Before we move to a new chapter later in the week we stick with William Willimon's comments on "salvation as God's work."
It's the Nicene Creed that states explicitly that all Christ did and said, including his death and rising, was done "pro nobis" - "for us and for our salvation." "Who for us men and our salvation came down from heaven," is how the Nicene Creed characterizes Christ, the Incarnation. To be near us, Christ has to come down to us. There is distance between us and God. We are not with God in heaven, much less are we gods who dwell in the vicinity of deity. Even though we were created by God, in the image of God, God must risk opposition, overcome something, go somewhere in order to come near to us sinners, in order to replenish, restore, and resurrect God's intended image in us. In salvation, God comes, becomes Immanuel, and fully embraces what the human can be. "God with us" is yet another way of thinking about salvation.
When I hear people say that some people cannot or should not be a part of the life of the church, this note by Willimon is a good one to remember. We have no say in the matter. It is God who comes and is "for us." There are no guidelines put on where God goes and to whom God offers life abundant. That is what the good religious folks tried to do to Jesus...and yet, he would not be stopped and would continue to be "for us" through the end and into a new day. It is a strange image to hear about God who must "risk opposition" from us. And yet, even as God attempts to open up the world to God's healing, it comes under great threat from us. Too often we do not want God to save and mend and renew the world. We would rather go to war in order to keep it just as it is. We would rather act contrary to the wide-open plains of salvation than experience the joy of running about within its grandeur.
Connection: Be full of this wonder-filled presence of God for us.
Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen.
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