I was listening to a song this morning as I drove to a meeting. It’s entitled Reckless Love. I’ve heard it before, although from different artists.

Growing up, I’d have to say that my musical tastes were at least a little eclectic. My parents weren’t into show tunes or the popular music of the day. Both were raised with an appreciation for classical music which probably led me to take up the violin. Just about the time I learned how to make the thing work like it was designed to do, I discovered pop or rock music. In the many decades that followed, I had my favorites in both genres. I bring this up because, honestly, I didn’t pay that much attention to the lyrics in most rock songs. I liked the music but more often than not, the words made little if any sense. Oh, some made political statements, with which I could identify from time to time. But, for the most part, I just listened passively, enjoying the sounds that I liked and not paying attention to the sounds I didn’t like. I’ll defy most people of my generation to find deep meaning in more than a handful of the anthems from the 60s or 70s (other than a celebration of the drug culture, anti-war activism and the anti-authoritarian bent that is ever present in younger generations).

Of course, I had no idea (or if I had, no interest) in popular Christian music until, all of a sudden, I was a Christian and the words actually made sense. From some aged hymns to contemporary songs, I soon discovered that they were a version of prayer, that had clear themes and messages. One of my delights was/is when the lyrics describe a characteristic of God that I had come to believe through my own experience. When those lyrics were coupled with tunes, voices, instruments, and melodies that I enjoyed, I found that my habits of how and why I listened to music changed.

I may have mentioned that, in a conversation maybe a year or so ago, I was asked why I thought I knew the character of God. When I asked why that would be curious, the response was that God was so vast as to be incomprehensible and that made it impossible to know his character. My reply at the time was something like, “Well, of course, I can’t fully know God but I can certainly know his character just as we can never fully know anyone else (and they’re just people, not God) but we can know their character because the signs are there everywhere.” To me, if you’re in relationship with someone, you get at least some window into their character. With God, to me, the evidence is monumental.

In the late 19th century, a poet by the name of Francis Thompson published a poem with the title of “Hound of Heaven.” (Full disclosure: I had to look this up when I searched for the origin of the term, which I’ve heard many times in the past.) Two giants of British letters in the period afterwards had this exchange about the poem:

G.K. Chesterton: “It is the most magnificent poem ever written in English.” To which J.R.R. Tolkien responded that Chesterton was not giving the poem the credit it deserved. (I love this!)

In his study on the poem, John O’Conor says

“The name is strange. It startles one at first. It is so bold, so new, so fearless. It does not attract, rather the reverse. But when one reads the poem this strangeness disappears. The meaning is understood. As the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its running, ever drawing nearer in the chase, with unhurrying and imperturbed pace, so does God follow the fleeing soul by His Divine grace. And though in sin or in human love, away from God it seeks to hide itself, Divine grace follows after, unwearyingly follows ever after, till the soul feels its pressure forcing it to turn to Him alone in that never-ending pursuit.”

There are three connected parables that Jesus told aloud to a gathering of self-righteous religious leaders and the castoffs (sinners) of the day. They are recounted in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 15, and their connection is that each is about “lostness” and foundness.” Of course, they are fundamentally about the character of God. My personal story aligns with the third and best known, the one about the lost (prodigal) younger son but the preceding ones on the lost sheep and the lost coin basically say the same thing.

If you’ll stick by a while longer, you’ll see where all of this is going. 🙂

In the first parable, Jesus says,

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

Now, this seems completely counterintuitive. What responsible shepherd would leave 99 sheep unprotected to go and find a single one who was lost? Who forsakes the 99 for the 1?

But, this parable was not designed to stand on its own but to be part of an extended message about God’s relationship with us. If taken to its final conclusion with the father talking to the obstinate elder son, the full picture becomes clear.

God’s love is reckless.

Grace is reckless.

When I heard God’s clear voice in March 2005, I’d never thought to any degree about the message contained in Luke 15. Yes, I’d read it at some point but, just as those songs of my youth really didn’t touch me in any meaningful way, the depth of Jesus’ teaching was lost on me. For good reason.

But, that changed in an instant when I surrendered. Suddenly, in the most vivid way imaginable, God showed/told me that he was always in my life from the moment of conception and that he would not let me go. And, in that moment, the heavens opened up and I experienced the rejoicing that, long pursued and desired, I had finally come home and I was loved beyond compare. Later, after reading the parables and hearing of a description of the Hound of Heaven, I could only say, “exactly. That’s what happened. That’s who God is. Period and end of report.”

I know that there are some people who have known me for a very long time that are puzzled and even turned off when I talk like this. But, it’s impossible for me not to. When you run and avoid like I did, seeking every excuse to hide and somehow always sensing (perhaps just underneath my consciousness) that there was a pursuit going on … but when, at last, I had nothing left and sat down to say I was done, it turned out that the pursuer wasn’t really a hound or even a shepherd but the God of all things who invited me to just look into his face. What indescribable joy!

Here are the lyrics to Reckless Love

Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me

You have been so, so good to me

Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me

You have been so, so kind to me

 

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine

I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

 

When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me

You have been so, so good to me

When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me

You have been so, so kind to me

 

And oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine

And I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

 

There’s no shadow You won’t light up

Mountain You won’t climb up

Coming after me

There’s no wall You won’t kick down

Lie You won’t tear down

Coming after me

 

There’s no shadow You won’t light up

Mountain You won’t climb up

Coming after me

There’s no wall You won’t kick down

Lie You won’t tear down

Coming after me

 

There’s no shadow You won’t light up

Mountain You won’t climb up

Coming after me

There’s no wall You won’t kick down

Lie You won’t tear down

Coming after me

 

There’s no shadow You won’t light up

Mountain You won’t climb up

Coming after me

There’s no wall You won’t kick down

Lie You won’t tear down

Coming after me

 

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine

And I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

 

At the end, I’m going to link to a YouTube live rendition of the song, by its writer and chief performer. I just found it today, although I saw them live at a concert earlier this year. It includes a brief interlude whereby he explains the lyrics. If you’re not used to pretty loud and exclamatory Christian music, this may seem quite different and maybe oft-putting. But (and here’s a window into my life now), I’m perfectly at home here. These are no haphazard lyrics. God is real and he loves each of us so much that he will never cease tracking us down and inviting us in. And, perhaps, the harder we resist, the harder we fall. Regardless, to have eyes open to this reality of God’s character is nothing less than completely life changing.

Or, as former slave ship captain John Newton wrote in 1779:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound … I once was lost but now am found, twas blind but now I see. …

How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed. …

Twas grace that brought us safe thus far and grace will lead us home.

In conclusion, there’s no better time to consider who God is than this season when we celebrate his arrival here on Earth.

Amen.