God Already Is

 

Two thoughts are on my mind as I sit down to write today.

Neither is original, but both are profound.

 

First, as my friend Rebecca shared via a text conversation Saturday night,

In the midst of the chaos, anxiety, and hatefulness of this world,

We often wait for help and hope to come save us.

But we don’t have to wait for help and hope to come save us,

Because they are already here.

They have been here since Jesus came to earth to embody both,

And they never leave…

Because the Holy Spirit empowers us,

The Body of Christ,

To be help and hope to one another.

WE are the ones who must work for justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.

WE are Living Hope.

 

Second, as Pastor Ann shared in her sermon yesterday,

Jesus came to earth to proclaim good news to all.

He brought in the Kingdom of God with his miraculous healings

And he did so to show what God’s Kingdom was like.

Jesus healed in big cities, small towns, villages, synagogues, and homes.

He healed the rich, poor, young, and old.

He healed the physically ill, the mentally ill, the loved, and the outcast.

Jesus healed persons from all walks of life to show that

The Kingdom of God belongs to ALL who believe.

 

Many of us would love to be healed of our physical and mental illnesses.

Many of us would love to feel a wave of hope wash over us in this very broken world.

Many of us would love to see a miracle.

Yet while miracles still can occur,

God already is.

God is in the science and medicine that treat illness.

God is in the cup of water, the loaf of bread, the looked-into-eyes, the listening-ear, and the hug.

God is in the money given to an organization that does what we cannot, and

God is in the brief encounter with a stranger that forever changes our lives.

 

Friends: We don’t have to wait for help and hope to come.

And we don’t have to wait for miracles to occur.

They are already here. 

God already is.

And somehow,

Maybe even through a miracle,

We ALL get to be part.

 

Dear God: Thank you for ushering in your Kingdom on earth—for opening it to all people—and for granting us glimpses of what the future will be. Help us to be help and hope to those who know that they need it, as well as to those who don’t know that they are missing out on the  miracle of You. You have called us to work for justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with You. May it be so, God, May it be so. Amen.