I am beginning
to wonder if everything that our world is dealing with is starting to make an
impact upon my thought processes. I’m
not going to pretend that this is impacting me only – obviously this impacts
every one of our lives. But it might be
true that each one may be impacted differently.
Here’s what I mean. I was driving
home the other day when I looked at my information panel on our Ford Echo. I had a hard time understanding what my eyes
were seeing. Under the current outside
temperature, the reading said 68 degrees.
That can’t be right, I thought to myself. It outside temp is more like mid-40’s. I looked at it again and it read the
same. I stopped the car and restarted
the engine, thinking that would clear the screen and start fresh.
That didn’t
work… the temperature still read 68 degrees.
I was so dumbfounded that I thought I’d better take a picture of it so I
could show the automotive shop when I brought it in to have it looked at. I figured the outside temperature sensor was
faulty. Here’s the thing I thought next:
I wondered if my vehicle had caught some kind of computer virus that caused the
outside temperature sensor to show a temp that was so obviously wrong. Man, I thought, you have virus outbreak on the
brain. Get a grip.
He came to himself
and realized he needed to get a grip. I’m
not talking about myself in the third person.
No, I’m talking about the story of the prodigal son told in Luke’s
15th chapter. We’ve heard
and read this parable countless numbers of times. We are familiar with how the son demanded his
inheritance, went off to a far away land and spent every dime he was
given. When he finally “came to his
senses”, he decided he would be better off returning home, asking for
forgiveness and seeing what his future might hold back home.
His father’s
grace was amazing and not only was he forgiven, but the father pulled out all
the stops for his son, once lost, now found.
The older brother didn’t like it one bit – the father said “that’s too
bad, I will do what I want and you can’t stop me from forgiving my son and
loving him” – I’m paraphrasing, of course.
The author of
this day’s devotional centers his thought on the actions of the father – forgiving,
loving, unconditional actions of love and care toward his wayward son. No doubt those are common themes. I’d like to think there is another theme at
stake here… who is in and who is out.
Checking back to the beginning of this chapter, Jesus is at odds with
the scribes and the Pharisees over welcoming sinners and eating with them (an
action that Jewish heritage would have strongly discouraged because it would
make the person unclean). Jesus
immediately tells several stories about those who are lost and found – the lost
sheep and the lost coin. Then he tells
the story of the lost son.
It’s easy to
miss what I think is the primary point: I believe Jesus is telling the
religious establishment that everyone is line to receive God’s grace and
forgiveness – even those who are on the outside looking in. And it’s God’s grace to give out. There is nothing that the Pharisees can do
about it. Which is one more reason why
the Pharisees want to do away with Jesus.
He is just getting too dangerous for their purposes.
This story (among others) would lead Jesus to the cross.
I was sitting
talking with Nancy later that night (when I stopped along the road) and was
telling her about what I had seen, when suddenly a thought came to me that was
crystal clear about what happened. It
really wasn’t the outside temperature I was looking at all along. That was the inside temperature setting! I lost my perspective for a moment, but then
found it again.
I tie these two
stories together by suggesting that it’s easy for us to lose our perspective in
life, especially when it comes to understanding God’s grace and forgiveness and
who is in and who is out. My advice for
these days? Pause – take a deep breath –
and get a grip. God’s grace will carry
us through – and then some!
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