From the Place of Love--October 20, 2021

From the Place of Love--October 20, 2021

"See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!" [Hebrews 12:25]

One of the most humbling things about growing up is how often you find yourself thinking, "My parents were right!" 

Early in life, it often starts with little epiphanies--if I leave my laundry all over the floor, I won't have any clean clothes when I need to get dressed for school!  In high school, we probably learned that their warnings, "You need to do your homework before you do fun things with your friends, or you'll regret it when you wake up in the morning and forgot to do it!" were right, even if we didn't want to admit it.  And as the years go by and the stakes get higher, we often find that our parents' warnings, whether about extended warranties or hanging out with the wrong crowd, or whatever else, were worth listening to.  We also come to realize that the times when they warned us of the consequences they would impose--"Don't be late, or you'll be grounded!"  "Don't lie to us or you'll break our trust!" "Don't drive recklessly or you won't be allowed to borrow the car!"--all came from a place of love.  The warnings we are given by our parents, even when it's in the form of negative consequences meted out for our bad choices, are intended so that we avoid the punishment they threaten.  Our parents, after all, are entrusted with helping to shape us into decent and mature human beings, not being our doormats.

So often as a parent now, I feel that tension with my own kids.  There are times when I can warn, "Please don't continue doing that--you will not like the consequences that are given to you if you keep it up." and so often, the young minds of children assume they know better or that facing consequences is being "mean," rather than intended to shape the kind of people they become.  When I warn that the Nerf gun will be taken away if it is used in the living room (or pointed at a sibling's face), it's really not because I greedily want to steal my children's toys or sadistically want to see them suffer.  It's because I want my children to be responsible humans who take care of each other and our belongings.  The warning is meant to prevent pain, even if it feels unpleasant to hear it.

I think we sometimes forget that when we hear about warnings in the Scriptures.  Sometimes we think of God as some cosmic executioner, just salivating over the possibility of zapping us when we least expect it for some minor infraction of the rules.  But as dire as the warning is here from the writer of Hebrews, this is still the same older brother in the faith who just told us at the start of this chapter that God is like the consummate parent who seeks to help us grow into spiritual adulthood ourselves. God isn't looking to zap us, shoot us, or punish us.  And God isn't some aloof, disinterested judge doling out death sentences, either.  This is the God who knows the pain we will cause ourselves when we choose badly, the same God who knows how our rotten actions will also hurt others whom God loves, and the God who also keeps taking the risk that we will reject God's good intentions and hurt with us when we bear the consequences of our choices.

This is the same God, after all, who longs to gather us like a hen gathers her brood under her wings to protect them from danger in the face of a fox or a fire, only to watch us repeatedly refuse and walk away. And when you know that the one who is warning you loves you and wants to spare you or others pain, it changes how you hear their words--even if they are still hard to bear.

So when God directs us not to cheat each other, not to make our money into our god, not to abuse or harm our neighbors, or when God commands us to do justice and love mercy, it isn't from the lofty throne of a dictator who just loves to give commands and punish those who don't comply.  It's from the place of someone who loves and wants us not to learn the lesson the hard way.

Trusting someone who loves you when they are trying to help you grow is a less painful way to mature than wandering off on your own way and having it all blow up in your face.  Maybe God is trying to spare us pain and to point us in the right direction today.

What choices have you been wrestling with today where you already know what God would have you do, but have been ignoring?  What will you do today in response to God's voice?

Lord God, give us the wisdom enough to know to listen to you.  Give us the assurance that you love us when you speak.