07-01-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 1, 2024
Today is, among other things, the birthday of one of my sisters (happy birthday, Bev!). It is also the day that campers arrive at Disciple Oaks to begin Chi Rho camp (middle school). I arrived yesterday afternoon with the rest of the staff. Our own Ellie Steves is one of the counselors. High school youth can help, and Ellie and the other youth counselors are going to be awesome! The theme for the week is Linked in Love, and tomorrow’s keynote is going to hopefully set some groundwork for each of the following daily themes. Instead of immediately jumping into how we are linked by love, I thought it was important to talk about God as love. We all have some strange images or theories about God that we may not say out loud, but they influence us in subtle ways. Youth are no different. In fact, I am using a video clip from one of the Percy Jackson movies. If you don’t know the movies, it is about a kid in modern times who discovers that he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon and a mortal woman named Sally Jackson. In the movies (there is also a series of books and a relatively new series on Disney), many of the Greek gods make an appearance, and a lot of them are unhinged, impatient, and just downright mean. Without knowing it, it is easy to transfer some of those characteristics that one sees on the screen to the God of scripture. Yet one of the more profound and shockingly unexpected descriptions of God is found in 1 John 4:8 where we find, “God is love.” In the ancient world, the gods, including the Roman gods, were often seen as unhinged, impatient, and just downright mean. That simple statement, God is love, without additional qualifications or supplementary attributes, was radical. In scripture, whenever we come across something that in ancient times would have been unheard of, we might want to look a bit more closely, as it might be someone who heard something from God.

Good morning, God! As I step into a new day with numerous opportunities to share your goodness and your grace, I pray for some encouragement as I live into those opportunities with a spirit of boldness. Amen.