Once when Fred Craddock, the renowned professor of preaching at Emory University, preached on the parable of the prodigal son, he began by telling the story. The young man, the prodigal, grabbed his inheritance, left home, and wasted what had been given him. After he “came to himself” as Jesus described it, he turned for home. In Craddock’s telling of the story, when he arrived back the father met him and said, “You listen to me. You made your decision, now you must live with it. From now on my love and effort will be for your sensible older brother.” “That,” said Craddock, “is the end of the story.” Long silence. “Well, that’s the way the story should have ended.”

As we know, it doesn’t end that way because it is a story about God’s love, and God’s ways are different. I have observed that most of us want justice for others but mercy for ourselves. But God offers mercy to everyone. Even those who certainly don’t deserve it. Including you and me. The gospel message is: God still loves you. Wherever you have been, whatever you have done. God loves you anyway. We all are the prodigal. And the father runs down the road with open arms to welcome us home.

It’s the message of Christmas. “For God loved the world (and all of us in it) so much that he gave us his son.” Christmas is about love—God’s love—for you and me and everyone!

Loving God, Thank you for Christmas, for coming to be with us, for loving us anyway. Amen.

This episode was written and recorded by Herb Sadler.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.