A Fresh Perspective - June 22, 2007
In Jesus' parable of the father and his two sons (Luke 15), the elder son, resentful, bitter, and angry at both the father and his younger brother, refuses to join the celebration the father has for the wayward son who returns home. The father reaches out to him, pleading with him to join the party: "My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours; be glad with me, because your brother has come home." Does this son ever repent of his bitterness and join the party? We don't know; the story doesn't say. But I'm sure the father never writes him off; just as he never abandoned hope of the younger son's return. I'm sure the father continues to plead and wait.
This reminds me of another story told by Dennis Lynn, a writer and retreat leader, who was at one time a priest. A woman named Hilda came to him worried about her son who had just tried to commit suicide. He had lived a hard, tragic life and wanted nothing to do with God. She feared that if he died he would go to hell.
Dennis told her to close her eyes and imagine that her son had just died and was standing before the judgment seat of God. He asked her to squeeze his hand when she could imagine it. When she squeezed his hand he asked her, "Hilda, how does you son feel?" She said, "He feels so lonely and empty." Then Dennis asked her what she wanted to do. She said, "I want to throw my arms around my son." She lifted her arms and began to cry as she imagined holding her son tightly.
When she finally stopped crying Dennis asked her to imagine what God wanted to do. She imagined God stepping down off his throne, embracing her son and Hilda, crying with them. Dennis says, "I was stunned. What Hilda taught me in those few minutes is the bottom line of healthy Christian spirituality . . . God loves us at least as much as Hilda loves her son . . . God loves us at least as much as the person who loves us the most."
Put yourself in Hilda's place. Would you ever give up on your son's redemption? Imagine you are the father of a son you deeply love, but who refuses to share your joy at his brother's homecoming. Would you ever write him off? Or would you continue to reason, plead, and hope for reconciliation? Does God not love his children at least as much as Hilda loves her son? Does God not love every one of us at least as much as the most loving human parent loves his or her children? (For more on this theme see my sermon, "A Father and His Two Sons" on our church website below).
Chuck Queen is Senior Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Frankfort (www.ibcfrankfort.com); he welcomes your comments at cqueen@fewpb.net. Look for "A Fresh Perspective" every Friday.