Too often today God gets a bum rap. God gets blamed for all sorts of problems in our world
today. God is often portrayed as being capricious, aloof, angry, strict and just plain in a bad mood.
People that speak about God seem to think that he is not a very happy Father and that he is often
disappointed in his children. He seems to be easily offended and there is not much that pleases
him. We all need to be very guarded and careful around him because we don’t know what might set
him off. He is seen as a task master and he makes our lives difficult with all of his rules and
commandments. The floods, the earthquakes, the fires, the tornadoes, all of these things are just
signs of God’s chastisements.
Jesus comes from the Father and is sent to reveal to us the truth of God’s nature. To see Jesus
the Son is to see the Father. No one has a more intimate knowledge of God the Father than the
Son. Only Jesus the Son has ever seen the Father and only he knows the truth of God the Father’s
nature. As Jesus tells us in scripture, “no one knows the Father except for the Son, and those to
whom he chooses to reveal him.” (Lk 10,22) Jesus reveals to us something perhaps somewhat
surprising to us about God. In all of his little parables in this part of the gospel of Luke the
overwhelming characteristic of God the Father is joy! When Jesus reveals to us the Father’s nature
he doesn’t speak about his anger, his disappointment, or his being difficult to please rather he
speaks to us about his joy, his pleasure, his delight, his mercy, his grace, his patience and above all
things, his love. What God the Father wants most to share with us his children is his joy in life! The
prophets tell us very clearly that God takes no joy in human suffering, in the struggles that human
beings find in life, in the fact that so many lose their way in life and are vulnerable to the evils of the
world (cf Ez 18,23). God wants his children to know the fullness of life, the abundance of life, and to
find in him a refuge from all of life’s difficulties and challenges. Jesus tells us that God the Father
has sent the Son to the earth so that we might have joy (cf Jn 15,11). When we find joy in the new
life that Jesus calls us to, no one will ever take that joy away from us.
The elemental theme that runs through all of the parables in the gospel of Luke is that of the joy
that God celebrates when something that has been lost has been found. Every little thing is
important to God and God the Father wants every little thing to find its way home to him. God
rejoices and the heavens are filled with joy when something that has been lost is found. This is the
surprising element in the parables that Jesus tells us. We have a tendency to expect that God will
be more than a little upset over the inconvenience that was caused by something that ends up lost.
We expect a lecture or some kind of punishment for the wayward one but God surprises us with joy
and celebration.
God the Father is waiting for that moment of joy to share with each of his beloved children. As
St. Paul tells us in his letter to Timothy, “Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with
the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (1Tim 1,14) We don’t really know God the Father until we
know his joy! God treats his children with mercy, kindness, compassion, patience and love. When
we are ready to become all that he has created us to be and to receive the inheritance of life that is
ours, to be truly human and to take our place at his table, then he is ready to restore us to the
fullness of life. If you have been thinking of God as being a difficult and stern Father or maybe even
expecting him to punish those who have wandered away from his presence or have squandered the
life that he has entrusted to us, then like the elder son, in the parable of the Lost Son, you will be
disappointed. God will not be denied his joy when something that has been lost has been found,
when something that is dead has returned to life. Come home to the Father and share in his joy!