The Reckless Love of God
sermon based on Luke 15:1-7
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

PowerPoint Presentation - click here to download

 

1. God will Come for You - No Matter What

 

The first point I want to make about this passage is that Jesus' analogy of the shepherd who leaves 99 sheep behind to find the one that got lost, was very unconventional. First century shepherds would have never left their flock behind to go for one that went astray. There was way too much of a risk involved leaving the flock behind.

 

 

One modern songwriter, Cory Asbury, captured this fact and recognizes the radical message of Jesus' words. In fact, he refers to this attitude as the "Reckless Love of God." The good shepherd, Jesus is saying, will recklessly leave the flock to come after the lost sheep. And keep in mind that the sheep is lost because of sin, not because of an accident. That just adds another degree of recklessness to God's amazing love, doesn't it? That's what Asbury captured in his song lyrics:

 

And oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine
And I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

 

 

2. God's Love is Personal, God cares about Me
 

The second point is just as poignant, God may be in charge of the entire flock, in fact, God may be in charge of running the universe, but God's love for you is so big that God will always care for you personally.  In Luke 12:7 Jesus is reported to say that even the very hairs on our heads are counted, that's how much God cares about us.

 

Growing up in the church, I used to think that God just loved me because that was just who God was, God loved everybody in general. God had to, that's what made God God.  It was on the day that I understood that God's love for me was personal that I was overwhelmed emotionally and sobbed uncontrollably. For the first time I understood what Jesus is trying to tell the Pharisees with this parable: God loves you for you!

3. There is Nothing God won't Do to rescue You

In his song: "Reckless Love of God"  Cory Asbury makes this point:

There's no shadow You won't light up
Mountain You won't climb up
Coming after me
There's no wall You won't kick down
Lie You won't tear down
Coming after me

 

There is absolutely nothing God won't try to find us and get us back into God's loving arms. So many times, we think that we made God angry, turned God against us...but nothing could be further from the truth.

 

The truth is that God has created us, God knows us inside out. God knows all our weaknesses and God does not expect us to be perfect. God already knows that we will mess up even before we do, and God is ok with that.

 

 

In other words, God has unconditional love for us, even though God knows the worst side of us. In fact, even though God knows the worst side of us, God still sees the best in us. God believes in us, even when we lost that faith in ourselves. God is our biggest Cheerleader. Even when we're down and out, God still roots for us and believes that we will make it in the end. Now that is amazing grace, that is reckless love and all that, God has for you and for me. Thanks be to God, Amen!