The Fullness Of His Embrace

Ezekiel 37:15-24  John 10:14-16  2 Cor 12:8-9

As the years go by I am becoming more and more of a great big softy and no more is this in evidence than  when I am watching films described as “family entertainment”

“The Sound of Music”, “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” are all likely to leave me embarrassingly glassy eyed in those moments when suddenly wide eyed, generous love gets set free.

“The Railway Children” is the worst of all and especially the scene when the children’s Daddy comes home from prison and he gets off the train, out of the last carriage and stands for a moment in a whirling mist of fog and steam before with a great scream of delight “My Daddy! My Daddy! his eldest daughter runs the length of the platform and flings herself into his wide open arms.

I just well, completely let myself down!

I was reading a book by Martin Laird called “Into The Silent Land” and in it he gives a fresh translation of the little passage in 2 Corinthians 12 where Paul speaks of being assailed by a thorn in the flesh and how in spite of continual prayer it has stayed with him and the Lord says to Him “ My grace is enough for you, for my power is at full stretch in weakness”.

Full stretch. Never heard it like that before.  Full stretch in weakness.

I have an icon at home which shows the Holy Family on a journey. Maybe they’re on the way to Egypt. Maybe they’re on the way down to Jerusalem – but I am drawn to what Joseph is doing. He’s carrying Jesus on his shoulders. And Jesus is a big lad.  He’s giving the Son of God a piggy back. I like to think that from his childhood experiences as much as anything, Jesus learnt about the generosity of love.

Arms opened wide. Power at full stretch in weakness, Shoulders broad enough to carry you for as long as you want.

And then the more I look at the ministry of Jesus, I see that it was about his life becoming an ever widening embrace.

Thought he was called to the chosen people only – but realising He had Good News for all.

So he spoke of a shepherd whose fold was open to receive many other sheep.

A Father who embraced the son who had squandered his inheritance.

A Samaritan who reached down to a victim and sets him on his own beast.

An employer who opens the gates of his vineyard to all comers.

At the end of the day children want to get to Jesus, the disciples prevent it, he rebukes them and opens his arms to receive them all.

And the more Jesus opened wide his arms – the more he showed love at full stretch, the more the Pharisees folded theirs and strangled to death the love that was once in them.

And when finally the time came to make an example of him, to show what happens when someone loves with such carelessness, they killed him with those arms pulled open to their fullest extent.

Jesus died in the shape of the person he had become.

The body of Christ which we are a part of is power at full stretch – made perfect in weakness.

Our reading from Ezekiel this evening was deeply evocative. The joining together of the divided tribes of Judah and Joseph so that they might be one in God’s hand.

Two sticks becoming one stick to represent the unity ands maybe tied in such a way so that they would fall into something cross shaped maybe.

A sign to the nations, even way back then, of love at full stretch, of a running home to the arms of a Father, of a carrying of burdens upon shoulders that are broad and strong.

This passage has taken on particular meaning for the church in Korea which since the war there has become divided into two north and south kingdoms. One is comparatively prosperous, the other less so. Families have become lost to each other in this great divide and there are brothers and sisters who have not seen one another for the past fifty years.

The passage from Ezekiel gives the people hope that once again, for them, God will gather his people as one. In our worship material tonight, we share something of that yearning, which is given hope and substance in something that is cross shaped.

Our sense of disunity, separation, can feel a bit different, but we can identify similar trends, and we can certainly see the way forward as the extent to which we open our arms as Christ did – or keep them folded as the Pharisees did.

The extent to which we are prepared to take the risk of offering love at full stretch.

Offering that love within the Christian community whilst recognising indeed that we are a rag, tag and bobtail of traditions, experiences and outlooks, and probably ever more will be so, this side of the kingdom.

But realising we have to go further than this – indeed may discover a unity as we dare to go further than this.

Being prepared to open our arms to those beyond the walls of our churches and meeting places, perhaps in ministries whose success cannot be measured in numbers but only in the width of our ever opening arms.

I can’t remember the name of the politician who caused such a stir this week when she said she could see the first green shoots of recovery for the economy. She roundly condemned. Out of touch. Singularly unhelpful. Everyone seemed to be saying no talk like that please, the outlook is bleak. Leave us alone in our gloom.

Had she evidence of green shoots or was it just talk.

In such a climate we do have something important to share. We say it’s something about light in the darkness, about home coming, about a value of ourselves beyond the High Street. It must not be just talk – we must proclaim the evidence – in Christ – and make that evidence real in our own lives.

On Saturday February 7^th at 9am in Holy Trinity Church Hall there will be a meeting for those who are interested in finding out more about our proposed Street Pastors scheme. This is a project where, in a small way, and working together, we can put some of this into practice. Working with the local police and Council – but being neither law enforcers or street evangelists, we can be a presence on the streets of our town on Friday nights and into Saturday mornings – to be alongside young people,, when maybe need somebody to talk to or need practical support or help.

Just being there with open arms and seeing that as something to do with what we have known for ourselves in Christ.

Standing on a draughty platform on a little country station and there out of the last carriage steps the father and as the mist clears we see him with his arms outstretched and as we run to him as the children we are – we realise at last we are running into his arms together.

RH  18.1.09