Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, November 12, 2023
by Madison Johnston, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Because God has claimed us as children, we know that God will love us like a parent loves a child—unconditionally.
Children are portrayed very differently between these two passages. In Hosea, children operate with a very high level of autonomy, and they use that autonomy to subvert God’s expectations. To disobey God. To stray from God, even. In the Gospel of Mark, children seem to have no autonomy at all—they are passive throughout the story, completely subject to their parents, who are bringing them to Jesus, and the disciples, who are getting in their way. They aren’t trying to stray from God at all. In fact, they are very much trying to come closer.
What’s interesting is that God is not portrayed differently between these two passages. God is painted much the same in Mark as God is painted in Hosea, and in that consistency lies a promise for us: God will always lead with love.
For rebellious children and obedient children, alike, God advocates. For the fussy and the gentle children, the boisterous and the silent children, God wants only good things. God extends invitations to the ornery, the innocent and everybody in-between, exuding compassion where we might judge, instead, and tenderness where we might be tempted to go cold.
This leading love—unconditional love—scripture tells us, is unique to God. It is a love free from contingencies and expectations. It is a love that overcomes obstacles. It is a love that can balance disappointment, hurt and confusion without wanting to seek vengeance for any one of them. God’s love is all at once preemptive and reactive, which means that it doesn’t really have an identifiable beginning or end. It always has been, it is, and it always will be.
Jesus tells his disciples that the kingdom of God belongs to the children—to people like the children—because God’s love has always been, is, and always will be for God’s children. For us. No matter what kind of child you are, God will meet you with a love beyond your deepest understanding.
