Relentless Pursuit

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Acts 4:5-12

Psalm 23

I John 3:16-24

John 10:11-18

God’s goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

This promise is more than a casual following. This is not a, “If I bump into you, I’ll say ‘hey,’” kind of promise. This is a dogged pursuit. This is a “come Hell or high water, I will get you.” In any other context such a promise is threatening and scary. Every other time this word is used in the Old Testament it is referring to a military pursuit. As in, “God help us! The enemy armies are following us and we’re in deep trouble!”

In the case of Psalm 23, it is not marauding armies that are pursuing God’s people, but it is God’s goodness and lovingkindness that is relentlessly pursuing us. And God’s lovingkindness will never grow weary, will never get distracted, and will never give up until it has you firm in its grip.

It reminds me of the villain from Terminator 2. This was a movie that I watched way too many times as a kid. It was probably a little too mature for my age, but that was probably why I enjoyed it so much. The main villain of the movie is a homicidal robot made of liquid metal that was sent back in time to kill a boy named John Connor before he grows up to lead the human resistance against the machine uprising. You get a little bit of that lore spread throughout the movie, but really, 90 percent of the flick is just action-packed chase scene after action-packed chase scene. 

The villainous T-1000, as it is called, relentlessly pursues the heroes of the movie. Bullets can’t stop him, but merely slow him down. When the heroes escape in a car and the robot pursues them on foot, you think they are getting away, but the T-1000 runs quicker than you thought possible, he grabs the bumper of their getaway car, and bashes in the windows of the vehicle. Explosives merely slow down the T-1000 as the liquid metal just reforms back into his humanoid shape.

Toward the end of the movie, the T-1000 is chasing the protagonists in a sixteen wheeler carrying liquid nitrogen. The protagonists barely escape in a small pick up truck, manage to get the robot covered in the liquid nitrogen, and freeze him in place before shattering his liquid metal body into a thousand pieces. Even that isn’t enough. Each droplet of liquid metal comes together bit-by-bit until the menacing robot stands tall once again.

That’s what God’s lovingkindess and goodness is like… but Good. You can’t shake it. You can’t trick it, you can’t freeze it, you can’t outrun it, you can’t escape it. The lovingkindess of God cannot be stopped and will find you no matter what schemes you come up with to try to get it off your tail. 

The prophet, Jonah, thought he could escape from the loving presence of God. He was asked to proclaim a message of forgiveness to his people’s greatest enemies, so he got on a boat and fled from God. He ended up in the belly of a great fish, spit out on dry land, and sulking up to the evil people of Nineveh to proclaim God’s message that God hadn’t given up on them yet.

Moses was called by God to be the messenger of God’s freedom for the enslaved Hebrews in Egypt, but he tried to get out of it explaining that he doesn’t speak well and there must be someone else better suited for the job. God wouldn’t let Moses’ speech deficiency or his lack of confidence provide escape. God promised Moses to give him the words he needed so God’s mercy might be felt by the enslaved people.

Jeremiah was a prophet who told God to find someone else to speak for God because he was too young and inexperienced for such a great responsibility. God wouldn’t let Jeremiah’s doubts and fears shake him loose from God’s pursuit, so God stayed close to the young prophet.

The apostle Paul called himself the most unworthy of apostles because he felt such deep shame at the sins of his past. He persecuted and tried to destroy the church of Christ, but God humbled Paul, surrounded him with the love of the church, and gave him a chance to do some great good for the church of Jesus. Paul was not too sinful for God to pursue.

You may feel, like Jonah, that you aren’t in line with God’s values and need to get away from God. You may feel, like Moses, that you don’t have the talent to make a difference in this world and that God would be better off leaving you alone. You may feel, like Jeremiah, that you aren’t old enough or experienced enough to make a difference in this world and that God could surely pursue someone better equipped. You may feel, like Paul, that you have done too much wrong, have too much sin, and are holding onto too much shame for your past to ever receive the loving grace of God. You may feel like you are not good enough, strong enough, prepared enough, or holy enough to be in God’s merciful and empowering presence. You may feel like you are too far gone or too hidden from the love of God for God to find you. Well, I’m sorry, but you are wrong. It isn’t that easy to get away from the lovingkindness of God. God will pursue you in love and never give up. God is more relentless than liquid metal robots. There is no escape from the grace and love of God.

Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd and announces that a Good Shepherd is one who will lay down his life for the well-being of the sheep. Wolves may attack and bandits may set up an ambush, but the Good Shepherd will protect the sheep even if it costs his life. That’s the kind of relentless pursuit of love that Psalm 23 was talking about. Jesus died for the sake of his entire flock no matter how clueless, stubborn, sinful, or lost they are. He died for the bandits crucified on his right and left. He died for Judas the betrayer. He died for Peter the denier. He died for the soldiers who nailed him to the cross. He died for broken-hearted Mary Magdalene weeping outside the tomb. He died for you and for me.

As witnessed by Jesus our Good Shepherd, God’s goodness and lovingkindess will pursue us all the days of our lives. There is no hope of escape. Thanks be to God for that!