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THE REALITY OF JESUS' LOVE AND HIS POWER TO LOVE WITHOUT WALLS
October 2005
We continue to explore the meaning of Jesus' Love, Read Zechariah 2:1-5.
The power to Love without walls. Zechariah believed that the New Jerusalem would be a city without walls because it must contain many varied people. The only wall it needed was the protection of God. Barrier building is a sign of the failure of our imagination and shows our lack of trust in God.
Have you heard about Taize - a community without walls?
Taize is a small village in south-eastern France. In that small village lives a community of monks who spend their lives in prayer, work, and reflection, led by a man called Brother Roger. People come from all over the world and from all Christian traditions, often in large numbers, to spend a week or two with the community. This is what one young person wrote about the experience:
"I found myself spending a week with a thousand or more people from all over the world. There was an Australian lad who seemed to have found the place almost by accident; there was a group of young Poles proudly wearing their solidarity badges; and a lovely girl from Eire who spoke French, German, some American, African, and English as well as Gaelic. There were Dutch people who seemed to speak something of everything, and lots of German people.
The worship was amazing. In the silence a solitary voice sang Alleluia! and was answered by..... one hundred? a thousand? ten thousand? voices singing Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia - it could have been the angels in heaven the sound was so deep and so sweet. The rest of the time was spent in groups which were as international as possible, though with care taken that there was a common language or adequate translation available - and in those groups we lived, worked, discussed and prayed together for the whole week.
At the top of the information sheet we were given on the first day it said 'Taize is a place to search for God and faith in Christ a meaning of life'. Further down the page it asked us to begin our time at Taize thinking about this:
'You are searching for God: you are aware that what matters most is the welcome you extend to Christ the risen Lord. By his presence, always offered to each person, by his forgiveness, he brings you to life. By placing your confidence in him and by forgiving, you will break out of your inner prisons to dare to commit yourself as a pilgrim of reconciliation, even in the divisions of the Christian family and those which tear apart the whole human family'
This is not a super-pious place where religion is far removed from reality. It is a hard place to be because it demands decision - maybe only little ones - but you come home a different person. It brings you into contact with people you have never met, whose very being challenges your previously held assumptions.
Jesus' ministry created a community without walls - where everyone knew they were welcomed, loved, and cared for. Our community here at St Matthew's as well as at Taize tries to built love, care and commitment to Jesus' Kingdom principles beyond colour, race, and creed. Building on the foundation which the prophets believed; the words God had spoken through his prophets before Zechariah also applied to Zechariah's generation, and they are still relevant for us today.
Because God's word endures, we must read, study, and apply what is preserved for us in Scripture. Learn the lessons of God's word so you will not have to repeat the mistakes of others.
Modicum
Quote
Young people are learning to distinguish choices and consequences, deciding for themselves how they will live.
© Lifewords, Scripture Gift Mission, 2005
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