31 Days of Unityنموونە

(Re)flect: For ten days we have reflected on the Sermon on the Mount. We have asked deep and probing questions of ourselves and God, seeking the wisdom of the Spirit, and the presence of Christ. This part of our journey to unity has been focused on gaining clarity about the love of God. God loves us. God is for us. God has designed us with purpose. Jesus came so we could know the love of God perfectly and live with God in God's kingdom, now and forever more.

What has God revealed to you through these scripture passages? What have you discovered about the love of God? Have you gained a new imagination for the kingdom and what it looks like for us to live as God has designed us to live?

The good news is that God is with us, Immanuel, and that God is for us. God sees and loves us exactly as we are, but God loves us too much to leave us as we are. God wants to heal and transform us so that we can join God in healing the world around us.

To do that we have to move from hearing the truth of God's love to putting that truth into action. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us a clear and easy-to-understand command. We are to take Jesus' teachings and put them into action. That is wisdom, and it will build a foundation that will withstand the storms of this world. If, however, we merely hear and do not move to action, we are foolish. We are like a builder placing our house on the sand, ignorant of how the storms will come and destroy what we have built.

The storms of our world have painfully revealed that too much of the church has been built on the sand. We have not put God's love into action. And so when chaos or conflict arrives, we are unprepared to endure, to love our neighbors, and to discern the fruit of God's kingdom. Looking around we can see the houses scattered about the beach, like a shoreline after a hurricane, and the destruction is deeply sad. The church is a mess.

And yet, God is not done with us. The narrow path awaits us. The kingdom of God will prevail. Our God specializes in bringing order out of chaos and new life out of death. So, as we move from our time of (re)flection to a focus on (re)newal, we stop to pay attention to what we have learned and commit ourselves to the wisdom of putting God's commands into action.

After you read the passage, ask yourself these questions:

• What has God revealed to you during this time of reflection?
• Do you sense how God is calling you to put love into action?
• How are you being called to help cultivate unity and healing in the church?

Our Prayer for (Re)flection:

Lord, reveal how we have failed to be obedient to you and to love one another as the children of God. We long to be unified through your love and as the body of Christ. Renew our hearts and minds through your unending love, and give us the courage to surrender ourselves to your Spirit this day. Amen