IS IT PLAN YET, LORD?

Micah, an interesting prophet who came to know a lot about forgiving love, was commanded to marry a prostitute. What a great guy! He did marry her; she ran away, had affairs, treated him as a wuss; and finally, yes, finally! became a good wife.

Micah 4:6-7 of the Message reads, "On that great day," God says, "I will round up all the hurt and homeless, everyone I have bruised or banished. I will transform the battered into a company of the elite. I will make a strong nation out of the long lost, a showcase exhibit of God's rule in action, as I rule from Mt. Zion, from here to eternity.""

Aside from the title to a great movie in my day,From Here to Eternity, Micah speaks the Word of God to God's people in a different era and yet these words could (or maybe should?)have a strong relationship to today's world. Could it be?

God loves all the world--that's a given. Although it's hard for us to understand as we choose carefully who we love and trust, God's love includes those who trespass on other nations making it hard for "good" citizens and other lovers of their country. God loves everyone, even the most base of individuals. He loves us even knowing our most hideous parts. A blind love we call it, but we say, "Why?" Impossible! Stupid! So, we refuse to give blind love proper recognition, a chance to work. We hesitate to consider its usefulness. We see inconvenience, hardship, trouble, confusion, injustice, and cost, cost, cost.

Yet, isn't forgiveness a command of Jesus? True love, like with Micah, had to carry forgiveness. And how is that working for the American Christian? It's not!! The United States proudly says, "Give me your tired, your broken, your people longing to be free--." The Statue of Liberty awaits them all while we build stronger walls, and stronger rules, and stronger wills against those folks, many of whom are of the Christian faith themselves. Many Jews escaped the ghettos and prison camps by crossing tough, dangerous borders just before WWII. Many good people of all faiths have in the past crossed tough, dangerous borders to freedom over and over again.

What if God has a plan? In Micah, God insists He has a plan to round up all the hurt and homeless and transform them and all who value God into a strong nation under God's rule that will last from now to eternity. What will you then do then, Christian, if this is God's plan? Where will you stand?

I thank you, God, for your forgiving love, for your love for me had to have an addendum of forgiveness. As long as I live, as long as there is a breath in my body, I will try to love with forgiveness, Jesus, just as you had to do for me.

Thanks for listening! jej