Who shall separate?

For all of today’s readings: Click on today’s date at http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Who shall separate?

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Second Week of Advent

Matthew 18:12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:  How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?  And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.  Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

The quality of God’s love is not strained. As Shakespeare wrote about mercy, “It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath.” And like mercy, it blesses the giver and the receiver, the shepherd and the lamb, God and his “little one.” Me.

God’s kindness, tenderness, commitment, toughness … his self-sacrificing-ness are all evident in this simple story Jesus tells. What a way to experience God. Not fire-breathing, but gentle. Not punishing and vengeful, but accepting. Not careless with me, but more careful with me than he is with himself.

I walk around in my life forgetting how much I’m loved. I just don’t think about it, and that’s why Jesus tells the story. So that I can remember the day I was born, when everyone cooed over me and tickled my chin. Kissed my forehead, and finally even kissed my lips. Loved without cause, loved without restraint, just because I was born, and because I was me. That’s God’s love for me, every day of my life. Every hour. Every moment. Every heartbeat. God loves. God loves me. God loves. God loves me.

How think ye? Maybe a better question is, how can you let go and let being loved like this become your experience? God’s love transcends my poor decisions, and even my bad luck. Suffering settles into its place as a way toward God, not away from him. And nothing – neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature, can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

And for this, Lord, we wait, knowing full well how much you love us, because Jesus has been here to make that clear. We celebrate his birth and remind each other he is coming soon. God has loved us, does love us, and will love us. Now and forever. Amen.

http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1304