Unexpected Humiliating Love
Unexpected humiliating love evokes a response. To one son, it evoked an acceptance of an identity: fully known, loved, unworthy, yet belonging to the Father. To the other son, it evoked rejection, a choice to live the way he wanted. Either way, the catalyst for the response was the Father's unexpected humiliating love.
I admit that in my mind, I expect how God will love me, my friends, and my family. I expect for him to sacrifice, to be working things together for good, to be faithful, merciful, forgiving. I expect him to love me. But Luke 15 is riddled with unexpected love. So, the question I asked myself as I read these pages is: where are you settling for earthly love?
Where am I settling for a watered-down, un-mighty, small work of God. Though in many areas and aspects of life, the area I feel most weary is in the life of my family. I have been praying for them to experience the humiliating love of Jesus for them for many many years now. And here, I read through the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son and see my family members in each of them: my mom, my dad, my sister, my grandmother, my aunt, my uncle. In these fictional characters, I see my family members. And, I did not realize how real I expected God's love for them to never show up.
But, reading through these pages re-inspired faith in a love that has no bounds. For my family, I read of:
I admit that in my mind, I expect how God will love me, my friends, and my family. I expect for him to sacrifice, to be working things together for good, to be faithful, merciful, forgiving. I expect him to love me. But Luke 15 is riddled with unexpected love. So, the question I asked myself as I read these pages is: where are you settling for earthly love?
Where am I settling for a watered-down, un-mighty, small work of God. Though in many areas and aspects of life, the area I feel most weary is in the life of my family. I have been praying for them to experience the humiliating love of Jesus for them for many many years now. And here, I read through the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son and see my family members in each of them: my mom, my dad, my sister, my grandmother, my aunt, my uncle. In these fictional characters, I see my family members. And, I did not realize how real I expected God's love for them to never show up.
But, reading through these pages re-inspired faith in a love that has no bounds. For my family, I read of:
- A shepherd that carries the burden of the lost sheep with joy (you see them Jesus. You're going after them)
- A divine love that goes out to seek the sinner before he repents (a love that will never stop pursuing them)
- Intensified assurance that God has the ability to find the lost one with sufficient effort (He is able; the field is not too large for him..the coin is inside the house)
- A God that is able to turn lost, good wasted, everything lost, the great sin, and total rejection into total acceptance, a great repentance, everything gained, goods used in joyful celebration, and a son is found.
Amen! Thank you Paulina! I hope your mouth is healing!
ReplyDeleteI needed to be reminded of this, "A shepherd that carries the burden of the lost sheep with joy (you see them Jesus. You're going after them)".
ReplyDeleteIn this world of desperation, I've been asking whether Jesus even sees all the lost sheep. The answer: YES YES! And he gladly carries that weight. Thank goodness he's going after all of them (and me!).