Here's what you don't know yet. While you've been hiding, Someone has been watching the road.
The Speech
Jesus told a story about a son who took everything his father gave him and spent it as far from home as he could get. When it was gone, he started rehearsing a speech. Luke 15:18-19: "I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants."
It's the same ladder from Chapter One. He planned to come home and start on the bottom rung, working his way back onto the property.
That's the misconception this position corrects: we assume God is waiting to see whether we're sorry enough. So we stay away until we've cleaned up, until the apology is polished, until we've done enough penance to feel like we've earned an audience.
While He Was Still a Long Way Off
Luke 15:20: "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."
Notice three things. The father saw him from a long way off, which means he'd been watching the road. He ran, something a dignified man in that culture simply didn't do. And he kissed his son before a single word of the speech was spoken.
Then look closely at verse 21. The son starts the speech, but he only gets through "I am no longer worthy to be called your son." The servant line never comes. The father interrupts with a robe, a ring, and a party.
The Porch
SEU Worship's "A Forgiving God" sings that story from both sides. The verses are the son: leaving young, spending it all, admitting he didn't deserve to be called a son. Then the bridge turns to you and describes a Father who's been on the porch the whole time, watching for you, insisting you were never out of His heart.
You were never out of His heart. That's the part shame can't make sense of.
So whatever you've been waiting to fix before you come back, bring it today, unfixed. He won't let you finish the speech anyway.
This is Chapter Three of CHANCE AFTER CHANCE. Catch up on Chapters One and Two, or come back tomorrow for Chapter Four.
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