Mission Monthly – December 1998
“Each one of us here today will at one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question, “We are willing to help, Lord, but what, if anything, is needed?” For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don’t know what part of ourselves to give or more often than not the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them. We can love completely without complete understanding.
“A River Runs Through It”
I will never forget the powerful and poignant conclusion to the movie, “A River Runs Through It.” The father of the main character, a Presbyterian minister, in one of his final sermons exposes his painful struggle to understand the disrespectful and self-destructive lifestyle of his youngest son.
Two points come to mind as I consider this bittersweet tale. First, the unyielding spiritual warfare against our fallen and frail nature and its struggle to resist sin even in the face of certain destruction of dignity, conscience or even life itself (not to mention our eternal salvation). Secondly, how love, godly and unconditional, when poured out upon even the most hopeless of situations produces gifts of peace, freedom and the ability to keep giving beyond all measure of strength, calling to mind the infamous saying, “Love is the only treasure that increases the more we give it away.”
Set in pristine Montana in the early twentieth century, this story naturally evokes images of paradise: majestic mountains, pure rivers, endless miles of virgin forest… the “Big Sky.” “O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all…” (Psalm 104). One could imagine this “paradise” to be unscarred by the decay and sorrow of sin but, alas, death reigned here too and all of the attractions to it.
What comfort could we offer this father who loved his son, calling him “a beautiful boy?” I grieved for the anguish of this bewildered parent, especially seeing him search his heart for a response in the face of his own temptations to despair or become disillusioned. His words reveal a man who has truly sought a godly response to this very real family tragedy.
“Glory to You, curing hardships and losses with the healing course of time” (the Akathist of Thanksgiving). Time indeed is precious as we seek the Lord and His gifts of grace in the midst of our sorrows and joys. My pursuit of Him has caused me from time to time to wonder about the “sentiment” God may have toward the condition of His creation. This story has prompted in me thoughts of God and His disobedient children; those of us who, even after all that God has done for us, still “love darkness rather than light” (John 3:19). The father in our story encountered rejection and helplessness. Our Heavenly Father has certainly known rejection since the fatal fall of Adam. The difference here is that God knows no helplessness but only pure love and true patience. He is the One who, through all our mistakes, loves completely and, as the One who understands, gives us the grace to do the same.
As in all seasons, this great season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ is a time for repentance and a time to remember that God loves and came to save each one of us, both the strong and the weak. We must continually ask God, “Grant me to see my own transgressions and not to judge my brother.” We must courageously face the inevitable times of difficulty in all relationships, ever aware of the presence of Christ in the midst of our struggles.
In the Incarnation God became our indiscriminate Co-Sufferer and has shown us the true meaning of life and long-suffering, “count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation” (2 Peter 3:15). If we believe that Christ is our salvation, “loving us more than we know how to love,” then our response can only be to “love completely.” Only then will we discover, by God’s grace, that loving completely is all that we ever need to understand.