Have you ever met someone who is always questioning
someone or something? It could be sunny outside but
that person would say, “But is it really
sunny?”
That might be a bit of an exaggeration but I hope
you get the point I’m trying to make. There always
seems to be a catch or some fine print that takes
what appears great and makes it too good to be true.
Like those Internet specials advertised on TV or
those cell phone plans that are just $49.99 a
month…and in fine print there is a clause about how
you must dye your hair blue for 12 months in order
to receive the discount.
What I am about to say will probably blow your
mind. In fact, you’ll probably think I’m one of
those folks who is simply blowing smoke. You ready?
Okay, here it goes: God is love.
As Episcopalian priest Broderick Greer put it, “God
is not a trickster. When God offers God's self in
the person of Jesus, God is telling us who God is:
mercy, compassion, and faithfulness.”
You don’t have to join a church for God to love
you. You don’t have to be a saint for God to love
you. You don’t even need to have your life figured
out for God to love you.
Here is the best thing about God: there may be
seasons in our lives where we question something
about our faith. There even may be a season or two
when we doubt if God is even real, if prayer
matters, and that church only perpetuates pain
rather than relieves it.
God will never question you. Instead, God looks upon
you with mercy and promises to do something with you
and within you.
Friends, there is no need to limit God to past
mercies. Or, as one pastor has said, “God is an ever
present help, to quote the old hymn. The gospel
needs to be heard every day. The life-giving word of
forgiveness cannot be proclaimed in the past tense.
It was wonderful when it was announced yesterday,
but yesterday's gospel is today's teaching. We need
to hear the gospel afresh, every day.”
