prayed: “Jesus Christ, my dear and gracious Lord, you have shown a love greater than that of any man and which no one can equal, for you in no way deserved to die, yet you laid down your dear life for those who served you and sinned against you.”9
The grace of Christ is both for the religiously faithful and the unfaithful. It is for the irreligious and the pious. It is extended to betrayer and friend; to priest and prostitute; to rabbi and rebel. Both the oppressed and the oppressor need the healing grace of Christ. There is no one who does not need this grace. There is no one who is not welcome.
The wideness of Christ’s love is expressed in the wideness of his mercy. And there is room for all.
Prayer
So dear Lord, may all turn to you and pray, whether saint or sinner,
profligate or virtuous, seeker or skeptic. Amen.
Isaiah 48:17–18
January 10
Grateful Faithfulness
The grace and blessing of God are given freely. They don’t come with strings attached. But they do call us to community, worship, faithfulness, responsibility, and service.
God is not first and foremost there for us, as if we are the center of things. We are there for God. And God is no Father Christmas.
God is a covenant-making God, calling us into his grace and goodness and into a relationship where our greatest desire becomes the vision to glorify God and to do his will. St. Clement is clear about this. He writes, “Take care, my friends, that his [God’s] many blessings do not turn out to be our condemnation, which will be the case if we fail to live worthily of him . . . and to do what is good and pleasing . . .”10
Grace issues in gratefulness and obedience and this forms the ethical shape of our lives. This is living life in God, in the Spirit. And this will always be a cruciform life.
Graced by the love of God in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit, we will seek to conform our ways to God’s ways and will. This both honors God and replicates the way of God in our world. Thus godliness shapes all we are and do.
Our activism, therefore, should spring from grace. And it is to be marked by joy and gratefulness.
Thought
A God pleaser will do more for the well-being of humanity than a people pleaser.
1 Corinthians 7:29–31
January 11
Pilgrims
Christians are pilgrims in that they are on a journey of faith leading to on-going growth in Christ. But there are also other journeys that they are called to make in the service to others.
Traditionally, the pilgrim status of the Christian has been cast in terms similar to that articulated by Thomas à Kempis. He writes, “Live as
a pilgrim and a stranger on earth, unconcerned about the world’s cares, and keep your heart free and raised to God, for this earth of ours is no lasting city.”11 Here pilgrimage has to do with our journey towards heaven.
There are also other pilgrim journeys we are called to make. One is the literal one where Christians go on a faith and prayer pilgrimage to a spiritual site. Another is when Christians take time out of their regular routines in order to deepen their prayer life. Thus, a retreat is a form of pilgrimage.
Furthermore, women and men of faith in relocating for the sake of mission and ministry practice a form of pilgrimage. They have heard the call to leave and go into service for the kingdom of God. They become
pilgrims in another culture.
But finally and most profoundly, the call to be a pilgrim is to live in Christ through the Spirit in counter-cultural ways. In step with the
kingdom of God one is out of step with the dominant values of our world. Thus, one is always a pilgrim, even though one remains right where one lives and works.
Thought
The life of a pilgrim marks one for conversion, movement, resistance, and suffering.
1 Corinthians 7:17
January 12
The One Life of Faith
There are not two significantly different ways of living the Christian life: as a monk or as a “lay” person, for example. We may have different vocations and callings, but we are all called to live the one Christian life.
St. John Chrysostom once made the observation that “those who live in the world, even though married, ought to resemble the monks in everything else.”12 This helpful reminder points to the fact that there are not two forms of spirituality with one being higher than the other. Monks by virtue of their vocation are not superior to a Christian artist or business person seeking to live in fidelity to the gospel.
All Christians—whether monk or business person, whether clergy or artist, whether a member of a religious order or a farmer—are called to love God and serve their neighbor. All are called to worship and prayer. All are called to community and participation in the sacraments.
Love is to characterize all. Obedience to the way of Christ is the call to all. To live in the power of the Spirit is the invitation to all.
But we have different gifts, different vocations, and different settings in which we are to live the Christian life in all its textured richness. As Christian’s live their differing vocations this allows for the gospel to shine in all its varied colors and allows for Christians to be salt, light, and leaven in our world.
Thought
There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. There is one Christian life lived out in the diversity of our world. And whether one is a monk or a
Christian politician, all are called to the service of God and to love of neighbor.
1 Samuel 20:17
January 13
Friendship
Relationships lie at the very heart of what it means to be
human. And to have companions on the journey is the extra gift that makes life rich and meaningful.
That our Western emphasis on autonomous individualism has left many people isolated and bewildered should not surprise us. Despite this, the hunger for relationships, friendships, and community continues unabated.
To have friends, therefore, is a great gift. And while God can be one’s most special friend and one’s spouse can fill that role, other friends are also needed.
Friendship can’t be demanded, it can only grow. Friendship can’t be manufactured, it can only come as a gift. Thus, friendship is so often the great surprise. But this surprising gift needs careful nurture through
presence, attentiveness, availability, and care. Friendship can die as easily as it can spring into being.
