Good Monday Morning, My Friends,
There was once a movie about a husband and wife who were having marital difficulties. One day while his wife was away with the children, the husband removed all their possessions from the home and claimed them for his own. He declared he would provide no support for them until forced to do so by the courts. The legal battle went on for months. The man’s family became desperate. They searched rummage sales to find cast-off furniture for their modest apartment. Finally, the divorce was granted, and because of a quirk in the law, the man was allowed to keep most of what the couple had owned.
Sometime later, the father came by to tell the children he was now ready for them to come live with him. Bundling them into his luxurious vehicle, he took them to see his new penthouse. “This,” he said, “is the new home I’ve been preparing for you.” The children wandered about for a while. They remembered the hard times they had experienced trying to get by without their father’s help. Finally, they said, “May we please leave? We want to go home.” In the final scene of the movie, the father was standing alone in his elegant home. In gaining things that mattered the least he had lost the things that mattered the most.
Do you remember the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke, chapter 15? Taking his share of his father’s estate, the younger son went down to a bustling city to live in the fast lane. After a time of extravagant living his money ran out. The only job he could find was as the caretaker of a pig farm. He began to reflect on what he had left behind. When seen from the pigpen, the home he thought so terrible was not so bad after all. This story is 2,000 years old, but the lesson is timeless.
Bishop Herbert Welch died at the age of 105. In one of his last statements, he said, “In the waning light of day you see more clearly the things that are really important.” That’s profoundly true. Life gets complicated for everyone now and then. Out there in the storm we can get battered and beaten. We live in that kind of world. The desperate need in such times is for shelter and a retreat. Our families and friends can be that for us if we have worked at these relationships thoughtfully and carefully. These are the people who care for us, not for the victories we’ve won, the successes we’ve attained, or the honors we’ve received. Blessed is the man or woman who has such a shelter in the time of a storm.
Home and friends offer what is most important,
Bruce Jones, Pastor
Imagine Church
