A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 30 October 2014
Read Luke 15:13, 21-32
This parable of the lost boy is the third
of three stories. Who here likes to lose things? How do you feel when you lose
your keys? You know that feeling? You think you put them somewhere but they are
not there. You are running late. You need to be somewhere and your keys are
missing. This is like the first story, the parable of the lost sheep (vv.
8-10).
.
Now imagine that you find your keys; you
go to the mall, buy groceries, and then walk to where your car is (or at least
where you think it is) but it is not there. Your car is lost. You look around.
You fumble for your fob trying to make the horn honk or the lights blink but it
is icy and you have your hands full and you are sure that this is where you
left your car but it is lost and you are frantically scanning the parking lot
wondering where it might be. This is a parable of the lost coin (vv. 3-7).
Now imagine that you are still standing
there completely disoriented with your hands full, in the middle of the parking
lot frantically looking for your car and you spot it; you walk over to the car.
You are wondering why you can’t get it to unlock and then you realize that it
is not your car after all. It is just one that looks like your car. You look
around. You can’t find your car anywhere and you are really starting to get
concerned now because, even though you know you shouldn’t have, you left your
two year-old child or grandchild in the car. This is the parable of the lost
son (vv.11-32). These are the progressive emotions that Luke is trying to evoke
as we hear these parables from Jesus. This is how God feels when we are
separated from Him.
These three stories, with progressive
emotional intensity, address concerns raised by the Pharisees, Verses 1&2:
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes
sinners and eats with them.’”
Jesus answers the muttering by showing
that not only does he welcome sinners and eat with them but Jesus says: Verse
10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the
angels of God over one sinner who repents;” Verse 7, “I tell you that in the
same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent;” and Verse
32 “…we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead
and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” This is how much it means to
God when we His children come to, or return to Him. It is like finding our
child in the lost car.
So for those of us who are already living
at home with our Father, let us come in, join the party and celebrate with our
brothers and sisters who are returning home. And for those of us who have not
yet come home, come now and join this eternal celebration.
Questions for us today: 1) How can we
celebrate with - instead of being an impediment to - people coming to the
Father? And 2) when and how did someone encourage us when we first came to the
Father?
[1] Based on the sermon by Captain Michael Ramsay, Luke 15:11-32:
Lost Boy. Presented to Swift Current Lenten Service on March 07, 2010 and
Salvation Army Swift Current, CKSW Radio on March 10, 2013 Nipawin, April 6,
2008. On-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2013/03/luke-1511-32-lost-boy.html
Posts
