Sunday, March 6, 2016
The story of the Prodigal Son is one of my favorite stories in the New Testament, and I think that’s because it says so much about the nature of God and his love for us. The love embodied by the father in the story is an active love, a ferocious love. Even before the son in the story has asked for forgiveness, his father literally runs to him. He throws his arms around his son, despite the fact that he has just come directly from a pig sty. He doesn’t say, hey, clean up and then we can hug. Or hey, what do you have to say for yourself? No, he embraces his son. He gets the dirt and mud of his son’s past all over himself. He brings his son into the house and throws him a party to celebrate his homecoming.
My question for you today is, do you believe in that God? The God who runs after you, even when you’ve messed up and walked away from him? The God who is extravagant with his love? The God who doesn’t want your words or your works but just your heart? The God who says, hey, I see your sin, but I don’t care. Here, give it to me. Give me your sin, and let me embrace you, because you were lost, and were found. Were dead, and are alive.
Because when you believe in that God, man, everything changes. When you believe in that God, hard times aren’t about hiding from him. About cleaning yourself up so you can be righteous before him. They’re about coming in front of the Lord, dirty, messy, and saying, I know I’m not good enough, but I’m here, again, on my knees, because you are my healer. They’re about knowing that Jesus knew everything you have ever done, and everything you ever will do, and he still died for you.
Because just like Paul says in our epistle for today, when you trust in Jesus, you are in Christ. You become new – not just once. Not just that time that you decided to believe or accept Jesus, but every day and every moment, because you know that God is working in your life.
What does that mean? What does it feel like to give God your heart daily, and to be in him? I think it’s different for every person and every season. But for me, it’s a lot about trust. Trust that right now, in my life, at whatever moment I’m in, God has given his best for me. Whatever is happening to me right now is God preparing me for future joy and experiences that I can’t possibly fathom. It means digging into the Word and getting on my knees to ask him, how can I better serve you and your glory right now?
And that doesn’t mean that that doesn’t feel bad sometimes. And it doesn’t mean that I always have to be happy with God. But it does mean that I try to be honest with him. By choosing to give God my heart, I shouldn’t run away from him when times are hard, or when I have doubts, or when I’m angry with him. I should fall on my knees and I give him my heart in that moment. In the moment of feeling like I’ll always be single. In the moment of wondering if I’ll ever stop coping in ways that hurt me. In the moment of rage at how women are continually assaulted and harassed on our campus. In the moment of despair that a good person lost their life. I feel God running after me in those moments. And by being honest with God, I invite him into my life, into conversation and intimacy with me. God will do the rest.
Of course, it’s not always easy. I think we all feel like the older son in the story sometimes. I’ve done everything right, he says. I’ve served you all these years. But you’ve never thrown me a party. It’s not fair. I know I’ve felt like that. I know that subconsciously I sometimes feel like, because I go to Church and pray, God owes me something. But what is the father’s response to the older son? He says, “son, you are always with me.” He pleads with him: “come into the party. Come celebrate.” Why do we feel like we have to work to earn God’s love? Why do we feel like we have a better idea of what we need in every moment than God does? Why do we feel like if things aren’t going perfectly for us, God isn’t in that as much as he is in our best days? You are always with me, the father says. When we are in Christ, he is always with us. And when we can trust in that – when we can just join the party, we enter into that rhythm of walking in him. And we know that, when we take a wrong turn, and when we mess up, God can take whatever wreckage we have created and make us new, again and again. That’s the nature of the Lord’s love. He is a father who delights in us, who runs after us, who wants intimacy with us, who wants to guide us. And he doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He just wants our hearts. Just like in the story – all you have to do is show up. All he needs is your heart. He’ll do the running. You just have to be open to the embrace.
To Marvelous Light 