This week we move into a section of Willimon's "Who Will Be Saved?" simply called All.
A Christian is not saved in order to be plucked out of the damned rabble of humanity, but rather is saved in order to be truly for humanity. the church is the community that lives ahead of time, the people who say now what may one day be said by all, once God gets what God wants - "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). Christians have been let in on an open secret, a secret that we are called to make public. If we pray for the salvation of all we pray on the basis of our hope for the reconciliation of all, for how is it possible to pray for what your don't hope?
A short reading but I think it is packed with good comments to remember as we move along the way as followers of Jesus. We are, as Walt Bouman used to say, "a saving people." We are actively being a part of the Good News that brings with it a life that is a witness to the fullness of what God would have for us all. This also reminds me again of Walter Wink writing on how the "Son of man" is all about the "truly human one." Humanity that comes into its full character that is blessed to be a blessing to all. When the truly human one comes, all humanity will we embraced - without exception. That embrace will transform life for all. We are not people waiting for the bus...nicely cleaned up and ready to be pulled from the dirt of life around us. When we have our eyes on another place and time, it becomes quite easy to divorce ourselves from action here and now....or...our actions are always tied to the upcoming "trip." As we all know, this kind of "preaching and action" is laced with guilt-trips, threats, and actions only skin deep.
Connection: Pressing that word all...that reality....is one way to keep the vision present so that we actually act within it even now...even now....for all.
Come, Holy Spirit. Come and pull us into the day full of grace that is already waiting for us to participate in this life that brings a fullness to all God's beloved. We need that pulling power to take hold of us for it is so easy to divorce ourselves from the Reign that is at hand. Amen.
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