Be Loved

I have been thinking, well reading which has led me to thinking. Good thinking. I went to coffee shop this evening with the intention of doing some impending homework. However, upon arrival to the second coffee, as my safe first choice Panera was packed with a line out the door, I found the wifi inept. Opposed to inquiring with the barista as to why, I shut down my computer, put away my textbook, and pulled out a Donald Miller novel I have been intending to start back up. No complaints there. Within 20 pages of reading, my computer was back up, chai latte and Don pushed aside (gasp), and I was intently typing away. I don't know why, but there I was…well, am. What will come of those now said pages, I don't know. They are healing, I know that. Healing scabs I didn’t realize I was still picking. But there was one theme that good ole Don mentioned that I have spent so much time thinking about recently, one theme that initialized and catalyzed the clicking of my keyboard, one theme that is an integral truth to humanity, to life, to, well, everything: Jesus loves us.

Most of what I wrote has to do with one word, Love. (expect many subsequent posts to delve into this topic) The Bible speaks extensively of it. God is love. 1 Corinthians 13 is famous because of its theme of love. People seek love from the moment we are born to the moment we die. Every child craves the love of his or her parents, every teenager the love of acceptance from friends, and most of us awkward twenty-somethings, love in the form of a spouse or lifelong friends. We all want to be loved, feel loved. We say we want to give love, well, some of us do at least. If we do give or not, that is another topic for another time. But love, we all inherently seek this.

Jesus as been blowing me away recently with the depth of His love for us. When the stereotypical evangelist shares the Gospel, they will say (and rightfully so) that "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him, will not perish but have life everlasting (John 3:16)." This is then supplemented with an explanation of how man is bad, separated from God because of sin. God loves man so He came down in the likeness of a man, Jesus, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, rose again, and will return. We then accept Him as our Lord and Savior and are saved. The end.

While this is all true and good and God definitely moves in people through this explanation, it's barely half the story. Christ did more on this earth than "live the perfect life" and die on the cross for our sins. He loved!!! Read the Gospel. I think evangelists would be immensely more convincing if they took the time to explain the way Jesus not only came because of love, but came to love. Jesus came because of love, in love, and to love. THAT is the Gospel.

These verses in Mark struck me the other day, Mark 3:33-35:

"Who are my mothers and my brothers?" he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

Jesus' earthly family came to see Him. Instead of getting up to meet Mary, the woman who birthed him, raised him, and cared for him as a child, who had known Him the longest of any other earthly person; He remained where He was. He then addressed people He had just met, and claimed them to be His family, equal with those who had known Him His whole life (on earth). Wow.

The first thing that jumped out at me was that He counts me a sister. Me, a continually failing and falling sinner, a sister to Christ. Wow. I don't deserve it. I don't deserve to be counted kin to the God who created me; but He loves me, despite of me. I am oh so thankful and blown away by that. That He loves me. Not only does He love me, but He enables other brothers and sisters to love me, despite me; and inversely, me to love other brothers and sisters, despite them. It's beautiful.

After thinking on this a bit longer, something else a little less obvious struck a light on in my mind: Jesus shows absolutely NO favoritism here. It would be understandable if He were to get up and meet His 'family;' but He doesn't. He is in the middle of a conversation and that conversation is important enough to Him, the people He is talking to are important enough to Him, that He stays where He is. He shows no favoritism to people that have known Him His (or their) whole life, versus those who have only just met Him. He gives equal respect, equal love, equality overall, to both. Wow.

So, as a sister of Christ's and a sister in Christ, be loved. Be loved by Him, be loved by me, be loved.

Know that Christ loves you regardless of your acknowledgment of Him or not. His love is not conditional upon our realization. It is unconditional. Our subjective experience of His love is dependent upon our perception of it. So, be loved. Acknowledge Him, and be loved.