Luke 15:20-24
“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry."
This communion ritual shows us
this story every week. We have come home to the great, good God. Come to our
senses. Confessed our sin. We are welcomed as loved children. Named as His son, His
daughter. God makes us family members, and throws a huge feast for us. Where we
often expect to work as servants to pay off the debt we’ve racked up, God
shoves that thinking away. No, you once were lost but now are found. You were
dead, but are alive again. This calls for a party, not an accounting. Of course
we aren’t worthy to be called God’s children.
We renew God’s covenant of
grace with us here. It’s His idea, and He wants to remind us week by week of
the forgiving Father’s lavish feast for prodigals. Every one of us is a
prodigal in some sense. We don’t have to rebelliously leave home and party with
the wild crowd to sin against God and incur deserved condemnation. But in
Christ, there is no condemnation. Instead there is a crown.
8/11/13
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