(Paul writes): I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all. ~ Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Let me say that one more time...
The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
When I read those words I'm reminded that our life of faith - our being part of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God, the Kin-dom of God - isn't about what happens to us when we die. It isn't about if we are good, or believe the right things, or accept Jesus as our savior, or pray the right way, we go to Heaven...
And that if we act up, doubt, get angry at God, question whether God exists...we go to hell.
What if instead God's love for us is so strong that God wants us to know what it is like to be part of the kingdom of God right now?
That when we are taking part in God's love for the world; when we are walking alongside God's way of servanthood and joy and peace - that we get to experience that irrevocable love fully and deeply.
And when we don't...when we hate or condemn or sin against one another - we completely miss out on fully experiencing that irrevocable love.
God's call to us - the gifts, and the love God gives us - is irrevocable. It's always there.
But we can always choose to ignore it or push it aside.
We can either lean into God's love to fully realize it, or we can lean away - swat it away - and lean into our own understanding.
The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. I pray that you can experience that in a deep and meaningful way.
Help me not to turn away from you O, Lord! Amen