Today we said goodbye to our dog, Jack. He had been with us for twelve loving years, just being himself...the honesty, the loyalty, and just his plain silliness colored our lives with so much joy and laughter; and he was such a good companion growing up along with the kids. From a tiny puppy of weeks this was the only home he ever knew, a family who loved him back. A fully grown male Labrador Retriever weighing more than ninety pounds is more than a handful, but he was a beautiful pale golden color with big, ebony eyes that beg to be petted and hugged. His gentle nature and loving disposition were matched only by a voracious appetite and endless drooling and shedding! But to all he was a great pet and a trusted friend.
Over two years ago Jack was diagnosed with diabetes that needed special care and specific diet/medication. Charlene diligently cooked his food with healthy ingredients, gave him the required insulin shots twice daily, and faithfully walked him to get the necessary exercise. The doctor said that most likely he would have gone blind within six months from discovery, but even until his last day Jack was able to see. It was a deep kind of love that kept him, both in the routine but even more so in the unseen bond. Jack also suffered from arthritic conditions and nerve impairment that affected his mobility; and when his legs pretty much gave out, and could only walk with a harness being held up by one, then turning to two persons, it was only a matter of time before we had to say goodbye. One can only imagine how difficult it is to care for a 90 pound dog that can't stand, yet it was love that sustained the effort. In the end it wasn't the trouble taking care of him that led to a decision to let go, but to keep from suffering by the rapidly declining health.
Parting is such sweet sorrow, the pain made even sharper by the love in one's heart. Much tear was shed not wanting to let go, and continues to flow with each reminder of him. I have already had to say goodbye to my father and little sister, and know first hand the knife that cuts so deep; but it was the first time for Charlene and the kids losing someone they love dearly. And such an irony in loving -- greater the love, greater the pain. The experience is so wrenching that, if not for faith in God to somehow make sense of it all, the heart is want to never love again for the suffering.
All this I said is not just about a dog, but even more so to think about God and how the love we share connects to the love that is He. Does love suffer? It is an unequivocal "YES!" But love is also worthwhile and restores -- only in and by the source and love Himself. God lives one moment and every moment for all eternity; he suffers with and for us, experiencing each pain in His heart and keeps it forever in His love. And this love restores us, not in fading memory nor healing scar, but literal restoration of all that we have lost in wiping away every last tear upon His coming. So great is this love that He takes all of our pain upon His body and soul, and suffers them forever in exchanging for our everlasting joy. This is a love unimaginable.
Ours is already such reluctance to part from a loved one, how much more a God who loves all in infinite depth not wanting to depart from even one! Many are blinded by justice to God's love, believing God judges man like so much sorting through beans, picking out the good ones and discarding the less than perfect. Even for man that, at the moment of death all trespass is forgiven in making memories of him sweeter, how can a God who had already forgiven all keep a grudge against His child's imperfection? In our deep mourning is seen the true heart of God, that He is not vengeful against the lost but merciful, and the blood that flowed once on the cross has not dried up, but continues to wash clean the memory of sins against Him -- all to bring back that most precious of commodities, His sons and daughters, saying, "You are forgiven."
No, do not elevate justice above love, for love will not allow justice to get in the way of salvation, the clearest evidence of which is seen on the cross where nails drove through flesh. And neither does God's holiness need protection from sin by cold justice, for He does not reside in two tablets of stone on Sinai, but in a living, breathing and beating heart of Zion. God does not need man to guard Him from sin by the condemnation of other men. To many believers justice guards God's holiness like one who shy from becoming dirty for the love of cleanliness. Yet such love of hospital sanitation is empty of emotion like a polished silver cup emptied of wine. No, holiness in and of itself deprives of truth and meaning, but is only fulfilled embracing the one He loves even in filth.
I recently heard the account of a sister who discovered vomit filled to the brim in two church bathroom sinks. With her natural love of cleanliness and aversion to such thing she couldn't bring herself to clean out the mess. It is certainly understandable, and there is no justification for criticism of her perceived "failure" to perform what she thought was a Christian duty. For in all situations where we may be measured for service or absence, obedience or sin, sacrifice or escape, the spotlight is not on us but on Christ. Our failure is not about ourselves, but in it do not fail to see Christ, who willingly gives and does not fail, may He be glorified.
So often the preaching paints God in the same manner as this dear sister in that He avoids sin like the plaque, and can't stand to be touched by a sinner -- let alone embracing him. But is that the gospel account of Jesus Christ? To me, God is the holier for going against his holy nature and the restraint of justice to not only embrace His sinful and sin-filled children, He wades waist-deep in filth to save each and cleans one child at a time with His holy spirit, and counts him righteous by His blood. God does not demand we first clean ourselves of sin before coming to Him and to remain with Him. Yet, today's church is filled with such primary teaching of personal sanctification as not to sully the pristine temple of God. If so, then go back to the Old Testament, for that is not the God who willingly dies on the cross and freely spills His blood.
Like any man who loves and mourns the loss of love, more so our God that loves and mourns for one not home with Him. His justice is to protect us, not to reject us. And the performance of salvation is His, not ours, that whosoever believes not in themselves to overcome the sin not of their own cause, but in their resignation from pride of good work, may turn to God in complete faith and appeal to grace. Like our love for Jack, His love for us is from beginning to end, and how we are the joy in His eyes even in mischief. For in Him the end is just the beginning, and by grace a death is the start of new life. His humanity cries with us, His divinity dries our eyes. His tear is real weeping over our death, but also His command true in calling the asleep to "come forth!"
Yes, He even calls for Jack! Amen
James
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