Those Strong Feet that Followed

So whaddya  think?  Does God always have forgiving grace, or does Divine patience sometimes grow thin?  We humans put our own attributes on God and try to mold God in our own image.  Worse, we claim to know best about how the world should turn–and advertise our ignorance widely abroad.  Scriptures this weekend should provoke lively discourses either in classes or around the dinner table!  Is there a limit on our brokenness?  Can we always presume upon God’s loving nature?

Jeremiah imaged God as at the end of God’ s rope in Chapter 4, vv.11-12, 22-28.  “Now it is I who speak in judgment against them….They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.”  The prophet pictures God as ready to let the forces of Chaos undo Creation.  The desert wind of judgment is the destructive counter to the holy Wind of God which blew Creation to birth.  YHWH has grown discouraged in that the people are foolish and do not know righteousness.  This anthropomorphic God is ready to pull the plug.

Paul marvels (I Timothy 1:12-17) that Christ judged him faithful, even after being “a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence.”  (read all about it in Acts 8)  Here’s a chance for the preacher or class-leader to out themselves–with caution–about their own imperfections.  “Sin” needs to be seen as BROKENNESS more than specific evils.  Paul dwells often (!) on his former opposition to Christ, in order to emphasize a greater contrast with the wholeness now bestowed upon him.  Despite his intentional disconnect, God keeps breaking in to re-weave the fabric of his life.

Luke 15 has three rich stories, and this week we’ll look at the first two, vv 1-10.  The first is the story of  the Lost Sheep:  the Good Shepherd, not content with “almost all”, went out on a major search in order to make his sheepfold whole.  The woman of the second story isn’t OK with only her remaining coins, but turns the house upside-down until the set–her dowry?– is whole again.  “Just so,” says Jesus, “I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  If the shepherd and the woman are so meticulous in their human desire to re-create Wholeness, how much more is the Creator obsessed with those who coulda fallen through the cracks?

“I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;                                                                   I fled Him, down the arches of the years;                                                                                 I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways  Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears    I hid from Him, and under running laughter,                                                                     Up vistaed hopes I sped; and shot, precipitated,                                                                  Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,                                                                             From those strong Feet that followed, followed after….

“Of all man’s clotted clay the dingiest clot?  Alack, thou knowest not                          How little worthy of any love thou art!                                                                              Whom will thou find to love ignoble thee  Save Me, save only Me?”                                          — from Francis Thompson’s THE HOUND OF HEAVEN

God Bless Us, Every One                       Horace Brown King

My exploration of Scripture lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com