Let me tell you of the story of a dog named “Gelert.” Gelert’s master was a prince from North Wales who lived in the 13th century in the town of Beddgelert.  One day, the prince returned from a hunt, walked into his bedroom and found his infant son missing and his crib bathed in blood. There by the crib was Gelert. His mouth was bloody, his eyes fixed unswervingly on the prince.  Fearing the dog had done the worst to his baby boy, the prince took out his knife in a fit of rage, and stabbed and killed his pet.

Gelert’s dying yelp of pain, however, woke the baby boy – who was hidden amid the blankets.  Under the bed, the prince found a dead wolf.  Its throat had been torn out by Gelert when he saved the life of the baby son of the prince.  Sometimes we hurt the one who loves us the most.  This is a sad story.  But there is a story more sad.  The hurt we often cause our God who has done nothing but lavished His love upon us!  Us, who didn’t deserve Him!

God’s kind of love is not a feeling, but an attitude.  It’s an attitude toward the objects of his love: you and me, who are so far from deserving anything like it.  Anyone who has ever had children knows that sometimes an attitude of love is needed when the feeling of love isn’t possible.  Right?  Every parent has days when they don’t feel very loving toward their kids – when their kids aren’t listening, making poor decisions, doing stuff that hurts themselves or others, or just plain making their parents go nuts!  Yet it’s at those very times when a parent’s love is needed the most.  Not a feeling of love, but an attitude of love!

In the same way, we all know that we do things that make it very difficult for God to feel loving toward us!  When we hurt ourselves, hurt others, or hurt God, love must be hard for God to feel toward us!  But, (and this is a big “but”), we have a great God.  Even in those moments of God’s greatest disappointment with us, He still loves us.  Look at the cross, where Jesus overcame death for us!  Sometimes, it seems we do everything we can to make ourselves unlovable, but God still loves us!  And that is what we’ve been pondering this Lent.  How Deep the Father’s Love For Us!  For us who didn’t deserve Him!

Look at us.  Let’s take a good look at ourselves today.  Look at how ugly we can be.  Look at the people who were at the cross.  Not just the people – their Religious Leaders.  Couldn’t they have just let Jesus alone?  They had gotten their way.  He would soon be gone.  But no, they had to show up and rub salt into his wounds!  Mock him as a fraud and a cheat.  They even admitted that Jesus was a good man!  They admitted: “He saved others.”  So if you can admit that, the obvious question is: “Why are you killing Him?  If he was a helpful man, why do you show Him no pity as He is unjustly being put to death?”  How extremely awful humanity can be!  We did not deserve a loving God!

How about the Soldiers at the cross?  They were having fun and games!  Literally.  They were throwing dice.  Can you picture it?  The soldiers huddled in a circle, eyes turned downward.  The “criminal” above them is forgotten.  They are gambling for his used clothes.  There’s a tunic, cloak, and a pair of sandals in the pot.  Each soldier throws his dice on the blood-stained dirt, hoping to expand his wardrobe at the expense of a crucified criminal.

Ever wonder what that must have looked like to Jesus?  As He looked down past his bloody feet at the circle of gamblers, what did Jesus think?  How did this make Him feel?  Here were common soldiers witnessing the greatest event in history, and they don’t even know it.  As far as they’re concerned, it’s just another Friday morning and He is just another criminal.  “C’mon, hurry up; it’s my turn!”  “All right, all right, (insert Latin swear words), this throw is for the sandals!”  Casting lots for the possessions of Christ.  Heads ducked.  Eyes downward.  Cross forgotten.  (Lucado: “No Wonder They Call Him the Savior”)

Those soldiers didn’t deserve Him!  But do you see the symbolism here?  These soldiers remind me of us.  The religious people.  Church people.  Those who profess to believe in Christ and the cross.  You and me.  Are we that different from those soldiers?  We, too, play games at the foot of the cross.  We compete for converts.  We scramble for status.  We deal out judgments and condemnations.  Competition.  Selfishness.  Greed.  Personal gain.  We don’t like what the other did so we take the sandal we won and walk away in a huff.  So close to the timber, yet so far from the blood.

We are so close to the greatest event in history, but we act like common crapshooters huddled in bickering groups and fighting over silly opinions!  How many pulpit hours have been wasted on preaching the trivial?  How much time have we wasted putting out needless fires?  How many opportunities have gone by because we were too engaged in petty issues and hard feelings with one another?  How much of our lives have been spent forgetting the love Jesus gave us and intended for us to show one another?  How many sidetracks have we taken from the mission God has given us?  So close to the cross, but so far from the Christ.

The similarity between the soldier’s game and our games is scary.  What does Jesus think when we are playing those games?  Have we deserved Him?  No more than the soldiers.  What did He think of them?  Let’s listen to Him:  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  That’s what Jesus thinks!  That’s how He responds!  Jesus was praying for their forgiveness!  He was praying for our forgiveness!  Not only praying for it.  He was there, doing what was needed, in fact, to win that forgiveness for us.  For us, who certainly didn’t deserve it.

There was a large downtown church that had begun a small mission in the inner city.  Once a year, they had a joint worship service.  At that joint service one year, a unique thing happened.  An important judge from the big congregation knelt at the communion table next to an ex-convict from the small mission church.  After the service, the judge commented to the pastor about the miracle of God’s grace, considering who was at the communion table.  And the pastor agreed with him. 

But then the judge asked, “Who do you think I was referring to?”  The pastor said, “The ex-convict you had sentenced.”  The judge replied, “I wasn’t referring to him.  I was referring to myself.  When that convict was released he knew how he had ruined his life and had no hope in himself.  God brought him to see that in Jesus he had forgiveness, hope, and salvation.  But look at me.  From little on up, I was taught to be good, to say prayers, to go to church.  I went to Oxford, passed the bar, and eventually became a respected judge.  Nothing but God’s grace could lead me to see that I am a sinner on the same level as that convict I sent to jail.”

As sinners, we are all on the same level.  The only thing we deserve is God’s anger and punishment.  The same as any criminal.  But grace is undeserved love.  We can’t earn or buy grace.  It comes at Christ’s expense and through the amazing depth of God’s love through Jesus.

So let’s look at one more person at the cross.  The Thief.  A beggar with a request.  As Jesus is minutes from his death, he is minutes from his own.  And he has a request for this King.  Hoping for some crumbs from the table.  But he is going to get a whole feast.  Look at this guy.  Pitiful.  He is taking his last step down the spiral staircase of failure.  One crime after another.  Trouble upon trouble.  And now he hit rock bottom – death by crucifixion.  He can’t hide who he is.  The only clothing he wears is the robe of his disgrace.  He has no clever sales pitch ready for Jesus.  No impressive resume to offer.  No Sunday school awards.  Just a history of failure.

But now he looks to Jesus.  Earlier he had mocked him.  But now he begins to wonder who this man might be.  How strange.  He doesn’t resist the nails.  He almost invites them.  He hears the insults and sees the man remain quiet.  He sees the blood on Jesus’ cheeks, the crown of thorns on his head, and hears Him say, “Father, forgive them.”  Why do they want him dead?  The thief wonders about Jesus.   There’s no anger in his eyes.  Only tears.  Why?  He watches the soldiers throwing dice in the dirt.  He sees the sign above Jesus head with its sarcastic message: king of the jews.  Hmmm.  They mock him  as a king.  If he were crazy, they would ignore him.  If he had no followers, they’d turn him away.  If he were nothing to fear, they wouldn’t kill him.  You only kill a king if he has a kingdom.  Could it be…?

Suddenly, something gets changed in his heart.  And now, instead of mocking Jesus, He defends Him.  He speaks, and hopefully some of the people standing around hear him.  “We are getting what our deeds deserve.  But this man has done nothing wrong.”  The thief understood: We are guilty and He is innocent.  We are filthy and He is pure.  We are wrong and He is right.  He is not on the cross for his sins.  He is there for ours.  And once the crook understands this, his next request is only natural.  He is stumbling to safety just as the gate is closing.  He looks into the eyes of his last hope, and made the plea of saving faith: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  No fancy prayer.  No excuses.  Just a desperate plea for help.

Here comes the deepest love of all.  Jesus performs the greatest miracle of the cross.  Greater than the earthquake.  Greater than the tearing of the temple curtain.  Greater than the darkness.  Greater than the believers who were raised from the dead.  Jesus performs the miracle of forgiveness.  A sin-soaked criminal is received by a blood-stained Saviour.  “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”  Only moments before, this undeserving beggar was hoping the King might be able to spare a few crumbs.  Now he is sitting down to the feast of all feasts – the feast of eternity with God!  (adapted from Lucado, Six Hours One Friday)

That is How Deep the Father’s Love for Us is!  Us, who have not deserved Him!  That is what grace is all about.  You and I, who don’t deserve it any more than the thief on the cross, or the soldiers underneath, are going to be joining Jesus in paradise.  Because He has forgiven us.  We aren’t going to get turned away.  We’re going to get to sit down at the Feast next to people who have track records as bad as our own.  That’s grace.  That’s our God!  Amen.