Dear Rose Park,
For the season of Lent, I’d like to focus these weekly letters around a central story and book. The story is the Parable of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15. The book is The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith by Tim Keller. Ultimately, as we journey step-in-step with Jesus towards the cross of Calvary, it’s my hope for each and every one of us to recover the heart of our faith in the Risen King.
If you need a refresher on the parable, stop right now and click here to read the parable from Luke 15: 11-32. Typically, when reading this parable, we oversimplify in order to compartmentalize and comprehend. The younger son is foolish. The older son is prudent. The dad is gracious. There are slivers of truth in these statements, but there’s so much more to this parable than oversimplified truths. Keller helps us to consider this fact, when he writes:
“The word “prodigal” does not mean “wayward” but, according to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, “recklessly spendthrift.” It means to spend until you have nothing left. This term is therefore as appropriate for describing the father in the story as his younger son. The father’s welcome to the repentant son was literally reckless, because he refused to “reckon” or count his sin against him or demand repayment. This response offended the elder son and most likely the local community.” (pg. xvii)
I would imagine many of us have never considered the father to be a prodigal, but clearly the father is giving everything he has to his son. In a similar way, as we journey through the season of Lent it’s my great hope that we could all come to the realization that God the Father recklessly spent everything He had in order to reconcile the world to Himself and bridge the gap between His people. Keller writes, “Jesus is showing us the God of Great Expenditure, who is nothing if not prodigal towards us, His children. God’s reckless grace is our greatest hope” (pg. xviii).
This is all to say, God gave up His only Son for you and me. God loves you so much that He was willing to spend everything in sacrificing His own Son in order to be in a relationship with you. It’s difficult to even comprehend this kind of love, but God sees you with all your talents and accomplishments and all of your faults and failures and still deeply loves you.
In this season of Lent, would you consider giving your heart to the God who spent everything for you.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark
Photo by Nuno Antunes on Unsplash
If you’d like to purchase The Prodigal God from Amazon, click here.