January 14, The Journey beyond Guilt and Shame

And when the son was a great way off, the father saw him, had compassion, and ran to him. 

 Luke 15:20

Let’s take a moment to engage with one of the most significant teachings of Jesus concerning God’s love for us.  In the story of The Prodigal Son, Jesus describes God’s love for the sinner through the imagery of a father’s love.  The wayward son was welcomed home from exploits with the world.  The reputation of the family name and much of the family’s riches were lost at the expense of the son enjoying the world’s entertainment.  But the father welcomed the son home.  

To capture the essence of the son’s return, I have reached back many decades to that beloved puritan preacher, Alexander Whyte, who gave a riveting description in a sermon titled, “A Young Man’s Mind.”  Notice Whyte’s creative way of interpreting this parable.

“And when he was a great way off, his father saw him.  Our Lord sees him and makes us see him, which is why the story is told.  Look at the young man.  Look how he runs.  He runs like a man running for his life.  He forgets his bleeding feet and his hungry belly.  He runs as he has never run before.  But at the first sight of his father’s house, his strength fails him.  He stands still, he sinks down, and he beats his breast.  He cries out . . . “against thee and thee only have I sinned.” The father had never been the same since the son left.  He walked up and down his house a broken-hearted man.  Every night he sat and looked out the window until darkness fell again.  And in the darkness, he listened for a footstep.  But it never came.  But, at last, one day! And when the son was a great way off, the father saw him, had compassion on him, ran to him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” (Warren Wiersbe, Classic Sermons on the Prodigal Son: Alexander Whyte) 

Having revisited this treasured parable of our Lord, take a moment to consider the movement of the young man from the world back to the father.  Why is this scene so timelessly captured in our minds, perhaps even beyond other parables of Jesus?

First, we all need to be reminded that we are loved and valued more than we could ever imagine.  God is the perfect Father, and the great lover of our soul.  Second, although we live as professed believers in God and as followers of Jesus, we have all hurt the Father’s name by falling back into the ways of the world with our attitudes, actions, and pursuits.  We have all said something, felt something, thought something, begrudged something, falsified something, coveted something, posted something, or pursued something that was more of a fulfillment of what we craved than what God desired.   Third, we have all at one time or another felt the pain of the “distant land.”  Whyte defined the departure to a far country by the prodigal as “made more by affections than by one’s feet.” We have all felt the regret, shame, and guilt of abandoning the Father’s love for a brief taste of what the world offered.   

So for many, the emotion of the prodigal is all too real.  We know the Father loves us.  But we have acted or thought like the world.  This has left us with regret.  

But you are not destined to live in guilt and shame.  The Father is waiting.  He loves You.  He seeks you.  He runs to you.  A message from the Prophet Jeremiah captures this best: 

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord.  “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. (Jeremiah 31:33)

This describes how God has run after us.  Through sending Jesus to die for us, God has reached down into our darkness and has offered light and life.  

"If your feet have slipped and you have gone the way of the prodigal by falling back into the ways of the world, do not allow guilt and regret to become your byword.  Instead, see the Father.  He is there waiting for you, running to you to embrace and kiss you, and to bring you into His arms.  How could the world compare to such a love?

So today, see the Father’s love afresh and new.  And, if the world has distracted you from His love, return to Him.  The Father’s love calls you.  

Blessings, 

Ken 

Read Luke 15:11-32 and be encouraged by so great a love!