Return of the Prodigal

The lesson in our adult Sunday school class this morning at our church was on a familiar story, the account of the Prodigal Son as told in Luke 15. You have probably heard of the parable of a son who asks for his inheritance, leaves home and squanders it away, returns home and is lovingly embraced by his father. Perhaps better than any other biblical story, the account of the prodigal son demonstrates the unconditional love of God.

Several years ago I was blessed by a multi-week sermon series by Pastor Joey Johnson on Luke 15 at the church I attended at the time, The House of the Lord in Akron, Ohio. Pastor Joey unpacked these verses in ways that I had never heard before and much of what I learned from that series has stuck with me to this day.

In our class this morning we compared the well-known Christian version of the story with a similar parable found in Buddhism. One of our pastors, Dave Abney, led us in a discussion comparing and contrasting the two stories. You can read both accounts and a comparison here. Since most of our class had never read the Buddhist story before it was interesting to become familar with it.

While there are many similarities between these two parables, there are a number of striking differences. The biggest difference is that in the Buddhist version the son has to prove his worth through turmoil and striving. Even after finally being accepted by his father and given his inheritance, the son had lost years of relational intimacy with his father.

On the other hand, the Christian version demonstrates the uniquely Christian concept of grace (or undeserved favor.) The son in the Luke 15 account had insulted his father and family, had wasted everything that was given to him and deserved to be punished. But, in grace, his father runs to meet him when he returns home and treats him as royalty. The son's older brother, who had dutifully served his father for years, was displeased with his father's display of grace toward his brother.

As our class talked about this story, many of us, unfortunately, identified with the older brother in the story. We'll gladly accept what our father wants to give us, but resent his generosity to others that don't deserve it as much as we do (or so we think.) We don't celebrate the lost prodigals that have come home because we're more concerned with getting what we want. Thankfully, our heavenly Father demonstrates the same kind of grace to older brothers as he does to the prodigals.

Not Fast Forwarding Through Life

After enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving feast prepared by my wife, Lori, taking in a fair amount of football and spending a fun day with my kids and friend, Greg, I closed out the evening by watching the Adam Sandler movie Click.

In the movie Sandler plays a man, Michael Newman, who works too much and doesn't seem to find the time to spend quality time with his family. One evening he ventures out into the night to find a universal remote that will control all of his electronic gadgets, but instead he is given a remote that will control his universe.

With a click of a button Michael can skip through arguments with his wife, mute his barking dog and avoid life's trivialities like traffic and showering. He initially enjoys the power that having the remote holds, but he begins to have regrets as he realizes that he is missing large portions of his life. He misses milestones in the life of his children and takes for granted his rapidly aging parents.

You wouldn't expect an Adam Sandler movie to do more than make you life, but surprisingly Click is cut from the same mold as A Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life. It is a gift to be able to take stock of our life before it is too late. Although many of us devote the bulk of our time to our work, we don't have to allow it to control our lives to the detriment of our family. The scene here is when he is older and is trying to make up for lost time with his son, Ben. In their interaction Michael learns that his own father has passed away and he's missed it. He rewinds to the last time he saw his dad. (Click here if the player doesn't show up.)


I've been on vacation this week and have been able to enjoy a lot of quality time with Lori and the kids. We've laughed a lot, played games together and enjoyed our unrushed meal times. I was reminded yesterday how thankful I am for my wife and children, for my parents, for my sister and her family, for my in-laws and for all my friends. Even though my children are still fairly young, I realize that they will be grown before I know it. I need (and want) to enjoy the little things in life since once those moments are in the past I can never "rewind" to them again. Don't forget to tell the most important people in your life that you love them. You'll never regret it.

A Detroit Lion Who Produces

I often hear comments about the number of kids that I have, four, and how hard it must be to remember all their names and that sort of thing. Even though our family of six is above the national average, it is nothing near the size of former Detroit Lion Luther Ellis's brood. He and his wife, Rebecca, have 11 kids!

That's right, they've got enough to field their own football team. As you can see in this photo taken by Willie Archer of the Detroit Free Press, they even seem to like each other :) Free Press columnist Jo-Ann Barnas recently wrote a column on the Ellis family and how they manage their lives with such a large family.

With the negative attention given to NFL players and their run-ins with the law and such, it's nice to see a positive story on one who is a committed husband and father. In addition, it's refreshing to hear something... anything... good connected to the Lions. And just when did the Ellis's decide to have so many kids? Barnas writes:

"Thirteen years ago, Elliss said he and his wife knew they wanted a "good-size family -- at least four or five kids." What was it that more than doubled their thinking? "Life," Elliss said. The couple had never planned to adopt children. But eight years ago, Luther and Rebecca were in Salt Lake City visiting friends when they learned that a healthy baby didn't have an adoptive family because he was biracial. The boy was a week old. They were moved to take action.
"She stayed up for 24 hours doing all the paper work, writing our biographies, making all the calls," Luther said. "In less than a week, we had him in our possession." Rebecca said: "It's so hard to describe the feeling -- it's amazing. Having never adopted before, I wasn't sure how it would be. But it was almost like, the second he was placed in our arms, our hearts just grew. We couldn't stop crying." They named the boy Isaiah. "To see his smile and the kind of character that he has right now, his name fits him," Luther said. "He's a blessing."
From that day forward, Luther and his wife became advocates for adoption. They currently sit on the board of an infant adoption agency in Salt Lake City called "A Act of Love." Rebecca and a friend also recently started a company -- My Abba's Heart -- making and selling jewelry to benefit foster- and global-orphan care. Four of the Ellis's family's last six kids are adopted."

I'm glad to see the model that Luther Ellis and his wife have been in the Detroit community and beyond when it comes to the importance of faith and family. I'd love to see their story featured for a national television audience this Thursday as millions tune in to watch the Lions & Titans on Thansgiving. We shall see.