Reflection: reLENT Series: reTURN (April 2, 2014)

Lent Mid-Week 5

1 Peter 2:16-25; Luke 15:11-32

One of the greatest benefits of observing Lent is that through our observances we are reminded of something that we too often forget: “you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” These words were first spoken by the Lord when Adam and Eve brought sin and death into the world. They were repeated by Job in the midst of his suffering (Job 34:15), the psalmist when marveling at the majesty of God (Ps. 104:29), and the preacher of Ecclesiastes as he considered the meaningless of living a worldly life (Eccl. 3:20). Being mindful of Job’s observation that “all flesh” is mortal and that each one of us will “return to dust” leads us to understand that there is another “returning” that we must experience if we are to have any hope beyond returning to dust.

By its nature, returning involves having left something in the first place. After all, you can’t return to a place that you've never been before, a status that you've never held before, or a relationship that you've never had before. As those who have been Baptized into Christ and have joined Him in His death and resurrection, we know the place from which we depart in so many ways and to which we are called to return. It’s expressed in beautiful language in 1 Peter 2:25, “For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

Like sheep, we tend to wander from the love, care, and concern of our Shepherd. Such wandering rarely turns out well for us. Like the son in the parable told by our Savior, we end up far from the love, grace, and mercy that once safely held us. Only after realizing through our own versions of feeding pigs while going hungry that we have squandered everything that was truly good and worthwhile do we understand the necessity of returning. But, also like that son, we may think that coming back broken and unworthy means something other than returning to the fullness of what we had lost — and even more so when we are once again repeating this journey of squandering and returning. What joy and surprise await us when we return to the loving embrace of our Father, the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls, who rejoices that we who were lost have returned to the place that He has secured for us by His grace, mercy, and love.

Click here to listen to the sermon "reTURN" (or right-click to download the MP3 file).