Welcome to our broken church

One of my favorite stories from the Gospels is when the woman caught in adultery is brought before Jesus.  (John 8:1-11)   Despite her history and previous mistakes, despite the judgments and hatred from the crowd, Jesus accepts her, loves her, and then invites her to live a fuller life with Him.   Jesus doesn't overlook her sin, but loves her first and embraces her before inviting her to turn away from her past choices.   It is not that Jesus doesn't have standards and is content with her continuing to live her life as she had.   He invites her to live her life with higher standards.   Christ reaches out first in love and then....  invitation.

Maybe this story isn't just about the woman but about the crowd...   Let me cut right to the chase.   Who are the people that God is placing in your life that He is asking you to love and accept?   What if you are the only person right now that could share God's love with that individual?

The reality is, while my sins in my past may not be adultery, I am still a sinner and broken.   And I didn't begin to change because someone called me out, but because I was loved, ultimately by God, but through others and His grace.   I am forgiven and redeemed because I am loved, not because someone pointed out my faults, not because of some good works that I have done.

So who are the hurting, the lost, the lonely, the imprisoned (primarily spiritually by the way) in your life?   Who are the ones that need to be loved?   Because the reality is even the best catechesis, without love and evangelization leads to feelings of condemnation not conversion.   Jesus was able to convert people's hearts and lead them to turn from their ways because He first loved them.

You can stop here.   Plenty to reflect on.   Only read further if you want to be really challenged.

The reality is, even though I am forgiven, I keep on sinning.   Even though I have been healed, there is still illness.   Even though I am made whole, I am still broken.  My need for a savior does not end....   EVER.   We are a broken Church in a broken world.   The only difference is that despite being broken, ill, and sinful, we know that we are truly loved.   This love is not something that we deserve or have earned; it is a gift.  Jesus is the Savior for a broken world and a broken Church.

In this weekend's Gospel Jesus says, "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you." (John 15:12)   Do I really knows that depths of God's love that He has given, and continues to give to me despite my failings and shortcomings that will continue until my first breath into eternity?   It is that same love that He commands us to give others.   It is not a suggestion; it is a commandment.

Why do we worship?   We worship because we are called to be a loving broken Church.   And what greater testimony is there to God's love than this....   He loves me not despite my brokenness, but because of my brokenness.   In fact it is because of my brokenness that I am able to experience the depth of His love and mercy.

How do we worship?   By living our lives showing this divine love to others.   And when we fail and fall short, we turn back to those forgiving, merciful arms.   We experience that love anew, and we try again.