Lent
March 15, 2019
Scripture Reading: Philippians 3:17-4:1
Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
At the time of this writing, I am studying Henri J. M. Nouwen’s book Life of the Beloved. Thus, I found the final phrase of the above scripture particularly interesting. Nouwen posits that God recognized Jesus as God’s beloved at Jesus’ baptism. We, too, are God’s beloved through God’s love for us as demonstrated in the life, death, and resurrections of Jesus, the Christ. As God loves us, we accept all of God’s children as our beloved friends even family.
I take great hope in that statement particularly in a world that seems in many cases out of sync with God’s love. We are each called as individuals and collectively as the Body of Christ to bring our world into sync with God’s love. That all begins with our fullest understanding that we are indeed God’s beloved. I fear many, including me at times, have trouble accepting that reality. I wonder how much of our reticence toward accepting that we are the beloved of God is the result of our enchantment with some of the things of the world that cause our world to be out of sync? Things that are such a normal part of our lives we cannot image they are interfering with our relationship with God or impacting anyone else’s relationships with God.
Sometimes it takes a disaster for us to realize some of our life choices are interfering with the vision God has for us. I am afraid that disasters have become so common place that even those, unless they hit very close to home, no longer raise our awareness to comprehend what is off kilter in our society. Refugee children being separated from their parents and held in cages would not have been accepted as appropriate treatment of any of God’s beloved by the One who said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ (Matthew 19:14)
Prayer: Lord shake us out of our complacency so that we might better target our work toward building a world where all are recognized as your beloved.