Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message
Abundant God
April 23, 2013
It is important to remember when we talk about our faith
that there is a difference between an espoused theology (what we say we believe) and an operational one (how we enact our
day-to-day relationship with God, ourselves, and others). We may say we believe that God is all-powerful,
all-knowing, benevolent, ever-present, and all good. But do we actually feel and act as if this is the case? If we try to hide things from others,
ourselves, or God, our actions belie our stated beliefs. Remember the collect for purity at the
beginning of mass: “O God, to you all hearts are open and from you no secrets are hid.”
Likewise, in our feelings toward God, we often act as if
God is a peevish, snoopy control freak ready to yell “Gotcha!” at our slightest
failings, just rubbing his hands and waiting for us to mess up.
But this is not the God Jesus tells us about, the one who
is like a shameless but loving father of the prodigal younger and older priggish
sons, the God who sends blessings of rain and sunshine on good and evil alike;
who counts hairs on the head and sparrows in their fall; the one who would
rather hear a “bad” person say “I’m sorry, and I’ll do better,” than a “good”
person say “thank you for making me so much better than all the others.” This is not the God Jesus describes when
he suggests that the one thing God really gets upset about is the cruelty and
hardness we show toward each other, especially toward those who are vulnerable
and in need.
Our God is a God of abundance and love, not one of scarcity
and condemnation or contempt.
Is your practical theology one where God loves us, is crazy
about us, accepts us and wishes us all blessing and good? Or is the God you hold in your
heart a stingy, nasty piece of work?
Grace and peace,
Fr. Tony+
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