Continuing with Divine Abundance - Willimon.
The question "Is there salvation and who is it for?" is an inquiry into the identity of God. Who saves? It is not a matter of what we think we need or deserve in order to give our lives some measure of sustainability and permanence. Salvation requires an inquiry into what God wants. Salvatin is the peculiar "yes" that is spoken to us, spoken even before we ask, in Jesus Christ. Salvation is God's projection of God's desires upon us.
We know this only on the basis of the stories of Jesus. A farmer goes forth to sow seed and - carefully, meticulously - prepares the ground, removing all rocks and weeds, sowing one seed six inches from another. No. The farmer, without preparation, begins slinging seed. A dragnet is hauled into the boat full of creatures both good and bad. Should the catch be sorted, separating the good from the bad? No. The Master is more impressed with the size of the haul than with the quality of the harvest. One day, not today, it will all be sorted.
I don't think we want to hear this. There is too much judging to do. There are too many people unlike me that must be corrected. There are too many people like me who need to be changed. there are those who have done that or live like that or speak like that or act out like that. Too often we cannot even tolerate typos in a church bulletin let alone understand that "those folk" over there want to be in the same boat we're in. This dragnet image is...well...quite wild and beyond our control. That image of the farmer may be the way seed was scatter back then...but we have better methods with more controls that allow us to be more selective about what is right and good and what is...well...not.
Connection: How do we learn to settle into a boat filled with a dragnet of possibilities? Let's pray about it.
Your Reign, O God, is expansive and we are not all that sure that we want to be the way you are. So...in the meantime, inspire us and open our hearts and help us to see your image in all the strangers who seem to be everywhere! Amen.
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