According to Bonhoeffer, God’s foundation for community is rooted in three things: call, forgiveness, and promise. Those components make up the “real” community. So, when I complain about my relationships, congregants, or circumstances in life, I’m ignoring what God has given and living in “la la” land. What is, is. God has called me into the relationships I have, the congregants I serve, the forgiveness I’ve received from God and others, and the promise that God will never leave or forsake me, or the communities I am in. Living in and through the brokenness of life and seeing one’s way through by grace is not only reality, but the ideal.
There is “surety” in our faith because of God…God’s covenant…and God’s commitment to community. The world as we know it, and mystery is still the dominant reality, was established by God’s certain and sure word. God’s decrees are very sure and nothing will move the world.
It is because of God’s surety that Joshua stepped into the promises made o Moses and continued the mission. It is because of God’s surety that those who have gone before us and were persecuted and martyred for their faith did not suffer or die in vain. Jesus is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. It is because of God’s surety that the pruning all followers of Jesus experience has already been done in and through Christ, we can celebrate the chastisement…the cleansing…the repentance in that God already knows, knew, and sees the future outcomes of obedience.
What is moving “your world?” The surety we can experience and rest in that circumstances will never win has already been accomplished by Jesus. Let us bank our hope on God and God’s surety. Nothing can move God from God’s intent and promises even when things are constantly moving and changing around us.
Scripture readings are taken from the two-year daily lectionary cycle which follows the liturgical calendar and begins on the First Sunday of Advent.
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