I'm beautiful in my way, cause God makes no mistakes

"I tell you that...there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."~Jesus, Luke 15:7

How many of you are familiar with the story of the prodigal son? The first definition (for prodigal) that comes up on google is "a recklessly extravagant consumer." I don't know about you, but if you're in America (like me), this probably describes you (like it describes me).


My Bible heads the story "The Parable of the Lost Son." Here it is: Luke 15:11-32....


 ¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
   ¹³ “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. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
   ¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ 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.
   ²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
   ²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
   ²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
   ²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
   ³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”


I bring this up for a few reasons, so bear with me.


1. The verse up top: Luke 15:7 came from a (Francis Chan, of course) sermon that I was listening to last night. I really need to branch out but there are 75 more sermons by Francis Chan on the database I found, so for the next 3 months anyway, that's who I'm listening to/reading/sharing with you fine folks.


Anyway, the sermon was "God's Love For Messed-Up People." And that pretty much describes the 35 minutes. And that pretty much describes me. Not that I love messed-up people, but that I am one. One thing Chan mentioned was that the self-righteous people are the ones who are least likely to repent (as opposed to "hard-core" sinners). I hope that I am not self-righteous, although I know that pride is one of my...downfalls...even though I'm too "proud" to think so!




2. (And this is supposed to be reasons for sharing the story of the lost son)


This story came up last week. My dad, Josh, and I were on a walk, and we were talking about my brother. It really bothers Dad (I think) that Chris is turning out the way he is: a rebellious hellion. I'm pretty sure he (subconsciously) sees it as partially his own fault. On one hand, I think so. But that's because I saw this all coming a loooong time ago, and things were a little different. On the other hand, I think they (Dad and Mom...I guess I'll include her too) did everything they could. I mean, they really didn't treat him any differently than me, he just...reacted differently, for lack of better words. And it sort of makes sense: everyone is different and reacts differently.


So we're walking along and Dad's sharing how he feels that things will turn around....I should back up a step. I see the world through "uncolored" eyes and so I've seen things in Chris that I didn't like from day one. Fact. My parents did not. They saw with "colored" eyes and maybe still do. But they see more reality now as Chris's actions become more rebellious.


So we're walking along and Dad's sharing how he feels that things will turn around. Eventually. And I recently read Luke, so I piped up, "Yeah, like the prodigal son." And so we talked about how the father in the story is so happy to see his son return, and Dad was saying he's sure that will happen someday. But first Chris will have to go through a lot more shit. And knowing Chris like I do, I'm sure our family will be living out this story.


3. I want to be a youth group leader/minister when I grow up. Or now. Whenever the opportunity arises. And this is one of the sermons that I want to preach because it's so awesome! This son goes off and squanders everything he has, and when he comes back, his father is soooo happy to see him! What an amazing story. It is never too late to return to our Father. And He'll always take us back, no matter what! Wrapping us up in His love with a joy that nothing can compare to!


So remember that if you're a sinner like me. :)


ps, the blog title comes from the new Lady Gaga song, "Born This Way," and I'd highly recommend that we all live by every lyric in the song!