Here's something I wrote for Theology class! Please pray I get an...A? :))
The God Who Runs
One thing I know that I have found
Through all the troubles that surround
You are the Rock who never fails
You never fail
-Everlasting God, New Life Worship
A young rebellious child. A dutiful elder child. A hopeful Father. It sounds like a typical story to me. Growing up, I’ve always thought that I got the Parable of the Prodigal Son nailed down. The equation was simple. You’ve got your conflict and your resolution. Son runs away. Son comes back. However, like anything in the Word of God, there’s always something new and something more.
I’ve never thought of Jesus as the prodigal son. To me, he was exactly the opposite of this familiar pleasure-seeking hero. Reading Nouwen’s insight on who the true Prodigal son is, I was simply amazed. Here was Jesus. Here was the God who had every joy, pleasure and glory present in His heavenly home. Yet, out of obedience, out of love, He chose to leave home. In John 14:21, it says, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.” Jesus obeyed because He loves.
I remember when I was in grade school. We had our annual three day camping trip. To me, it was three days of bad sleep, canned goods and no privacy. Today, given the choice of a camping trip, the answer would be a definite no. I can’t even imagine just a day of sleeping in the woods now. I can’t imagine Jesus leaving a home of complete joy and perfection for 33 years. But He did.
We often think about love and how great it is. Yes, it is beautiful! It is a many splendored thing! It is all we need! However, when we think of love, we tend to forget the cost. Do we remember the cost of God’s great love for us? I have so many complaints. So many fears of the world. So many doubts. Yet, here was someone who left His own perfect home for me. For me! What is so special about me that someone would even think of leaving paradise? I guess this serves as a reminder: How can I ever doubt God’s love for me? If this God could leave his Kingdom and die for me, how could I even think that he would fail me now? I agree with Nouwen. Preaching to myself is the hardest thing.
As I read about Nouwen’s take on the Elder Son, I found myself harking back to Philip Yancey’s discussion on “ungrace” in his book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” He writes, “Yet somehow throughout history the church has managed to gain a reputation for its ungrace.” He recalls a column by Erma Bombeck. One Sunday in church, a little boy was smiling to everyone. His mother told him to stop it and even gave him a belt. The little boy cried while the mother said, “‘That’s better’ and returned to her prayers...” Bombeck writes, “If he couldn’t smile in church, where was there left to go?”
Like the Elder Son, I have found myself and still find myself succumbing to this pattern of “ungrace.” I’ve had my own fair share of struggling with forgiveness – forgiving others and myself. Over time, I have noticed how I respond when I feel hurt, assaulted and offended. Like the Elder Son, I refuse to handle the situation. I stay away. I run. I don’t even want to stay in the same area with same person much less see him or hear him.When I first heard of my Dad’s infidelity, my heart broke. I couldn't understand how my Dad could betray my Mom. How could he betray our family? He loved us. He loves us. I have always been so secure of this love. It left me wounded and confused. So many times have I wanted to give up on this family thing, on this love thing. If this man who gave life to me, who saw me as special in his eyes, who assured me of his love for me could deceive me, how then could I possibly be expected to trust everyone else? How then could I possibly be loved?
And then I was reminded of God’s love. When I fowl up, God does not run away. When I make mistakes over and over again, He doesn’t budge. In a way, it humours me. In Romans 5:8, it says, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God loves me so much. I used to think, “If I can’t forgive myself, why would He?” God has wiped my sin. He does not have any memory of the past. In Hebrews 8:12, it says, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” I don’t even understand why God loves me and chooses to forgive me. It’s not because I’m awesome or anything. He just does. Even if I tell Him I quit, He wouldn’t. As I am reminded of this, I have realized that my response to my Dad such as not answering his calls, hastening our conversations and cutting communication is a refusal to love. God’s way to the sinner is overwhelming love, not constant dodging.
Nouwen recounts his frustration on the Parable of the landowners in the vineyard. He writes, “Those who’ve done a little bit are loved as much as those who’ve done a lot.” I believe this brings as back to God’s grace. We do not work for His love. We receive it. It is a matter of accepting it. It’s the same as salvation. In Ephesians 2:8-9, it says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” No amount of good works may it be in the form of charity donation, humanist advocacies, time spent in Church and anything else could ever earn God’s love.
I once heard that “love seeks to benefit others at the expense of self in order to give.” Again, maybe it’s time to assess our attitude. It’s not about fighting to achieve love. Love is already there. I believe the Elder Son was definitely lost in his rebuttal to the Father. When he talks about how he has slaved for the Father, it seems that the Father owed him something. Again, no matter how good or dutiful we are, we can’t earn God’s love. We can’t earn salvation just as the Younger Son once thought. The truth is the only thing we owe the Father is punishment. We are sinners! What we deserve is hell. In Romans 3:23, it says, “...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...” And think about it. Can you honestly say that you have never ever sinned in any way?
Maybe, like the Elder Son, we tend to forget that we obey because we love. We love so that we could give. We tend to forget that serving God is a privilege. Being co-laborers with God is a privilege. If you think about it, God does not need us to accomplish the good works He set out for us. He created the entire universe! Everything else is just a piece of cake to Him. If He wanted something done minus the complaints and mistakes, He could have done it Himself. He could have saved a lot of time. Yet, He didn’t. He chose to work with us.
Maybe the Elder Son is also looking for love? However, he was so lost that he couldn’t accept and recognize the Father’s love. He was lost to come to the fact that the Father did indeed love him as much as the Father loved his brother. He failed to understand the great love of the Father so as to forgive his younger brother. In my personal Bible, the title of this Parable is “The Parable of the Lost Son.” As it ends with the Father’s conversation with the Elder Son, I wonder if the truly lost son here is the Elder Son.
I remember reading Philip Yancey’s illustration of this in the story of the robber Jesus accepted to Heaven. In his earthly life, this person would never open the Bible, attend Church, go to Bible study, preach the word and so on and so on. But that’s how it works. As Yancey writes, “Grace comes free of charge to people who do not deserve it...” The truth is, like the Younger Son, I am a selfish and pleasure seeking person. Like the Elder Son, I scrutinize and could be unforgiving. Yet God chose to love me. He chose to love us. God already loves us. Any good work that we do just comes out of the abundance of our love for Him. The question is: Do we accept God’s love?
In the end, I believe the Parable of the Prodigal Son points us back to God. On and on, we could deliberate the actions of the sons and how it relates to our actions in our relationship with God and others. However, what I’ve come to realize is this: It’s not about what we do. It’s about who God is.
God runs. Just like the Father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. He runs to us despite not hearing any apology yet. Can you imagine that? A glorious God. A mighty warrior. A victorious Creator of the universe. A King all the angels bow down to. The Maker of Heaven and Earth. He runs! And He runs to me! He runs to you! How amazing is that?
In a way, it affirms my identity in God. I am so valuable to God that He would run to me. Why would I settle for anything less than what He has destined for me? The idea of God running just blows me away. I just can’t comprehend it. Maybe that’s just how God’s grace is. That’s just how God’s love is. He loves to welcome me back that He would run to me. Despite everything I’ve done, He does not give me what I deserve. Despite breaking His heart with what I’ve done, He runs to me. And He just does not run but He waits for me. His excitement on my arrival is so great that He would run out to me. I cannot help but smile at the thought that whatever the Father was doing, He dropped it all just to run to His sinful son. God’s love is an unconditional love able to forgive no matter what.
Nouwen writes, “ The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a story that speaks about a love that existed before any rejection was possible and that will still be there after all rejections have taken place.” My hope is that we would always be so secure in this love. Even if we can’t find it in the people around us, I hope that we would be able to grasp how God’s love could be more than enough. Moreover, I hope that I would be able to persevere in my love for others. There are just a list of things that I can say why I should not love certain people. In the end, just one reason wipes of these lists. I hope that I can choose to love unconditionally because God loves unconditionally. It’s hard. But His grace is sufficient.
