Coming Home

“Y

ou want to do what?”  I can still hear my father’s reaction when I proposed spending my junior year living and studying in France.  My college had a well-established year abroad program and several students took advantage of it each year.  Initially, my dad wasn’t too crazy about the idea but after much coaxing and cajoling on my part, he finally buckled, gave in, and I got to go.

I arrived in Europe on September 2, 1983 and began 10 months of study, travel, and new experiences.  It didn’t take me long to discover that a year abroad meant so much more than just seeing the Eiffel Tower or visiting Paris.  France was a completely different world with a different language, a different way of doing things, and different people who knew nothing about me.

Eventually, the novelty of being several hours from Paris, Rome, Munich, Geneva, Monte Carlo, and other famous places wore off.  Although I was able to adjust to the lifestyle and to master the language, I had this growing desire to return home and see my family.  As June 1984 approached I found myself getting more and more excited about the prospects of returning home and I began making my preparations.

Finally, the day arrived.  After a flight that lasted an eternity, I met my mom and dad at the airport.  My dad was the first person I saw and we hugged each other.  I will never forget that day.  The trip home went by very quickly while we caught up on the past ten months.  My dad did not take the most direct route to our home.  I didn’t think anything about it but when we crested the hill above our home, I saw a huge line of cars on both sides of the street. My mom said they decided to throw me a “little” homecoming party. 

I don’t know how many people were there but it was a wonderful surprise and a great way to come home.  All my friends and family members were there as well as food!!  I had forgotten how wonderful home cooking was, especially the taste of mom’s sweet tea!  What a way to come home!

Jesus told a similar story of a young man who also had a wonderful coming home party thrown in his honor.  He, too, had traveled abroad to live in a “far country.”  However, he didn’t go there to study or to improve himself in anyway.  Instead, he went as an act of rebellion, to prove to himself, to his father, and to others that he could live his life as he pleased.  He failed!

The attraction of the far land lost its allure for him.  He squandered his money and he had to find a way to earn a living.  He took a job, feeding hogs just to make ends meet.  Finally, he realized that he could go home and work for his father, so he packed his bags and left.

As he turned onto the road leading to his house, his father spied him.  His dad, it seems, had been looking forward to this day for a long time.  Let’s look at this father’s reaction to this son who returned home in shame and disgrace.  Luke 15:20b says, “"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”

Surprised?  Instead of scolding this young man, instead of telling him, “I told you so,” and instead of giving him a lecture, this father runs to him, kisses him and welcomes him.  And that’s not all, he throws one heck of a coming home party to celebrate his son’s return.  It didn’t matter that the boy had rebelled or that he had gone far away and lost all he had.  All that mattered was his return.

Do you know of a better picture of God than this?  Before accepting Jesus Christ, we all live in the distant country of sin.  One day, sin loses its allure, we wake up to discover we are hungry with no means of feeding ourselves, and we decide to return home.  We find it impossible to believe God will forgive us and that’s when we get a big surprise.  He has been looking for us all along, just waiting for our return.  He runs to us, hugs us, kisses, us and throws one heck of a party because we have come back to him.  It is said that we can’t go home again.  Fortunately, this phrase is not in God’s vocabulary!  How long has it been since you’ve been home?