Each person has their own journey of faith. And like any trip or journey, there are ups and downs. Have you ever made a road trip or a holiday excursion where there was no upsetting moments? Remember the last time that you told the kids to be careful with their ice cream cones and one of them dropped the ice cream on the car floor?
When Christian people reflect on their life with God they will have had moments of unexpected grace and moments of great struggle with God. You shouted at God; “How could you have let this happen to me?”
There are moments of great happiness at the grace of God and there a moments where we were furious with God.
Now this is where we need to be challenged to have an adult experience of God. And this Sunday’s gospel story of the enemy planting weeds among the wheat is a perfect example. The wise farmer tells the hired hands to wait until the harvest and then we will separate the weeds from the good wheat. There is a final judgment and it will be left to the hands of God to separate the sinners from the faithful ones.
We live in a world where there is evil. Grown children abandon their aged parents. People cheat each other out of fair wages. Government employees steal resources from the government in ways that are illegal but they know how to cover their tracks. And then we humans make war on one another!
Sin and evil are all too real. No one needs to run far to identify evil. And we all struggle with all the many forms of evil.
And here is where our struggles with the real God (not the god of our preferred preferences) come into play.
God is a God of mercy, healing and forgiveness. God will separate the good from the evil at the last judgment.
The God of mercy challenges us to believe that every human being is always capable of conversion to change from their evil ways and turn toward honesty, compassion and healing for others. We must believe that everyone is always capable of changing their life decisions to a life of goodness and service of God.
Forgiveness is always possible with our God.
When you walk down the street in East Hastings in Vancouver and you see men and women bent over due to the crippling effects of fentanyl addiction, I am challenged to recognize the great love that God has for this very broken and suffering human being.
As we struggle with the real God our faith will mature. How has your faith matured over the years?
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