Pentecost 19 If You had faith
Faith is substance and evidence.
Most people consider faith to be a belief in something for which there is no evidence and can never be proved or disproved. Most people consider faith to be a measurable commodity.
So it is that the disciples, Jesus’ students, thought that they only had a small portion of faith. They asked Jesus to increase that portion and make it larger.
On the surface it seems like a good request. On the surface the statement Jesus makes in response seems odd. Jesus heard the flaw in the request.
The disciples were looking for a teaching, a discipline, a method, a seminar or a program to increase something they thought they already had. They were looking for one of those self help books that might be titled “Seven Ways in Seven Days to increase your faith.” They wanted Jesus to assume the role of an inspirational speaker who would complement them for their spiritual accomplishments and give them certain tasks to perform in order to increase their faith.
Jesus’ response: “if you had faith” tells the disciples that they actually don’t have faith, yet.
Faith is substance and evidence. The substance is the personal relationship of love with the co-eternal Son of God. The evidence is in the transformation of their character in the holiness of the co-eternal Son of God.
Even the smallest kernel of faith establishes reunification with the infinite and eternal love of God. And so, even the smallest seed of faith is more than ample to accomplish amazing things for those who enter into a new life and a new way of living.
Many people heard Jesus’ words as an invitation to create their own reality. Nothing could be further from the truth. The substance of faith is the relationship that we have with the one who is the way, the truth and the life.
By faith we learn to pray: Heavenly Father not my will but your will be done. In union with the Father, through the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit we learn to surrender self will to divine will. In that surrender we become co-creators with God in the great plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.
Faith removes obstacles because faith is the union of human will with divine will that allows each of us to become agents of grace in this world.
The evidence of faith is in the transformation of our minds and hearts. The evidence of faith is in the priorities we set for our lives and in the work. The evidence of faith is the attitude we bring to life and to God.
The disciples wanted more faith so they could accomplish their goals. Their religion taught them that right action and right belief produced righteousness and resulted in rewards. Jesus came to remind people that righteousness is right relationship. The relationship is the reward.
The change in attitude for those who have faith is the attitude Jesus himself revealed in the way he lived his life. He surrendered his divine prerogatives and came to earth as a servant.
Faith in God produces a change in attitude. The change is from the desire to command and control to the passion for love and compassion. The change is from the question: what’s in it for me to the question: how may I help. The change is in the transformation of the soul’s demand: my will be done into the soul’s desire: Heavenly Father, Thy will be done.
The disciples wanted a list of things they could do to increase their faith so they could accomplish their goals according to their will. They lacked faith because they lacked love. The lacked love because they thought of God as the one who rewards and punishes.
God is the creator, redeemer, sanctifier and divine lover of souls.
God does not ask us to submit to his all powerful will to avoid punishment and earn a reward. God sent his only begotten Son into the world to invite us into a passionate transforming friendship.
Faith is substance. The substance is the love Jesus gives to us. The substance is the friendship Jesus offer us. The evidence of faith is in the change that friendship produces in our attitude and actions.
The change in attitude is the change from someone who wants to be in control to achieve the goals of self will to some one who embraces the role of a servant of God in order to accomplish God’s will.
The change in action is the change from self indulgence to holiness. It is the shift in priorities and release of attachment to things in order to direct our time and attention to love. Love of God through worship. Love of others through service. Love of the true essence of ourselves by our daily offering of ourselves to be the friends of God.
Faith is a gift God offers to all people everywhere through the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit invites all people everywhere to embrace faith by embracing unconditional, steadfast holy love. This love is most fully and perfectly revealed and embodied in Jesus Christ.
If you had faith you would experience the substance of faith and produce the evidence of faith. The substance of faith is Jesus Christ who makes himself available to us in the reading of his word and in the blessed sacrament of the altar. The evidence of faith is the new life and the new way of living that is formed by the prayer Jesus most frequently prayed: Heavenly Father, not my will but Thy will be done.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Pentecost 17
Pentecost 17 Whoever is faithful in little will be faithful in much.
Does God really help those who help themselves?
This could be the lesson of the story Jesus told about the embezzling estate manager. He had cheated his employer to maintain his own inflated standard of living. When his employer caught him and asked for an audit of the books, he compounded his crime by even grater levels of deceit to protect his own self interest.
The shocking conclusion to the story comes in the employer’s response to the embezzler. The employer finds out everything that he has done and commends him for his shrewdness. The story ends there because the point of the story is in Jesus’ statement that the unrighteous are more dedicated in pursing their own self interest than the righteous are in pursing God’s interests.
Of course, there is the rest of the story. The employer commends the embezzler for his shrewdness but he still fires him. He still has legal recourse in the courts. Jesus does not tell the story to endorse clever thieves who ignore their legal and moral obligations. Jesus tells the story to express a sharp contrast .
The sharp contrast is in fidelity.
The embezzler is totally dedicated to his own self interest. And, he uses all of his talents and knowledge to pursue those interests. Jesus never commends the man for his crimes. He commends him as an example of someone who single mindedly pursues his goals.
Jesus uses this most extreme example to contrast the half hearted, casual and even unfocused way in which God’s people seek to accomplish God’s plan and God’s purpose.
The contrast is that the thief is dedicated in his life of crime but the people of God are not dedicated in the life of grace.
The thief served one master- his own greed. The people of God attempt to serve two masters: God and greed.
The prophet Elijah once challenged the people of Israel: choose whom you will serve. If the Lord is God then follow him. If the Lord is God then give up the idols of false deities and serve only the living God. The people of Israel wanted it both ways. They were hedging their bets. They would worship God from time to time to see what he had to offer. They would also worship the pagan deities to see what they had to offer.
In the book of Revelation Jesus instructs the beloved apostle John to write to the church- be either hot or cold, but not lukewarm. Make a choice. Live by that choice. Be faithful in that choice.
The unrighteous servant had made his choice. Jesus did not commend him for his crime but for his dedication. By contrast, the disciples, those who claimed to follow Jesus, were still hedging their bets. Jesus challenged them with this story to clarify what they valued most.
Jesus did not come into the world to offer an opinion about God. Jesus did not come into the world to settle disputes as to which religion is the one true religion that God endorses. Jesus spoke of God as the bridegroom who is seeking his bride.
Jesus is seeking to pour himself out to people. His is seeking people who recognize their brokenness and yearn for healing. He is seeking people who recognize they are lost and need to be found. He is seeking people who understand they are empty and long to be filled.
Jesus does not give us the option of leaving him in a religious institution, a set of rituals, customs and laws. Jesus is a new way of living grounded in the eternal truth of eternal love. That love touches every aspect of our lives. That love transforms every choice we make.
That love requires a choice. If we choose to make God second in our lives we choose to make God last. We can easily assign a lower priority to religion and religious practices. Jesus is not just about religion. Jesus is the way our Heavenly Father finds us, heals us, fills us with the truth of eternal love. That truth sets us free from fear, self will and pride. That truth forms the basis for a new life and a new way of living.
The reality of that new life and that new way of living is in the small almost insignificant choices we make every day of our lives.
The new life begins with a choice to receive the gift of God in Jesus Christ by grace through faith in the sacramental waters of baptism. The new life is nourished by the study of God’s written word in the Bible and by the total immersion of the soul in the sacrament of Holy Communion.
The new life is formed by the prayer of Divine Presence. It is the prayer Jesus most frequently prayed: Heavenly Father, not my will but you will be done.
The new life is guided by a series of questions. How do we do this? What does the new life look like as I set my priorities? How does the new way of living feel as I make the innumerable choices in my day?
Jesus sets the framework for the answers to these questions when he says: love God with all of your heart, soul and mind; love your neighbor as you love yourself. God first. God preeminent. God the highest priority. Service to others second. Self responsible growth in grace next.
What are the obstacles?
Jesus identifies a very common obstacle to the new life and the new way of living God offers us in Jesus Christ. That very common obstacle is the love of money.
Note: the obstacle is not the money itself. It is the love of money. The proper subject of love is God, other people, our own souls. The distortion of sin leads us to view God as an object of religious observance and money as the subject of love.
Despite the poverty of our English language to make a proper distinction in the word “love”, Jesus is very clear that human beings lost in separation from God have chosen to distort love. Human beings use God through religion. Human beings use other people through politics and economics. Human beings love the things of this world.
God never designed the things of this world for love. He designed things to be used for our benefit and even for our pleasure. He never designed things to be loved. He designed people to give love and to receive love.
The choice to use God and love things enmeshes the soul in an impossible vicious circle of desire, distortion and slavery. As we use God, and other people, in order to satisfy our love for things we lose our sense of who we are and why God created us.
The problem is expressed in the rich fool who is possessed by his possessions. He no longer derives legitimate pleasure from his possessions but he cannot let them go. Love of things, love of money, leads to the dissolution of the soul. It leads to slavery even as the soul deceives itself into believing it can use things to bring security, meaning and purpose.
Jesus very sharply draws the contrast that brings clarity and choice. As you are faithful to God in the small choices of your life you evidence the primary choice, the fundamental choice, to love God and to use things in accord with God’s principles and God’s purpose.
Jesus makes it very cleat that we can’t have it both ways. We cannot serve God and money. We cannot love God and love wealth. That position is inherently unstable and corrupting.
God created all people by love, through love and for love. We are more of who God created us to be as we immerse our minds and hearts and wills in that love.
As we hear the words of Jesus Christ today the Holy Spirit is asking us these question: whom do you serve? Where do you place your love? How is you mind, your heart and your will divided and in conflict?
Jesus commended the embezzler not for his crime but for his shrewdness in analyzing the situation and making a clear choice to solve the problem. It was indeed the wrong solution but it was a very shrewd decision.
How much more, then, does God expect us to exercise wisdom in how we choose to live our lives? How much more then does our Heavenly Father invite us to choose the love of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as the priority and principle that underlies all of our choices?
Jesus warns us we can’t have it both ways. We can’t serve God and money. We can’t use God and love things. They are mutually exclusive categories. The test of who we serve and who we love is in the little choices we make in our daily lives.
There is an urgency in Jesus’ statement. It is the urgency of the one who loves us and wants to fill us with his love. It is the urgency of the universal savior who longs to set us free from the slavery of things into the freedom of Divine grace. It is the urgency of the Bridegroom who is preparing the wedding feast for all but who will never require any of us to attend.
The truth of Jesus Christ is the truth of eternal love. The reality of that love for human beings is choice. Who ever is faithful in little will be faithful in much. Choose shrewdly. Choose wisely. Choose Jesus.
Does God really help those who help themselves?
This could be the lesson of the story Jesus told about the embezzling estate manager. He had cheated his employer to maintain his own inflated standard of living. When his employer caught him and asked for an audit of the books, he compounded his crime by even grater levels of deceit to protect his own self interest.
The shocking conclusion to the story comes in the employer’s response to the embezzler. The employer finds out everything that he has done and commends him for his shrewdness. The story ends there because the point of the story is in Jesus’ statement that the unrighteous are more dedicated in pursing their own self interest than the righteous are in pursing God’s interests.
Of course, there is the rest of the story. The employer commends the embezzler for his shrewdness but he still fires him. He still has legal recourse in the courts. Jesus does not tell the story to endorse clever thieves who ignore their legal and moral obligations. Jesus tells the story to express a sharp contrast .
The sharp contrast is in fidelity.
The embezzler is totally dedicated to his own self interest. And, he uses all of his talents and knowledge to pursue those interests. Jesus never commends the man for his crimes. He commends him as an example of someone who single mindedly pursues his goals.
Jesus uses this most extreme example to contrast the half hearted, casual and even unfocused way in which God’s people seek to accomplish God’s plan and God’s purpose.
The contrast is that the thief is dedicated in his life of crime but the people of God are not dedicated in the life of grace.
The thief served one master- his own greed. The people of God attempt to serve two masters: God and greed.
The prophet Elijah once challenged the people of Israel: choose whom you will serve. If the Lord is God then follow him. If the Lord is God then give up the idols of false deities and serve only the living God. The people of Israel wanted it both ways. They were hedging their bets. They would worship God from time to time to see what he had to offer. They would also worship the pagan deities to see what they had to offer.
In the book of Revelation Jesus instructs the beloved apostle John to write to the church- be either hot or cold, but not lukewarm. Make a choice. Live by that choice. Be faithful in that choice.
The unrighteous servant had made his choice. Jesus did not commend him for his crime but for his dedication. By contrast, the disciples, those who claimed to follow Jesus, were still hedging their bets. Jesus challenged them with this story to clarify what they valued most.
Jesus did not come into the world to offer an opinion about God. Jesus did not come into the world to settle disputes as to which religion is the one true religion that God endorses. Jesus spoke of God as the bridegroom who is seeking his bride.
Jesus is seeking to pour himself out to people. His is seeking people who recognize their brokenness and yearn for healing. He is seeking people who recognize they are lost and need to be found. He is seeking people who understand they are empty and long to be filled.
Jesus does not give us the option of leaving him in a religious institution, a set of rituals, customs and laws. Jesus is a new way of living grounded in the eternal truth of eternal love. That love touches every aspect of our lives. That love transforms every choice we make.
That love requires a choice. If we choose to make God second in our lives we choose to make God last. We can easily assign a lower priority to religion and religious practices. Jesus is not just about religion. Jesus is the way our Heavenly Father finds us, heals us, fills us with the truth of eternal love. That truth sets us free from fear, self will and pride. That truth forms the basis for a new life and a new way of living.
The reality of that new life and that new way of living is in the small almost insignificant choices we make every day of our lives.
The new life begins with a choice to receive the gift of God in Jesus Christ by grace through faith in the sacramental waters of baptism. The new life is nourished by the study of God’s written word in the Bible and by the total immersion of the soul in the sacrament of Holy Communion.
The new life is formed by the prayer of Divine Presence. It is the prayer Jesus most frequently prayed: Heavenly Father, not my will but you will be done.
The new life is guided by a series of questions. How do we do this? What does the new life look like as I set my priorities? How does the new way of living feel as I make the innumerable choices in my day?
Jesus sets the framework for the answers to these questions when he says: love God with all of your heart, soul and mind; love your neighbor as you love yourself. God first. God preeminent. God the highest priority. Service to others second. Self responsible growth in grace next.
What are the obstacles?
Jesus identifies a very common obstacle to the new life and the new way of living God offers us in Jesus Christ. That very common obstacle is the love of money.
Note: the obstacle is not the money itself. It is the love of money. The proper subject of love is God, other people, our own souls. The distortion of sin leads us to view God as an object of religious observance and money as the subject of love.
Despite the poverty of our English language to make a proper distinction in the word “love”, Jesus is very clear that human beings lost in separation from God have chosen to distort love. Human beings use God through religion. Human beings use other people through politics and economics. Human beings love the things of this world.
God never designed the things of this world for love. He designed things to be used for our benefit and even for our pleasure. He never designed things to be loved. He designed people to give love and to receive love.
The choice to use God and love things enmeshes the soul in an impossible vicious circle of desire, distortion and slavery. As we use God, and other people, in order to satisfy our love for things we lose our sense of who we are and why God created us.
The problem is expressed in the rich fool who is possessed by his possessions. He no longer derives legitimate pleasure from his possessions but he cannot let them go. Love of things, love of money, leads to the dissolution of the soul. It leads to slavery even as the soul deceives itself into believing it can use things to bring security, meaning and purpose.
Jesus very sharply draws the contrast that brings clarity and choice. As you are faithful to God in the small choices of your life you evidence the primary choice, the fundamental choice, to love God and to use things in accord with God’s principles and God’s purpose.
Jesus makes it very cleat that we can’t have it both ways. We cannot serve God and money. We cannot love God and love wealth. That position is inherently unstable and corrupting.
God created all people by love, through love and for love. We are more of who God created us to be as we immerse our minds and hearts and wills in that love.
As we hear the words of Jesus Christ today the Holy Spirit is asking us these question: whom do you serve? Where do you place your love? How is you mind, your heart and your will divided and in conflict?
Jesus commended the embezzler not for his crime but for his shrewdness in analyzing the situation and making a clear choice to solve the problem. It was indeed the wrong solution but it was a very shrewd decision.
How much more, then, does God expect us to exercise wisdom in how we choose to live our lives? How much more then does our Heavenly Father invite us to choose the love of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as the priority and principle that underlies all of our choices?
Jesus warns us we can’t have it both ways. We can’t serve God and money. We can’t use God and love things. They are mutually exclusive categories. The test of who we serve and who we love is in the little choices we make in our daily lives.
There is an urgency in Jesus’ statement. It is the urgency of the one who loves us and wants to fill us with his love. It is the urgency of the universal savior who longs to set us free from the slavery of things into the freedom of Divine grace. It is the urgency of the Bridegroom who is preparing the wedding feast for all but who will never require any of us to attend.
The truth of Jesus Christ is the truth of eternal love. The reality of that love for human beings is choice. Who ever is faithful in little will be faithful in much. Choose shrewdly. Choose wisely. Choose Jesus.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Pentecost 16
Pentecost 16 Holy Cross Sunday (Luke 15:1-10
I have found what was lost.
Jesus came to seek, to find, and to restore the lost.
The Biblical writers observe that the fundamental problem that defines the human race is separation from God. In our choice to separate from God we are now lost. Not only are we lost but we can’t find our way back. Even worse, we stubbornly refuse to be found.
The parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin illustrate this for us. Only the shepherd can find the lost sheep. The sheep has wandered off and cannot find its way home. Only the woman can find the lost coin for the coin is lost in her house and only she knows the house well enough to explore the hidden cracks and recesses where the coin lies.
Our Heavenly Father sent his co-eternal Beloved son into the world to seek the lost who refuse to be found. Human beings willfully and stubbornly hide from God yet yearn for a greater meaning and purpose in life that God alone can fufill.
Some people hide from God in religion. Jesus did not come to address the issue of which religion and which sect within that religion is the way to God. God so loved the world that he did not send a prophet to create a religion. God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son to be the Way by which the lost can be found.
Some people hide from God in philosophy or science. Some people hide from God in their pursuit of pleasure, possessions, prestige or power. Some people hide from God by defining God out of existence. Some people hide from God by saying all paths to God and all names of God are equally valid and equally efficacious. We create consumer driven cafeteria style religion.
God did not send his only begotten Son into the world to found a philosophical school, to debate scientific theories, or to affirm some human right to define life, the universe, other people and God himself according to our individual whims and desires.
God sent Jesus Christ into the world to seek the lost, to find the lost, and to restore the lost to what the lost chose to abandon and refuse to accept. In Jesus Christ God permanently and irrevocably unites his divinity with our humanity.
In Jesus Christ God finds us so we can find ourselves. As we find ourselves in Christ we discover the Great Mystery of divine love and compassion. We begin to live life in a new way, the way God intended for us when he created us.
The sign and symbol of this new life and this new way of living is the cross. The cross is a symbol of death, rebirth and transformation. Christ took the preeminent symbol of death, embraced it, experienced it fully, conquered it, then transformed it. He has done the same for each of us.
Our Heavenly Father has already found us and forgiven us in Jesus Christ. No religion, philosophy, science or mysticism can accomplish this. God has already done all of the work. God is not an idea to debate. He is not a power to manipulate. He does not play favorites with the various nations, tribes, families and individuals in the world. Jesus is the gift of Divine Love to all people.
Divine love is eternal. Divine love is the very nature of God. Divine love is not just an attribute of God. There is no way we can earn God’s love. There is no way we can lose God’s love. God is love. Jesus Christ is the co-eternal Beloved Son of God seeking the lost, finding the lost who stubbornly refuse to be found , restoring the lost to the original blessing we chose to reject, transforming the lost in the Joy of the finding.
The lost sheep simply accepted the shepherd who found it and rejoiced over it. The lost coin simply accepted the woman who found it and rejoiced over it. Only human beings stubbornly refuse to be found by the one God the Father has sent into the world to seek and to find.
During this church age it is our responsibility as servants of Christ to remind all people everywhere that God pours himself out to them in Jesus Christ. The ongoing work of the church is to cooperate with the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks to every one in the world and he speaks the one word who is the co-eternal word of God: Jesus.
The church is not called to convert. Conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit. The church is called to share the Good News that God is real, God is personal, God is love, God is Jesus Christ. The church is called to evangelize the world one person at a time by offering all people everywhere the gift of God in Jesus Christ.
Do you seek God? Then rejoice, for God has already found you in Jesus Christ. His arms are wide open to welcome you into the new life of eternal love and into the new way of living that is holy and wholesome and transforming.
Do you reject the very concept of God? Then rejoice. Jesus has already found you. You have already rejected so much of what so many people use to hide from the living God. You have rejected the false images and self serving religions that people use to assert their will to power. Relax into the awareness of what you can observe. Jesus is there. He is there in every sunrise, forest, star, subatomic particle. He is the pattern by which, through which, and for which the world of matter, energy, time and space were created.
Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and savior? Then rejoice. For you have not chosen him; he has chosen you. You are the beloved of the co-eternal Beloved. You are now on a path of discovery, adventure, and infinite possibilities as you relax into the Divine Love of Jesus Christ, as you surrender to the transforming Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit.
The great joy of the Holy Trinity is in the words of Jesus Christ as he looks at his church and says: I have found what was lost.
I have found what was lost.
Jesus came to seek, to find, and to restore the lost.
The Biblical writers observe that the fundamental problem that defines the human race is separation from God. In our choice to separate from God we are now lost. Not only are we lost but we can’t find our way back. Even worse, we stubbornly refuse to be found.
The parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin illustrate this for us. Only the shepherd can find the lost sheep. The sheep has wandered off and cannot find its way home. Only the woman can find the lost coin for the coin is lost in her house and only she knows the house well enough to explore the hidden cracks and recesses where the coin lies.
Our Heavenly Father sent his co-eternal Beloved son into the world to seek the lost who refuse to be found. Human beings willfully and stubbornly hide from God yet yearn for a greater meaning and purpose in life that God alone can fufill.
Some people hide from God in religion. Jesus did not come to address the issue of which religion and which sect within that religion is the way to God. God so loved the world that he did not send a prophet to create a religion. God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son to be the Way by which the lost can be found.
Some people hide from God in philosophy or science. Some people hide from God in their pursuit of pleasure, possessions, prestige or power. Some people hide from God by defining God out of existence. Some people hide from God by saying all paths to God and all names of God are equally valid and equally efficacious. We create consumer driven cafeteria style religion.
God did not send his only begotten Son into the world to found a philosophical school, to debate scientific theories, or to affirm some human right to define life, the universe, other people and God himself according to our individual whims and desires.
God sent Jesus Christ into the world to seek the lost, to find the lost, and to restore the lost to what the lost chose to abandon and refuse to accept. In Jesus Christ God permanently and irrevocably unites his divinity with our humanity.
In Jesus Christ God finds us so we can find ourselves. As we find ourselves in Christ we discover the Great Mystery of divine love and compassion. We begin to live life in a new way, the way God intended for us when he created us.
The sign and symbol of this new life and this new way of living is the cross. The cross is a symbol of death, rebirth and transformation. Christ took the preeminent symbol of death, embraced it, experienced it fully, conquered it, then transformed it. He has done the same for each of us.
Our Heavenly Father has already found us and forgiven us in Jesus Christ. No religion, philosophy, science or mysticism can accomplish this. God has already done all of the work. God is not an idea to debate. He is not a power to manipulate. He does not play favorites with the various nations, tribes, families and individuals in the world. Jesus is the gift of Divine Love to all people.
Divine love is eternal. Divine love is the very nature of God. Divine love is not just an attribute of God. There is no way we can earn God’s love. There is no way we can lose God’s love. God is love. Jesus Christ is the co-eternal Beloved Son of God seeking the lost, finding the lost who stubbornly refuse to be found , restoring the lost to the original blessing we chose to reject, transforming the lost in the Joy of the finding.
The lost sheep simply accepted the shepherd who found it and rejoiced over it. The lost coin simply accepted the woman who found it and rejoiced over it. Only human beings stubbornly refuse to be found by the one God the Father has sent into the world to seek and to find.
During this church age it is our responsibility as servants of Christ to remind all people everywhere that God pours himself out to them in Jesus Christ. The ongoing work of the church is to cooperate with the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks to every one in the world and he speaks the one word who is the co-eternal word of God: Jesus.
The church is not called to convert. Conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit. The church is called to share the Good News that God is real, God is personal, God is love, God is Jesus Christ. The church is called to evangelize the world one person at a time by offering all people everywhere the gift of God in Jesus Christ.
Do you seek God? Then rejoice, for God has already found you in Jesus Christ. His arms are wide open to welcome you into the new life of eternal love and into the new way of living that is holy and wholesome and transforming.
Do you reject the very concept of God? Then rejoice. Jesus has already found you. You have already rejected so much of what so many people use to hide from the living God. You have rejected the false images and self serving religions that people use to assert their will to power. Relax into the awareness of what you can observe. Jesus is there. He is there in every sunrise, forest, star, subatomic particle. He is the pattern by which, through which, and for which the world of matter, energy, time and space were created.
Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and savior? Then rejoice. For you have not chosen him; he has chosen you. You are the beloved of the co-eternal Beloved. You are now on a path of discovery, adventure, and infinite possibilities as you relax into the Divine Love of Jesus Christ, as you surrender to the transforming Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit.
The great joy of the Holy Trinity is in the words of Jesus Christ as he looks at his church and says: I have found what was lost.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)