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I have sinned,
I am no longer worthy ...
Luke 15:18
These words are from the story we call the prodigal son or the forgiving father. The words are part of the speech that the younger son rehearsed before getting up the nerve to return to his home. He practiced these words of confession after squandering his early-received inheritance. He practiced and fine-tuned his speech in the hope that his father would forgive him enough to allow him to re-enter the household, if only as a servant. But we know the story. This child cannot deliver the speech he intended. He cannot get out his well-rehearsed words of confession.
The late Lutheran pastor and poet, Gerhard Frost, retells this story and its implication for us in his poem called, Homecoming.
He had rehearsed it well.
The hills didn't interrupt,
and the swine went on
with their eating
as is their habit.
Now the road bends, the prodigal is home,
the Father is in sight.
Two deep breaths, and a sigh:
"Father, I have sinned --
against heaven and before you;
I am no more worthy to be called
your son..."
But the Father hears no more.
Love-deafened, he takes charge
and fills the air
with party talk.
The Father is like that;
he interrupts the confession
with celebration.
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Amen
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