LOVE Lent 37

Scripture

But you, beloved, must remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; for they said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts.’ It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on some who are wavering; save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.

Jude 17-23

Reflection

The letter of Jude is essentially a sermon.  In it, Jude preached against practices and doctrines that put the Gospel of Christ in peril.  These were serious issues, and Jude dealt with them seriously.  In this portion of Jude’s Letter, Jude is calling on the community to focus on their journey with God.  To root themselves deeply in their faith, in prayer, and in God’s love.  God’s love is to be their anchor and their grounding.  They are to be merciful and show compassion to others who are struggling to stay rooted. Jude’s letter is a kind of spiritual re-centering. 

It can be tempting, (if one reads the entirety of the Letter) to read it as an “us” and “them” scenario, with good on one side, and bad on the other.  Divisions within community always have a way of taking God out of the center.  When this occurs, God’s love and grace become peripheral.  A Community that’s rooted in the Gospel, with God at the center, is a community rooted in love.  Jude is offering a warning, and a way to avoid community brokenness.  To remain rooted and centered in God’s love.   

Prayer

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there is hatred let me bring your love
Where there is injury, your pardon Lord
And where there's doubt, true faith in you

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there's despair in life let me bring hope
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there's sadness ever joy

Oh, master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul

Make me a channel of your peace
It isn't pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all that we receive
And in dying that we're born to turn around

Oh, master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there's despair in life let me bring hope
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there's sadness ever joy