As we move into the 4th Sunday in Lent, we are halfway through our 40 day journey through Lent. This season beckons us to stand beneath the cross of Jesus, but to remember that we do not do so alone. Others – like the Prodigal Son – stand there with us. This season is marked by themes of wilderness and wandering, and those themes are highlighted in the Parable of the Prodigal, who wanders from home and senses a time of isolation in his own wilderness. This season is also marked by God’s grace. Like the Prodigal Son, we find that grace beneath and through the cross, and we find that grace in times of wilderness wandering. Of course, perhaps it is more accurate to say, “That grace finds us.” In the waters of baptism, in the words of ancient scripture, in the wine and wheat of communion, God’s grace finds us. When we are beneath the cross, when we have wandered far from God, when we are in our own time of wilderness, God’s grace finds us. As the father welcomes, embraces, and surrounds his prodigal son with grace so our prodigal, extravagant God does with us time and time again… in Lent and in life. Join us this Sunday as Deacon Darcy Mittelstaedt of our Southwestern Texas Synod staff preaches and helps us explore our own experiences of God’s grace.
Image: Return of the Prodigal Son by Gisele Bauche. Copyright © Gisele Bauche. All rights reserved. Used by permission of the artist.