Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, May 4, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
God’s love cannot be limited. In Paul’s time this might have seemed a simple dichotomy: Jew and Gentile. The Jews were God’s people, the Gentiles were not. And Paul, a devout Jew, stood up and said, “God’s love is for everyone, not just the Jews.” Which, at the time, was mind-blowing.
Of course, the world then was far more complex than that, and I would say that today, in part simply because of awareness, it is even more complex. We define ourselves according to so many varied criteria it’s hard to categorize anyone wholly into this or that group (not for lack of trying of course). And we’re so overwhelmed by all the nuance in humanness that some of us stubbornly cling to old, simplistic categories that essentially boil down to “like me” and “not like me” and try to limit God’s love to those who are “like me.”
But I’ll say it again. God’s love cannot be limited. It is for everyone without exception. And it’s not for me to decide who and how God loves anyway. So it’s best if I just stay human and let God be God.
Do I believe there are people who don’t meet the criteria for God’s saving love?
