A Community of Love

I can hardly stand to have the TV or radio on these days because of all the hatred and anger that is being broadcast from every direction.  Both sides of the political spectrum are painting pictures of their opposition as evil and using fear to motivate their supporters.  It is exhausting.

While this noise is louder and wider spread than usual, it is certainly nothing new.  The human tendency to demonize our “enemies” or those who disagree with us is something that Jesus spoke against thousands of years ago.  Throughout his ministry, Jesus called his followers to a different way - to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them.  Jesus calls us, his followers, to always see in each and every person a beloved child of God.

This is so hard!  Especially when people do hurtful things or attack the ones we love.  Our human nature is to strike back, to.  But even as we are called to do God’s work in the world, to build up God’s Kingdom, we are called to do so while acting out of love for even those who oppose us.  Even as we are called to align ourselves with the marginalized and defend the powerless, we are called to act out of love for and pray on behalf of even those who persecute us.  This is the hard work of following Jesus.

No, this is not easy.  And this is not what public discourse on any topic looks like in our country right now.  But discipleship is a different way of living… and it is the type of life that I want to be part of.  The different way of living that Jesus teaches is not a life grounded in fear and hatred, but one that is built on hope and the promise of a better tomorrow.  That is the life that we are called to live.  Jesus taught his followers a different way of living - caring for one another, lifting up those who have been pushed down, recognizing every person as a child of God.  And Jesus called his followers to do this work together, to work together to build a different kind of community - a community of love.

I am so very grateful to be part of the Holy Cross family.  We are not perfect people and we are not a perfect church, but we are a group of disciples working together to build this different type of community.  Together we are working to build a community of love where everyone is welcome, where we take care of one another and care for our neighbors.  We work together to build a place where we hear the Good News of God’s unconditional love and are strengthened and encouraged to go out and share that love everywhere we go.

In the midst of all the hatred and anger in our world, I am so grateful to be part of this community of love.  And I am grateful that God is using our little church to help make a difference in the world - to help share God’s love and help to build God’s Kingdom.

Even as we stay informed and do the hard work of living out our discipleship in the world, I also invite you to take time to unplug and tune out from the angry and hate-filled discourse.  When you find yourself angry with the opposition, take some time to pray for their well-being, remembering that they too are beloved children of God.  If you are able, come to church and surround yourself with a community who loves you.  Or tune into facebook live and hear the Good News of God’s unconditional love.  In community and in private prayer, take time to ground yourself in God’s undying love for you and in the promise that God will be with you in whatever the future may hold.  

Thanks be to God!