Read Textual Sermon from Joyce Meyer
Ellen and the Red Light
I want to read you a story out of the book that I wrote, which is now called Perfect Love. This is in the first chapter of the book. It’s a little bit long, but it’ll help make a good point.
“A woman I know tells a story about the time she burnt out the engine of her father’s car, which he had loaned to her when she was in college.
It was the end of the semester break, and she was going to head back to school on the bus—a seven-hour ride with a lot of stops on the way. Ellen had been given a lot of Christmas gifts that were bulky, including a down-filled comforter and a new desktop computer.
Her dad told her, rather than deal with so many big items on the bus, she could drive his car back to school and return it the next time she came home for a visit. What a wonderful gift that was.
Well, the trip back to college was a breeze. Ellen parked the car in a safe spot and planned to drive home and return it within a few weeks. In the meantime, every now and then, she’d drive to the grocery store or the mall.
Pretty soon, she was taking her friends on short trips here and there just for fun. On one of those trips, Ellen noticed a red light blinking on the dashboard. She didn’t think it was anything serious—after all, her father took great care of his car, and it was in good condition—so she just kept driving it.
Soon she noticed some smoke coming out from under the hood and decided she’d better get the car back to campus. Next came a few loud sputters, and then the engine died.
When she had a tow truck come, the driver arrived; it didn’t take him long to figure out the problem. The red light on the dash was an oil indicator. Ellen had neglected to check out the light, and now the engine was beyond repair.”
How many of you can imagine how Ellen felt right then—and probably how scared she was?
A Father’s Response of Grace
A few days later, when her father arrived in his remaining car, she met him at the gas station where the car had been towed, and Ellen was terrified. She had abused a privilege and ignored a simple warning. There was no excuse for her neglect, and now she had destroyed her father’s car. She knew he was furious, and there was no defense for her behavior.
Ellen told her father how sorry she was for her carelessness, but he just told her to sit in the car and wait until he assessed the damage. After learning that the car was now worthless, Ellen’s father arranged for the gas station to dispose of it. He actually had to pay them to take it off his hands.
Now it was time for Ellen to face his wrath. As they drove away from the trashed car, her father asked Ellen, “What’s the best restaurant in town?” That was the last thing she expected to hear, but she directed him to it. As they sat at the table and looked at the menu, Ellen couldn’t think about food. Fortunately, her father ordered for both of them—boiled trout almondine. They sat in silence while they waited for their food, and every minute felt like an hour to Ellen.
When the meal arrived, Ellen’s father said to her, “Tonight, I want to teach you a lesson you will never forget.” She knew it was coming, and she knew she deserved whatever she got. Would he make her pay him for the car? That would take forever. Would he yell at her? Maybe he would just tell her how disappointed he was in her—and in some ways, that would even be a worse punishment.
Then he took his knife and fork in hand and said, “I’m going to teach you how to remove the skeleton from this cooked trout.” Not a word was said about the car that night—or ever again. Ellen’s father had been angry about her behavior—who wouldn’t be?—but he also knew that Ellen had learned her lesson without retribution from him. Ellen is nearly 60 now, and her father died many years ago, but she has never forgotten the lesson that she learned that night.
God’s Love That Remembers No More
Now let me read you a Scripture that is absolutely jaw-droppingly amazing—Zephaniah 3:17, in the Amplified Bible:
“The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction]; and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them].”
Selected Scripture Quotation (NKJV)
- Zephaniah 3:17 (NKJV): “The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Questions this sermon answers
- What does Ellen’s story teach us about ignoring warning signs and facing consequences?
- How can a father’s gracious response mirror God’s forgiving love?
- What does Zephaniah 3:17 reveal about God’s posture toward our past sins?
- How does perfect love correct without retribution?
- What kind of “lesson you’ll never forget” does God often teach His children?
