Tough love

2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2

        I alluded to something the other day on this blog, about how we are all loved. I want all of us to know just how enormously loved by God we are, especially those in the gay community. I also want us to know that even those right wing nut jobs who hate us are also enormously loved.

         This Christianity thing is pretty difficult, it's tough love in the sense that it is sometimes tough to love when our human reaction is to turn away or reject those who disagree with us or even persecute us. It is probably why Gandhi admired the concept of Christianity or the message of Christianity but believed he had never really met one. Perhaps we all fall short of what we are called to do, who we are called to be.

          One thing that I keep thinking of from this passage today is thinking of things in human terms and then not thinking in human terms. It's a conundrum. We are called to be fully human but not act in a human way. As Linda Richmond would say "discuss".   Our salvation through Jesus is based on our humanity and being fully human. At the same time our reactions and our love are to be transcendent, God like which we have as heirs to through Jesus. Jesus' whole life was a testimonial to both, fully human, fully divine. 

            When we base our judgements, decisions and opinions on each others humanity, there is no level playing field in being human. That is we all are different. All have different talents. We look different. We experience life differently. That is something that needs to be recognized and respected because it is in the end, God who created all these wonderful gifts, variations on a theme if you will.  The only level playing field we have is as children of God which is not of this world. When we see everyone and everything as beloved  creations of God, we are elevated to being human and more, godlike. I believe this is part of the message of Jesus' whole life.

            If we respect each others human reference points, see each others divinity, we are no longer seeing with human eyes but as God sees.  This is something to think long and hard on. To discuss, meditate on. A prayer for this morning.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,
‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
   and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!