In the Clutches of God

There’s much to be said about the idea of “choosing” to follow God, to open the door to Jesus. Yet in my own experience, it seems as though God keeps battering at my supposedly safe hiding place; and once God breaks in (a sacrament?), I find myself enmeshed in the claws of Christian service. There’s nothing to do about it. Readings for the upcoming weekend speak of this perseverance even and in spite of the disciple’s reluctance.

The opening of JEREMIAH, 1:4-10, tells of the young prophet being told by God, “You can run, but you cannot hide, Jeremiah! Now don’t give me excuses, like ‘I’m only a little kid’, but I’ll give you the words to say.” “You shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you.” “…we find ourselves grasped by a God passionate for the fate of human beings…. God’s passion for goodness and wholeness becomes our passion as well…” (Sally A. Brown, not Charlie’s sister, in FEASTING on the WORD, C 3:367) Jeremiah was in for a full life of disappointments, suffering and tears of frustration. Who would go there, ‘cept for being held in God’s talons?

The author of the Letter to the HEBREWS (12:18-29) reminds her readers of the tenacity which God confers on these representatives: “See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will WE escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!” The ancients were well-familiar with the holy terrors of Mt. Sinai–now that they’ve come to the treasures of Mt. ZION, why should they negate or avoid the clutches of God which place them there?

LUKE’s story of the seriously-bentover woman (13:10-17) has many gems for our perusal. What grabbed my eye was the enormous change when Jesus touched her: “When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.” In the hands of Jesus, her world changed and she could rejoin her friends who had shunned her all these years because of her difficulties–which many had attributed to God’s displeasure. The leader of the synagogue had equated healing with WORK; but Jesus presented healing as God’s good pleasure.

Too bad we don’t have an historical follow-through on some of these folks who’ve experienced being clutched by God. Jeremiah’s life has been chronicled, and so has my own…at least to me, although I’m reconciled to being but a footnote in a Journal. And maybe we all are. Yet being clutched by God is not a walk in the park! In retrospect, I’m really glad that God didn’t give up on me…

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please join me each Tuesday as we unpack the scriptures assigned to the upcoming weekend at horacebrownking.com