Friday, June 21, 2019

MATT Good morning! I’m Matt Farmer, Associate Pastor at Central United Methodist Church in downtown Meridian. Author Henri Nouwen, in his book, The Return of The Prodigal Son, suggests that all Christians, at some point in their walk of faith, are represented by each of the three main characters. At times, we are the wayward child in need of repentance and forgiveness. At other times, we are the big brother who wants to hold on to resentment and withhold forgiveness. But as we mature, we become like the father whose highest desire is to have all his children reconciled. Nouwen ends the book with these words: “As I look at my own aging hands, I know that they have been given to me to stretch out to all who suffer, to rest upon the shoulders of all who come, and to offer the blessing that emerges from the immensity of God’s love.” What role are you playing in your family story? Do you need the courage to repent and seek forgiveness? Or do you need the compassion to extend forgiveness? Wherever you find yourself today, Christ is there also giving you the strength to repent and the grace to forgive.