Recently at church the preacher was expounding on the baptism of Jesus in the context of four infant baptisms. She pointed out that parents' love for their children begins even before they are born, then blossoms at birth, even though infants cannot possibly return that love.
This is unconditional love, she said: love that is unmerited and unrelated to any of the activities of the recipient. Babies are loved simply because they are.
God expressed such unconditional love for Jesus at his baptism. Jesus had not yet done anything besides his carpentry: no healings or other miracles, no teaching, no crucifixion. Yet the voice said, "This is my well-beloved son! I am very pleased with him."
Then the preacher took a bold step for a Canadian congregation. She warned them it might make them squirm but asked people to turn to the person next to them and, using their Christian name, to say: "Name, you are well-loved and God is very pleased with you."
It was a powerful moment. People beamed, some with tears in their eyes. Why don't we do this every Sunday? Are the words that God loves us so powerful that we can't bear to hear them?
Too often we pay lip service to God's unconditional love, then begin piling up conditions to contain that love. From such a perspective, a history of Christianity looks more like a preoccupation with sin and divine judgment than with love and divine redemption.
One might make a plausible case that the growth of New Age religions and self-help philosophies is rooted in reaction to the negative perceptions about humanity that Christians have permitted and often fostered.
Oprah Winfrey is not popular because she's wittier or cleverer than other television stars but because she tells viewers that they are essentially good and don't deserve bad things happening to them.
It's true that as we grow older, we learn right and wrong from our parents and others. But that shouldn't come at the expense of unconditional love. Study after study has shown most criminals come from families where they were never loved and supported.
That fact seemed lost during the recent federal election. Although violent crime is decreasing, recent high-profile shootings in Toronto—one of the safest places in Canada—had all party leaders promising to get tough on crime.
Thankfully, God does not treat us this way. Certainly, we need to protect innocents from known criminals, but that is like trying to bolt the barn door too late. The more energy we put into lowering poverty and prejudice in our world, the less violence we are likely to face in the first place.
It's easy to say, "God loves me" glibly. How amazing to say it and mean it.
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Tangible expressions of love abound in the church, no more so than in Presbyterians' support for international development work and the Record. Preliminary figures show that giving to Presbyterian World Service and Development rose to more than approximately $4 million from about $2.5 million in 2004.
At the Record, part of our job is to bring you as many of these stories associated with the mission and development agencies of the church as possible. Publishing a magazine is expensive: printing and postage have increased, as has the cost of travel as energy prices rise.
Traditionally our two sources of revenue have been subscription sales and advertising. Declining membership and overall declining circulation in print publications in North America pose serious challenges for us, especially as advertisers move almost exclusively to large media conglomerates.
To help offset rising costs and diminishing revenue, we launched our first financial appeal in the fall. The results were amazing and hugely heartening.
In all, more than 2,000 donors contributed over $90,000 to the appeal; many sent encouraging notes that were much appreciated. Your support will help us to provide you with more and better national and international coverage of the work of the Presbyterian Church and its ecumenical and development partners around the world.
Thank you!
