PodcastFrom the Pastor
The Greatest Story Ever Told
The greatest short story ever told is a story that most Christians call "The Parable of the Prodigal Son". Dr. George Buttrick once said, 'When all other stories fail, and the earth waxes old like an old garment, the story of the prodigal son will still be young.' I wonder why. Why does this story, found in Luke's gospel, have such universal appeal?
I think it's a story of amazing love. Jesus, in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, is painting a picture of God. He is saying, in essence, 'If you want to know what the God who inhabits the heavens is like, he is like the father in this parable who stayed at home and waited and longed for His wayward child to come home again."
Herman Thielicke, a famous theologian, reminded us that Christians have done a great injustice to this story down through the years by calling it the Parable of the Prodigal Son. He strongly suggests that this is not so much a parable of a prodigal son, but rather, it is the parable of a loving father. It's interesting that down through the years, the three parables of Luke 15 - the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son - are known for their negatives, not their positives. The parable of the lost sheep overshadows the found sheep, the lost coin overshadows the found coin, and the prodigal son overshadows the loving father.
I would submit to you that the theme is NOT the faithfulness of a man, but rather the faithfulness of God. We may turn our backs on Him, but He never turns His back on us. No matter what you've done in life, no matter how far you've wandered away from God, no matter how much you may feel separated from God, God has been looking for you a long, long time. Won't you come home to the loving Father?
Rev. Bobby Ellisor
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