We continue reflecting on the resurrection and the Reign of God - again from Stanley Hauerwas.
...the Christian commitment to the protection of life is an eschatological commitment. Our concern to protect and enhance life is a sign of our confidence that in fact we live in a new age in which it is possible to see the other as God's creation. We do not value life as an end in itself - there is much worth dying for - rather all life is valued, even the lives of our enemies, because God has valued them.
It is vital for us to remember that "we live in a new age in which it is possible to see the other as God's creation." We may not be willing to do that...because we value ourselves and our ways and our own stuff more than the other ones. Then again, it is possible. It is possible to value the life of our enemies. It is possible to come to the table. It is possible to understand how God values all of us and we are invited to both see the other as valued...but also that we are valued. The value is not concerned with what we have done or left undone. It is because we are children of God within God's Reign. Obviously, things are not in a completed peaceable reign. Then again, as we trust in what is promised and what has been completed already in Christ, Jesus, we are free to live as part of the peaceable reign even though it is at odds with the way all the powers of the world live. We must be able to talk about valuing all human life in more ways than simply referring to the issue of abortion. When we value all life we cannot simply carry signs or sign petitions. We become active agents of new life that speak up for and walk along side of all whose lives are in jeopardy - even our enemies.
Connection: How do we learn to value the life of all God's beloved? It could start today by simply remembering that it is God who loves and that love is not shaped by our values...rather God's.
Guide us this day, O God, so that we may continually remember how much you love us and call us to live within that love - as though it is our own. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment