Seeing clearly...

I had my eyes tested this week. I’m convinced that the letters on the bottom line get smaller every year! It’s always nice to see things clearly, but nowadays I need more & more help from a good pair of glasses – is that a B or a D….?
Speaking of seeing more clearly, a favourite method Jesus used to help his hearers to better understand spiritual truth was to use parables - stories that carried spiritual meaning. Of these parables, one of the best known & loved is The Prodigal Son, although of course, it is never called that in the Bible. Anyway, as I was saying, parables were used by Jesus to help us see things, spiritual realities, more clearly, and this parable is particularly helpful because it gives us a glimpse of what God is like in his attitude towards the wayward (the prodigal son) and the well intentioned (the older brother) – which just about includes all of us.

Now when it comes to seeing God more clearly we are on very important ground – get it wrong here and the whole life of the believer is affected. Is God scary, sad, good or bad…? What we believe here matters. Now I really don’t want to mention that book ‘The Shack’ again (see previous blogs), but just to say that that book will not give you clear vision of what God is like, in fact in my opinion, it is distinctively unhelpful. So for all those who keep mentioning it to me, may I suggest a far better read that will give you clearer insight into what God is like – The Prodigal God by Tim Keller. No, that’s not a typo, that’s the title; Tim Keller points out that the word ‘prodigal’ doesn’t mean ‘wayward’ but actually means ‘recklessly spendthrift – to spend until you have nothing left’ , and therefore it is most appropriately used to describe God in his grace & generosity. Wow, you want to read it already, don’t you?!

I just love this parable, and it has helped me enormously in my understanding of the warmth and commitment of God the Father towards us. And I have read some excellent books written on it, such as Henri Nouwen’s ‘The Return of the Prodigal Son’ (outstanding) and Helmut Thielicke’s ‘The Waiting Father’ (nearly as good), so could there be any fresh insights in Tim Keller’s book? Answer – oh yes, absolutely!
When I heard Tim Keller speak a couple of weeks ago he happened to say that his wife reckons that the best sermon he ever preached was on the parable of the Prodigal Son – and wives are good judges, believe me!
So I hope that this has encouraged you to spend your money wisely when reading Christian literature – Go get a copy!!

I leave you with a few lines from the introduction: I believe that if the teaching of Jesus is likened to a lake, this famous Parable of the Prodigal Son would be one of the clearest spots where we can see all the way to the bottom. (we’re back to clear vision)… I have seen more people encouraged, enlightened, and helped by this passage, when I explained the true meaning of it, than by any other text.’
It should be in the King’s bookshop this week – it’s one of those nice little hardbacks that make great presents!

Goff