When I came home last night after dark, one of the neighbor's little calves was standing out in the middle of Bucknell Cir. In the end, Jen and Dave, myself, Chuck, Dan, Jim and Rob were all involved in the recovery effort. It was awesome. It was exciting, adventurous, rewarding. “What do you think?”, Jesus asked His disciples as He told them the story of the lost sheep. If a man has an opportunity to participate in a rescue and/or recovery mission, he will do it. Who of us could close our hearts to a young calf, separated from momma, on the road, exposed to danger and loss of life?
Where did men get this heart for the excitement of recovery and salvation? This altruism?
We so often think of the heart of God groaning at the entrance of sin – just like we do when a problem arises in our own circumstances. In our own crass way we may visualize Him on the throne at the moment when Adam sinned: “Awwe Adam, why'd you have to @#&^! this one up.” And when I knocked on the neighbor's door to tell them the calf was out, there was certainly some groaning in Jen's voice at the news when her husband was up in the mountains on a hunting trip. We think of the sheep owner in the parable cursing under his breath as he closes up the 99 in the sheepfold. He's a bit p.o.'ed as he gathers up the torch, his overcoat and heads out into the night. The look on his face, as painted in the little kids story books, is totally serious, even negative.
But when I knocked on Dan's door last night knowing all his experience in roping calves from horseback, his answer was, I'll saddle Bandit up. When Lisa called our other neighbors, Tommi's answer was, "Jim's already out the door." Chuck saw all the stopped headlights and activity on the road and just showed up with a rope. Rob suddenly appeared on his 4-wheeler. It was a spectacle of the highest order, seeing all the guys out there with horses, ropes and flashlights and 4-wheelers, cows mooing, people calling, others yelling; cars and trucks driving around shining their lights into the pasture.
So what of God at the moment when He knows the recovery plan must go into action? Do we ever really think of God taking on the recovery of this world as an Adventure? Do we think of it as something He takes on with relish, with the spirit of excitement and reward at a job well done? Have we ever thought of Him leaning back on His throne with a tone of deep satisfaction, to the point of giddy bragging, leaning over to Gabriel with a great big smile on His face saying, "Well that was sure fun getting that little guy back home"? Does He retell the stories, laugh and talk about it each time the celestial neighborhood gets together for a backyard BBQ?
What if the hearts of the men of this neighborhood actually do reflect the heart of God? I mean, they must have gotten this thing from somewhere. And what if we all got it from God? What if He is the way we are? What if our own hearts are telling us a huge story about the heart of God? If that's true, it says tremendous things about His relish for the plan of salvation – and for us. His heart is not only concerned for but even excited about our safe return. Maybe it's time for us to stop thinking of Him as p.o.'ed at us for our waywardness; stop putting ourselves down as the stupid, God-irritating little calves we've always imagined ourselves to be. Yeah, we've done a really unwise thing in leaving His protective pasture, but what if He and His angelic cowboy friends are coming riding in to restore us to our rightful place with a little bit of hootin' and hollorin' and a whole lot of fun for the job?
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