How do we celebrate God's love for us?
In Joshua's day as today, Passover was a celebration of the
history of the people of Israel: once enslaved in Egypt, they successfully fled
captivity, crossing the Red Sea as well as the territory of Jordan to get to
the Promised Land. It was a long and
arduous journey. Passover thus
celebrates their transition to a people who are once again in covenant with God,
loved by God, blessed to be living in a land flowing with milk and honey where
they are able to eat the produce of that land.
Today, I have removed the reproach
of Egypt from you, the Lord tells Joshua.
God has fulfilled God's extraordinary promise, reconciling himself with
his people, removing their sin, eliminating all distance between them and their
God, allowing love to flourish. And so,
as in Psalm 34, they can bless the Lord
at all times, his praise… ever in their
mouths: their song is an
acknowledgement of God working in them, and thus they are radiant with joy.
The parable of the prodigal son in Luke's Gospel similarly
ends in joy: But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead
and has come to life again. The love
of the father is greater than his prodigal son had ever known: My son,
you are here with me always, the father tells his son -- it is an
extraordinary statement, for the father experiences the son's presence more
than even the son himself. The son has
not earned his father's love; it is gift, just as the Promised Land was give to
the people of Israel. As Paul tells the
Corinthians, that love, mercy itself, is at the heart of God reconciling the world to him in Christ, that we might be a new creation -- and all this is from God. God wants us back;
God's love for us, his forgiveness of our transgressions, is nothing short of
an extraordinary gift, a prodigal gift, every single day.
Has living as a Christian, in Christ, made you a new
creation, open to God's mercy and love?
Is it transforming you daily? How do you celebrate that love?
This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
Image source: Wordle
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