ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
September 4, 2022
I was going back and reading some words from Rachel Held Evans’ book, Searching for Sunday. Like many of you, I miss her even though I never met her in person. Yet her writing style made you feel like a friend, and so often I would find myself allowing a few sentences to go around and around inside my head. Her words unveiled hard truths, yet grace was always close at hand. The words I found speaking to me the other day were:
“We all long for someone to tell us who we are. The great struggle of the Christian life is to take God’s name for us, to believe we are beloved and to believe that is enough.”
I am struck by the phrase: “…believe that is enough.” Christians are quick in making theological claims and strong pronouncements about the status of every human being’s belovedness, but do we believe it? Are there times when we claim it for others but not for ourselves? I think therein lies one of the great challenges for those who claim to follow Jesus – to truly believe and embrace the notion, no matter what might occur, that every human being is loved by God. No exceptions!
Allow for the Good News of your limitless and relentless love to spill over me anew, O God. It is not always as easy to believe it as it is to say it, so continue to be patient with me. Amen.
