“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39
One of the challenges of the lock-down has been our separation from those we hold dear. We now live in a world where get-togethers are held on computer screens. Visits and our usual expressions of love and concern are denied to us. Our wits are taxed as we try to convince a lonely loved one that we care, even though we cannot physically be with them. Grandparents are frustrated by drive-through visits, experiencing grandchildren through a window, and by endless solitary meals. It all seems unfair. We ache.
Thinking Biblically, this leads us to imagine how much
God missed us, His children. He loved us and missed us so much that God sent His only begotten Son to reconcile us to Himself forever!
We know that God loves us because He provides for us. Today’s lectionary verses in Numbers tell us that. Jesus’s condemnation of the Pharisees in the Matthew passage remind us of what God wants for us – justice, mercy, faith. Even in his laments, the Psalmist knows that ultimately God will answer prayers and save the people of Israel.
God will answer because in everything and over everything is
God’s great love for us and His desire to be with us. The power of Jesus’s death on the cross means that separation from God is no more. His love endures in the face of our sins because Jesus has paid the price for them. Thanks be to God!
In this season of frustration and separation from one another, may we take comfort in Paul’s affirmation that nothing – no thing on heaven or on earth – can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God bless you!
Catherine
