Jared Houze Speaks in Chapel about Prodigal Son

March 9, 2016 Crystal McKinnie (Student Writer)

Jared Houze, the rector at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church and an alumnus of Hardin-Simmons University, spoke in chapel on Tuesday about the story of the Prodigal Son. 

According to Houze, “everything comes to us in story and that’s how we make sense of our lives” and “the gospels are full of stories.” Opening up about his work as a rector, Houze said, “We’ve heard these bible stories over and over again but they bear repeating because the truth bears repeating.” 

Reading from the story of the Prodigal Son, Houze shared his interpretation that “this is a story about spiritually dead people coming back to life” and that the embrace of the father for the Prodigal Son is “death and resurrection like our embrace with the Father.” Houze also talked about the older brother in the story “not enjoying the party because he refused to be dead to the rules and ideas about life he held on to.” 

Houze then compared the story of the story with modern day church goers saying “those of us in the church are more often than not like the older brother because we sing songs about mercy and grace and then pat our own selves on the back for being good people and following our rules.”  

Houze ended on a note that left room for the grace of God saying, “We don’t make ourselves good. Only God makes us good.”

 

 

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