God's Merciful Guts

I've been feeling rather un-inspired these last few weeks as I thought about what to write for a Christmas blog post. As this Fall was difficult, December has also had a few emotional ups and downs... and thus... no seasonal inspiration.

But as I sit in my quiet house (and yes, you heard that right... it is quiet...) I am remembering something Dave said in his sermon this morning. It's not often that I talk about my faith but since it is the season of Advent and Christmas, I'm going to.

My faith is vitally important to me. My trust in God is what gets me up each morning and what grounds me throughout the day. I am rooted in God. Knowing He is there, watching, caring, loving, helping... allows me to breathe. To know peace.

That being said, my God is not a magic wand carrier, whisking away all my problems with a flick of his wrist. I am not immune to struggle and sadness. I get angry with others and I'm hard on myself. But I am reminded that I'm not alone in my sadness and that my struggles have not gone un-noticed.

And this morning, I was reminded again of God's mercy. In Luke 1:78-79, Zechariah's song, we read

78 "because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven 79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."

While this may be a nice piece of scripture to read, perhaps it lacks a little dramatic flair. Perhaps we're not quite getting and accurate picture of the depth of God's love and mercy on us.

In the ancient greek, the word that replaces tender is SPLAGKNA. Now imagine my husband saying that over and over and be grateful your's doesn't know ancient greek. Or join him and in your most dramatic way, arms raised, voice low, say it... splagkna! It is catching.

But what does it mean? It means GUTS. Intestines, liver, bowels... guts. MMMMMMmmmmm! Yum.

You may think I've lost it by now... bible stories, God talk and on to guts... but there is a reason. And it's good.

Where do you feel emotion? When you feel deep sadness or excitement, where does your body feel it? Physically? In your gut! In your belly. It's the feeling you get before a big trip or after making a bad decision.

So looking back at our Bible passage, when we replace tender with guts, can you start to feel the depth of the emotion? The depth of how God cares for us? That His mercy for us comes from way deep down inside, the core of His being? Mercy is mercy because we don't deserve it and yet we get it.

Breathe deep and sit with this image for a moment. You may not believe in God. You may not have a faith like mine. That's ok. That's who you are. But I would ask you to dwell on the image of gut-mercy for a minute. What does it look like to have mercy on yourself? What does it look like to have mercy on someone else? Or for them to have mercy on you?

For me, I rest assured in God's deep gut-mercy, knowing that as I screw up, as I fail and make a muck out of my journey, that I am not shamed and I'm not alone.

My Christmas wish for you is that you would come to understand gut-mercy. That you would feel the deepness of it, the peace and the joy of it. That you would pass it along to others, showing them love from the gut.

May God's merciful guts rest on you this night. Merry Christmas!