LUKE 15, THE PARTY
Maybe we have, but I can’t help thinking we’ve never
really felt happiness until we’ve felt the astonishment of being someone
who knew and felt beyond any doubt that you had no “right” to be
at a magnificent party that’s filled with the sights and sounds of
celebration; and yet there you are.
Not only have you found yourself there but you found yourself to be the source of all the joy—the source of all the JOY.
No conquering hero you! You haven’t been to war and carried yourself
gallantly, no bronze star, no purple heart, no medal of honor, no
citations for self-sacrifice; you’ve done nothing to make your Father
proud. So why are you there? Why were you almost carried into the home
and ushered later into a hastily put together celebration?
This is a party where everybody fusses over you, cries over, laughs
over, dances with you until you come to believe the incredible—it isn’t a
dream; you really and truly are wanted; sincerely loved and sincerely
welcomed!
You finally believe [almost altogether] it isn’t tolerance you’re hearing—it’s joy! The smiles are real! Happy chaos, laughing bedlam and perhaps hardest of all to believe is this: your presence is the engine that drives the entire thing! You're why the Father has thrown this party!
See that man over there? The older man who’s grinning from ear to
ear; you’re now and then catching phrases and words that he’s half
shouting above the noise as he makes the rounds through the happy
crowd—“Yes…came…night before…” “Have no words…” “My…heart…all
joy…I…beside myself…” You recognize him, of course, that’s your Father.
The only one in that crowd that hasn’t quite “got it”—even yet—is the
one knows in his bones that he has no right to be there—you!
But outside the house, out there in the dark of the evening when
parties are enjoyed, in the “darkness outside” there’s a man who’s not
only stunned but one who’s filled with resentment that one such as you
should be made so much of. You, the one who not long ago generated so
much pain in the Father’s heart; the sulking outsider rages at it all.
He knows you, don’t you see—he has “the facts” and he has heard “the
story” that has made the rounds about you. Some of the things he has
heard are indeed true and no one knows that better than you; no one
feels the shame as you do. The one thing he never knew and the one thing
he might never understand is this: your Father’s love is fathomless and
ceaseless and that is the sole grounds for the lighted house, the music
and dancing, the eating and drinking, the laughter and the sound of
your name that’s called over and over again in a happy tone. Poor thing,
because he doesn't love you he sits outside in the dark and will not
come in despite the Father's longing and so, awful image, he continues
outside in the dark.
But it isn’t only you that aggravates him—there’s something about the
generosity of the Father that he can’t get his head around. Such
generosity is beyond him because, God pity him, such love is beyond him.
This means he's only able to think that such a party should be thrown
only for someone like him. People without heart not only doubt the
Father, they doubt the friends of a Father like that. [“Soft on sin,
don’t you know.”]
Listen, there’ll always be someone who thinks you shouldn’t make it
to the party! And you may be tempted to condemn yourself to misery
because you know they’re around, hovering, keeping their distance,
hinting a fault, suggesting, implying, speaking by their coolness,
rolling their eyes when they see you smile—all the while hoping that
they’ll steal your joy, a joy your Father and his friends wish you to
experience. And you, still not able to fully believe because your past
haunts you, allow their opinion to be as powerful as the Father’s warm
embrace.
It may be extremely difficult and it may take a long time for you to
get used to the lovely clothes the Father has put on you or the honored
place in his presence he has given you, but do your best. The Father’s
opinion of you, the joy he says you bring him, the happiness in his
heart that you have returned is worthy of your trust.
Trust him! For he is the one who watched the road day after day,
longing to see you coming home. Your critics didn’t watch out for you,
hoping for your return; they didn’t call you into the Father’s heart and
they didn’t die for you.
There’s no denying your ragged and pig-stained clothes when you first
came back up the road from who knows where but there’s no denying
either the best clothes and the party! So as often as you can for as
long as you can, put on your silly hat, inflate your balloons, ring your
little bells and blow your whistle and take His word for it—you’re home
and loved beyond measure. Let the joy of the Lord be your strength and
live out your life in peace and commitment.
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.