Thursday 25 June 2009

Here is another image of the Eros of God - William Willimon.

God erotically risks, desires union with humanity. So God comes close enough to be not only God for us but also God with us. In what biblical writers call "the fullness of time" God steps up, steps in, and steps out in a most amazing overture of love. The God who was from the first so joyously creative extends that divine creativity to become Incarnate. A defiant young woman (Mary) submits to be a fellow conspirator in God's dramatic, miraculous move on humanity (Luke 1:46-55). Swept up in God's invasion of God's world, she bears a son with the revealing name, "God with us." (Matt. 1:23)

Divine creativity....becomes Incarnate. That is within our story. That is what our God does. God becomes creative among us and with us and for us. That means that we are the tools of that creativity. When God becomes truly creative among us, we are the medium God uses to reveal the fullness of God's divine intention for all creation. We are, as St. Francis is said to have written, "instruments of your peace." That's us. Among us God's love becomes a visible and tangible reality. In Jesus, God's beloved Son, we see how God is God for us and among us. There is to be no distance - we are so close to one another it is as though we are loving partners - that's close. It is also how we are to be with one another. We are this beloved and loving community. We are all about a down-to-earth presence of the Reign of God that takes us on a journey in which we will risk our lives to make it a living reality.

Connection: Mary is swept up in God's invasion - what a way to look at the day at hand. We are always being swept up into God's Reign. It is a life that carries us along by the Holy Spirit and takes us beyond what we considered possible or realistic. Let's see how that plays out today.

When you come to be with us, O God, it often so close we do not expect to see you among us. Open our eyes. Open our hearts. Open our our hands. Empower us to greet you as you come among us in many and various ways. Amen.