New Parables to Ponder: 12 Stories to Spark Spiritual Questions

The Parable of the Reunion

In the most remote part of the world, a small group of people are hiking up a hidden trail that only the locals know. It's a strange path where a compass and common sense offer no help. On their own, this group of travelers would never recognize the large flat rocks that mark the turns in the trail. Their foreign eyes would not notice that the dirt turns an ever so slightly darker shade of brown if you stray from the path. But fortunately for these dirty, tired outsiders, their leader has made friends with a local man.

At the front of the small group, the leader of the travelers and the local guide walk side by side. Both were born with the craving to make new friends. Despite the fact that they barely know each other's language, they are compelled to communicate. The rest of the tired followers are content to listen. The local guide begins with one of his many questions.

"Why do you want to go to my village?"

The leader replies, "We have a message of hope for your people."

"How do you have a message for my village? You didn't know it existed before I told you about it."

"Our message is for everyone, but it is most important for the people who have never heard it before. My team is trying to find those people."

"Why is it so important for you to find people who have never heard this message?"

"There are many reasons, but we have a personal reason. I can explain it like this: Do you have someone you love more than anyone else in the world?"

"Yes! Yes! My wife, back at my home."

"What if, when you arrive home, your wife told you that she needed to go away? She gives you a bag full of seeds. She says that planting these seeds is very important to her. She also says that she will not return until you carefully plant every last seed. What would you do?"

"I'd start planting right away! I would not stop until I was finished!"

"We are doing something like that for someone we love more than anyone else in the world."

Before the local guide can ask another question, the group of travelers arrives at ten wooden huts. The huts are built in a circle around an open area in the center where villagers are going about their business. A village woman is the first to see the travelers. She runs toward the group. Without paying any attention to anyone else, she jumps into the arms of the local guide. The two embrace and smile and laugh. The rest of the village is less welcoming. Most villagers quickly walk to the safety of their homes while whispering to one another. For a long while, the travelers politely smile and attempt to wave to the villagers. But the locals stare suspiciously at them. Two villagers run into the largest hut. They return with a large man wearing a chief's headdress. The chief walks straight to the local guide. The two men talk in their language while the travelers anxiously try to guess what is being said. The chief appears to be uneasy about the travelers, but the local guide has convinced the chief to be patient. The local guide smiles at the leader of the travelers. "The chief has agreed to hear what you have to say."

The leader of the travelers calls out to the villagers. He tells them to gather around for a special message of hope. With every sentence, he pauses while the local guide translates his words into the village language. Everyone in the village is watching from their huts, but no one comes close to the travelers. The leader begins to tell a story about the creation of all things. He tells about a God that said a single word and the world came into being. This God created earth and the sky. He created the sun, moon, and stars. He created the seas and the mountains. He created all the animals on earth. Then He made His most special creation, a man and a woman. This God loved the man and woman very much. And the man and woman loved God very much. God had made everything perfect, but God knew that true love is not forced. God gave the man and woman the choice to love Him. Unfortunately, the man and woman choose to disobey God. They decided that they wanted to be in charge instead of God. In that moment, this perfect world that God created became broken. God could no longer meet with the man and woman face to face. He could no longer bless the earth with His presence. The earth became hard and barren. Life became difficult for the man and woman and their children and their children's children's children. That is where we live today, lost with no hope. But God still loved the man and woman and all their children. God sent His Son to reconnect all people back with God, but it was a difficult job. The Son had to trade His perfect life for our life of death and destruction. He died so that we could take His place as a child of God. But the Son of God is not weak. He is king of this whole world. On the third day after His death, He showed His power by coming back to life. He taught us that if we believe in Him and follow Him instead of ourselves, we can reconnect with God and God will reconnect with us. God will exchange your sadness and brokenness for love and joy and hope. Do any of you want to accept this offer of the Son of God?

The village is silent. Everyone is looking at the travelers, but no one is moving.

An old woman, hunched over at the waist slowly hobbles over to the group of travelers. As she walks, the chief speaks softly but firmly to her. The travelers cannot understand the words, but they understand that the chief does not approve of the old woman approaching the foreigners. The old woman does not respond with words. She simply grunts, ignores the chief, and walks to the leader of the travelers. She speaks to the local guide and waits for a response.

"This woman is the chief's mother. She has heard of many gods before, but not one like this Son of God. She wants to know how she can trust that you are speaking the truth."

"Tell her that there is only one true God and He will prove it. God wants to show her how much He loves her by healing her back." The local guide looks at the leader in confusion. The leader reassures the local guide. "Just tell her. Then I will pray for her." The local guide almost begrudgingly tells the old woman, but the old woman does not seem surprised. The leader puts his hand on the back of the woman. "Back, straighten up in Jesus name!" Before the old woman even hears the local guide translate the command, she tries to stretch her body upward. At first there is no movement, but slowly the woman stands up straight. Her eyes open wide. She twists at the waist from side to side. She smiles and laughs and jumps for joy.

At this miracle, there is a large commotion in the village. Everyone runs towards the travelers shouting and waiving their hands. Many villagers ask for miracles of their own. A blind man has his sight restored. A woman with stomach pain is completely healed. A little boy with a deformed foot is remade perfect. The whole crowd believes and accepts the message of the foreigners. They ask, "What must we do next?"

The leader takes the whole village to the nearby stream and baptizes them one at time. The chief is the first in line. It takes over an hour for the travelers to baptize the whole village.

As the last villager is lifted up out of the water, the sky flashes white. The air is filled with the vibration of a loud trumpet blast. In the far distance a brightly glowing light appears in the clouds. The people watch the light descend from the sky until it is hidden from their view by the horizon.

The local guide grabs the leader of the travelers. "What just happened?!?"

The leader replies with a tear in his eye, "We just planted the last seed. My love has returned."