Proper 6 / Pentecost 4 / OT 11
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
-- Romans 5:8
The glory of God, the clear evidence of God's active, caring presence among us, reveals the grace of God. Our saying the right prayer or demonstrating the perfect life does not cause God's active presence. Unlike some pagan religions, God is not a spiteful being that must be appeased or an indifferent being that must be wooed. Rather, even before we do anything to please God, God takes the initiative to reach across the divide and draws us to him. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." This fact alters our perspective on all of life's experiences. When we suffer, we do not conclude that God is punishing us. Rather, like the Israelites in the wilderness, we know that God can use our suffering to build our character. Knowing that gives all our experiences purpose. We need not despair; therefore, we have hope. Because God has already proved his love to us, we can trust that the hope we have in life will not disappoint us. We do not assume that God is manipulating our lives through a series of calculated rewards and punishments -- a sort of behavior modification project. We do believe that God is not absent from our sufferings, however. God is not a distant God. Our faith is that God has closed the gap and by grace is present to us in all circumstances.
-- Romans 5:8
The glory of God, the clear evidence of God's active, caring presence among us, reveals the grace of God. Our saying the right prayer or demonstrating the perfect life does not cause God's active presence. Unlike some pagan religions, God is not a spiteful being that must be appeased or an indifferent being that must be wooed. Rather, even before we do anything to please God, God takes the initiative to reach across the divide and draws us to him. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." This fact alters our perspective on all of life's experiences. When we suffer, we do not conclude that God is punishing us. Rather, like the Israelites in the wilderness, we know that God can use our suffering to build our character. Knowing that gives all our experiences purpose. We need not despair; therefore, we have hope. Because God has already proved his love to us, we can trust that the hope we have in life will not disappoint us. We do not assume that God is manipulating our lives through a series of calculated rewards and punishments -- a sort of behavior modification project. We do believe that God is not absent from our sufferings, however. God is not a distant God. Our faith is that God has closed the gap and by grace is present to us in all circumstances.
