HELLO!
I’m sure you are all aware of the snow that is coming on Sunday. Woodlawn United has a cancellation policy, I have read it many times. Basically, it calls for the Chair of Council, the Chair of Trustees and the Ministerial staff to decide early Sunday morning. If the police tell us to stay off the roads, cancelling is a given. Otherwise, it is a judgment call. Stay tuned…If we cancel an email sent out early in the morning.
Sunday’s reading is Isaiah 6:1-8 “I have unclean lips, I live among a people with unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the Lord! The seraph touched our lips, our guilt departed, our sin is blotted out. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send?” And I said, “Send me!” Forgiven and zealous to serve, Isaiah responds with enthusiasm. There’s a price to pay when we say yes to God. After the yes it gets strange and countercultural. Out of the hidden, and the barely discernible, God’s life springs. The wasteland becomes the garden. The stump becomes a mighty tree. It might not happen soon. Jerry Jackson sent me this response to our theme this Sunday, “It reminds me of an expression I hold close to my heart, Children are like wet cement, whatever falls on them leaves an impression. I want what I say and do to make a positive impression. It is I struggle at times, but a lofty goal.” When we say yes others notice.
This is also Super Bowl Sunday. One constant at these games is a fan who holds up a John 3:16 sign. Many Christians love to recite this verse, “For God so loved the world…” Wouldn’t it be awesome if that’s the message they wanted everyone to hear and to know: that God loves us so much? Sadly, I think it’s the latter half of the verse some wish to emphasize, about Jesus being the only way that leads to salvation. Jesus said, “You shall know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free!” Knowing “Truth” surely can come from a variety of sources, to suggest otherwise can only mean our God created a world where only a small minority are loved eternally, the rest, by whatever arbitrary definition you want to name, are damned. Is THIS the reason for Creation? And why would our Creator judge some inferior by the random circumstances of their birth…It makes no sense to me. I believe Buddha knew this Truth. Mohammed knew this Truth. Gandhi knew this Truth. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” I believe Jesus came as incarnate love, love that sets us free from a life empty of meaning, a life of death. God’s love is a gift, Jesus a gift, the Spirit’s life-giving revelation a gift. Peace, Kevin