Monday, September 22
Festival of St. Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist
Ephesians 2:4-10
4 God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.
“… 4 God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ …”
The forgiveness of God goes a lot farther than just letting us off the hook for somethings we’ve done or said. Rather than just releasing us from our transgressions – forgive and forget – God transforms us, making us new. By the love of God, we are transferred from death to life.
When the first European settlers arrived in north central Pennsylvania in the late sixteen hundreds, the mountains and valleys were flush with large evergreen and deciduous trees hundreds of years old. It was a vast, majestic, natural forest. By the end of the nineteenth century, those vast forests had been clear cut, the timber harvested for lumber and building products that were exported throughout the world.
By the time I came along in the early 1950’s, much of the forest had recovered; and today’s forests, while not as vast or majestic, still cover those many of those same mountains and valleys.
The writer of Ephesians reminds us of God’s love which transforms our vast sinful selves into a new growth of love, hope and peace. This is not our doing but totally according to God’s will. Like those forests in Pennsylvania, we are made new.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the gift of Your love and the new life You offer to me and to all the world through Jesus Christ. Amen.