It can be hard and painful to see ourselves as we really are.
Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ So he set off and went to his father.
In the parable known as The Prodigal Son, Jesus tells the story of a young man who is lost morally, relationally, and spiritually. For a while, he seems unaware of how desperate his situation is. But then, as Jesus describes it, “he came to himself.” It can be hard and painful to see ourselves as we really are. For a while, we might prefer to live in denial. But the journey to healing and wholeness begins with “coming to ourselves” honestly, recognizing just how much we need God’s mercy.
This week we’ve been reflecting on what we call the parable of The Prodigal Son. In yesterday’s devotion I suggested that, although the younger son in Jesus’s story was surely prodigal (extravagant, wasteful), it may be better to think of him more like the lost son. That’s the way Jesus describes him (Luke 15:24, 32). And that’s consistent with the theme of Luke 15, with its parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.
As the parable begins, the younger son didn’t think of himself as lost. If anything, for a while he was probably quite pleased with himself as he spent his inheritance on “dissolute living” (15:13; or as the NIV reads, “wild living”). Maybe this young man even thought that he had found himself since he was no longer under the authority of his father.
But the younger son’s reverie didn’t last. After squandering his money, the place where he lived suffered a famine. Soon, the son was starving, forced to feed pigs for meager income, and wishing he could eat the pig slop. At this point, Jesus says, he “came to himself.” That’s a literal translation of Greek. In ordinary English, we might say that “he came to his senses” (CEB). All of a sudden this young man realized his lostness. He was in a desperate situation and things weren’t getting better. Realizing that his father’s employees were far better off than he was, the younger son decided to return home and beg for mercy. He was not worthy to be his father’s son anymore, but perhaps he could work for his father. At least that way he wouldn’t be hungry.
The theological term for the son’s experience is repentance. It begins with an awareness of the fact that we are lost, that we are going in the wrong direction. It begins when we “come to ourselves” or “come to our senses.” Then, and only then, are we ready to choose a different way. When we realize our lostness, we’re finally open to the possibility of being found.
Today, you might recognize that you are lost in some way. Your lostness may be relatively minor compared to that of the lost son in Jesus’s parable. But, as you come to your senses, you will realize that you need to be found by God in some new way. Recognizing that we are lost is often the first step toward being found.
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