31See what love
the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is
what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are
God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know
is this: when he is revealed,
we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify
themselves, just as he is pure.
4. Everyone who commits sin is guilty of
lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You
know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins;
no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you.
Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
A few years ago, Joel and I
were driving to St. Joseph and a song I love came on the radio. I cranked up the volume and began to sing
along (be glad you were not in the car with us). He got a strange look on his face and asked,
“Is there something you’re trying to tell me?”
The song was Amy Winehouse’s
“You Know I’m No Good.” It’s a song
about a woman who cheats on her husband, “I cheated myself; like I knew I
would. I told you I was trouble. You know I’m no good.” (At the time Joel was living in Kansas City
while the girls and I were living in Mound City—1.5 hours away)
I rolled my eyes at him and
laughed, “of course not!”
It was funny but I remember a
time when I felt the same way, that I was no good. I can’t tell you where that idea came
from—I’m not sure. But for a very long
time I believed that I was no good. I
remember panicking right before Joel and I were about to get married. I tried to get him to break off the
engagement because I was afraid that he would see who I really was. I was afraid, that I might end up being
unfaithful just as I had seen some members of my family be unfaithful. When I listen to Amy Winehouse’s song, I
remember those feelings. I can belt them
out driving in my car and I am thankful that I know better now. That I am good, I am not doomed to repeat
someone else’s mistakes.
This has come through my
journey of faith. It is because of
Christ Jesus that I know that I am worth more than I previously thought. I may not be “good” on my own—none of us
are. But because of Jesus, because of
God’s great love for us, we are worth more than we know. Through Christ we are made whole. Christ meets us wherever we are in our lives
and loves us as we are but does not leave us as we are—we are transformed,
changed into something more wonderful than we could ever imagine, into someone
more like Christ.
This week as I listened to
“You Know I’m No Good,” I thought about Amy Winehouse. She was a beautiful young woman with an
incredible voice. She was also addicted
to alcohol and drugs, caught up in an abusive relationship. She was a mess. I’d guess that she truly believed that she
was no good.
I wondered how different her
life could have been had she received a gift of grace; had been shown God’s
love; had really experienced God’s assurance that she was more than what the
drugs, alcohol, and abusive husband could take away from her. Had anyone told her she was more than her
amazing voice? That she was a child of
God and beloved? That grace could come
in and heal her broken heart that was obviously desperate for something to fill
the hurt.
The core of John’s message is
that God is love. God is light. God’s love lights up the world. God’s love penetrates the darkness and
overcomes it. We have been adopted as
children of the light; as children of God.
We are to take that light, that love and spread it throughout the world.
Sometimes though we get
caught up in sin and the sin of self-righteousness; we get caught up in the
darkness. We look for others’ sin and
darkness, casting them out, pushing them aside. And we forget that we are
children of the light—that we are to be like Christ. That Christ came not for those who were good
but those who were desperately in need of saving, someone like me, someone like
Amy Winehouse, someone like you.
We are to be bearers of the
light—bringing God’s grace to those in need, those stuck in the dark. As we become more and more like Christ, we
will feel the need to judge others less and less. This means that instead of sitting in
judgment we reach out a hand—we help someone get out of an abusive
relationship, we walk with them as they struggle to break the chains of
addiction—we don’t push them further into the darkness.
Let us go into the world,
sharing the light, the love of God. Let
us be a witness to the Light.
1 comment:
Thank you Crystal
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