Share These Gifts!

Today’s message was written by Rev. Roger Kunkel, founder of Dial Hope.

The musical “Godspell” has many wonderful scenes. One of my favorites is a scene toward the end when Jesus is with his disciples in the Upper Room. He takes a bucket of water, a rag, and a mirror, and he goes to his disciples, each in turn, and washes away their painted clown faces. Then he holds the mirror up in front of them, so they can see themselves as they really are. And then, he hugs them!

The point is clear and powerful: We don’t have to wear false faces, we don’t have to pretend. God loves and accepts us, just as we are!

Friend of Dial Hope, this is the Christian faith in three words: WE ARE ACCEPTED. God loves us. God loves us and accepts us. Now, here’s the other side of that coin: God wants us to accept that love and pass it on to other people. He wants us to live in that same kind of grace-filled loving spirit. He wants us to imitate his generosity in our dealings with others. He wants us to extend to other people the same kind of “amazing grace” that he has extended to us. That’s the measuring stick of Christian love – to be as generous and kind and forgiving toward others. In this eighth month of the year, don’t stop… don’t stagnate. There is more to life than you have found thus far. It is so important to stay alive as long as you live. With God’s help, you can do it!

Let us pray: Loving God, thank you for this wonderful journey we call life. Help us remember that you are with us every step of the journey. We thank you for ages past and ages still to come, for the wisdom of scripture, the means of grace, the bonds of faith, the hope that springs from the eternal and fills our hearts. We pray in faith and with thanksgiving, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.