Eastertide
May 1, 2015

Scripture Reading: 1 John 4:7-21

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. __1 John 4:18-21

Some are just angry, others are very much afraid. It demonstrates itself sometimes in paranoia and sometimes in downright hatred. It is an interesting time to be white in a world that is more and more a continuum of flesh tones reaching from white to deepest ebony. It is an interesting time to be in the role of the “emperor” when we worship a God who champions the oppressed.

The answer is quite simple. We are to love each other, but the doing of that basic task is hard for we must strip away layer by layer the preconceived notions that we have about ourselves and about the other before we can love them and they can learn to love us in return. This means we have to take the time to really get to know ourselves and to know the individual others. For some reason, some of us who call ourselves Christian, have adapted the language of exclusion and exceptionalism. Being chosen by God does not mean we are better than anyone, it means we have been called to be a blessing to everyone. All of God’s children are exceptional and all children, even when they grow to being adults, are God’s.  Unique as the varied snowflakes, we have each been created to serve a distinct and vital part in the kingdom of God.

Those of us who find ourselves living in relative comfort, even prosperity, are faced with the challenge of loving the rest of the world in ways that will enable them to know the abundance of life of which Jesus spoke: John 10:10, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. God calls us to be seekers of justice.

Prayer: Lord, I lift myself to you. Mold me and make me like thee. Erase my fear, enable my courage, and strengthen my ability to love like you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.