Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Confidence and Joy




Confidence and Joy
Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message July 6, 2016

The bright sun of Ashland this time of year gives my heart a lift.  The blue skies and the cool mountains in the distance for me take away any oppressiveness the summer heat might bring.   It’s all a sign of God’s warmth and love for us, I think. 

Yesterday, the epistle reading for Morning Prayer, from the Book of Romans, spoke to me.  A regular reading in hospital visitations and last rites, it is all about joy and confidence.  Here it is in Eugene Peterson’s translation:   

“So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

“They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

“None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us” (Romans 8:31-38, The Message).

Joy is one of the fruits of the spirit, and comes unbidden simply as part of enjoying God’s loving presence, no matter what might be challenging us at the moment.  As Paul says elsewhere, “Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again, I say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)

Grace and peace,
Fr. Tony+

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