Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)
Jews or Greeks, slaves or free. Today that might read Christian or Muslim, rich or poor, conservative or liberal. We have so very many ways we divide ourselves from one another. The image of God does not conform to class lines, race distinctions, political beliefs, or ethnic identity. The image of God transcends all the distinctions and prejudices that separate us as human beings.
One of the central messages of the Gospel is that, as humanity is created in the image of God, we are all God’s children. Here, at the Church that Feeds People, we express this in our vision that one day, by God’s grace, On earth as in heaven, all are welcome, all are fed, and all are loved. We hold this vision as a present reality and as a future hope.
It is a present reality in sacred connection we experience in our worship when we stand together, praying as one, in our singing as our voices join to create melody and harmonies that elevate the words we sing to beautiful prayer, and in our ministries as we work, shoulder to shoulder, to feed the hungry in body and spirit.
It is a future hope in the truth that we witness every day: people in our communities are homeless, hungry, and alone. We are reminded of the distant hope of our vision by every unsanctioned tent encampment we pass under freeways or on the medians of off-ramps.
Thank God that we experience the present reality of God’s love among us here at St. Dunstan’s Church. Our vision is already true even if it has not yet been fully realized. This gives us the courage and strength to continue to live to for a vision of heaven and earth coming together as one for all people, where all are welcome, all are fed, and all are loved.
Yours in Christ,
David+