This will be a lengthy piece from Willimon...this Divine Abundance!
....The Master seems to be more into careless sowing, miraculous growing, and reckless harvesting than in taxonomy of the good from the bad, the worthwhile from the worthless, the saved from the damned.
"Which one of you?" to paraphrase Jesus' question in Luke 15, "having lost one sheep will not leave the ninety-nine sheep to fend for themselves ...until you find the lost sheep?
"Which one of your women...if you lost a quarter will not rip up the carpets.."
"Which one of you fathers, having two sons...
"Which one of you, journeying down the Jericho Road...
The answer is that none of us would behave in this unseemly, reckless, and extravagant way. These are not stories about us. These are God's stories... Jesus thus reveals a God who is no discrete minimalist. Abundance is the nature of this God.
We would not and we do not go where this Reign of God is and will always be. That is we cannot and will not on our own. We call out for the Spirit to move us and encourage us. We hold on to one another to muster the courage to face scarcity and still know that God abundantly opens up life that we never would have expected. In the life of the Church and in the life of an ordinary congregation, it is too easy to resist this life of abundant joy and hopefulness. We can become to entrenched in thinking that we must do more or we must expect more or we must press for more...rather than giving thanks - a life of thanksgiving that gives as freely as God gives of God's love. Lately, this abundance...this strange abundance...this overwhelming God who keeps embracing and holding and pulling, has been much needed and has made me think again and again about who we are to be as a people who bear the name of Jesus within the world.
Connection: The answer to the questions of our lives can be: We Will.
You abundantly give us new life, O God. We give you thanks. Again. Amen.
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