No one is beyond the Pale

It is incredible to say that in the eyes of God there is no one beyond his love. I once preached a sermon entitled, "Why does God love me?" I still find myself unlovable when I set the standard of Jesus against me but that is to be unrealistic. In the days of Jesus in Palestine we read that he sat down to eat with those counted the lowest of the low in those days, the tax gatherers. They were hated by everyone and were excluded from the synagogues. There was no home for them in the eyes of the population. The authorities of the day could not understand why Jesus ate with such vermin.

A few years ago, the playwright, Alan Bennett, asked who might the lowest of the low and the despised people be today. Then he suggested the child molesters. This information was passed on to me by the minister of my church. I felt challenged to preach on the subject. I was building up a picture of God loving those we feel unable to love. As you guessed, I used the child molesters as today's hated people and said that God loved them despite the crimes they had committed and also that we found it difficult to love them.

After the service I was challenged by the church caretaker who shouted and raved at me. It turned out that his daughter had been attacked as a child. "Are you saying we have to love these people?" he yelled at me. If he had listened to the sermon he would have realised that I was not saying that, but that God was able to love them. I did not return fire because it would have served no purpose except to make him feel worse as the tears cascaded down his cheeks.

Today we have seen the verdict issued on the former pop star, Gary Glitter, who was found guilty of sexually molesting two Vietnamese girls. He was jailed for three years. Even though he served a short jail sentence in the UK on child sex offences he carried on plying his trade. At one time he was on top of the world as a rock star. He had the sort of talent that drew people of all ages to his concerts. Why did he have to stoop so low as to behave like this? Now he cuts a sad figure, wearing the pyjama-style prison uniform of Vietnam.

It is one of the sadnesses of this age that we have to realise what depravity some people can sink to. The Soham murders were a classic case. Two young girls should still be alive, giving cheek and growing up in a fun society. Ian Huntley was allowed to work in a children's area despite suspicions of him that were on record. Now he resides in jail instead of guarding a school from the likes of him.

In my profession as a small business advisor I had two clients who admitted to having been in prison. Their crimes were very different. One was imprisoned and then released with an electronic tag for selling goods on which excise duty had not been paid. The other had served a life sentence for murder. Believe it or not, the murderer was the nicer guy! But both had served their time with no grumbles and were trying to continue with their new life. They had paid and were entitled to do so. But it is hard to say anything positive about child molesters. And yet God loves them.

This challenges us greatly. On the one hand we wonder at the lengths to which God will go in his love for all people. On the other we learn how we are that easier to love! Thanks be to God that he loves us as if there were only one of us to love. That sort of love is beyond our understanding.