Christopher Bentley

“For I know well how rebellious and stubborn you are… I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly, turning aside from the way that I have commanded you”. 
—Deut. 31: 27,29

Dear friends,

Today we find ourselves in the orbit of Moses in his last days. Ailing and frail, he summons Joshua and will soon deliver his Song of Moses. God has made it known through Moses that the people will continue to turn away from God. Israel will reach the promised land, yet in their prosperity they will abandon their faith and reject God (yet again). 

This can serve as a mirror for us. It’s not an easy reflection, but there is grace at work here. Despite the relative and often illusory prosperity in America, this distance from God and the loss of faith is just as common as it was for ancient Israel. And of course, this turning away is also a result of suffering and not just prosperity (hello, Psalm 22!). Some of us, including yours truly, may be familiar with this kind of loss, and I’m sure the rest will know the despair of seeing loved ones experience a crisis of faith.

God grants us agency despite ourselves. Throughout history the proclivity to worship other gods or idols is as predictable as the tides. And yet in great wisdom, again and again, God graciously and painfully allows us to get exactly what we have chosen: we reap what we sow. 

Miraculously, when the harvest is wanting, when we stray or fall, God does not abandon us. In this brokenness we truly know the goodness of God and we are invited to return, to be healed. As St. Paul reminds us today, “everyone who calls on the Lord shall be saved,” (Romans 10:13): everyone.

How blessed we are to receive this unparalleled mercy. There is great joy in the knowledge and understanding that we are not God. We are creatures in this world. And as creatures, we are the object of the most pure and unending love, brought about by the ultimate sacrifice (paraphrasing Rt Rev Rowan Williams).

Let us be grateful today for the gift of agency, for returning home, for unending love and mercy.

Peace,

— Christopher