Father and Friend

08/09/14

Jeremiah 3.4-5 Have you not just called to me: ‘My Father, my friend from my youth, 5 will you always be angry? Will your wrath continue forever?’  This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can.” - God

How do you respond to this? Jeremiah's words were not the beginning of the end; they were the end. It was just a few short years until the invading horde of Babylon was going to swoop down upon Judah and carry her off to a place she didn't want to go. (Jesus once said to St. Peter: Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Peter hadn't a clue but when Jesus says you're going somewhere you don't want to go, then be sure, you'll not want to go...)

God's complaint was His people had the audacity to call Him Father and Friend but that was as far as it went - their hearts weren't in it. They wanted to live the way they wanted to live and have God place His approval on it as long as they called Him: Father and Friend. God said in essence, sorry guys, it don't work that way!

The relationship God had with His people then (and still has today) was one of covenant - i.e. contractual: If you do your part, I'll do mine. But because God's heart is so loving and compassionate, the contract has an emotional side to it that one wouldn't find, say at the bank with a car loan, or a mortgage, or some other kind of contract. (I think that is one of the hardest things in understanding God's interaction with the Jews - He loved them dearly but He stood by the covenant. It was more than a contract, but it was a contract nonetheless.

With the Church, there is no contract; just love. More actually, it's love, intention, and will. With Israel, God demanded obedience to the rules. With the Church God demands love. Well, how do you do that? Simply by lovingly, obediently, loving in return. Jesus said, If you love Me; you'll obey me. It isn't keeping laws, it's trusting His way is the best way; and it is a surrendering of my will to do exactly what He says to do. There is no covenant; there is no law - there is just a loving relationship expressed in my willing submission to His commands (not His commandments...)

But, this is the deal: can we call God, Father and Friend and then go live however the hell we like? We can, but there isn't much (if any) heart in it and that is where the truth of the reality of the relationship is: the heart, and its place in the relationship.

This verse smacked me around a bit today. It's not about behavior or performance - it's about heart. If the heart is right, the obedience and the behavior will follow. If not, there's some soul-searching needing to be done. God, where is my heart in all this? A careful read through Psalm 139 might be helpful, if we aren't sure where our heart is in all this.

Father and Friend, You do know me - You know all about me. There's nothing about me You don't know. That's good and bad...to me. But despite how I feel about what You know I pray You draw me close. I pray You help me to see Your heart. I pray that I somehow respond to Your love and reciprocate in my words, but more importantly with my heart, doing what You ask me to do... Through Him, Amen.