Good morning. Is winter finally over? “April is the cruelest month.”
In today’s readings I’m
struck by some things that we tend to gloss over or simply deny. In the reading from I John we read: “Beloved, we are God’s children now;
what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is
revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have
this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. [I John 1:2-3]”
Through the grace of God and
the victory of Jesus YOU ARE GOD’S CHILD.
You are God’s BELOVED child.
Henri Nouwen is one of my
favorite Christian writers. The book
that is a constant part of my mind and my faith is “Life of the Beloved.” Nouwen wrote the book in a failed effort to
logically convince non-Christians that they should embrace the Christian
faith. Since it didn’t meet his own
expectations for the outcome he had pre-defined, he thought that the book was a
failure. As time went on, however, he
began to hear from an increasing number of Christians who wrote to tell him how
the book had informed and expanded their faith.
Today it’s considered a classic of Christian spiritual writing.
Nouwen describes what the
life of a Christian is meant to be, and it’s both challenging and exhaustive. Both Jesus and the Apostle Paul often spoke
about things that we would not yet understand.
We are not only God’s beloved children:
in many ways many of us are still in our infancy as God’s children. Nouwen didn’t use those terms, but he defined
something that we must understand and accept before we can truly grow in
faith: WE ARE GOD’S BELOVED. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
The world goes out of its way
to try and convince us that we are not simply God’s beloved. The world emphasizes that we can be no one’s
beloved. The world tells us that we are nothing until and unless we achieve the
economic and consumerist success that the world defines for us. Even then, we will never achieve enough!
You are God’s beloved. Just as you are, right now. We are all invited into God’s kingdom, to
share God’s bountiful table, and it’s a “come as you are when invited”
party. Jesus did all the “earning” for
us. So stop focusing on yesterday’s
mistakes and the “goals and objectives” that the world sets for you today.
YOU ARE GOD’S BELOVED.
So many people spend their
lives denying that. So many people throw
their lives away denying that God could love even them; even you; even me.
YOU ARE GOD’S BELOVED. Accepting that fact may be the most difficult
thing that we can do as we begin to move from the infancy of our faith to our
adolescence and maturity. Accepting that
fact is where our faith must truly begin.
Everything that God has done, everything that Jesus came to accomplish
is summed up in that four word phrase:
YOU ARE GOD’S BELOVED.
Let us pray: Almighty God we bring You our thanks and
praise for the gifts that You have showered on us. Most of all we thank You for the gift of Your
Son whose life and sacrifice and victory was meant to convince us once and for
all that we are Your beloved children.
Fill us with Your Spirit that we might realize the true breath of Your
love for us, accept it as the greatest gift of grace, and begin life anew as
children wanting only to please You. In
Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Today’s lectionary readings
are Daniel 3:1-18; 1 John 3:1-10; Luke 3:15-22; Psalm 16, 17,
134 & 135.
May the secured blessing of God’s love
fill your life this and every day.
Pastor Jim
Comments
Post a Comment