by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Never Beyond God’s Touch

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
Luke 15:24a English Standard Version

The gift (some might say curse) of growing older is the art of reflection, of looking back on the steppingstones of our lives and forward to the stones yet to be trod, be those stones as unclear as a muddy stream.

Aiding me in this time of reflection is the book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, by Henri Nouwen. This is my second time reading this book. I was busily engaged in work when I first read it, but now in retirement it hits me in a unique way, on a more contemplative level. The book is based on Nouwen’s reflection on Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

The hands of the father laid on his pauper son cover him with mercy, one hand famine the other masculine. The father receives him as a son, as HIS son. Nouwen writes, “It seems to me now that these hands have always been stretched out–even when there were no shoulders upon which to rest them.” (page 44)

As I reflect on my steppingstones, I realize that many of my stones were far removed from the hands of the Father. I willingly walked into a “foreign land” and sold my soul for things I thought would bring me love. Even when I was engaged in walking away from God, his hands reached for me.

These same hands reach out to you today whether you are far from God’s mercy are close to his bosom. Because of his Son, our Lord Jesus, we rest assured that God will never stop stretching out his hands in mercy towards us. Because of his extended arms on the cross, God will never stop reaching out his hands.

All your wayward moments have been forgiven and your future stones made firm through the Father’s outstretched hands for you.

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado