Here He Comes

W

here was he?  He couldn't be too far away!  It had been more than an hour since he called and the drive from work took only thirty minutes!  Wait, was that his car?  No, false alarm!  His car had a blue roof, not a black one.  What was taking him so long?  After all, I had been waiting all week for him to come get me, why was he making me wait?  One last look, just in case. Was it?  Could it be? Yes, it was his car and he was coming to get me! 

You may be asking yourself to whom I am referring in the above paragraph.  Well, it was my grandfather who had promised to pick me up one Friday afternoon on his way home from work so I could spend the night with him and my grandmother.  Nothing is more exciting to a young boy than a stay at grandma and grandpa's house.  Grandma always cooked my favorite foods and grandpa always shared roasted peanuts or Snickers candy bars with me as we watched the ball game or some TV show he liked to watch.  It was a wonderful time, but waiting for him to pick me up was torture.

We lived on Main Street and from our front yard there was a clear view of the road leading out of town.  You could see for at least a mile to where the road curved out of sight.  On this particular day, I stood at the corner of our front yard eagerly watching that curve.  Every time a white car came around the bend, I got excited.  Grandpa drove a white Buick Regal with a blue top and I was anxiously watching for him. Every white car that came into view elevated my hopes but none of them was his car.  Finally, a white car with a blue top came around the curve and I knew, even from that distance, that it was my granddad and I knew he was coming to get me.

Luke's gospel records a similar story of one family member anxiously waiting for the arrival of another.  However, this story had little to do with a grandson waiting for his grandfather.  Instead, Luke records the well-known story of the Prodigal Son who demanded his inheritance and then squandered it.  When he finally realized what he had done, he determined to return home and work as his father's slave.  Yet, his father desperately searched the horizon each day for his son's return.  He spent hours staring at the distant curve in the road, looking for him.  Daily he would position himself to see that curve in the distance.  At every possible moment, he would stop and search for his son.  Sometimes he believed he saw him, only to have his hopes shattered. At other times, he imagined his son coming up the road toward him, but then he realized it was someone else who resembled his son in appearance only.

But finally, one day, he lifted his eyes and there, on the horizon, he saw a familiar figure coming toward him.  Was it?  Could it be?  Yes, it was!  He ran all the way to meet his son.  The father's reaction is captured by Luke in the following way, "And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him." (Luke 15:20) This father was so happy to have his son home that all his previous actions and wrongdoing were forgotten.  The father received his son again, he loved him, and welcomed him home.

This is the kind of God we serve today.  We have all been in a distant land, squandering the lives God gave us.  We have misused his resources and lived selfishly. Yet, like this father, God stands watch, searching for us.  He scans the horizon; he longingly observes the bend in the road, anxiously anticipating our return.  He never gives up on us, he never loses heart, and he never tires of waiting.  Moreover, when we make that turn in the bend, he sees us from far away.  He runs to us, embraces us, and welcomes us home!  He forgives and forgets our sin, delighted to have us back with him where we belong.  Can you see him searching the horizon today?  Can you hear him say as you round the bend, "Here he comes!"?