Now you have either been a son or a daughter. I bet if truth be told, you were not an angel. I know I was not. I butted heads with my dad on more than one occasion growing up. When I was 18, I left home and never looked back. I was young, naive, and selfish and I made multiple poor decisions in my early 20s.
Jesus tells a story that begins, “There was a man who had two sons…” in Luke 15. It’s the story of a young son who wants his half of the family inheritance BEFORE his dad dies. So, when he asks for it, the dad concedes and gives it to him. The story goes on to tell of wild nights in bigger and distant cities where all the money was spent to buy friends, prostitutes, drugs, alcohol…it was pure Las Vegas on steroids.
Eventually, the young son ran out of money and of course, his so called friends left him for better things. With no money and now a shortage of food, the young son convinced a farmer to let him feed the pigs to earn a meager wage. Hebrews cannot touch pigs. They are unclean and one would be defiled to come in contact with those animals. The young son has hit rock bottom. No money, no friends, no food, defiled and unclean…But he remembers the servants in his dad’s house have more than enough food. So he determines to go home.
He thinks, “At home, even dad’s servants have a place to sleep and something to eat. I’ll go, recognizing I can no longer be called his son because of my stupidity, and ask dad if I can just be a servant.” So, he begins the long journey home.
But the father has been watching for months and months for his son. Finally, in the distance, the father sees his son and leaps from his porch to run down the road and hold his son. Their is no time for confession…no promise of different future behavior. Before the son can say he’s sorry, the father hugs him, kisses him, puts his own robe on him, a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. Let the party begin!
Jesus reminds us in this story that the love of God both violates and fulfills our sense of forgiveness. It is a two-edged sword. When we are in the wrong, we want and may feel we deserve the forgiveness. But when we have been wronged, it takes a little more time to offer that forgiveness. Yet we see from the father what true love looks like.
The young son has been a prodigal…giving away all of his money, his time, himself to the world around him. The father is a prodigal too, who never tires of giving away his love for wayward children who have come home.
He’s waiting for you to come back as well. He’s watching for you to make the decision to be embraced by a love that’s deeper than the ocean. He’s waiting to give you that robe, ring and new shoes but you have to make the decision to come home. May the overwhelming love of the Father cause you to remember what’s at home. May you make the decision to embrace the wonderful life you can have by coming home. Blessings on the journey.