Making Bargains With God
We have all heard the stories of someone who, finding themselves in a difficult or life threatening situation, call out to God to deliver them. Along with this cry for help, they promise God that in return, they will serve him more faithfully. A lot of times this promise involves going to the mission field, giving more money, quitting bad habits or other radical changes in their lives. All too often, when the situation has been fixed, life goes back to normal and all of the promises have been forgotten.
I have a friend, who about 12 years ago, went through a life threatening health crisis in his life. While lying in the hospital, he promised God, that if he would let him live, he would dedicate his life to all-out service in the kingdom. Unlike the forgetters, my friend has striven to keep his promise. He has dedicated himself to Bible study, he has served in various mission opportunities, he teaches Sunday, he reaches out to the hurting and he has been a blessing to many people. He says that he was driven to do big things for God. In the past year this drive, this desire and all this effort has wore him out to the point that he has suffered physically and emotionally. In a recent conversation about this subject, we discussed whether or not Jesus was expecting him to keep his part of the bargain. Maybe he looked at my friend and just shook his head and said something like “I wish you would just come and hang out with me and rest in my presence. But it looks like you are going to have to learn the hard way.”
While contemplating this whole issue, I listened to a podcast by Jim Bakker who was speaking about the story of the prodigal son. The prodigal was going to make a bargain with his father. When he found himself in a hopeless situation he got to thinking about survival. And the only hope for survival was his father’s dinner table. Now, he reasoned that there was no way that his father would ever take him back, he had disrespected and embarrassed him. What to do? “I know what I will do,” he thought. “I will go back to my father, be a hired servant and work for my food. That way I will survive. It won’t cost my father anything since I’ll be working. He is a good man, I’m sure he will have mercy on me. And maybe if I work hard enough, I get some promotions and be almost like a son. I’ll convince him that I will really be dedicated and a hard worker. Surely he won’t turn down a bargain like this.”
What did the father say about this bargain? “Pish Posh!” Actually he didn’t say anything about it. He didn’t rework it or fine tune it. He didn’t add or subtract anything. He just ignored it. After showering him with hugs, kisses and great affection, he went straight to the party. He told his servants (not the son) to get out the good clothes, put on the jewelry (which signified that he was a son – not a servant) and fire up the bar-b-que. “We are celebrating the return of my son! Welcome home!”
And so it is with us. When we try to make a bargain with God, he ignores it and invites us to celebrate as his child. Sadly, too often we ignore his invitation and try to keep a bargain that God never wanted in the first place. He lovingly waits until we are done trying to earn his love and approval by our own effort and then he is there to get the party started when we, like the prodigal son, come to our senses.
That’s the difference between mercy and grace. Mercy would have been to honor the bargain, God allows us to do that if we insist. Grace invites us to a whole new relationship with a loving father who just wants us to revel in his love and presence.
You know, the elder brother would have been satisfied with the bargain. As long as the younger was a servant, the elder could glory in his exalted status. “I am the faithful son. I am the blessed one. I am the righteous one. After what you did, you should be glad that we allow you to even stay around. Always remember who you are and what you have done and everything will be OK.” I cringe when I think about how often I have acted like that.
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!"
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
It sure doesn’t sound like God is interested in any bargains, does it?
