Here comes the Fourth of July,
when too many confuse God with America,
is if God weren’t the God of every nation,
every planet in every galaxy in the universe.
Preachers say we’re a Christian nation
but can’t name a single teaching of Jesus we embody.
But let’s do. Let’s become a Christian nation,
a people of mercy and compassion,
generosity and forgiveness.
Let’s prioritize healing (and health care) for everyone,
even the “undeserving,” and invite everyone
to the table—everyone—since, as Jesus says,
“God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.”
Let’s invite the poor, the disabled, the neglected.
Let’s enact policies that are “good news for the poor.”
Let’s declare the Jubilee of God, the forgiveness of debts,
and release to prisoners.
Let’s welcome the stranger and the immigrant
and do all those things the prophets told us to do.
Let’s welcome the multitudes around the throne
foretold in Revelation, “from every nation,
from all tribes and peoples and languages.”
I’d love to see us become a Christian nation.
Wouldn’t you?
_____
I’m going to take next week off.
I’ll see you the middle of July.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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