Monday 20 July 2009

William Willimon ends his section on The Eros of God with this.

All we know of salvation, our final end, our ultimate hope, is Jesus Christ who keeps trying zealously to eros us, sozo completely, rescue us, heal us, perfectly to have us be all that he intends. Salvation is, therefore, also the name for the adventure of being the objects of the love of a God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit pro nobis. Charles Wesley's hymns are about as sensuous as most of us Methodists get. Wesley knew that to be loved by God is to be changed in the embrace.

I will keep with me two comments from this short piece. For years we have had as one of our "add on" phrases in our mission statement the note that we are on "an adventure for life." Here Willimon writes of the "adventure of being the objects of the love of a God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit pro nobis. We cannot see how that adventure will go. It will unfold and we will be called to face the day at hand with the deep conviction that we are beloved. How will that shape the adventure?!? The other phrase used here is about Wesley and that he knew that "to be loved by God is to be changed in the embrace." God is that close. There is no distance in an embrace. In fact it is right here and now and so close we can catch the texture of the one that loves us...we can smell the real presence...we can fell the wrapped arms and hold us tightly. From that embrace we enter the adventure. It is an embrace that is eternally available to us. Therefore, it becomes the energy that brings us into the realm of resurrection. Never are we left alone in the tombs of our lives.

Connection: After being embraced and knowing that the embrace is ever-present and available, is it something we can share with others as we encounter those who long to be affirmed and brought into new life?

When your love takes hold of us and will not let us go, O God, we are given the space to take our first steps into the world as one who is beloved. Each step is a gift to us and also a gift to the world in which we begin our adventures for life. We breathe more fully when your Spirit is with us and continuing to lift us up to face whatever will come. Amen.