Thursday, March 3, 2016

Commemoration of John Wesley, 1791, and Charles Wesley, 1785

Reading: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:11  “Then Jesus told them this parable:  There was a man who had two sons…”

            Jesus was gifted as a storyteller.  He told parables to teach the people who crowded to hear him.  Parables are symbolic stories, open-ended, ambiguous, and rich.  The human brain hears and stores stories in a different area than it does concepts.  And that which is not explained, that which is open-ended, causes us to wonder, to puzzle, to contemplate.  Jesus could have said, “God is love”, but instead he said,  “There was a man who had two sons…”.  How deep is the story, how rich in possibility.  Because it is unexplained, because it is open-ended, there is room for all people of all backgrounds and all places in life to enter the story.  Because it is unexplained we ponder it:  Who am I in this story today?  Because it is open-ended it rattles around in our memory.  That which we think we understand, we rarely again contemplate.  So Jesus told parables.

O loving God, you are always revealing your love to us.  May we learn to listen, to wonder, and to ponder.  Amen

• Place an artwork depicting the Prodigal Son on your altar or place of prayer. Who are you in this story today?