I received a bit of Gospel that has had me pondering most of the afternoon and evening.  It was on the parable of the prodigal son.  Now, all the bits and pieces of Scripture that are about fathers are ones that I set aside in confusion.  I had, before today, always considered the parable about fathers and sons, a tale for people to relate to and to see how a father should act in forgiveness.  Neither of those are within my experience.  So this oft touted parable is not one I ever really thought of as for me.

Until today.

Until today when I was given that parable in a new light.  Not so much the father/son, although birthright is key, but more so on the act of forgiveness.

Remember the Prodigal Son.  He was up to his neck in the pig slop.  He had sinned before heaven and before his father.  He was no longer worthy to be called a son, nor of anything but punishment.  But he was returned to himself, to who he really is, to his Baptism, to his sonship.  He was reminded of his father's mercy and compassion, and that called him home.  Before he could even get there, before he even thought of it or tried, his father's eye was still on him, even far away, and his father ran out to him, to embrace him and to bring him home in love.  His father covered his shame with honor and great joy.

I had not thought of baptism in that way, a birthright.  Nor had I ever focused on the bit that leapt out at me:  before he thought of or tried his plan to make his life better his father ran out to him and forgave him.  There was no work on the son's part, no words of explanation or positioning himself before her, no begging or pleading or anything at all.  Forgiveness was already his the moment his father laid eyes upon him.  It was already his by birthright.  It was already his.  It is, likewise, already mine.

That is what your Father does for you.  Because He sees and knows nothing else in you but His beloved and well-pleasing Son, your Brother in the flesh, the gracious and merciful Lord Jesus Christ.  No pig slop.  No loose living.  No prostitutes.  Just Jesus.  His robe of righteousness is placed upon you.  His royal wedding ring is on your finger.  And the fatted calf of His own Body and Blood are set before you at His Table, even in the presence of your enemies, that you might feast on Him and dwell in His house forever and ever.

Because of this, because of this...

You are a beloved and precious, delightful and well-pleasing member of the Bride of Christ.  He has given Himself for you, and He has cleansed you by the washing of the water with His Word, so that you are dressed in Him and His beautiful righteousness.  There is no fault or flaw or wrinkle or blemish in you, nor any such thing.  There is only your Bridegroom, who has given you His Name, His honor, His glory, His life, and His own Body.  That is what is true.  Nothing else remains.

Would that it were these words fell as easily from my lips as do they from other Lutherans.

I think of myself one way, in part permanently stained and permanently defined by the sins committed against me as a child, forgiven for heaven, but not so clean for the here and now, only for the then.  This is something I learned from others' reaction to knowing of my experiences.

For if it is not my past that puts a person off, it is my continuing battle with sin.  Either way, I am objectionable, not socially correct.  I don't fit in for I am too clumsy a human being and too wearying in my struggles...both medically and spiritually!

But...no...I am robed in His righteousness, draped about me like a cloak protecting me from the assaults of nature.  I am clean.  I am without fault or flaw.  I am pleasing.  I am a delight.

In Christ, I am whole even though I am completely broken.


Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief!