God Loves Whores

God loves whores. He loves those who unapologetically give away their fidelity and sacredness and righteousness to whoever will have it. He loves those who not only allow others to pay for their purity, but indeed pay others to take it. He loves those who advertise and beg for those of the lowest character to come and take their purity. He loves high priced escorts and street corner addicts who give themselves away for whatever they can convince someone to pay them. God loves whores.

There is a phrase I have never written before, but it is one that has been stuck in my mind today. I was reading through Ezekiel this morning and I have gotten stuck on chapter 16. In a chapter of judgment that echoes the story of Hosea, God spends a very long time explaining all the ways that Jerusalem has whored herself out.

God describes Jerusalem as a new born who was unloved and tossed away to die in a field. But God saw this child and said, “Live!” And God took the baby girl and cleaned it up and loved it and raised it to maturity. Everything this girl needed she got. She got more than she needed, even though she was tossed out like the garbage by her parents. The finest clothes, the best food, great beauty, fame, and renown all came to this child as she grew into a great queen. But how did she use these gifts of the only one who ever loved her? She used them to prostitute herself. She used her wealth to build idols to other gods. She even took her children and sacrificed them to other gods. She forgot all that the one who loved her had done for her and continued to prositute herself in more and more dispicable ways.

And yet, even as he passed judgment on Jerusalem and her horrific whoring God promised to restore her. God promised to remember the covenant promises that he made when he found her as that bloody child tossed out in a field. Jerusalem may have forgotten everything her savior did for her, but God never forgets the promises he makes to us.

This image of God seeking out and forgiving those who have betrayed his love in the most awful ways possible should be a resounding image for us in the church. As we consider who we are called to bring God’s love to, as we consider the message the world we bring to the world, as we picture God’s calling on our lives, we should start with whores because in one way or another we are all whores.

We are all whores because we have all given away the life given to us by God. We have taken the gifts he has given us and used them in self indulgent and self destructive ways. We have begged the world to give us a small pitiful piece of the incredible purpose and love God has given us in abundance. We have paid the world to take our righteousness and purity. We have made infidelity our past time, our job, our hobby, our obsession, and our purpose. We have found every conceivable way to dishonor our covenants with God and to whore ourselves to the world. And yet God loves us and desires to atone for our whoring.

God desires to redeem us and restore us and to use us. This truth trumps any other truth in the world. What truth could possibly motivate us to live more so than this kind of love?

God loves whores. So should we. Let’s go and change the world bringing God’s love to all the whores we can find.