Love prevails

Acts 12:18-25

          I am reminded again of the young man who came out to his family recently only to be verbally abused, beaten and disowned. So much for being honest and forthright.  When you hear stories like that you wonder if it isn't better to stay closeted. 

          The same is true of being Christian. Once you make that leap of faith, you may think everything is going to be rosy. I know people who used to tithe in church as a sort of insurance policy against personal calamity.  The only promise we are given, albeit a spectacular one, is  peace and salvation and reward in eternal happiness. In the meantime heaven can be on earth even when stuff happens. This is true for us because we have faith and know that whatever happens, there will be a superseding or ultimate good. I believe that. It may not be obvious at the moment but God's will be done.

       Today we remember holy woman, Prudence Crandall. Called to teach and open a school in Connecticut in 1832 for young girls, she felt compelled to admit young girls of color.  This choice of love and faith set off a string of events which may have had a lesser person retreat.  There was hate rhetoric, angry mobs, broken windows, even legislation and eventually the school burned to the ground. Did Prudence get the message? No, she waived aside the worlds message and clung to God's. In the end, laws were repealed (1838), Prudence was highly recognized and Mark Twain came to her moral and financial rescue. When the windows broke and the school burned I wonder what went through Prudence's mind? 'Have I made a big mistake?'

       The young man who was beaten for his honesty and pride in who God made him to be seems like a warning not to be so honest and forthright. Soon after the news hit the electronic highway, a fund was started for this young man, almost 100K dollars was raised to help him.  Money cannot replace most things but the love that caused such an outpouring is evidence ( to me ) of a good and gracious God who always prevails.

         When we say yes to God we still do not know what the future will hold. There are no guarantees of a magical life free from pain or suffering. What you are guaranteed is the love of God who will be with you always and for everything and no matter how bad things seem, you have a companion and lover who will always make things better. You may not see it right away. The world may try to convince you it will never get better and that you've made a poor choice. God will prevail. God's love always prevails. I does get better.  

When morning came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. When Herod had searched for him and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him in a body; and after winning over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for a reconciliation, because their country depended on the king’s country for food. On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat on the platform, and delivered a public address to them. The people kept shouting, ‘The voice of a god, and not of a mortal!’ And immediately, because he had not given the glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

But the word of God continued to advance and gain adherents. Then after completing their mission Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem and brought with them John, whose other name was Mark.