The Chinese Painting
Ronald Wilson
original version may be found or has a copy to send me would be
appreciated.
The Chinese Painting
The missionary slowly undid the string from around the large flat
parcel. łWhat is it?˛ He asked.
łOpen it and see,˛ said the Chinese man eagerly. łI painted the story for
you.˛
The missionary carefully unwrapped the cloth and looked at what the old
artist had spent weeks with his brushes, oil paints and canvas.
The old man looked eagerly up into the face of the missionary. łWhat do you
think?˛
łThankyou,˛ replied the missionary, łYou are very kind to give me this
painting. Is this a picture of your home and family?˛
łOh no!˛ said the Chinese artist, łDonąt you see. I painted the story you
told me when you first came to our village. Remember?˛
The missionary thought back to the day he walked into the village to tell
them about the God who loved them and sent his son Jesus, to be their
saviour and friend. He remembered the children pointing and giggling at his
different clothes. The village elders graciously welcomed him and asked him
why he had come. łIąve come to tell you the good news about Jesus,˛
explained the young man.
In the evenings when everyone had finished their dayąs work, he told the
villagers stories from the Bible. Soon quite a large crowd gathered each
night to hear about this God of the missionary. Some wanted to know more.
They would ask questions and talk about Jesus.
Every night the old Chinese artist would sit in the corner listening to the
words of the missionary. He thought the story about the boy who left his
home and his father, went off to the city, spent all his money but
eventually came home again, was a wonderful tale. He was angry at the boy
for taking his fatherąs money and spending it all having a good time in the
city. Then he felt sorry for the boy when he got hungry because he had
spent all his money. But he wasnąt sure about the ending. The boy went
home, said he was sorry, and his father hugged him, and cooked up a big
feast for everyone to welcome his son home again.
łBut what does it all mean?˛ He asked the missionary one night.
łThe story is really about God and you and me,˛ explained the missionary.
łYou see, we are like that boy. We want to live our own way, without our
Heavenly Father, and we muck up our lives. But when we remember how much
our Father God loves us, decide to come back to him and say we are sorry,
he welcomes us back again.
łOh!˛ said the artist. But the missionary was not sure that the old man
really understood.
So the missionary again looked at the painting the old Chinese artist had
brought him.
It was a picture of a Chinese home, with a little painted wooden fence and
gate at the front. Sitting in the warm sun, at the front door of the home,
was a Chinese father reading his newspaper. Away down the road, the artist
had painted the son walking slowly home, wondering what his father would do
to him when he got home. But the father was too busy reading the newspaper
to even notice that his son was coming back.
łDonąt you remember in the Bible story that Jesus told,˛ said the
missionary, łhow the father was waiting and watching to see if his son
would come back, and ran down the road to meet him?
łBut a Chinese father wouldnąt do that,˛ said the artist. łMy father would
have been ashamed and disowned me if he had done what the boy in the story
did.˛
łAh!˛ said the missionary, łBut that is the difference between an ordinary
father and God the Father.
The eyes of the Chinese artist grew wide in surprise. He nodded his head.
łOh, yes!˛ Suddenly he understood what this Father God was like. His face
beamed.
łExcuse me, could I take the painting back,˛ asked the artist.
It was some days before the missionary saw him again. The artist had been
thinking about this wonderful God and had repainted the picture.
łHere it is,˛ said the artist when he it brought back. łI have made some
changes. What do you think now?˛
The missionary looked carefully at the painting. Most of the picture was
the same. The same white painted house and fence and gate. The boy was
still in the picture trudging slowly home wondering what his father would
say. The father was not sitting in the sun reading the paper now, but was
running through the open gate to welcome his son home.
łThis is wonderful,˛ said the missionary, łthis is more like the story
Jesus told.˛
Then he noticed something strange. The artist had painted a shoe on one
foot of the father, and a slipper on the other foot.
łWhy have you painted a shoe on one foot and a slipper on the other foot,˛
asked the young missionary, pointing to the father.
łWell, said the old man, łThe father was so glad to see his son coming home
that he didnąt have time to put both shoes on.˛
The old Chinese artist and the young missionary laughed together.
Ron
Oasis for Kids
email: ronald...@clubmac.org.au
ronw@ enternet.net.au
web: http://people.enternet.com.au/~ronw/index.html