Fathers

The Road that Leads to Home

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”  Luke 15:32 NIV

My wife and I used to ride in separate vehicles on the way to church because I was leading the hymns at nursing home during the Sunday school hour. Usually one son went with her while the other tagged along with me. I’m still not sure what happened on that ill fated Sunday but somehow we forgot one boy at church. Chris realized something odd had happened but he didn’t panic. First he searched up and down the gradually emptying church then after he checked everywhere that he could think of he sat down on the steps and tried to think of what to do. As one of the deacons (Who thankfully was our close friend) went to lock the doors he saw Chris.

“So where’s your mom and dad?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” Chris answered shaking his head.

“If you want to ride in my truck I’ll take you home.” John offered.

Meanwhile back at home we had just realized what had happened and in embarrassment I ran out the door ready to speed back to church. Just then John’s old red truck pulled in our driveway. At that moment everyone had a smile on their faces except for me.

classic red vehicle scale model

Photo by Eneida Nieves on Pexels.com

“Forget something?” John asked with a chuckle as he opened the door and Chris hopped out. My wife and I both ran to embrace our briefly lost son. Imagine how the heart of God bursts when we come home to Him. He never forgets us even when we have forgotten Him. Instead He sent Jesus to pick us up and put us on the road that leads us safely home!

The Crazy Extravagant Love of God!

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” John 13:6 ESV

Though foot washing was a common everyday practice in the time when Jesus lived, it was the job of a servant to do that. So without one present the disciples came in and sat down at the banquet table with dirty smelly feet. Why should they be willing to take on the humbling responsibility they each thought to themselves? Luke’s gospel tells us that they were busy arguing about which of them was the most important. Then Jesus got up and walked out of the room. A silence ensued as they wondered where He had gone. Then He appeared in the doorway, with a wash basin in his hands and wearing a towel around his waist.

India and Nepal 115

I once went to India on a short term mission trip. We were visiting a village there and during a meeting they called us to sit at the front. Then the pastor’s daughter thanked us for coming and began to wash our feet. It was humbling to receive such an expression of their love.

That is how the disciples felt as Jesus began to wash their feet. We don’t know what was going through Peter’s mind at that moment but maybe embarrassment just suddenly overwhelmed him. Receiving such a crazy expression of love was more than he knew how to accept.  Jesus had taken the job that he had refused.

person plowing soil

Photo by Rodolfo Clix on Pexels.com

But the truth of the matter is that what Jesus did for Peter He has also done for all of us. He took on the job no one else wanted – He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross to wash us from our sins. What kind of crazy extravagant love is that? That is the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!

The Sweetest Fruit

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green.  Psalm 92:14 ESV

As my Dad grew older he began to leave things behind. First, left his career and then his home town as he with my Step-mom Amy moved to Florida. As the years went by be began to lose friends and family members and then finally Amy; the love of his life. During the final years of Dad’s life he remained alone. We often suggested and even pleaded for him to come live with us, but Dad wanted to stay right where he was. While he may have begun to feel no longer useful to anyone, he actually became our family’s greatest treasure by the example of his gentle heart and steady faith.

P1040181

Dad’s life reminded me of the apple orchards I used to prune every winter many years ago. Most people don’t realize it but young apple trees don’t give any fruit at all. It takes at least eight years before they can produce even a single apple. But the oldest, most scarred and misshapen trees are filled with fruit. Each December or January it is pruning time and we trim out the dead and diseased limbs as well as the useless sucker growth. Each of these things needed to be removed so that the strength of the trees can be given to the fruit. Those older trees spend a lifetime being cut back, cleaned out and shaped by pruning.  That is why they can give all their energy to the fragrant blossoms that open in the spring, then to the tiny green apples that grow in summer and finally to the sweetness of the fruit right at harvest time. Those old trees will never win a beauty pageant, but it is by them that God has promised to give His sweetest fruit!