Dear Rose Park,
A few days ago, I was pulling weeds in my driveway. I know that sounds odd, but there are weeds creeping up through the cracks in my driveway and it is driving me nuts. At some point, I’m almost impressed with their ability to survive but I think I’d be more impressed if they survived in someone else’s driveway. As I was pulling these weeds, I was reminded of one of my favorite bible stories.
I’d imagine many of you know the story of the Prodigal Son. If you don’t, I encourage you to look it up in Luke chapter 15 and read it with a friend or a family member as soon as possible. It’s a story of adventure, foolishness, love, grace, relationships, bitterness, and so much more. In fact, the story of the Prodigal Son is the story of the people of God. It’s the story of you and me. And it’s the story of the Church.
Essentially, it’s the story and cycle of human sinfulness, God’s graciousness, and full reconciliation. Various versions of the bible interpret this story in different ways, but one of my favorite interpretations is found in The Jesus Storybook Bible. This version offers simplicity and innocence that is often lost in other translations.
For example, after the younger son realizes his foolishness and begins to make his journey back home The Jesus Storybook Bible reads, “as he starts for home, he begins to worry. Dad won’t love me anymore. I’ve been too bad. He won’t want me for his son anymore. So, he practices his I’m-Sorry-Speech. All this time, what he doesn’t know is that, day after day, his dad has been standing on his porch, straining his eyes, looking into the distance, waiting for his son to come home. He just can’t stop loving him. He longs for the sound of his boy’s voice. He can’t be happy until he gets him back. The son is still a long way off, but his dad sees him coming. What will the dad do? Fold his arms and frown? Shout, ‘that’ll teach you!’ and ‘just you wait, young man!’ No. That’s not how this story goes. The dad leaps off the porch, races down the hill, through the gap in the hedge, up the road. Before his son can even begin his I’m-Sorry-Speech, his dad runs to him, throws his arms around him, and can’t stop kissing him.”
This is the story of the people of God. This is the story of the Israelite people wandering in the desert for forty years. This is the story of the disciples as they bickered over who was the greatest. This is our story. This is our story because we have lived through times where shame and sorrow have so clouded our judgment that we wonder if God could love us anymore. This is our story because we have plunged ourselves so deep into the mud of sin and shame that we wonder if we’ve become too bad to enter the doors of the church. And this is our story because we have walked away from God so many times that we wonder whether God will want us as His children anymore.
But time and time again, God leaps off the porch and runs down the driveway to greet us. Time and time again, God wraps His loving arms around us and can’t stop kissing us. He does this because He loves us. He does this because we are His children. I tell you this story for the same reason Jesus tells us this story: God’s children could never run too far, or be too lost, for God to find them.
Grace & Peace,
