Open
In a gesture
Of welcome
Embrace,
Held more by love
Than nails,
Given completely.
The arms
Of God
Are laid
Bare.
This is strength
This is love,
This is more than I
Can ask
Or imagine…
Reading the lectionary passage from Isaiah today I was struck by the phrase the arms of God arm laid bare (vs. 10). This passage written to a nation in exile calls them to look for signs of God's work and love amongst them, for signs of the kingdom to come, God's arm laid bare was a sign of strength to the nations….and yet what could be stronger than the depth of love that caused Jesus to give up the glories of heaven for the cross? Such love I cannot ignore, and truly such love I cannot comprehend. Like many people I am trying to escape the image of God as judgemental tyrant, and hard task master, the image that I am discovering is a human construct rather than a God given vision.
I wonder sometimes whether it is easier for us to deal with the task master, declaring him cruel and difficult, than it is with the one who reveals his love for us in so many different ways if only we had the sensitivity or receptivity to receive that love? Nancy Ortberg in her book Looking for God reveals how she was so overwhelmed with the love of God for her one day that she called out for the revelation to stop, she was watching her two young girls playing in a park and felt overwhelmed by love for them:
" Almost in that same moment, when my defences were down and I was flooded with intense emotion, God sent a tsunami that completely blindsided me. He whispered to me, And that's just the tip of the iceberg as to how much I love you.
Now I realise that most people would be grateful to have an experience like this and would probably respond really well. But for some reason my heart just didn't seem to have enough room to accept this message that God was trying to give me. My mind didn't seem to have the capacity to understand it. In that one sentence there seemed to be more goodness and grace than my body could contain.
And it was simply too much to take in, so I said aloud, "Stop!".
With that she gathered up her girls and left the park, running from the love of God revealed with such intensity. Nancy believes that most people would have responded well, I believe that we wouldn't, and wonder how many of us would and have run from a revelation of intense love unable to bear the intensity of it! We are able somehow to understand the arms of God laid bare in power, but those same arms laid bare in love are beyond our comprehension, how could we possibly be loved that much?
And yet the truth is that we are. We are loved and precious to the God who knows us inside and out, he wants us to love him and one another, and we can if we are open, for we can love because he first loved us….
Perhaps it was this love that Charles Wesley was asking for in his Hymn "Grant me the faith":
Enlarge, inflame, and fill my heart
With boundless charity divine,
So shall I all strength exert,
And love them with a zeal like Thine,
And lead them to Thy open side,
The sheep for whom the Shepherd died.
Enlarge and enflame our hearts with your love Lord, this is our prayer.
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