Unashamed solidarity

I have often been shocked at the loyalty some parents will show a child. As a young Dad I sometimes watched parents bail out, rescue, house or pay for an adult child in trouble and, to be honest, thought they were nuts. I realize some of these scenarios may have been more the evidence of a strange “co-dependency” than the virtue of loyalty, but the older I get the more I think that is the exception. Parents love their children and they will do almost anything to help them.

There are exceptions. Some parents would rather be caught naked than have someone figure out the relationship between them and their kid. They are ashamed to own that child and will even go so far as to mock the kid – regardless of age. In other words, human relationships can only teach us so much about what it means to be loved by God.

But along comes the Word of God to tell us of Jesus of whom it was said, since “…the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

Unashamed solidarity. Jesus chose to become part of my family (flesh and blood humanity) in order to make me a part of His family. He is not ashamed to call me brother nor embarrassed to have me in the family. And this love of His is relentless.

When I think about all the times I have abandoned Him, been embarrassed about Him, contradicted Him and denied Him, I start to feel like the kid in scenario one – a kind of routine mess-up whom nobody should really pay attention to anymore. But because Jesus gave up His life in exchange for mine, taking all of the guilt for all of my sin on Himself, He never thinks of me like that. He is like a proud older brother who stands with glowing smile behind me and says, “God gave me this one!”

How glad I am that the solidarity that counts is generated out of Him, not me.