Message Manuscript

If you were unable to attend on Sunday or would like to revisit the message, you can find the full manuscript here. 

Reckless Grace & Extravagant Love

Luke 15:1-13 (March 30, 2025. Fourth Sunday in Lent)

Today, I want to talk about something that I think is at the heart of who God is: His amazing ability to give freely without expecting anything in return. Let’s explore this together.

In today’s world, we often focus on getting ahead and achieving success. We think what we do will determine our fate, and sometimes it feels like a heavy burden. Even within the church, there can be pressure to perform and meet certain expectations of being “good enough.” I might be one of those.

But Jesus’ story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 challenges this idea. He’s not just talking about people who have made mistakes, but also those who think they’re already doing okay because they follow the rules. By the way, the word “prodigal” in today’s story actually means someone who is very reckless with their money – and that applies not just to the younger son, but also to the father himself in his generous and forgiving ways.

The father’s welcome was seen as crazy and unacceptable. By whom? By his older son (and maybe others). He didn’t count his younger son’s wrongdoings against him or demand payment. Instead, he showed his son unconditional love and forgiveness.

This story shows us who God is: His willingness to give freely without expecting anything in return. Jesus is saying that we don’t have to earn our way into God’s good books – instead, we can receive His love and acceptance because of who He is, not because of who we are or what we are doing.

The father’s crazy welcome and overflowing love are exactly what God shows us when He loves us as His own children. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:19, “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” Jesus is telling us that this kind of wild love is all about God being super generous towards us.

This kind of love doesn’t wait for us to get our lives together or earn back His favor. Instead, it rushes towards us when we’re still far away from Him.

Think about the moment when the younger son finally realized how bad things were and was desperate for a second chance. But just as he started talking, his father didn’t even let him finish.

When the father caught sight of his son in the distance, he immediately rushed towards him, filled with love and compassion. He warmly embraced his son, holding him tightly and kissing him, demonstrating the true meaning of unconditional love. The father’s abundant and genuine affection created an environment where his son felt comfortable and accepted, making it easier for him to apologize and work towards reconciliation. This heartfelt reunion illustrates the depth of a father’s love and the impact it can have on healing and restoring relationships.

Brothers and sisters, this is how God loves us too! He doesn’t wait for us to deserve it; instead, He offers it freely, without any strings attached. As Brennan Manning said in his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, forgiveness comes before we even ask for it – it’s already granted. My dear friends, listen carefully to me. We just need to accept it and receive the total amnesty (pardon) that God is offering. Do you what that? If that’s what you want, would you say to God, “Yes. God. That’s what I want.”

But the story doesn’t end there – Jesus wants us to think about the older brother too. The older son is working in his fields when he hears the celebration and comes back home. But instead of being happy for his brother’s return, he gets angry and refuses to join in. He feels like he’s been treated unfairly because he was always good and obeyed his father, but never got any special treatment.

The older brother thinks, “Why did my father kill a valuable calf for this brother who wasted our family’s money on wild living? I’ve worked hard all these years and never disobeyed him, but he never even gave me a small gift to celebrate with friends.” This brother is feeling bitter and resentful because he believes his obedience earns him something from his father.

This story is actually about us too – that part of us that thinks we deserve God’s love just because we’re good and follow His rules. We can become like the older brother, focusing on outward behavior instead of recognizing our true need for a Savior. But the truth is, obedience isn’t about earning God’s love; it’s about responding to the love that’s already been given to us. Do you get it?

This is what the Gospel teaches: “I’m accepted by God because of what Jesus did – therefore I obey.” Our actions come from a place of gratitude for God’s reckless grace and extravagant love, not because we think we deserve it.

And remember, this grace and love was given at infinite cost – Jesus gave His life for us, and that’s the ultimate reason why we’re accepted by God.

On the other hand, some people might read this parable and think it’s saying that God doesn’t need a savior or atonement because He just accepts everyone unconditionally. What do you think about this claim? But that’s not what Jesus is saying. However, if that were the message, Jesus would have ended the story there. But he didn’t.

The first part of the parable shows us the incredible generosity and acceptance of God, but we need to see the whole picture. The second act of the parable reveals a deeper truth – that this grace comes at a great cost. Just because the father accepts the younger son doesn’t mean it’s cheap or easy for him.

The true cost of this grace is revealed in Jesus Christ on the cross. He was stripped of His dignity and robes, treated as an outcast, so that we could be brought into God’s family by grace. He drank the cup of eternal justice so that we might have the cup of the Father’s joy. The price of our sin was paid by Jesus, our true elder brother.

This means that our acceptance before God isn’t just a free gift – it’s a gift purchased at great cost. It’s not something we earn or deserve, but rather something we receive because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

So how do we experience this transformation from fear, anger, and pride to love, joy, and gratitude? We need to see the beauty of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

When we truly see the sacrificial love of Jesus, it draws our hearts to Him. We’re freed from the fear and neediness that drives us to try to earn God’s approval, like the younger and elder brothers in the parable.

This experience of reckless grace is not just a legal transaction; it’s deeply experiential. We taste and see that the Lord is good. Let me put it this way: Jesus came to bring festival joy; He’s the true Master of the Banquet. The Bible uses sensory language to describe salvation – we’re called to “taste and see” that God is good.

Jonathan Edwards, who was a well-known American revivalist preacher, said, “There is a difference between believing that God is holy and gracious, and having a new sense on the heart of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. The difference between believing that God is gracious and tasting that God is gracious is as different as having a rational belief that honey is sweet and having the actual sense of its sweetness” (from Selected Sermons of Jonathan Edwards).

When we believe in and rest in Jesus’ work for us through the Holy Spirit, His love becomes real to our hearts. We start to sense the reality, beauty, and power of His love. We come to delight, galvanize, and console each other with this love.

Brothers and sisters, by any chance, if you’re filled with shame or guilt right now, you need to taste the sweetness of His mercy. If you’re filled with worry or anxiety, you need to see His dazzling majesty with the eyes of your heart.

This is what God constantly cries out to us: “Hear, everyone who thirsts; come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1).

So, Will L. Thompson, who took a deep meditation on His invitation composed this hymn, “Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling” (UMH 348):

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,

calling for you and for me;

see, on the portals he’s waiting and watching,

watching for you and for me.

Come home, come home;

you who are weary come home;

earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,

calling, O sinner, come home!

Then, brothers and sisters, what do we need to do with His calling?

Living in the reality of this reckless grace and crazy love actually transforms us. It shifts our focus from earning God’s approval to responding in grateful obedience to the acceptance we’ve already received. We move from trying to earn love and acceptance to experiencing it as a gift.

As Brennan Manning’s message illustrates, God loves us without condition or reservation. He loves us as we are, not as we think we should be. This is a message of grace and forgiveness that has the power to reconcile us to God.

Meanwhile, some people might worry that emphasizing free grace will lead to a lack of motivation to live a good life. But if our primary motivation for obedience is fear of punishment, then what kind of love is that? The true incentive is awed and grateful love.

One woman who encountered the message of unmerited grace said something profound: “If I was saved by my good works, there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through… But if it’s really true that I am a sinner saved by sheer grace – at God’s infinite cost – then there’s nothing he cannot ask of me” (from The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, Tim Keller).

Recognizing the true cost of God’s grace doesn’t give us permission to do whatever we want; instead, it helps us understand that we belong to Him because He paid a great price for us. This realization should fill us with a deep sense of gratitude and responsibility. We’re not just the ones who receive God’s kindness and forgiveness, but we’re also called to share that same kindness and forgiveness with others. In other words, we’re not just beneficiaries of God’s love, but also vessels through which His love can flow to others.

Therefore, Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned against “cheap grace,” which stresses only the freeness of grace without acknowledging the seriousness of sin and the infinite cost of our salvation. But true understanding of God’s reckless grace and extravagant love compels us to stand up for justice, to sacrifice for our neighbor, not out of obligation, but out of a heart transformed by love.

So, let’s not shy away from the radical, unsettling, yet profoundly satisfying truth of God’s grace and love. It’s a grace that runs towards the broken, embraces the unworthy, and celebrates the return of the lost – without counting the cost to us, but remembering the immeasurable cost to Himself.

This is God’s grace and love that redefines sin, lostness, and salvation. It invites us not to earn our place at the table, but to come and feast on the extravagant love of a Father whose heart overflows with mercy.

May we all, like the prodigal who finally came home, and perhaps even like the elder brother who is still being pleaded with to enter the feast, embrace the amazing, thought-provoking, illuminating work of God’s reckless grace in our lives.

And may we be like the father in the parable, running with open arms to welcome all who turn toward home, and extend the same mercy we have received to a world desperately in need of God’s amazing grace and love. Amen.

Message Prayer: Gracious God, we thank you for your reckless grace and the unconditional love demonstrated in the story of the prodigal son. We acknowledge the great cost of this grace through Jesus Christ. Fill our hearts with gratitude for your mercy. Empower us to extend this same grace and forgiveness to others. Amen.