Easter Sunday- The Day of Resurrection- Luke 15:24- Home

For the past 40 days we've been on a Lenten journey through the use of these devotions.  We've wandered through 10 parables, stopping to pause and reflect on certain words and phrases.  Today we conclude, coming home again to see the empty tomb and proclaim, "Christ is Risen!  Christ is Risen indeed!  Alleluia!"  I hope you have found these reflections meaningful.  It has been helpful to me to share my thoughts each day.  I want to acknowledge the author of the devotional book, "The Parables of Lent," Dean Nadasdy, upon which my reflections have been based.  He opened up the parables in many new ways for me. 

The story of Jesus appeared to have ended on the cross. A good man, a righteous man, a controversial man, put to death and silenced.  But that's not how the story ends.  On the third day following his death, the stone is rolled away from the tomb and his body is not present.  The women who had gone to anoint his body in the grave are told by angelic beings, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here, he has risen!" Luke 24:4 

The resurrection changes everything.  Among the changes is that God, for the sake of His Son, welcomes us home again.  No matter how far we have strayed, no matter how foolish we may have acted, no matter how poor our past decisions may have been, we are welcomed home.  Today's celebration is about what God has done in Christ.  But it is also for us.  We are welcomed home in the loving embrace of the Father.  We are given a robe, sandals, and a ring. We feast on the fatted calf.  And it's all made possible because the stone has been rolled away and the tomb stands empty.  Today is a homecoming celebration.  Welcome home!  God's blessings to you as you continue on your journey of faith in the hope of the resurrection!

The 40th Day of Lent- Holy Saturday- Luke 15:22-23- Extravagance

When the younger son decided he needed to return home, the most he hoped for was to be received as one of the hired hands.  He gave up his rights as a son when he took his share of the inheritance and left the ranch.  But the father had other plans.  Not only does he run to embrace his son with strong and compassionate hands, he gives him the best robe, shoes, and a ring for his finger.  These were symbols that he was fully welcomed back into the family as a member- not a servant, but a son.

The Apostle Paul echoes this idea in the letter to the Galatians.  He writes, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.  And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child, then also an heir, through God." Galatians 4: 4-7

Today, Holy Saturday, we again remember the length God went to bring us back as God's children.  Today there will be Easter egg hunts in city parks, shoppers buying groceries for tomorrow's Easter dinner, the Final Four basketball games in Indiana- in other words, life goes on.  But today, the final day of Lent, we also pause to remember how, after his death on the cross, Christ lay in the tomb.  This is the most extravagant act of love imaginable- his death for ours.  In the midst of this busy day we pause to remember our Lord in the tomb, praying, " Thank You for Your extravagant love for me, revealed in Your Son's passion and death." Amen    

39th Day of Lent- Good Friday- Luke 15:31-32- Ending

There was another person affected by the return of the younger brother and his unconditional acceptance by his father.  It was the older brother.  By now, the older brother had accepted that his younger brother had left and was not coming back.  He fell into whatever role he played in caring for his father and his property.  Things had stabilized.  He was doing his duty as the faithful son.

But when the younger brother returns and is welcomed back by his father, this upsets everything.  The family dynamics once again change.  Unconditional love and forgiveness seems to have trumped the loyalty and duty of the older brother.  This new understanding and change in thinking is unfair in the elder brother's eyes.  So he refuses to go into the party.

Jesus entered the world to bring a new understanding of forgiveness, love, and acceptance.  Instead of keeping out sinners and excluding those forced to live on the margins of society,  Jesus welcomes them and eats with them.  This upset the rigid system of laws and status set in place by the scribes and Pharisees, and, like the elder brother, they didn't like it.  So, they had Jesus arrested, manipulated the crowds, had a bogus trial, and put an end to the life of this disruptive one by a cruel death on the cross. 

Today we remember our Lord's death.  The powerful carried out their solution to the trouble he was causing.  They crucified him on the cross.  This was the ending they sought.  Perhaps it is most fitting to conclude today's devotion with a moment of silence for Jesus, the one who sought to bring a new understanding of love, an understanding that cost him his life. 

38th Day of Lent- Maundy Thursday- Luke 15:20- Embrace

   

The picture above is Rembrandt's "The Return of the Prodigal Son."  In the devotion, the author points out that the left hand in the painting is more masculine, pulling the son close.  The right hand is more feminine, reflecting a sense of gentleness.  The hands portray both the strength and compassion of the father.

Our Lord's hands were used with both strength and compassion.  He overturned tables of the moneychangers in the temple, but also healed the man blind from birth as he touched his eyes.  He worked with his hands in his father's carpentry shop, but also received nails through his hands as he was crucified on the cross.  Tonight, Maundy Thursday, we remember how he used his hands to humbly wash the feet of his disciples, and to break the bread for his disciples saying, "This is my body, given for you."

In what ways do you use your hands?  Like so many things, they can be used for evil or for good.  The father's hands were used to strongly and compassionately embrace his lost son when he returned home.  How can you use your hands today to express God's love to another?   

37th Day of Lent- Wednesday of Holy Week- Luke 15:20- The Run

I've always been struck by the fact that the father runs to his lost, as good as dead son, before the son has time to even say a word.  The son had a long time to think about what he would say.  His words were well rehearsed.  "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you."  But, as it turns out, he really didn't need that speech.  The father ran to him out of compassion and love, before he said a word.

Add to this, as the devotion suggests, that this would have been seen as an act of humiliation on the part of the father, and you really see the depth of the father's love.  He was willing to be personally humiliated by others, so great was his love for his son.  The parallel with Jesus is clear.  "Insulted, shamed, giving up His dignity, He willingly bared His body on the cross that we might come home in repentance again and again."  That's something to think about as we approach Good Friday.  The Father runs to welcome us back, no matter how far we have strayed.  His humiliation  becomes our reconciliation.  What an act of love! 

36th Day of Lent- Tuesday in Holy Week- Luke 15:20- Trust

 

When the younger son asked for his share of his inheritance, it would have been an insult to his father.  It's like saying, "You're already dead to me.  We're no longer going to be in a relationship.  You've died."  But there was  something deeper between these two, deeper than a relationship broken over money.  There was love- the love of a father for a son, and a son for a father.  The love was there, even though it was covered up by the hurt caused by the son's request for his inheritance and the poor decisions that followed.

The son, in the midst of his pain, still knew of his father's love.  Even if his motive was just to survive and rebuild his life, he still knew he could go back.  It would not be easy, but the door was still open. 

God never closes the door on us.  More than that, as the author suggests, God's love is like a magnet that pulls us back.  God's Spirit is always at work, not forcing us to return, but giving us that opportunity over and over again.  How fortunate we are that we have such a loving God, a love made abundantly clear on the cross.  As Jesus said, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."  He will draw all people.  Even a disobedient son who once considered him dead.  Even us.  Thanks be to God.

The 35th Day of Lent- Monday in Holy Week- Luke 15:14- Bottom

The younger son in this story had lost himself.  Whether it was his lack of maturity, greed, or some combination of other things, this son was not himself.

Have you ever known someone who lost himself or herself? I have.  It's a frightening and disturbing thing, especially when it is someone you know and love.  Who is this person?  What has he or she become?  This is not the person I once knew.  The place that I've seen it happen is with alcohol or other drugs, but there are other ways people can lose themselves. Something else takes control, changing the person into someone entirely different.

This happened to the younger son.  Surely he knew better than to waste his portion of the inheritance in the way that he did. He couldn't control his impulsive actions.   But, and here's the grace in this story, "he came to himself."  He did hit bottom and "came to himself."  Sadly, not everyone who hits bottom finds himself again.  And many need help- medical, spiritual, and psychological, to find their way back to their true self.  But it can happen.  I've seen it, and it is a miracle of God.

So there is hope for those you know and love who may have lost themselves.  If you feel like you have lost your true self, there is hope for you as well.  God is still present at the bottom.  Perhaps it is that very bottom that God uses to help one find their true self.  It happened for this younger brother.  It can happen for you and those you love as well.  Is there someone you know who you believe has lost their true self?  Pray for that person today, that God will make it possible for them to find themselves once again.