Not only is everything new to you, it can be hard to break into the networks surrounding you. You feel like there is some suspicion over what this new person from a different place might be like, how they might affect the status quo and whether they can be trusted.
Having recently arrived in Echuca-Moama to begin a new season of ministry at Christ Church, Anglican, my wife and I did a lot of research into our new home. It made a huge difference to have heard so many wonderful examples of the community spirit that exists here.
Would the reality for us be as good as the hype we thought we were being fed?
Thankfully, the reality has been far better than we could have imagined in every aspect of our community involvement. Every shop or business we’ve patronised, every social interaction we have experienced and the welcome we have received from colleagues has been heart-warming.
It prompted me to reflect on what it means to be ‘adopted’. For many people, finding out they were adopted brings up difficult questions, but it is also a key concept in the Christian faith. God the Father reaches out to a humanity that has tried to assert its own authority and tried to make it on its own.
And how did that turn out?
Like the younger son in the Bible story we know as ‘The Prodigal Son’, humanity has turned its back on God and gone in search of the bright lights of independence and personal pleasure. Soon enough, when the money runs out, the young man comes to his senses and returns to his father. To his surprise, ‘Daddy’ is waiting and watching for his return. He runs out to meet his wayward son, hugs him, kisses him, gives him jewellery and throws a party!
You could argue that any biological father would do that and one would hope so. But the amazing truth of the Christian gospel is that God the Father offers all people adoption into His family and makes them heirs of the family fortune through the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
In Isaiah 53:6, the Bible says that ‘We all, like sheep, have gone astray’: But God doesn’t give up. He waits. He watches.
Right now, God is preparing a party to which you are invited. It will be beyond all comprehension because it will have people from every nation, tribe and language gathered around a heavenly feast to celebrate the sacrificial act of Jesus on the cross. That one act of love on behalf of humanity paves the way for those who believe to become heirs of God’s Kingdom.
In God’s heaven, there are no outsiders; we are all ‘family’. No matter how long we have been running away from God, His mercy can be relied upon when we are ready to go home to Daddy.
Rev Phil Zamagias
Christ Church Anglican Echuca
18°C