Good Monday morning...

 

… and leaning into our faith is never a bad thing to do.  I was reminded of this on Friday morning with the service for our friends’ son at the gravesite where his ashes were buried.  The lyrics to the song “When God Ran” was helpful in visualizing this truth.  I remember the song from the 1980s when I had a copy of it on a cassette tape!

Benny Hester and John Parenti wrote and recorded the song, but a trio of pastors named Phillips, Dean, and Craig made it popular in the 1990s.  The song is a beautiful portrait of the lesson Jesus’ taught about the prodigal son, found in Luke 15.  The brilliance of the song is that it’s told from the perspective of the prodigal… and we all know that there is a little bit of prodigal in all of us!

As a parent experiencing the death of a child, no matter what age, the ‘out of order’ nature of the loss is overwhelming.  Jesus drove home the point of God’s love for repentant sinners with this story.  The young man had lived large on his father’s inheritance, then hit the bottom when the only work he could find was disgusting and inadequate to sustain him.  So, he decided to go home, tail between his legs, and ask for a job on his father’s ranch, admitting his failures and requesting to be a hired servant.

The scene that led to the title of the song ‘When God Ran’ is what continues to give me so much joy and awe about our God.  The dignity of the old man who was the ranch ‘Jefe’ was left in the dust as he ran down the dirt road upon the sight of his son returning home.  The chorus of the song captures the moment beautifully as told from the perspective of the son, “He ran to me, he took me in his arms, held my head to his chest, said, ‘my son’s come home again,’ lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes, with forgiveness in his voice he said, ‘son, do you know I still love you?’”

As I shared these words, from Ryan’s perspective, I only hoped that his heart-broken parents could find some comfort in the literal image of God receiving their son home for eternity, safe and restored to perfect health and wholeness, and awaiting the glorious day when we are all united in Christ.  The wait will be terrible, but not without hope.  Leaning into our faith means having hope for a future that is in God’s wonderful presence.

For His glory,

Pastor Mike