God can only love

How can we answer the question, who are we? What makes each of us who we are? We can say that we are our feelings.

What I feel is who I am.

Who is God?

Does God have feelings? Are God’s feelings who God is?

From the Jewish scriptures and the Christian scriptures God has feelings. How does God feel about us?

In some of the Jewish scriptures God is angry with human beings. God even punishes people because of his angry feelings.

In other Jewish scriptures God is loving and caring for human beings.

Which is true, or is both true?

In the Gospel today Jesus tells a parable. Parables don’t give us a direct answer to our questions. Parables make us think creatively.

The father in the parable gives his younger son so much after the son looses all of his inheritance. The father seems crazy. He has feelings of so much love for his son that was so irresponsible. And he does not want to punish his son in anyway.

The father does not feel angry with his younger son. But this makes the older son angry.

But God is so happy that the younger son has come back home. Even after spending all his father’s money!

We might feel like the older son. How can the father give so much to the younger son and forgive him after all the stupid things he has done?

The parable reveals the feelings that God has for human beings.

God does not judge or punish in the parable. God only loves.

During Lent we focus on repentance from sin. What is sin? Sin is a mysterious separation. It is a separation from ourselves, others, and from God.

And sin is always a lack of love.

And in the parable we see Jesus answer the question, what do we do about sin?

The answer is to go back to our father’s home. The answer is that our Heavenly Father does not judge or punish us.

The answer is that God can only love. Yes, God can only love. God always has the feeling of love for us. Always.

Love is who God is.