God Wants Us Badly
"Jesus asked, 'How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? It is like a tiny mustard seed. Though this is one of the smallest of seeds, it grows to become one of the largest of plants, with long branches where birds can come and find shelter.' He used many such stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they were able to understand. In fact, in his public teaching he taught only with parables, but afterward when he was alone with his disciples, he explained the meaning to them" - Mark 4:30-34 (New Living Translation).
God wants us badly. These are the words that come to mind as I survey these few verses of the sacred text.
Oh to be sure, Jesus is once again illustrating how the Kingdom of God will grow from small to large. This is the main point of the illustration of the mustard seed. Jesus wants us to know that the Kingdom of God will grow, and attract the very birds that used to eat the seeds!
But what strikes me is how Jesus repeatedly attempts to get people to understand the Kingdom of God. He even muses out loud, "What story should I use to illustrate it?" Then Mark tells us that he used "many stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they were able to understand."
Why? Why does Jesus go to so much trouble to try to get us to understand his kingdom? Why make so many attempts to get through to us? Why bother at all? Why use MANY illustrations and stories, instead of just one or two?
The answer is obvious. Oh how he loves us! Oh how he wants a relationship with us! Oh how he desires for us to know him, and fulfill that for which we were created!
We had it made, you know? In the Garden of Eden - - we had it made. Adam and Eve only had to cultivate the garden and let God take care of the rest. They didn't have to worry about earning money. There was no money, nor need for it. They didn't have to fret about how they would retire or make ends meet. All of life was retirement, and God made the ends meet! They only had to live each day in the glorious love and provision of the Almighty, and give him the praise due his name. The whole earth was theirs to explore and conquer. There were endless things for them to do, and places to discover. All they had to do was obey God, and enjoy life. There was no need to worry about aging or health problems or dying. There was no death. There was no grave. There were no funerals. There were no tears. They had it all!
But they blew it. They decided that they knew better than God what life was about. They decided they had to be LIKE God - - no, they decided to BE a god to themselves. So they disobeyed God, did their own thing, and plunged the entire human race into futility and death.
Now we are born, and do not even know why we are here. We don't understand that we were created to resemble and reflect God. We have lost the very purpose for which we move, and breathe, and exist - to know, love, and reflect God; to receive his love, and provision, and enjoy all of life filtering it daily through the knowledge that he is everything.
Last night I sat in a class at a local university. We spoke about how important education is, and how to be a "professional" teacher. I was struck with the vanity of it all. I began to laugh, and my teammates wondered why, as indeed they might. But as I say, the vanity of it all struck me. What good is education without God? Okay, so we learn to read and write better. Why? So we can have a better job? Why? So we can live a more productive life? Why? So we can contribute to society and earn a decent living? Why? So we can retire with satisfaction? Okay, but WHY? After we retire, then what? Then there are a few years of easy living, unless we're plagued with health problems. But then what?
Then death. So what's the point? Now we are dead, and once again we face the God we ignored our whole lives through. Then what?
The irony of it struck me, so I laughed. Over and over I laughed. I wiped tears from my eyes. We teach our children to write and do math, but we forbid them to learn about God. Oh no! We must never speak of HIM. After all, then they might actually discover why they are here and what life is all about! We must never tell them the REAL solution to their behavioral problems - a sin nature that needs to be regenerated by God. No! We'll tell them and ourselves that it is lack of education, or lack of money, or lack of self-esteem, or lack of psychological development! But God? NEVER!
Well, here is my point. Despite the irony of our existence as humans today - - humans that mostly do not know God; humans that exclude him from their lives and institutions of learning - - despite all of this, God keeps coming after us.
He tells us stories; he sends us people; he makes movies like the "Passion of Christ;" he prints Bibles and builds churches; he sends friends and neighbors; he attempts to reach us in a thousand ways.
Why? Because he loves us deeply, and wants us badly - - so badly that he was beaten, bled, and died a shockingly horrible death for us.
He wants us badly. The question is: Do we want him?