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#BTColumn – God’s first question

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by Adrian Sobers

“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” – (Luke 15:7, NRSV)

God’s first overture to Adam after he broke his commandment was a question, “Where are you?”

(Genesis 3:9). This is still God’s question today, east of Eden, when we mess up.

This was not so much a question, but a rhetorical proclamation. God knew were Adam was, but proclaimed the nature of his relational heart to humanity with a timeless question.

David’s first question about Absalom was similar to God’s first question to Adam. Unsurprisingly, a man after God’s own heart, revealed the heart of God. David didn’t ask about his own welfare or kingdom but instead, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” (2 Samuel 18:29).

The question to Adam and the question about Absalom reveals God’s heart. In the midst, nay; at the peak, of our rebellion, no matter what we do, the relational question always remains: “Where are you?” We have something that God wants: a response (preferably in the affirmative); to love him with all of our heart, soul, and mind.

In a word: relationship.  Francis Thompson’s 1890 poem The Hound of Heaven tells the story of the length that God will go to be in relationship with us. The poem depicts God as the hound of heaven, relentlessly pursuing an individual on the run. The runner, like so many east of Eden, spends most of their life trying to escape the hound of heaven.

“I fled Him, down the nights and down the days / I fled Him, down the arches of the years / I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways / Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears.”

This relentless pursuit ends differently for each individual; but we cannot say (if we expect to be taken seriously), that God neither pursues nor cares (2 Peter 3:9–10). The question posed to Adam also applies to human relationships.

Amy-Jill Levine’s Short Stories by Jesus “is an act of listening anew” (and easily the best thing I’ve read this year). She writes, “Reducing parables to a single meaning destroys their aesthetic as well as ethical potential.

This surplus of meaning is how poetry and storytelling work, and it is all to the good.” Levine looks at the trifecta of lost parables together: sheep, coin, and son.

In her introduction to the trifecta she says, “There is feasting at the end of the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, and a fatted calf awaits the Lost Son.” That is obvious. What is not so obvious is her reflection on the importance of one and the need to take stock.

“Even a missing 1 percent must be noticed. And if he can notice the missing one and diligently seek to find it, he reminds listeners that perhaps they have lost something, or someone, as well, but have not noticed it. Before the search can begin, we need to notice what, or who, is not there.”

“When was the last time we took stock, or counted up who was present rather than simply counted on their presence? Will we take responsibility for the losing, and what effort will we make to find it—or him or her—again?” No need to organize a feast, or prepare the proverbial fatted calf; but we leave the specifics to you.

Adrian Sobers is a prolific letter writer and commentator on matters of social interest.

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