“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.” – Luke 15:20 (NIV)
He came to himself in a pigsty.
That phrase, he came to himself, is one of the most psychologically precise descriptions of repentance in all of literature. The younger son had taken his inheritance early, demanding from his father what was legally his only when the father died, which was, in the culture of the day, essentially wishing his father dead. He had gone to a far country, spent everything, and ended up feeding pigs for a living, a humiliation so complete for a Jewish young man that Luke does not need to labour the point. He had hit the absolute bottom.
And then he came to himself. He was not experiencing a religious revival. He was hungry, and he remembered that his father’s servants had better conditions than this. His initial plan was entirely self-interested: I will go back as a servant, because I have forfeited the right to be a son. But the father was watching. While he was still a long way off, his father saw him. This means the father had been looking. You do not see someone who is still a long way off unless you have been watching the horizon. The father had been watching the road.
He ran. An elderly man of means in the ancient Near East did not run in public; it was considered undignified and inappropriate for a man of his standing. He ran anyway. He threw his arms around the son before the son had finished his prepared speech. The son began: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. He never got to the servant part. The father interrupted him with the robe, the ring, the sandals, and the feast. Not hired help. Son again. Immediately, completely, without condition.
Think about the person who has wandered so far from God that they have concluded the welcome has probably expired. Who have been in the far country long enough that returning feels less like coming home and more like presenting yourself for judgment. Who have rehearsed their speech so many times that it has become polished and the polishing has become a way of delaying the return, because the return requires actually believing that what the speech says is true and that the Father will respond the way the story says He will.
He is watching the horizon. He has been watching since you left. He sees you while you are still a long way off. He does not wait for you to arrive and demonstrate adequate repentance before He moves. He runs. He embraces before the speech is complete. The robe is already being fetched. The ring is in His hand. The feast is being prepared. The son was lost and is found, was dead and is alive again, and the Father is running.
Today, if you have been in the far country, begin the walk home. You do not need to arrive with the speech perfected. He will see you while you are still a long way off, and He will run.
Prayer
Father, I begin the walk home today. I have been in the far country and I have rehearsed the speech and I know I am no longer worthy. But I am coming back, not because I have earned the welcome but because the story says you run. Run toward me. Let me feel your arms before I finish the apology. Restore the robe, the ring, the sandals. I am your child. In Jesus’ name, amen.
