Rescued Through Redemption

“Let the memory of Your mercy bring Your people to their knees” 

 

This line from the song, “Jesus, Friend of Sinners” is easy to slip by unnoticed. The orchestration quiets and the vocals are simplistic and unobtrusive. There is a decrescendo to showcase the duet between the singers in the following lines.  It wasn’t until I read the lyrics that I even noticed that line. I find it terribly unfortunate because I believe these words are the key to loving sinners. Without coming to a place where just memory of His mercy causes me to fall to my knees, I cannot love the way Christ loves. 

 

Many times in my life I have attempted to love the marginalized but my attempts were fruitless. I could not connect. I could not build relationships within their circles. I believed the lie that it just “is not my gift”. The true reason is because I was “loving” from a place of judgement. I was attempting to better them rather than love them. For some reason I deemed myself ready to teach “those people” something about how to live, but mostly how NOT to live. There was no remembrance of who I was before Christ. There was not even a brief flicker in my heart of the new mercies I woke up with that very morning. My attempts to love were mostly about fixing what I was against in their lives. This was not love I was offering and the majority of those I was attempting to help were most likely pointed away from Christ rather than to Him. 

 

Jesus is rushing towards the hearts of those who are unloved. He longs for the marginalized to experience Him. He desires to satisfy the heart of the LGBTQ guy who feels isolated. It is Jesus’s heart to hold the mother who was just separated from her child while attempting to cross the US border illegally. He wants to satisfy the girl who is giving herself to guy after guy in hopes of finding love. Jesus, friend of sinners, is ready to be just that, the greatest friend they’ll ever know. 

 

The trouble? We, the ones who have experienced and know God’s love, seem to be getting in the way quite a bit. The living Word dwells in us and through our love sinners can experience the love of Jesus. However, if I’m constantly spouting off about what I’m against, I’ll never get to show the lost world the mercy that keeps me going. They’ll never know the sweet, satisfying, unconditional love of the Savior of the World! 

 

 

 

 

 

Who wants to get in the way of that? I sure don’t! To love the way Jesus loves and stay out of the way of His pursuit of sinners, we must have the proper perspective. I am one bad decision away from the homeless drug addict begging for money to get his next fix. I am one bad decision away from sleeping around. I am one bad decision away from breaking the law. But, because of God’s sweet mercy, because of His grace, I walk in victory over sin and the unfailing love of God. 

 

Let’s get out of the way. Let the world know who we are, by our love for others, not by our picket lines.