I want to talk about the Gospel reading about the Prodigal Son. (Luke 15:11-32) I have to say, this is one of my favorites.  It’s the one about the father that has two sons and he splits up the inheritance and gives it to them.  One son stays with his father, works and “follows the rules”.  The other son leaves and squanders his money on a “life of dissipation”.  (I have never used that word and didn’t know what it really meant but I could think of a few things I thought it meant! I looked it up and it means “mental distraction, amusement, diversion”.)

Anyway, the lost son eventually spends all of his money and comes crawling back to the father.  The father “caught sight of him and was filled with compassion.  He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.”  He ended up throwing a huge party in the son’s honor.  The other son, the “good” son, was MAD!!! He couldn’t believe that the father would celebrate this person who lost everything when he had been so good!

There is so much richness to this story.  There are many layers of human emotion and sin and forgiveness and pride and humility and love and compassion.  But I want to focus on the way the father greeted that lost son.

As someone pointed out to me once, the father didn’t happen to see the son a long way off by coincidence.  The father had been WAITING since the son left.  He had been waiting every day for the son to return!  He was watching and hoping and praying!

I have been every character in this story.  I have been lost, I have been found, I have waited, I have been mad and confused and indignant like the brother.  I have been welcomed home.  Haven’t we all?  Each time you read or hear the story, you see something different based on where you are in your life.

Here’s the good news…we can go home anytime.  We can return to God and he will not turn us away.  He is that good.  He is not like the older brother who demands retribution or punishment.  He has been waiting for us!  He is so happy to see us when we come home!  I can imagine the son that had been lost thinking about how his Dad would react to seeing him again…he was probably scared to go home, scared he would be punished or turned away.

But instead, there was a party thrown in his honor!

I take this to mean no matter what I’ve done, no matter where I’ve been, no matter how long I’ve been gone, there is a place for me at the table.  I have a heavenly Father who is waiting for me.  He’s waiting for you too.

If you haven’t been home to God in awhile, don’t be afraid.  He’s waiting with open arms.  He’s ready to say these words…”We must rejoice, your brother who was lost has been found.”  Welcome home!