In an old Dennis the Menace cartoon, Dennis and his little friend Joey are leaving Mrs. Wilson's house, their hands full of cookies. Joey says, "I wonder what we did to deserve this." Dennis answers, "Look, Joey. Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we're nice, but because she's nice." (Source: esermons.com)
Paul tells us a similar story, God who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions brought us life with Christ….Eph
Do you believe in this God of Paul’s, this God of Jesus?
Do you believe in absolute forgiveness/mercy as a gift we don’t deserve?
Do you believe in unconditional love?
There is a story that comes out of the Bedouin culture. "Bedouin" is the Aramaic name for "desert dwellers." These people live much as the people in ancient Israel did. During a heated argument, according to this story,
a young Bedouin struck & killed a friend of his. Knowing the ancient, inflexible customs of his people, the young man fled, running across the desert under the cover of darkness for his life, seeking safety.
He went to the black tent of the tribal chief in order to seek his protection. The old chief took the young Arab in. The chief assured him that he would be safe until the matter could be settled legally.
The next day, the young man's pursuers arrived, demanding the murderer be turned over to them. They would see that justice would prevail in their own way. "But I have given my word," protested the chief. "But you don't know whom he killed!" they countered.
"I have given my word," the chief repeated.
"He killed your son!" one of them blurted out.
The chief was deeply & visibly shaken with his news. He stood speechless with his head bowed for a long time. The accused & the accusers as well as curious onlookers waited breathlessly. What would happen to the young man? Finally the old man raised his head. "Then he shall become my son," he informed them, "& everything I have will one day be … his." (Source: eSermons.com/Duncan)
The young man certainly did not deserve such generosity. And that, of course, is the point. Love in its purest form is beyond comprehension. No one can merit it. It is freely given. It is agape, the love of God. Look to the cross. At the +cross we encounter love in its purest form.
We are beings who are grounded & sustained by an ultimate Mystery that we do not control or completely comprehend. The dynamic revelation is that 2 … the essence of that Mystery is a self giving love completely dedicated to human fulfillment. This is what energizes everything: “the Love which moves the sun & the other stars,” as Dante said.
God’s love stops at nothing to create a new possibility, even long ago, naming a Persian monarch, Cyrus, as the new Messiah of Israel! Outlandish!
Still, that was not enough!
Jesus, himself, reveals this to Nicodemus….
“The Son of Man was sent into the world by this Love. Divine Love could not tolerate the sight of humanity perishing. Divine Love wants to fill all people with a life that does not end. Even if the people in the world have strayed form their grounding in God & oppressed one another, God does not seek condemnation”(Shea). For God did not send the Son to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. The Divine desire is for salvation.
The judgment of God is love & life.
Freedom is always operative. Careful here, if you choose to be loved,
you will change….
You cannot know light & darkness until you are in the light. Before the light appears in your consciousness, everything is normal, conventional, just the way things are. You are in darkness, but you do not know it. The light, an alternate way of knowing & doing exposes the present way of knowing and doing as alienated. This alienation is the darkness of the world, and it only appears when the light comes into it.
In this light we see differently….
We turn to Jesus, who was lifted up on the cross to be the Light of the world. Who are the people we lift up? The poor, lonely, and marginalized are those on the ground who cannot get up because no one comes to their aid. Like the Good Samaritan & Simon of Cyrene, we will choose to carry not only our own burdens, but the burdens of others as well.
(Source: The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels, Year B, Shea, p.96)
This Lent, we ponder that image of the Crucified, lifted up on the cross.
And we ask, “Was this truly for me?”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.
We really do become the Son!
At this Liturgy of Divine Love, let us pause & consider what this mean to us personally, For God so loved me that God gave me the only Son, so that I might not perish but have eternal life.
And this is love…..