This week it is a short quote from the first page of the introduction to Ethics
of Hope by Jurgen Moltmann that has me thinking more about be God's people with
a future. He writes: Lethargy is the real enemy of every hope.
As we become settled, we often stay settled. It doesn't take long to do this and
yet it can become the end of us. By the end, I mean that we can easily forget about
that which is possible in life and that which is not yet present. Therefore, we
are being tempted to keep the world as it is right now. I don't think that is the
history of the Reign of God among God's people. This God of Scripture and this God
who is still moving among us making us into the story of God's people is for me
God on the move. This is a God who is with us - eternally with us - but always on
the move. That demands movement on our part so that we can see the wideness of
God's Reign that does not settle for the way any of us try to contain God's Reign.
God on the move pulls us up off of our seats so that we may - at least - gain new
perspectives. Otherwise how do we embrace the fullness of God's image as expressed
in the rest of humanity and the whole creation. When we sit back - we tend to be
in control of what we do and see. I control the remote when I sit in my chair.
I bring the world I want onto the screen and when there is nothing I want - I turn
it all off. God on the move opens the door - shows us the front yard - the end of
the street - the life that is out of my control but longing for me to enter it and
entertain what is not yet.
I figured out that I can become indifferent very easily. I am able to say 'forget
it all' and yet I know it is the Spirit of God that keeps pulling me up to greet
what is coming. Hope.
O God of love and new life, as you pull us into your future and we fight it every
bit of the way, hold tight and keep pulling and bringing us into life eternal. Amen.
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