On The Last Day, Jesus Will Look

How I Treat A Brother Or Sister From Day To Day, How I React To The Sin-scarred Wino On The Street, How I Respond To Interruptions From People I Dislike, How I Deal With Normal People In Their Normal Confusion On A Normal Day May Be A Better Indication Of My Reverence For Life Than The Antiabortion Sticker On The Bumper Of My Car.

Jesus Comes Not For The Super-spiritual But For The Wobbly And The Weak-kneed Who Know They Don’t Have It All Together, And Who Are Not Too Proud To Accept The Handout Of Amazing Grace.

The Outstretched Arms Of Jesus Exclude No One, Not The Drunk In The Doorway, The Panhandler On The Street, Gays And Lesbians In Their Isolation, The Most Selfish And Ungrateful In Their Cocoons, The Most Unjust Of Employers And The Most Overweening Of Snobs. The Love Of Christ Embraces All Without Exception.

Everybody Has A Vocation To Some Form Of Life-work. However, Behind That Call (and Deeper Than Any Call), Everybody Has A Vocation To Be A Person To Be Fully And Deeply Human In Christ Jesus.

I Have A Word For You. I Know Your Whole Life Story. I Know Every Skeleton In Your Closet. I Know Every Moment Of Sin, Shame, Dishonesty And Degraded Love That Has Darkened Your Past. Right Now I Know Your Shallow Faith, Your Feeble Prayer Life, Your Inconsistent Discipleship. And My Word Is This: I Dare You To Trust That I Love You Just As You Are, And Not As You Should Be. Because You’re Never Going To Be As You Should Be.