The Bible is full of stories illustrating God’s grace.  There’s the story of the Good Samaritan who helps the guy who’s stranded on the side of the road who’s helpless and there’s no way he could repay him.  There’s no way you could possibly repay God for what He has done for you, what Christ has done for you.

There’s the story of the prostitute whom Jesus forgave and then defended publicly.  Did she deserve it?  Absolutely not.  What was He doing?  Showing grace.  There are examples in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. 

One of the most famous ones is the story of the Lost Son or the Prodigal Son.  This father has two boys.  One day the younger one says, “Dad, I’m splitting.  I want my half of the family inheritance right now and I’m leaving.”  So he takes half of the family inheritance and leaves and he moves to a foreign country and he wastes his life on wine, women and song (emphasis on the women).  And after a series of months he’s blown it all, out of luck, out of money, and he ends up feeding pigs at a farm in a pig trough.  There’s no ATM around.  He’s hit the skids and down, destitute and broke and busted.  Flat on his back he’s thinking, “What am I doing here?  I know I blew it and it’s all my own fault but the people who work for my dad as servants, they live better than this.”  So he says to himself, “I’m going to go back home and say, ‘Dad, I know it.  I blew it.  I admit it.  I wasted half the family inheritance.  I do not deserve to be called your son.  But just hire me as a slave, a servant, and I’ll work for you the rest of my life because even your servants live better than I’m living now.’”  Yet the Bible says the father was loving and gracious, when he saw the son coming home from a long distance, he ran out to meet him.  He gives him a giant bear hug and he kisses him and he smiles and he’s celebrating.  “Go get the best robe in the house and bring it and we’re going to put it on this guy.”  He doesn’t say, “Go clean up your act.  Go get a bath.  Repay me first.  He doesn’t scold him.  He doesn’t lecture him.  He doesn’t give him a sermon.  “Get everything in shape and then I’ll talk to you.”  He just hugs him unconditionally and says, “Bring out the best robe.  Put it on his back.  Bring the family ring [which was kind of a signet you would use like a credit card, kind of a symbol of the wealth of the family.  Unlimited credit.]  Bring the ring we’re going to put on his finger.  Kill the calf we’re going to bar-b-que.  We are going to party!  My lost son has been found.”

That story is to say that’s how God responds to you when you come home.  Did you know the Bible says that they have a party in heaven every time one person accepts the grace of God?  The angels in heaven, they have a party, every time one person steps across the line.   We have every reason to party.  Why?  In the first place, all our past sins have been forgiven.  In the second place, we have a purpose for living right now.  In the third place, we have an eternal home in heaven.  These are the big three issues that are resolved.  Once you’ve got those out of the way, everything else is minor by comparison. 

If you haven’t accepted the grace of God you do not have a reason to party because you have some serious issues to deal with.  They’re called the past, the present, and the future.  You feel guilty about the past.  You feel pressured about the present.  And you’re worried about the future.  And you wonder why you’re not happy.  But when these issues have been settled by the grace of God, Christians of all people ought to know how to party.  So we did.  Because it’s God’s gift to us and it’s received by faith.