This is the ministry of Jesus, the one who comes to be with us, who asks us to follow him, to leave behind our small minded ways, to come to the party, the one with tax collectors and sinners, the one with overseers and gays, the one with the outcasts and strays. 

All of us are responsible for our world, for loving, for feeding, for clothing, for healing, for respecting, for showing with our bodies that there is another way, that God is preparing that place for us, and also that that place is within us, as Jesus lives in our hearts, as we move closer to God and to one another, God’s hands and feet in the world today, proclaiming with our mouths, loving with our bodies, remembering that today and every day, we are with God.

This is not the end. Our sorrow and loss is not the end. It’s only a stepping stone on the way. 

Image: “Grief” by Gene Gould

God does not see as mortals see, as we see with our misshapen understandings of what perfection is, God sees the heart.

If I were to say how many moments in my life I’d been “born again,” I’d have to tell you that they were too many to count. And I think this might be true for many of you as well. Those in the Evangelical tradition might say that being born again was a moment, a moment of intense love of God, as well assurance about life. Maybe in our tradition, we call these moments “ah-hah” moments.  Maybe we call them moments of clarity.  But what I’m sure about is that this is a constant part of life, not a one time moment, but something that each of us must participate in every day of our lives, something that we must strive towards, something that we must do every moment of every day.

This year, it’s not enough to give up sugar, even though it might remind you of your frailty. This year, it’s more serious. It’s not the year to give up chocolate—it’s the year to choose a discipline that opens your heart to love your neighbor, and yes, even your enemy. It’s not the year to give up wine—it’s the year to choose to see God in all people. It’s not the year to give up coffee—it’s a year to practice justice with your body and not just your mind, to choose to love instead of hate. 

You are the salt of the earth! 

Not “you might be the salt of the earth.” Not “you are becoming the salt of the earth.” It’s “you are the salt of the earth.” You melt the ice, you make everyone want to eat French fries because without salt they’re not worth eating, you preserve food, you are the salt of the earth.

Your very existence matters and changes things. God doesn’t just want you here, God recognizes that your very being matters.

The Church, the body of Christ in the world, for all the world for all to see, isn’t some sort of impenetrable fortress, strong beyond expectation, able to withstand all the devil’s wiles with perfect wisdom, no. It’s not like that.

It’s stranger. Funnier. Weaker. Filled with quirks and unsightly warts. Uglier.

And it’s beautiful. So beautiful.

God calls those who are ready. And before we all make excuses, before we say “that can’t be us,” I want to remind us that we are ready. The seeds have been sown. The groundwork has been laid. 

We’re ready to hear the call of God, to drop our nets and immediately follow. We’re ready to repent, to have our minds be blown away with the beauty of the kindom of heaven unfolding among us. We’re ready to repent from the hatred and dehumanization of those whom we call our enemies. We’re ready to repent and to move towards the good, to choose love instead of violence, to get wrapped up in justice, kindness, and jubilee instead of death and tyranny. 

Image: "Fishers of men" by Rex DeLoney