Dear Faith Family,
Our faith is pretty important to us, wouldn't you agree? And not just significant in the sense of the value we place upon it, but actually essential to the daily experience of life.
What we think and believe about the King and His Kingdom has a tremendous impact on ordinary living things like jobs and marriages, free time and commitments, to-do lists and bank accounts. Everything falls under the purview of God with us, God for us, which is pretty great news! That is unless our assumptions about the nature of our King and His kingdom don't line up with what is actually true of him.
If you are like me, you don't like the idea of your view of God or life with God being out of focus. After all, who wants to think that he is missing or she misunderstands something, much less something as important as God's kingdom? But here is the thing which the apostle John points out, dimness is a shared trait of our humanity,
"The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own dominion, and his own did not accept his profession (i.e., the truth he revealed)."
(John 1:9-11)
The propensity of our assumptions about the King and Kingdom to be a bit off is why Jesus told parables. Desiring for us to see truly, Jesus told stories meant to "deceive the hearer into truth," as Kirkegaard noted. While all of Jesus' parables would have been relatively common experiences for his listeners, each story contains (at least one) unexpected and transformative element.
Those listening to Jesus tell these stories would have been following along, easily identifying with the familiar components, and then, all of a sudden, something Jesus says stops them in their tracks. Whether the elevation of a helpful stranger or a reaction of a master to a dishonest manager, something in the story made those listening, really listening, question their assumptions about the King and His Kingdom. And there is no more assumption exposing and transforming parable than "The Prodigal Son." Or, as we learned on Sunday, the parable of "The Humiliating Father."
Of all of Jesus' stories, the one found in Luke 15:11-32 may be the most foundational to seeing Truth clearly. The acclaimed Middle-Eastern scholar, Kenneth Bailey, argued that it was through this parable that Jesus retold the story of God's relationship with humanity, providing us with an image to challenge and reshape our misunderstandings as his children.
Though we'll be moving into other parables in the coming weeks, it will be through the vision we gain of the King and His Kingdom from this indispensable story. So I encourage you this week, listen to the story and ask what assumptions of "the two sons" are exposed as untrue, and transformed into something wholly better. And in doing, may our vision of King and His Kingdom be cleared up!
Love you, faith family! God bless.