Always There

“And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
        Matthew 28:20b

I am a son.  All men are.  It’s something inherent in who we are.  It’s a pre-requisite of being male.  If you’re a guy, you have to be a son.  Now, admittedly there are a few people who grow up with no parental influence at all, and we grieve for them, but for most of us, our identity is intertwined with this concept of son-ship.  The funny thing is all sons have the same problem.  I know it seems amazing, but it’s true, or to quote Arthur’s Theme: “I know it’s crazy, but it’s true.” 

 All sons have the same problem: every son thinks his dad is stupid.  I don’t know how it works that way, but it’s true.  If you are a son, at one time or another you thought your dad was stupid.  I don’t know why it is but  we turn thirteen and suddenly we know everything, and at that point we realize just how much our dads don’t know.  It’s funny, one year we depend on them for everything; the next, all dads are complete morons.  We don’t come out from under this frame of mind until our mid-twenties, when we, more than likely, realize that they were right all along.  But anyway, back to being a son….

Jesus told a story about a son with this exact problem.  In Luke 15, He starts, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’  So he divided his property between them.  Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country, and there squandered his wealth in wild living.” 

So, this particular son has lived under his father’s roof and rules for his whole life.  He finally realizes his dad is stupid, and decides to chase after the things he knows will fulfill him.  He knows the rules his dad placed on him weren’t for his well-being; they have just kept him from being happy and finding what really meets his needs.  He tells his dad that he would be better off if his dad was dead.  At least then he’d have the funds needed to pursue his dreams. 

 I love that Jesus never told us what the son spent his money on.  That gives each of us the option to insert our own personal thoughts in their place.  Maybe you’re a son who thinks he’ll find his happiness in a girl, whether from an emotional or physical relationship.  Maybe you’re a son who thinks his fulfillment will come with work or money.  Maybe you are a daughter who is searching for beauty, acceptance or popularity. 

We all have our own ideas of what we think will fill us, and most often, we seek them outside of our relationship with God.  God has His place in our lives, but we still think that we need something else to be fulfilled: marriage, sex, money, cars, toys, sports, music, friends, etc.  So we walk away from the one who has given us life and sustenance to seek a happiness that we heard about from someone or saw in a movie.  We each choose our own vice on which to spend our wealth.

But the son found what we all find eventually: joy is not found in the things of this world.  Mortal toys cannot fill a divine hole.  They eventually leave us broken and filthy.  “After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.  So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.  He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.”  We tend to think that we alone can find the road that will lead to our happiness. Why we continue to think this when only God can see the end of the roads is a mystery?  Why do we continue to run down roads other than His when the end finds us poor, broken, and ashamed?

The son made a plan to earn his way back home.  “I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’  So he got up and went to his father.”  He wanted to work his way back into the house.  Sound familiar?  It is for me.  I always want to make a deal with God.  “Get me out of this, and I’ll never do such and such again.” Or “Lord, I know I’ve screwed up, but I’d like another chance.  I’ll stop doing this.”  Or a different version: “I’ll do this and such every day from now on.”  All promises we make to earn our way back into the family.  We come back saying “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”  What we missed was that we weren’t worthy in the first place!  He welcomes us home, not as a worker but as a son.  He chooses to make us part of the family, just like He did originally.  And should we fulfill all those promises, well, yes. He wants us to go His way, not to earn our way home, but because it’s what is best for us.  At the end of the day, at the end of the road, at the end of our rope and our sanity, we want to go home. 

“So he got up and went to his father.  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.”  The son is welcomed home not because of what he had done; but because of whom he’s coming home to.  It’s his father. and that’s what fathers do.  They love their sons unconditionally.  No matter where the son turns from or when he turns toward home, his father is running to meet him.  Now I know for some it is difficult to reconcile this with your earthly father.  Earthly fathers are human and fallible.

God is more than the perfection of your father; He’s not just filling in the outline of your dad.  He is holy, set apart, other.  He is the ideal your father was modeled after.  But many models are cracked and broken. The end of the story is that no matter what kind of father you’ve had, no matter what road you’ve chosen, no matter what filth you find yourself in; when you turn towards home, there is a Father running to meet you.  Because that’s what father’s do. 

Listen to “Always There” at www.myspace.com/toddagnew