Love So Deep

"God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." John 3:17

I have never been a fan of reality shows and especially those where viewers rate and throw people off the show. I remember all too well what it felt like, choosing up sides in school for games. The best athletes and the popular kids were chosen first. The rest of us battled for last place, either by pretending not to care or showing off how we had improved since the last embarrassing choosing exercise. Either way, chosen in the bottom of the line up meant living in the outfield, way passed where they started to mow, or sitting on a bench somewhere, all suited up and no where to go. Humans like to judge, like to revel in the fact that they are better than someone else. The someone else is always taken apart unmercifully, judged unworthy. We humans like to be part of the club, the in crowd, the winners. I would suggest that few of us are, and most of us have spent way too much time worrying about the judgment of others.

We find Jesus, still teaching Nicodemus, the Jewish leader who came to him by night. He was fearful of the judgment of others. And Jesus told him that no matter how people judge, that is not what God was about. God is about love and not about judgment. God is about saving not throwing out. In Jesus, the light of God love came into the world, illumining God's desire to be in relationship with all.

I want to try to live today without any judgment of others. What an extraordinary Lenten discipline for us all - to walk down the street without judging and dismissing the people we encounter. Living without shoving people to the outfield, dismissing others because of their looks or life style. I ask God to give me strength today to walk without judgment - to walk in the light of the love of God. May we all have the courage to walk in that light.