RETURN TO THE FATHER II

To return from misdirection, bad decisions, lousy choices, actions from anger, running from messed-up messages we have told ourselves, or false messages others have told us, and such things can cause us to get as lost as the son in the Luke 15 parable. We read: ‘he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle’ and then made a specific decision to change, ‘I will go to my father.’ So, what’s new about that?

The misguided trip is nothing new to a lot of us… we’ve been there like the ‘go figure it out on our own son.’ We have fed our kind of pigs and mucked pig stalls. But the return trip from going astray must be filled with reality as well as hope. The reality is simply this: however far we have strayed is how far it is to come back. If it is a mile or ten thousand miles we have to cover the same amount of ground to be back where we started. The trip back may be every bit as intimidating for us as it was for this son. To return is to make the trip.

Any who return from mistakes are broken, intimidated, having certain kinds of shame, filled with ‘I did it wrong’ and worse kinds of thoughts, eating crow and eating some pig too. How wonderful it is to have a Father waiting and watching for our return with forgiveness and restoration… and loves to party.

“’We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.” Jesus