Eastertide

May 24, 2020

Scripture Reading: John 17:1-11

‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. –John 17:6-11

I often find myself pondering: Why has the church, the Body of Christ, failed in becoming one? Where are we failing to Love God and be God’s conduit to share God’s love throughout the world? How have we failed at creating a world ruled by love?

Christ called us to do precisely that. And yes, there are those pesky principalities and powers* as the King James Version of the Bible names them that get in our way. But we do serve an awesome God who sent Jesus to model a way of life that, if lived, will result in the fulfillment of the goal of oneness in the whole world ruled by love. J. B. Phillips published his book, Your God is Too Small in 1953. It is still available today and a good book to read, but I think the titled says it all. We only dance around the edges of being the Body of Christ.

Occasionally when a tornado hits or a 100-year flood occurs or an out of control virus strikes, we see both the positive forces of God’s love and the opposing forces of greed battling for dominance. We desperately need to learn to discipline ourselves to love God and love others all the time as we welcome all to become a part of the Body of Christ as God defines it not as we want it to be.

Prayer: God, who is Love, forgive us for tiptoeing around the edges of being the Body of Christ. Help us join your cause with our whole beings. Amen.

*For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.