Today I want to talk about the nature of God. So first a disclaimer, I have not studied this, I have not taken classes on this, this is what I’ve pieced together and have learned over the years as I’ve grown as a person and as a Christian. It is what I have learned from many sermons from many great pastors, especially Pastor Ellen. And mostly from what I have grown to feel deeply within myself as to who God really is. While I certainly enjoy hearing and learning about the historical and academic details behind Bible passages, sometimes it helps to go with what speaks to my heart and soul instead of just what speaks to my brain.
If you would have asked me years ago the question “Who is God?” I would have probably answered that He is the creator of all, and if asked to describe Him I would have said an old white guy with white hair and a beard. You know, like God is often depicted in movies and art, at least in our American society. I would have also said that the Old Testament God was an angry, revengeful God who stuck to rules and punished people who were bad and that He had a change of heart with the New Testament and Jesus and turned into a God that was forgiving and loving.
I’m so glad that with what I’ve learned over the years, and continue to still learn, that my image and thoughts about God have grown, expanded, and changed. Thinking back now to my first thoughts, I can easily see how narrow and short sighted, and in some cases nonsensical this image of God was. With descriptions like that, God is clearly being placed inside a very small box designed to use God for certain purposes.
So - how would I describe God now? To put it very simply, I personally believe that God is Love. Not that God loves or that God is expressed and seen through Love, but God themselves is Love. The very nature of Love is what God is. When I think about what it means to feel close to God or to be part of God’s kin-dom, it is to feel wholeness and completeness - the feeling that I would describe as Love. Similarly, if I was ever asked to describe what Hell is - it wouldn’t be a place or an idea, it is what is missing, and what is missing is God slash Love. The absence of God is hell. So when we take actions that prevent people from feeling love and wholeness, we are taking God away from them; likewise when we act in ways that bring Love and wholeness to people, that is sharing God with them. That is what we are called to do - bring this wholeness to all of God’s people and all of God’s creation.
When looking at today’s Old Testament reading, I think the introduction provided gives a good summary of what the passage from Jeramiah tells us:
God calls Jeremiah to be a prophet and consecrates him in the womb. Jeremiah’s task is to preach God’s word amid the difficult political realities of his time, before the Babylonian exile. He is to make God known not only to Judah, but also to the nations.
First, it gives a good reminder that God calls us from when we are in the womb. We don’t need to wait until we are educated or have just the right job or situation, God knows us in the womb and that we have been created to do good and share God’s Love, in our own unique ways, with others.
When thinking about this I was reminded of the song “Mother’s Womb” from the album A Heartland Liturgy by Jonathan Rundman. This is based on Psalm 139, and the start of the chorus of this song goes “Lord you knew me in my mother’s womb, I am fearfully and wonderfully made”. I encourage you to find Joanthan’s music on his Bandcamp website and listen to the full song (https://jonathanrundman.bandcamp.com/track/mothers-womb) it is a good reminder that we are made by God, that we are wonderful, and God knows all about us before we are born.
This starts to break down one of my old thoughts of an Old Testament God of being revengeful and angry - how can God be angry and want to take revenge on someone they made in their own image?
The last part of the introduction to the reading from Jerimiah starts to break down the rest of what I originally thought of an Old Testament God of being all about rule following and being only for the chosen people. From the introduction, “He is to make God known not only to Judah, but also to the nations.” Jeremiah wasn’t just called to share God’s message with his own people, but with “the others”. While often we think of the New Testament God as being where God’s love started being shared with people outside the “chosen ones”, it is right here in the Old Testament that God’s love is for all people.
Coming to realize this helps me make more sense of God - because when I would think back on having an “Old Testament God” and a “New Testament God” as if God suddenly had a change of heart on how to govern the universe, it wouldn’t really make sense. If God is all knowing and is beyond the concept of time - how and why would God suddenly change part way through history. It makes much more sense when we realize that God has never changed, God has always been for all people for all time.
This takes us to today’s Gospel from Luke. Jesus is sharing the Good News with his hometown that through Jesus, the word of God about the oppressed being freed, is coming true. Again, if we turn to the introduction to the Gospel in our bulletins, we get a nice summary:
People in Jesus’ hometown are initially pleased when he says that God will free the oppressed. Their pleasure turns to rage when he reminds them that God’s prophetic mission typically pushes beyond human boundaries so that mercy and healing are extended to those regarded as outsiders.
Yes, things were the same back in Jesus’s day as they tend to be now. People want things for themselves and get upset when they find they have to share with or give to others.
Oh - it’s good that you are getting funding for road projects - but make sure our local roads get fixed before other people get their roads fixed. Yes, there are hungry people around the world, but why should we feed hungry people in other countries before we feed the hungry in our own country? Why should we take refugees into our country when we have people here we need to help first? I think making a donation from the church budget to help a mission elsewhere is great, but shouldn’t we make sure we pay our own bills for our own congregation first?
Yes - it happens time and time again, and I’m sure I’ve said it or have certainly thought of it many times. The simple thought of “Why should we help or provide for others when we should help our own people first.” We have been taught to always think about our own group - whether that be based on membership (church, club, etc.), geographical region (city, state, country), demographic make up (gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, etc.) - our own group first before we help the “other” - as if just because we are part of a group we are more deserving than someone on the outside - yes an outside that simply exists because of artificial boundaries that are completely self created.
When the crowd around Jesus hears the good news of the oppressed being set free, they basically respond with “Yipeee! This is great news! Now remember where you are from - your hometown - we deserve all this, while the others don’t. This is something for us and not them.” Jesus then basically responds with “not so fast - this is good news for all people - even those you consider others” He reminds them that even in the old testament the prophets often shared the good news and deeds not with the “hometown crowd” but with the “others” and that Jesus plans on doing the exact same.
Then, as is typical now, as soon as someone dares challenge the artificial boundaries of the in vs. the out, they turn on Jesus, run him out of town and try to kill him. They suddenly shift from excitement over great news, when they thought it was all for themselves, to anger, when they realize that they have to share the good news with others. How often do we do this ourselves - where we are only excited over good news when it applies to us personally or our “in-crowd” and it turns to disappointment or even anger when we find out it applies to others.
This is who God is, has been, and always will be - one who wants the good news for all people, where there are no artificial human-created boundaries. Because when we remove all the boundaries, we get wholeness and completeness - what I describe as the feeling of Love - which is what I say God is. God removes the boundaries because God themselves is boundless. We, as people, have always just never gotten it, through the Old Testaments and the prophets, and when we still didn’t get it, God sent Jesus to live by example of what it means, and yet we still didn’t get it. So, thankful that also through Jesus we were reminded and shown that God is a forgiving God, so as we continue to try over and over again to remove the boundaries, God forgives us when we continue to create these boundaries and try to reserve the Good News for “us” and not “them.”
With my personal belief that God is love, I have to touch briefly on our 1 Corinthians reading - the very famous “Love passage.” One thing I learned about this passage for today, is that this passage wasn’t written about individual love between a committed couple - even though that is how this passage is most often used during weddings. As Pastor Ellen shared in her notes for the weekly Tuesday Bible study.
Paul’s emphasis on unity within the body of Christ has its apex in this much quoted praise of the loving spirit that ought to characterize the Christian community. Despite its popularity as a reading at weddings, Paul is describing not a bonded couple, but the whole community in Christ.
And continuing
Leading up to this chapter, Paul has pointed out that the members of the church in Corinth are not acting very charitably toward one another, and are in fact continuing to live according to the social class system of their secular surroundings. Rather than approaching the Lord’s Supper in a spirit of unity and love, they have fallen into factions of “haves” and “have-nots.” (1 Cor 11:20-22) Rather than using their spiritual gifts for the growth and benefit of all, they appear to have created a hierarchy of “bragging rights” according to who can exercise which gift. (1 Cor 12) Paul’s purpose in Chapter 13 is to remind them that they are no longer to act as individuals, thinking of themselves first, but to recognize that they are now part of the body of Christ. In the unity of that body, all are to be treated with equal respect and the gifts of all are to be received in love and gratitude.
So, yet again, here is an example where we are reminded that God’s love is to serve the purpose of bringing unity and wholeness and to break down any artificially created boundaries dividing us. Sometime, if you want - go back and read this passage but substitute “God” for “Love” and see how it reads. I think it fits very well with my belief that God is Love.
As I close out this message about my thoughts on the image of God, I want to remind you that we cannot know for certain exactly what the image of God is, but we certainly get a glimpse of it each time we look at ourselves. So often we try to make God in our image (remember the old white guy that I often thought of - that image was created by white men - so God looked like a white man), but as the theme of this year’s RIC Sunday reminds us - we are “Made in God's Image: God's Boundless Diversity”. So if you are female, because you are made in God’s image - God is female. If you are transgender - God is transgender. If you are asexual - God is asexual. If you use other senses more than your vision because you are blind, God uses those other senses more. If you are black, God is black. God is all things and beyond all things - there is no way to describe God because of the enormity of who God is. Whoever you are, God is, because you are made in God’s image. And because God is love, and you are made in God’s image - you are Love and are Loved. Amen.
It will not be possible to make me shut up! These are the prophet Isaiah’s words as he boldly acts as intercessor for Jerusalem. Following the exile, when the Jewish people returned to their land, it was decimated, and it seemed to them like a desert. The restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem met countless obstacles and delays. The Jewish people had been full of hope but, upon return to their homeland, they were battling deteriorating morale caused by broken dreams and crumbling faith. They felt God had turned away in indifference.
So, Isaiah laments and boldly protests, interceding on the people’s behalf, and he holds God accountable. The notion of “holding God accountable” probably tends to make many of us squeamish, but the prophets frequently did this. Upon the Jewish people’s return to Jerusalem following the horrific experience of exile, they faced despair. It is in that place of despair, when they deeply feel utterly depleted, a place where they feel the absence of God, that the prophet speaks. Isaiah names their despair and holds God accountable. Then, the prophet promises newness, transformation and even new names signaling joyful union for Jerusalem and all the land around her. There will be change and transformation and abundant life will return!
In today’s gospel reading, John gives us a story that starts with a recognition of need, of emptiness, of depletion. Jesus and the disciples are attending a wedding. As the scene unfolds, in-laws are getting to know each other, old friends and relatives are seeing each other and reminiscing, and the bride and groom are interacting with their guests. In my mind as I picture this scene, I always imagine people dancing and shouting out, much like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, when he sings “L’chai-im! To life!” Anyway, on the third day of the festivities, over in the corner of the room a nervous silence sets in. There is the alarming discovery that the wine has run out, it has been depleted! Wine, the sign of God’s abundance and a vital component of any wedding in that day, has run out and the party is far from over!! There are still four days of partying left to go!! We can imagine the tension in the air. For the groom’s family, this is not just an embarrassing situation, this is a major social faux pas.
So, Jesus’ mother sizes up the situation and swings into action. And, like the prophet Isaiah, Mary will not remain silent. She tells her son about it. The implicit command is: “Fix it!” Mary is a prophet who will not take no for an answer. In fact, knowing her son can handle the situation, she says to the servants, “Do whatever my son tells you.” Mary speaks and acts as intercessor for the wedding party and all the guests. In Mary’s persistence, as she observes the difficulty, names it, and takes action to help, she provides the leadership for the miraculous sign that takes place. When Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus says, Jesus then performs one of the most understated, yet mighty acts in John’s gospel.
There were six large jars for water to be used in washing according to various Jewish purification rites. Each jar could hold 20-30 gallons of water. Jesus tells the servants to fill them to the brim and then he tells them to draw some out and take it to the man in charge of the feast. When the steward tastes what had been water, it is wine, and it turns out to be the best wine at the party! Not only is it the best, but there is an abundance of wine, more than the guests could possibly consume. Jesus provides what would amount to an additional thousand bottles of wine! The steward is so impressed with the wine that he pulls the groom aside and says, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
In Jesus, Immanuel, God made flesh, there is abundance. On the third day, a reference by the way to the resurrection, Jesus provides abundance. Jesus is the new wine! In this first miracle in the gospel of John, Jesus provides more wine, joy, and blessings than the people could possibly have imagined or deserved. It is truly a story about God’s overwhelming, gracious abundance.
As we gather today for worship, I am very aware of the deep need and despair present in our world. We are facing so many challenges. With Covid exploding around us, and the plethora of issues our country currently faces, we need a tangible miracle of God’s abundance. In light of today’s gospel reading, we cannot help but come face to face with the creative word of a living God and we do not take no as an answer! Today’s reading invites us to trust so much in God’s generosity and abundance that we, like the prophets of old and like Jesus’ mother, nudge God with our observation and our protest: they have no wine! Like Mary, in the face of insurmountable need by so many people around this world, we too cry out and lift our voices in intercession for the hurting and powerless as we say to God, “Fix it; heal this land and bring comfort to the people!” In the words of scripture, we find words that address the timelessness of human need and human tragedy. And, we also discover that we, like Mary, can become God’s servants as God uses us to help fill the needs of the hurting. When we pray, crying out to God, we are also called to action. We are called to speak up and use our gifts for the common good, which we are doing as we stock our food pantries, as we daily test kids for Covid, as we continue working with refugees, and as we provide food to health care workers. Prayer is not just a passive plea. Prayer calls us to action, to work for the good of neighbor, and work for the change for which we pray. We will NOT be silent! We pray for this pandemic to end, so we will NOT be silent, and we will get vaccinated and boosted!
On the third day, when the wine ran out, Mary the prophet would not keep quiet. Jesus quietly addresses the problem and turns scarcity into abundance. There is now so much wine, there is enough for all! In Jesus, the one who provides enough wine for all, we see a God who is deeply responsive to human need. In Jesus, we experience a God who is so responsive to human suffering that he entered the depth of our need and suffers with us, even to the point of being nailed to a cross. And then, on the third day, in the depth of monumental tragedy, hope was born, and the new wine flowed freely! Hope is deeply embedded in the Resurrection.
On this weekend, we celebrate the life of another prophet, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was also a prophet who would not remain silent in the face of injustice. His speaking out helped to bring forth justice and change. When prophets speak out and call for justice, it truly is a form of prayer. As we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., and remember the many prophets who have gone before him, we name the problems and cry out to God to bring change and renew our lives and this land. And, that form of prayer also requires us to respond and act in ways that help bring about the newness of God’s promises for all people. We trust God’s promises and look forward to that grand and glorious day when the wine of God’s abundance will again flow out of the disused, even abused dusty wine jars and into the streets where there will be dancing and joy. Then, we will join with the wine maker of Nazareth as we shout out, “L’chai-im! To life!”
It will not be possible to make me shut up! These are the prophet Isaiah’s words as he boldly acts as intercessor for Jerusalem. Following the exile, when the Jewish people returned to their land, it was decimated, and it seemed to them like a desert. The restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem met countless obstacles and delays. The Jewish people had been full of hope but, upon return to their homeland, they were battling deteriorating morale caused by broken dreams and crumbling faith. They felt God had turned away in indifference.
So, Isaiah laments and boldly protests, interceding on the people’s behalf, and he holds God accountable. The notion of “holding God accountable” probably tends to make many of us squeamish, but the prophets frequently did this. Upon the Jewish people’s return to Jerusalem following the horrific experience of exile, they faced despair. It is in that place of despair, when they deeply feel utterly depleted, a place where they feel the absence of God, that the prophet speaks. Isaiah names their despair and holds God accountable. Then, the prophet promises newness, transformation and even new names signaling joyful union for Jerusalem and all the land around her. There will be change and transformation and abundant life will return!
In today’s gospel reading, John gives us a story that starts with a recognition of need, of emptiness, of depletion. Jesus and the disciples are attending a wedding. As the scene unfolds, in-laws are getting to know each other, old friends and relatives are seeing each other and reminiscing, and the bride and groom are interacting with their guests. In my mind as I picture this scene, I always imagine people dancing and shouting out, much like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, when he sings “L’chai-im! To life!” Anyway, on the third day of the festivities, over in the corner of the room a nervous silence sets in. There is the alarming discovery that the wine has run out, it has been depleted! Wine, the sign of God’s abundance and a vital component of any wedding in that day, has run out and the party is far from over!! There are still four days of partying left to go!! We can imagine the tension in the air. For the groom’s family, this is not just an embarrassing situation, this is a major social faux pas.
So, Jesus’ mother sizes up the situation and swings into action. And, like the prophet Isaiah, Mary will not remain silent. She tells her son about it. The implicit command is: “Fix it!” Mary is a prophet who will not take no for an answer. In fact, knowing her son can handle the situation, she says to the servants, “Do whatever my son tells you.” Mary speaks and acts as intercessor for the wedding party and all the guests. In Mary’s persistence, as she observes the difficulty, names it, and takes action to help, she provides the leadership for the miraculous sign that takes place. When Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus says, Jesus then performs one of the most understated, yet mighty acts in John’s gospel.
There were six large jars for water to be used in washing according to various Jewish purification rites. Each jar could hold 20-30 gallons of water. Jesus tells the servants to fill them to the brim and then he tells them to draw some out and take it to the man in charge of the feast. When the steward tastes what had been water, it is wine, and it turns out to be the best wine at the party! Not only is it the best, but there is an abundance of wine, more than the guests could possibly consume. Jesus provides what would amount to an additional thousand bottles of wine! The steward is so impressed with the wine that he pulls the groom aside and says, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
In Jesus, Immanuel, God made flesh, there is abundance. On the third day, a reference by the way to the resurrection, Jesus provides abundance. Jesus is the new wine! In this first miracle in the gospel of John, Jesus provides more wine, joy, and blessings than the people could possibly have imagined or deserved. It is truly a story about God’s overwhelming, gracious abundance.
As we gather today for worship, I am very aware of the deep need and despair present in our world. We are facing so many challenges. With Covid exploding around us, and the plethora of issues our country currently faces, we need a tangible miracle of God’s abundance. In light of today’s gospel reading, we cannot help but come face to face with the creative word of a living God and we do not take no as an answer! Today’s reading invites us to trust so much in God’s generosity and abundance that we, like the prophets of old and like Jesus’ mother, nudge God with our observation and our protest: they have no wine! Like Mary, in the face of insurmountable need by so many people around this world, we too cry out and lift our voices in intercession for the hurting and powerless as we say to God, “Fix it; heal this land and bring comfort to the people!” In the words of scripture, we find words that address the timelessness of human need and human tragedy. And, we also discover that we, like Mary, can become God’s servants as God uses us to help fill the needs of the hurting. When we pray, crying out to God, we are also called to action. We are called to speak up and use our gifts for the common good, which we are doing as we stock our food pantries, as we daily test kids for Covid, as we continue working with refugees, and as we provide food to health care workers. Prayer is not just a passive plea. Prayer calls us to action, to work for the good of neighbor, and work for the change for which we pray. We will NOT be silent! We pray for this pandemic to end, so we will NOT be silent, and we will get vaccinated and boosted!
On the third day, when the wine ran out, Mary the prophet would not keep quiet. Jesus quietly addresses the problem and turns scarcity into abundance. There is now so much wine, there is enough for all! In Jesus, the one who provides enough wine for all, we see a God who is deeply responsive to human need. In Jesus, we experience a God who is so responsive to human suffering that he entered the depth of our need and suffers with us, even to the point of being nailed to a cross. And then, on the third day, in the depth of monumental tragedy, hope was born, and the new wine flowed freely! Hope is deeply embedded in the Resurrection.
On this weekend, we celebrate the life of another prophet, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was also a prophet who would not remain silent in the face of injustice. His speaking out helped to bring forth justice and change. When prophets speak out and call for justice, it truly is a form of prayer. As we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., and remember the many prophets who have gone before him, we name the problems and cry out to God to bring change and renew our lives and this land. And, that form of prayer also requires us to respond and act in ways that help bring about the newness of God’s promises for all people. We trust God’s promises and look forward to that grand and glorious day when the wine of God’s abundance will again flow out of the disused, even abused dusty wine jars and into the streets where there will be dancing and joy. Then, we will join with the wine maker of Nazareth as we shout out, “L’chai-im! To life!”
I don’t know about you, but I have been quite challenged by the way COVID-19 is constantly causing us to alter our plans and make changes in our daily lives. Shifting again to online worship only for this Sunday and next Sunday is just one example of this challenge. Throughout these past two years, I have experienced a constant struggle within myself as we routinely must make new decisions while responding to the latest, unexpected challenges COVID-19 creates before us and around us. And, quite frankly, we will not see an end to this struggle and constant state of uncertainty and change until more people are vaccinated!
We all struggle with change in one way or another. Some change is helpful and transformative, and some change can be devastating. One of the greatest challenges for all of us is the change that ensues when unexpected situations arise, and our very world seems to shift on its axis. Such change is often abrupt, disruptive, life-threatening and life changing. This is the type of change we experienced when COVID initially broke into our lives. As we experience this kind of change, we tend to find ourselves in a place of languishment and fear, fear about an uncertain future.
When talking about such monumental change, the Rev. Dr. Thomas Long, a Presbyterian theologian, shares a story about the historian, Eric Hobsbawm. Long writes:
Hobsbawm remembered when his safe and secure world became a world of terror. He grew up as a Jewish orphan in Berlin. On a cold January day in 1933 when he was only 15 years old, he was walking his little sister home from school when he saw at a newsstand a headline bearing frightening news that would change his life, change the life of all Jews, change the life of the whole world. “Adolph Hitler Appointed Chancellor of Germany,” the headline read. Later in his life, Hobsbawm reflected on that moment and said it was as if “we were on the Titanic, and everyone knew it was going to hit the iceberg.” As Europe hurdled out of control toward World War II, the old world was violently ripped apart, and the new and uncertain world began to be born. Hobsbawm said that it was difficult to describe “what it meant to live in a world that was simply not expected to last.” It was like living, he said, “between a dead past and a future not yet born.”
For multiple reasons, that is the kind of change we are experiencing, and it creates a feeling of fear and uncertainty. In many ways, we are living between a dead past and a future not yet born. And, that is also what the Jewish people had been experiencing at the time of Isaiah’s writing in our Old Testament reading today. Isaiah was writing to and for Jewish exiles who had experienced monumental, earth-shattering change. Jerusalem had been destroyed and the Jewish people had been taken into captivity in Babylon! Their world had been shaken and turned upside down. Living in exile, their past was dead, obliterated. They were in a hard place, living in fear and imagining themselves on the precipice of extinction under Babylonian domination. Feeling abandoned by God, their future seemed truly uncertain. Into this setting the prophet speaks a word from the Lord saying, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”
Do not be afraid. These few words are some of the most frequently spoken words we hear in scripture. When the angel appeared to Mary announcing she would give birth to a son – talk about an uncertain future for a teenage, unmarried girl, especially at that point in time – the angel said, “Do not be afraid.” When the angels appeared to the shepherds at the time of Jesus’ birth, they said, “Do not be afraid.” The first words spoken to the disciples at the empty tomb on Easter morning were, “Do not be afraid.” And, when the resurrected Christ appeared to his disciples who were huddled in a locked room because of fear, his words were, “Do not be afraid.”
I have to say that, as I studied these scripture readings for today, they meant a great deal to me and brought comfort to my struggling, aching heart. We are living in a time when the past and so much of what we knew as normal is dead. Quite frankly, our world will likely never again be what it was before COVID-19. As COVID continues to explode around us, the future that we long for is not yet born, and we really do not know what that future will look like. Yet, amid this uncertainty, we hear the words, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”
There is much in our lives today that creates a sense of fear. If we follow the news and keep abreast of what is happening within our own political system and present culture, there is a plenty that can produce uncertainty and fear within us. We daily hear rhetoric that is intended to produce division, fear, and anxiety. The challenges we currently face seem monumental. However, we need to understand that every day of our lives is lived between the days of a dead past and days of an uncertain future not yet born. And, while this creates within us a sense of fear and anxiety, Isaiah’s words to us on this day cut to the core of our anxiety as they graciously descend into the depth of our fear. Listen as Isaiah speaks the message of God to us, to you, “Do not be afraid, I am with you. I created you. I formed you. I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.”
Today, we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord and, as we celebrate this day, we remember our baptisms. We remember that we have been baptized into the community of faith. When water was poured on our heads, we heard our very name spoken as we heard that we were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We heard God’s Word spoken to us, saying, “I created you. I formed you. I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.” Our names are forever joined to God’s name. God has called us by name and claimed us as God’s own.
We have no idea what the future holds for anyone of us. We pray our lives will be filled with joy, with health, and with peace. However, we also know that because we are human, we will face some very challenging times in life. We will pass through the waters of life’s hardship. Just as the Jewish people discovered, faith does not protect us from the realities of being human and the reality of pain and hardship in life. Yet, we also know that God knows our very names. God will never forget us, God will never leave us alone, and God will never let go of us. God will be present to us at every turn. God says to each one of us:
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, the flame shall not consume you. I have called you by name and you are mine.
Knowing this, we can live with hope, trusting our entire life journey, both our present and future, to the God who holds us and loves us.
The late Catholic priest and theologian, Henri Nouwen, once told a story about a terrible dream that plagued him for many nights. He dreamed that he was traveling in some distant city, and he ran into someone with whom he had gone to high school. This former classmate would say, “Henri, haven’t seen you in years. What have you done with your life?” Henri felt that question sounded like judgment. While he had done some good things with his life, he also had had some struggles and challenges. When his old classmate asked this question, he did not know what to say. Then, one night Henri had another dream. He was waiting outside the throne room of God, and he found himself quivering in fear. He just knew the almighty God would speak to him saying, “Henri, what have you done with your life?” Then, in his dream, when the door opened to God’s throne room, the room was filled with light and he was astonished to hear God speaking to him in a gentle voice as God lovingly said, “Henri, it’s good to see you. I hear you had a rough trip, but I’d love to see the pictures of your journey.”
This world in which we live can at times be dangerous, and we all live between a dead past and an uncertain future, a future yet unborn. However, we live knowing that Immanuel, God with us, is lovingly present to us and walking with us throughout life. And, we can place our trust in this God who cherishes us and loves us with a love that will never let us go. God is saying to each one of us, “Fear not. I know you. I have called you by name and you are mine.”