATION / OR WHATEVER WE CALL IT BY LOVING HIM THE BEST WE CAN. AS POOR AS OUR LOVE MAY BE, JESUS APPRECIATES IT! He will refine it. Jesus loves us! Jesus loves ME!
      1. The old "formulae are true" Thank God for the lessons I learned in Sunday School and church about "how to be saved." Most of us have to have some...
      2. ...but we cannot coldly pursue "the facts of salvation" apart from an utterly sincere, open, growing FRIENDSHIP with the Lord Jesus Christ. God gives us new insights, and we grasp them and use them— and then when we think OUR wisdom has given us a handle on LIFE things grow stale and cold— and we realize that salvation is not an "IT" it is a "HIM!" It is a bond of love between a Father God and His children, individually AND collectively!

Conclusion

As we begin to mature, and especially as we grow older, we see how much more important than things are the very real intangibles of love and respect that make up the relationships of family, both God's family as well as our smaller nuclear families.

If we are to be like Father God then we shall have to learn to bless our loved ones!

We can not all lavish magnificent gifts on those we love, and if we could and did, indiscriminately, we might hurt more than we helped (indulgent.) [I've had dreams, I confess, of being able to surprise my married children who struggle from time to time.]

But we all can give extravagantly of our love!

Once upon a time there was a wealthy businessman who with his beloved wife had an only daughter that he loved very much. Even though he had to be away quite often, he provided and cared for his wife and her very well indeed.

One day the businessman came home from a long trip. The reunion at the airport was happy, with hugs all around. The daughter threw her arms around her father's neck and said, "O Daddy, I love you more than anything!" And he said, "I love you, too, dear!"

That evening at supper the father said, "It 'got to me' today when you told me how much you love me! Do you really?"

"O yes, Daddy!"

The father sort of smiled, and then he said, "Well, then, I really want your pearls!" This made the daughter smile. What would her father want with her pearls? What could he want with a string of paste and glass beads, for that is what they were. But she loved those beads! They looked so pretty when she got dressed up!

"You don't really want my pearls, do you?" she asked.

"Well, yes, I really do!" said her father.

Just a little cloud came over her face. She did not know why her dad wanted those beads— maybe he didn't like her wearing jewelry? Maybe they were more valuable than she thought and he wanted to trade them somewhere in the world? All this crossed her mind for just a tiny moment, and then she reached up and undid the little clasp and handed the pearls over to her dad. And he took them, and reached over and dropped them into the wood box that stood by the fireplace, like he was throwing them away— which he was.

For then he reached into his coat pocket and brought out a long string of real matched pearls, gems of great beauty, and handed them across the table to his daughter.

She looked at the pearls, and she put them on the table for the moment and she got up and came around and threw her arms around his neck again and said, "O Daddy, thank you! But I do love you, just you, more than anything!"

No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly!

God will - with His gifts - give us Himself!

Prayer

#44 - My Jesus I Love Thee