You've gotta believe I'm not lying when I tell you this: my mind's racing and my heart's breaking for my people. I'd rather be cut off from God and removed from this movement for the sake of the Israelites. They're my family, and they're the ones who set the ball rolling for everything we do - the covenants, the services, the Torah, the promises - everything. Even Jesus was a Jew, and he was raised into everything the Jews created.
But from the beginning, even though this God worked with the Israelites and stories have it that they had a unique relationship, this God didn't have favorites. This God wanted to be in relationship with everyone, not just the Israelites. We all know the stories of Israel and Abraham, and how all their descendants (including us) were chosen to bless the world. But just because you're a descendant, doesn't make you a child of God. It may make you a child of Abraham or Isaac, but you're not a child of God through bloodline. You're a child of God because calls you a child. God calls us children not because we've done anything worth remembering, but because we've all inherited a place at God's own table!
You all remember the story of how Sarah and Abraham were well into their 90's and how the messengers told them they would have a baby. They laughed! Yet, their they were, spot on the very next year, Sarah as pregnant as could be. What did they do to have that baby besides not believe it and laugh? Exactly. That story is an allusion to how God does for us what we can never do for ourselves, and bloodline doesn't make that promise void or nil. It's got nothing to do with bloodline.
What I'm trying to say, and what our scriptures tell us is this: God shows mercy independently of what we do. God shows us compassion regardless of how religious or irreligious we are. It doesn't depend on how much willpower we have, but on God's infinite grace.
Legend even has it that God used Pharaoh to do things that Pharaoh may have never done on his own - and they were against God's own people for crying out loud! So, should we question God's justice? We should, but in the end you'll find that God sees the big picture and we don't. Just like Jacob, we'll wrestle with God. We'll question God, and doubt, and wonder where God is, and wonder why everything seems like it's going a way that God couldn't possibly allow. But in the end, I guarantee, we'll be blown away by the journey and the knowledge we pick up on the way.
We're being molded each and every day, and whether the fire's hot or it's a cooling period, we get to allow God to refine us and teach us and take care of the results. You see, it's all about the journey! Now there's a lot of people out there who hold to this idea that pain is somehow God's wrath on us for our mistakes. You can turn the other way with them. They have no idea what they're talking about. Of course, if there's any creature that deserves a divine spanking it's us, but we believe in a God that isn't waiting with a paddle. This God is patient and this God's big enough to endure our laughable flaunts!
This God doesn't see us the way we see ourselves. In fact, this God is constantly eager to pour out the most prized possessions that any human can hope for - things like peace of mind, contentment, and joy. And it doesn't take a Jewish bloodline to receive these riches! All it takes is a heartbeat, an open mind, and the ability to stay awake to this God who's moving around us and in us constantly.
That old prophet Hosea told our ancestors that God calls everyone children, not just the Jews or the Christians, but everybody! He also said that for all those who didn't feel so included in the family, God is working on them too, calling and tugging and drawing and molding and whispering and leading them into a relationship that means something.
Even our ancestor Isaiah cried out to Israel that although the Israelites are like the sand on the seashore in number, the number of people in the club didn't save you from anything. They weren't the only ones included in this family. He goes so far as saying it was the remnant, or the outsiders, that would be rescued. He told his people they were worthy of fire raining from the sky, but that this God allowed it's people to be humbled by their own actions. This God allows people to learn from their mistakes, all the while guiding them along as a parent would a child.
All the way up to now, the whole controversy of works versus faith has been a hot topic for us Jews. Everyone else has moved on because - for the most part - they're not worried about it. But, when Jesus came around, he really threw a wrench into just about every good Jew's plan. Jesus announced to the masses that rituals and sacrifices and temple visits weren't needed to appease this God. He told us this God was in love with us just the way we are.
And that posed a big problem for us Jews. All the teachings, all the training, all the memorizing. Was Jesus telling us to just throw it out the window? By no means! He was just telling us that it didn't earn any brownie points with this God. and that it didn't get us any further on the spiritual path than our pagan brothers and sisters. Jesus turned our law upside down, and it offended us big time. But, we've gotta get to a place where we can accept that God loves independently of our actions. And, faith is an action!
In a nutshell, all of us get to believe in this God, but our belief doesn't provoke this God to pour out any special blessings for us uber-religious folks. Everyone - Jews, Christians, Greeks, Muslims, Buddhists, Mormons - is a child of this God! Accept it! Start looking the people who were once your sworn religious enemies in the eyes, and say, "I see God in you. Welcome to the family." That's the direction this God wants us to be heading in.
Grace and peace to all of you!
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