Dear People                       Whom God Loves,

February 24, 2008

Dear People Whom God Loves,

BELIEVERS/NON-BELIEVERS VII
CHRISTIAN VISION

Jesus was born into this world of ours where there is so much hatred, injustice, prejudice, and discrimination. (Just a reminder - This tells us that salvation is not to be had by fleeing the world. We are not to flee it but work for peace and justice in it.) Jesus, by his words and deeds, constantly opposed oppression, inequality, and all that his society and religion did to put people on the margins.

The way he lived led to his being nailed to the cross. If the story ended there, we would have no grounds for Christian hope. The story does not end there. His Father raised him from the dead to a new and glorious life.

This says to us that God is in the whole messy process. That God will not rest until everything is brought to a completion which is good. What this will be and how and when it will be, we do not know. This reminds us that our work for peace and justice is not in vain even though we seem to fail and see no fruit. Jesus seemed to be a failure, but he was not.

On a more individual note, this reminds us that no matter how we have been abused or hurt, no matter how we have been rejected or marginalized, that God is on our side. (This can be difficult to see in the midst of our pain.)

We must never believe - because of our miserable status - that God is not on our side, that we are not loved. We must not believe that we are miserable human beings and are less than those whose condition in the world seems so much better than ours. The healing, merciful love that we name God holds us close to her heart. God loves us just as we are. We are called not to give up.

We have seen that we are all victims of being born into the mess and everyone on the face of the earth is a victim in some way and loved by God. But what about the fact that we are all perpetrators? We have all sinned. We all have done bad for which we are responsible.

More next time.

Smile, God Loves You,

Father Clay

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