Word to the Wise
Saturday, May 23, 2020 - 6th Week of Easter - Sat
[Acts 18:23-28 and John 16:23b-28]"For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father." [John]
One of the most famous photographs ever taken is the one taken of the planet Earth from outer space by astronauts. It pulls us out of our infinitesimally small circumstances (important as they are to us) and gives us, if you will, a "God's eye view." Other photos taken later from the Hubble space telescope and now other instruments give us an awe-inspiring picture of the how extended creation truly is. Did Jesus come only to save our tiny speck in this vast universe?
Such speculations may be an impossible luxury to someone living in a migrant camp or someone battling the coronavirus on a ventilator, but perhaps it can remind us that God's providence does include our tiny speck of circumstances in the vast universe. Jesus speaks of coming "into the world" but we will see this as the world as we know it with all its own hopes, dreams and sins!! His mission to our tiny "world" is about to come to an end so that his mission can continue through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Prologue to the Gospel According to John challenges us to understand that Jesus has been "with the Father" from before the dawn of creation. God's love became truly and particularly focused on our speck in Jesus' mission to us. God's love continues to give us life on our beautiful sphere, running around one star among billions.
In the middle of our cares and challenges, Jesus tells us we can continue to ask God for what we need, even if the sheer scope of creation can make us feel very small. But this same gospel assures us that "God so loved the world that he sent his only-begotten Son." [John 3:16]. AMEN