“I love you this much”: God’s Invitation to Intimacy

“Come now, let us reason together.” 
-Isaiah 1:18a  

God holds an open invitation to chat about the state of our hearts.  I’d go so far as to say he is begging us to come to Him with our brokenness. Despite what is waiting for us in God’s loving arms, the distance between us and God can feel like a chasm too wide to cross.

I attended Catholic school as a child.  From the age of 7, a couple times a year I waited in line behind my jumper-clad peers to confess my sins to one of the priests.  I didn’t have much to share at the age of 7.  A little impatience here, a little laziness there.  Maybe I was short with my parents.  Despite the smallness of my “sins”, I remember enjoying the experience and feeling a little lighter after confession.  I felt loved and freed from guilt.  And I felt a little closer to God.

Reasoning Together: The Barrier of Guilt

Now, with a few decades under my proverbial belt, I can certainly understand why people might avoid confession.  As an adult, I don’t go to confession with a priest, though I wouldn’t hesitate to if given the opportunity.  After all, there’s nothing like hearing the words “You are forgiven” spoken out loud. 

However, I regularly attend confession in my heart.  God and I frequently meet and “reason together” about my falling short in one way or another.  I’ve been doing this for so long now that I have no fear about it.  I know God’s heart and I know He NEVER condemns me.  Guilt is not of God.  Just as in the story of the prodigal son, he is running up to me whenever I come home, rushing to wrap his blanket of love around me.  

Little Zach

It’s easy to want to run and hide in our guilt. But it is in our best interest to invite God in. Take Zacchaeus.  Zacchaeus was a man in need of confession.  He regularly extorted citizens, benefiting in worldly ways from others’ decline.  I can’t imagine he was happy, despite his wealth. His heart was empty and he knew it.  But instead of hiding in his guilt, he climbed a tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus, calling out in his heart to be seen.  

Jesus saw him.  He did not call him out on past behavior.  Rather, He invited Himself into Zacchaeus’ house.  I’ve always wondered what happened before and during that dinner.  I imagine that Jesus spoke to Zacchaeus and affirmed who Zacchaeus truly was: not a short man carrying cartloads of guilt but a soul of immeasurable worth who was loved regardless of any choice in his life.  

“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." 
Isaiah 1:18b

Response to Love

Zacchaeus’ response to knowing his worth was service.  He chose to not only make right the wrongs committed, but also to give his wealth to others.  

Jesus may not invite himself into our houses, but He does invite Himself into our hearts.  Once there, just as He did with Zacchaeus, He affirms who we are.  He reminds us of how much He loves us.  And He invites us to live in joy and peace in that identity.

Reasoning Together: The Barrier of Heartbreak

Sometimes, what keeps us separated from God has less to do with what we’ve done to stray and more to do with living in a broken world.  In 2003, Jimmy Wayne wrote a song about a young man who wasn’t shown love by his earthly father.  As a young boy, he would run up to him, his arms spread wide and say:

“I love you this much and I’m waiting on you

To make up your mind, do you love me too?

How ever long it takes, I’m never giving up

No matter what, I love you this much.”

He kept his heart open, only to be disappointed again and again.  Finally, on the day of his father’s funeral, he stood in the church, looking up at the cross.  

He said ‘Forgive me father’ when he realized 

that he hadn’t been unloved or alone all his life

His arms were stretched out as far as they go

Nailed to the cross, for the whole world to know

I love you this much and I’m waiting on you

To make up your mind, do you love me too?

How ever long it takes, I’m never giving up

No matter what, I love you this much.

This Earth is a hot mess.  We are here to learn how to love in face of its opposite.  That is no easy task.  We are going to get knocked down and feel about an inch tall.  We are going to mess up.  We are going to do things we regret, things that make us believe, if only temporarily, that God doesn’t want us.  

Two Choices: Hiding or Climbing Up to Meet Him

We have two choices: The first? to identify with our failings, our pain, and the world’s view of us.  We hide from God and let our sense of inferiority color how we treat others.  In short, we keep our eyes fixed on our sin and separate ourselves from the truth of who we are in God.

The other option is the way of Zacchaeus and the invitation in Isaiah 1:18, to climb up above the muck and the lies and look for Jesus.  We can accept His self-invitation into our hearts and allow Him to remind us who we are. 

This is what frees us from the chains of guilt and erases the tarnishes of this life. 

This is what brings us to a place where we can love God with all we are and to live in freedom and joy as His children. 

Today, I choose the way of the short man with the big heart, a heart brave enough to invite God in. 

Today, I choose to meet with God and “reason together” so that I might be as white as snow.