January 16, 2026
- credford5
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
I’m not much of an art fanatic. I have been to art museums in New York and Chicago. I’ve, naturally, been to the Cincinnati Art Museum. I enjoy art. I have respect for it. I’m just not into it all that much. Last year a came across a book that challenged my view of the somewhat cliché European religious art. The book is Henri Nouwen’s, The Return of the Prodigal Son.
Henri Nouwen claims to have had his life altered and shaped by the painting by the same name by the Dutch painter, Rembrandt. In the painting you see the style and dress of 17th Century Europe, but you also see characters familiar to many of us. Rembrandt’s painting captures the scene of Jesus’s famous parable in Luke 15. In it, you can see the younger son on his knees in rags. He’s returned home humbled and broken. You also notice two other distinguished characters. The loving father who is embracing his returned son and the older brother who looks upon the scene with judgment and skepticism. Your eye is drawn to those three things: The haggard back of the younger son, the loving face of the father, and the quiet bitter face of the older son.
This story has meant a great deal to me, personally, over the years. I see myself as both sons at times. At certain points in my life I have been the younger son. I drifted. I have decided that I know how to run my life better than God does. It’s the original sin of Adam. At other times, however, I have seen myself as the older brother. Self-righteous and judgmental believing that I am earning God’s favor.
Luke 15:20, 25-32
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him…
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Among the many things I see in this story, that which stands out the most is the loving and compassionate embrace of the Father. Jesus tells this parable in order to show us the Father. He wants us, just as he wants his original hearers, to understand the depth of our Father’s love for us. He wants us to understand the depth of our own lostness --- whether by our rebellion or our self-righteousness. He wants us to know from where our identity comes: We are God’s deeply loved sons and daughters. Period. No sin is too great to negate his love. No goodness is possible to earn it. His love is merciful and gracious. He just loves us because we’re his kids.
I firmly believe that this story must sit as the foundation of our spiritual formation. In 2026, White Oak will continue to learn and grow regarding our formation. We will be shaped into the image of Jesus for the sake of others. That is our prayer! But if we aren’t careful, we’ll view the spiritual practices as a means to appease God or to incur his favor. No. Before we can be formed into his likeness, we must be assured of our identity in him. When we know WHO we are, then we're freed to pursue our Father with confidence, trust, and rest in his unconditional love. Formation doesn’t get us more of the Father’s love. That was set upon you and me a long time ago. Instead, formation gets us more of the Father himself. How beautiful is that?
His son,
Nathan
Nathan Hinkle
Lead Pastor