Luke 15: 22-24–“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Fetch the fattened calf and slaughter it. We must celebrate with feasting because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life! He was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.”
Last Sunday we were blessed to have Donna speak and share some of the things she’s heard for our church. One thing she said especially caught my attention. She was sharing about the story of Jacob in Genesis 28 and his running away from Esau. She said that one of the words she’s hearing for our church is that there are Jacob’s who have walked away from God, but God is calling them back.
Hear it here:
As I was listening to Donna share about this, another familiar story came to mind that has many of the same themes, the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. This story will always have a special place in my heart. When our youth group at Lifespring was just beginning to flourish, one of the early seeds that was planted in us was the message of the Father’s heart. I remember speaking on Luke 15 several times as a youth leader, trying to show through the story what God is like and God’s heart for us.
One part of the story has always stood out to me, and it has to do with how the father responds to the son when the son decides to come home. The son had wasted all of his money on extravagant living and was left feeding pigs for money (v. 14-16). Instead of continuing this destitute life, he decides to go back to his father and apologize, hoping that his father would take him back.
Verse 20 says, “So he got up and went to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion.” We can probably imagine the state the son must have been in when he came back to the father. He had been through some wild and traumatic experiences from the lifestyle he had led. He spent the first part of his trip spending his money on whatever he wanted, and doing whatever he wanted. After he went broke, he hired himself out to feed pigs, and things got so bad that he started desiring to eat what the pigs were eating. He probably came back home defeated and wounded, carrying the scars of a broken life.
Yet, when the father sees the son, the first reaction the father has is compassion. He probably knew how broken his son was and could guess some of the things his son had done while he was away. Yet, the father was still looking out for his son, even spotting him from a long way off. He embraces his son, kisses him, and celebrates because the son that was dead had come back to life (v. 24).
When I first heard this story, I think I identified most with the prodigal son. At times in my life, I felt like I was a long way off from God, broken and in need of healing. This story has always served as a reminder of who God is and what God is like, willing to embrace me when I come to Him. But another character I’m beginning to identify with is the father.
What would it look like for us as a church to be like the father in the story? We live in a world full of brokenness and pain, not unlike how the son may have felt when he returned to the father. We may encounter people in our lives who have their own scars and brokenness, and this might even rub us the wrong way. But what would it mean to respond like the father did? One of the great turns in the story is how the father responded to the lost son. No one would have faulted the father for feeling disappointed, judgmental, offended, or spiteful toward his son. Yet the first emotion the father feels, and the one that guides his response, is compassion.
My prayer is that we as a church would grow in compassion toward those who are hurting and broken, and respond with grace and compassion instead of judgment or offence. As we grow in compassion, we will draw even closer to Father God, who is more than ready to welcome home those who were once lost.