The texts for Sunday, September 11, 2016 are: Exodus 32:7-14; Psalm 51:1-10; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; and Luke 15:1-10
“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?” -Luke 15:8
The unrelenting love of God.
That seeks
And looks in every dark place.
She sweeps
and sends light into every crack and crevice
She crawls on her hands and knees
—marking herself, her body, with dust
with earth—
Peering under and over and around
Looking.
Searching.
Unrelenting.
Love that is discontent
Discontent with our lostness
Discontent with our disconnection
Discontent with our abandonment
Discontent to let us sit
To sit and be
As though the brokenness where we were
was good enough
As though almost all the sheep safe
was close enough
As though a table that excluded any
was full enough
As though justice was just for most of us
Or grace for those who deserved it
And not for those who sit alone on hills crying to be heard
Crying out
To be seen as sacred
Valued
Human.
Worth the angels rejoicing over
This is the unrelenting love of God
Abandoning the safe ones
To stand with the threatened ones
Seeking ever after the lost
And finding room at the table
Even for us —
For you.
***
Featured Image: “The Lost Drachma” by James Tissot Overall