Being Put in our Place

Lent marches on this Sunday as we encounter three different stories of emplacement. In each lesson a moment of transformation precedes a statement of destiny or placement in a longterm context of grace. The most prominent of these stories is the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). 

Most of us are familiar with this parable that tells of a young man who asks for his inheritance, squanders it in loose living, comes to his senses to return home, whereupon his father lavishes an inordinate amount of love on him to reinstate him as a son, in a position of privilege and grace.  The son did not get what he deserved. He received grace upon grace. 

Jesus tells this story to show us what God is like, that He and all of heaven rejoice at the repentance of just one sinner. I’m not sure how Lent has gone for you so far, but I hope you’ve experienced this same kind of grace. And, I hope we bear in mind that it’s not just for us that Jesus came, but for the whole world around us. 

I’ll see you Sunday as we journey together in Lent -

Jay+ 

As we behold the face of God in the face of Christ, we are transformed into his image. This is what it means to be fully human—to become like Jesus, the truly human one, and to grow more and more in the freedom of the children of God.