Say "YES" and GO! Proper 21 Pentecost 18A 1st October 2023

2023 10 1  PROPER 21 (26)  Pentecost 18 A

Exodus 17:1-7 and Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16  •  Philippians 2:1-13  •  Matthew 21:23-32

 

Modern life could almost be titled, “The exhausted life.”  There seems to be so many demands.  It is, in many ways, a dry and barren wilderness and we too need to come to the rock of Christ from whom living waters flow.  In this world of so many varied and passionate opinions we need that solid rock of Christ that we can trust in, stand on and rest.  We are nourished by the living waters, Christ’s Holy Spirit, that brings us the life and teaching of Christ.  Yet spare a thought for those Israelites who travelled by stages from the wilderness of Sin to Rephidim.  They were exhausted and they were frustrated.  What’s more, this place had no drinking water.   So, they grumbled.

 

God had already feed them with quail meat and bread from heaven, but the people are grumbling again.  They have good reason to grumble, but they are so slow to learn that they only need to ask.  They are God’s chosen people and he WILL provide.  We also, are God’s chosen people.  What is the message for us? God will provide.  In all our confusion of modern life, Christ is our rock.  His ways are life, and from Him flow living waters.

 

The number of Israelites who left Egypt was about 600 000.  I say, “about”, as it is unclear whether this number included women and children.  Mackay’s current population is under 138 000.  These people needed leadership, and the feeding and watering of them was also no small feat. 

 

The people questioned; “Is the Lord among us or not?”  In times that test our faith, we too cry; “Is the Lord among us or not?” – I do.  I confess, I’m no better than these quarrelling Israelites.  When there is a need, no matter what it is, we tend to become anxious and question whether God really does care for us. – Or is that just me?

 

God has proven himself over and over again, in our lives and in the stories that we read.  God’s love for His people is such that He provides, even though there is quarrelling with Him.  Last week we read about God providing the quail meat and manna in the desert.  What can we learn from these ancient interactions with God?  If nothing else, these stories speak so loudly about the faithfulness and provision of God.

 

As an individual, do we have a need, that we are thinking can’t be provided?  What is God saying to us?  As a church, do we have a need, that we are thinking can’t be provided?  What is God saying to us as a church about this?

 

Last week we discovered the provision of God – He sent the manna, but the people still had a work to do… they had to collect it and make it into bread.  Yet God also provided for them so that they were not just nourished, but could enjoy a time of rest. Last week I left us all with a question.  What is the work that God is calling us to do?  I would like us all to continue prayerfully contemplating this question, as we place ourselves in the shoes of the two brothers mentioned in our Gospel reading, asked by their father to do some work for him.

 

To recap; Jesus is asked what his authority is for the healings he performs.  Jesus was getting quite a following and the more established groups saw him as a threat.  Jesus’ teaching came from God.  John the Baptist’s teachings were from God also.  Jesus answered their question with his own question, making it clear that the baptism of John and Jesus’ own authority were both from God himself.

 

John the Baptist and Jesus had a God given role.  They fulfilled that role perfectly.  All God’s people are called to fulfill a God given role.  Those Pharisees were called to fulfill a God given role.  The nation of Israel was called to fulfill a God given role.  As God’s chosen nation, Israel was to be a light to the nations around.  They had the law and ways of God that would be a standard of goodness and good life.  Those things included caring for the widows and the poor, providing impartial justice and caring for the land such that even the land enjoyed a time of rest each 7^th year.  This way of living included a year of freedom for slaves and a year of Jubilee.  Many good things!!

 

Much like the son who said, “Yes” to his father’s call to work in the vineyard, the nation of Israel said yes to being the chosen nation of God, and “Yes” to following the law with it’s many traditions, but they didn’t actually follow through to present the mercy, grace and goodness of God to the rest of the world because, although they kept the letter of the law, they followed their own self interests instead of God’s call to love and mercy.

 

The first son said, “No” to the father.  Basically, No, I don’t want to do the work – I want to go my own way and do my own thing.  Jesus explained that this “Son”, represents those who were the religious outsiders, the tax collectors and prostitutes.  These initially rejected the ways of God, but later, upon reflection from the teaching of John the Baptist, realized that God’s way was a better way and they accepted.  They accepted God’s truth, they repented and were baptised by John.

 

“Repent” – there is a word loaded with connotations of sin and sorrow!  However, to repent simply means to change your mind and go in the other direction.   The Pharisees and the religious of Jesus day didn’t see that they had anything of which to repent.  They believed they were the keepers of God’s ultimate truth and they were following God.  They kept the law of God, gave sacrifices and kept the Sabbath as a day of rest.\  They kept the letter of the law but failed to understand the spirit of the law.  The Spirit of the law is not a New Testament idea.  In the book of Micah it clearly states that what God requires is simply this; (Micah 6:8) “ He has Showed You, O Man, What is Good. and What Does The Lord Require of You? to act justly and to Love Mercy and to Walk Humbly with Your God.”

 

Every single one of us who are called to be God’s people, are called to work in God’s vineyard.  We all have a God given role.  For each of us the call is different, but we know from the many great characters in the Old Testament that age, gender, occupation and social standing is no barrier to the call. 

 

In some way, shape or form, God is calling each of us today, to some action today.  God also calls us collectively as a church.  The Anglican church acknowledges this and has this thing called the five marks of Mission.  These five are:  1.         To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom  2.        To teach, baptise and nurture new believers   3.            To respond to human need by loving service   4.            To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation   5.       To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth.   The church may collectively say “yes” to the calling, but the church collective is made up of many individuals who also need to be saying “Yes”, otherwise we are the son who says “Yes” and does nothing.   

 

Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians urges the believes in how they ought to live and the attitudes and values he encourages are attitudes and values for a mission-based church, as he encourages them; “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.  Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”

 

When there are conflicts in organisations, you can bet the root of the problem will be that one of more of those involved is striving to put themselves above others.  And the most difficult offenders do this out of selfish ambition and conceit, usually because they feel that no one will treat them with respect unless they grab hold of that little bit of perceived power.  The Christian counter-culture encourages us to regard others as better than ourselves.

 

It was drummed into me as a little girl, that none of us should think poorly of ourselves – the nuns taught us, that is false pride.  Each of us are so valuable to God, that Christ willingly came, suffered and died for us.  BUT, along with this we were taught that others are also, so valuable to God that Christ willingly came, suffered and died for them.  Do you recall the parable of the lost sheep, where he leaves the 99 who are safely together and seeks out that one that is lost.  We need to understand that we are meant to have this heart of God.

 

When I celebrate a baptism, I tell a story, and part of that story speaks about how, just as we look to see who a new baby looks like… we later notice parts of their personality that might echo members of their family also.  But NOW, as a baptised child of God, we expect that with God’s Holy Spirit alive and working in us, we hope that people might look at us and say, “Oh look, they are just like their heavenly Father!” 

 

When we say, “yes” to God’s call- and put that “yes” into action, we allow God’s spirit the freedom to grow in us and mould us into His image.  Saint Paul encourages the Philippians; “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

 

This doesn’t mean that we have to work to earn salvation, but there is a meaning lost in the translation.  Our salvation was made sure by Christ.  It is a done deal, accomplished once and for all by Christ.  However, as we live, carrying out our God given role, we know that it is God at work in us, enabling us to will and work, and as we do, that God in us… in the inner part of our being, is worked outwards so that the God in us becomes obvious to others. 

 

In fact, we are the rock in the wilderness of a thirsty and exhausted modern world. We stand as a firm witness to the goodness of God.  That goodness of God in us needs to be worked out so that the water of the Holy Spirit can flow and bring nourishment to our community.  We each have a God given role in this life.  For all of us, there is a call to allow that Holy Spirit, living water to flow.  If we are exhausted, we may need the gift of God in each other to nourish us, or to spend time at the rock of Christ and to be refreshed by the Holy Spirit, but we are also called by God to work in his vineyard.   Will we say yes and not go?  Or will we actually go out into the world God loves, reflecting His love and offering the living water?    

 

In our post communion prayer, we actually say yes to this call.  But are we saying yes and not following through?  Father, we offer ourselves to you as a living sacrifice through Jesus Christ our Lord. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory.  Our modern world needs this living water that comes from the rock of Christ – Can we say, “Yes” and go?

God Provides! Pentecost 17 or Proper 20 A 24th Sept 2023

2023  09  24  PROPER 20 (25)  Pentecost 17  Year A

Exodus 16:2-15  Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45    Philippians 1:21-30  •  Matthew 20:1-16

God Provides!   Today’s readings could be a newspaper heading where the subject is the goodness of God and the response of His people.   You and I are called to respond to God’s grace.

In our Old Testament reading, we find that the Israelites who had been rescued miraculously from Egypt are once again grumbling against their leaders, Moses and Aaron.  God provides!  The people Grumble!

Would we be any different?  Are we any different?  We grumble at our own leaders.  It doesn’t matter if it is the Government, the Mayor, our School Principal, or the President of our organisation, we just seem to be really good at grumbling.  Are we fair to grumble against them?  What I know about one organisation that I have been a part of is that, one of the biggest grumblers became the secretary and then realized that the job was much bigger than could be handled, and the resignation was handed in before the year was done.

Moses made it clear to the Israelites that it wasn’t actually him that they were grumbling against, but God himself.  Then, as the group was spoken to about the issue, God showed up.  The people looked towards the wilderness and the glory of God was seen in the cloud.  It amazes me that these people constantly had the goodness of God and the presence of God with them and yet they still grumbled.  Are we any different?  God provides – We…. Still grumble.

Regardless of the attitude of the Israelites, God lavishes them with good things.   And God does this with us also.  God’s grace is abundant!  I know of people who rave about the tastiness of quails.  Then there was this other stuff, which they called “Manna”  - the bread from heaven.  Each day there was enough bread for the day, but on the day before the Sabbath there would be twice as much, so that nothing needed to be gathered on that day and the community could rest.  In God’s abundant gift, there is even provision for resting.

Can we trust God that he will provide for us?  God clearly states that with this bread from Heaven He would test the Israelites to see if they would trust him and only collect the correct amount.  What do you think?  Did they pass the test?  Spoiler alert – No!  The weirdest thing was that if they collected too much so that they had left overs, it was rotten the next day, BUT not on the Sabbath.  God cares for our needs and can provide us with exactly what we need for today… and if we need a time to rest, I believe He will provide us with a way to cover that also.  

There are some pretty depressing things about the world at the moment and it seems like a downward spiral where even children are growing up without a sense of hope.  Into this picture of the future God interrupts us with a message about the delicacy of quail meat and exquisite bread from Heaven.

The Israelites were in a land that was barren.  They were in the wilderness of the desert for forty years, but they were fed by God himself who gave them the work of gathering their food without allowing greed, and yet even gave them a provision for rest each week.  In this world, we need to be a people of hope… prophets of hope… declaring the word of the Lord, who declares that He will provide for us - abundantly.  Yes, we may be in a wilderness and there may be danger on every side.  Yes, we may feel dispossessed, not knowing the security of our former ways, but God can and will provide all that we need for today… and on the 6th day He will provide double, so that we can rest.

Saint Paul, knew the contentment of one who trusted completely in God.  He wrote to the Philippians from prison.  He didn’t know if he was going to live or die.  The Philippians knew this, and were worried for him also.  What is St. Paul’s response?  “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.”

Saint Paul had to face the fact that he might be going to be put to death and he came to terms with it in this way; To live is Christ and to die is gain.  Saint Paul had met Jesus in a most dramatic way.  He knew the provision of God.  What’s more Saint Paul knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt that death was not, as is many think, an end to our life and the entering into nothingness.  

I love the way that Shakespeare mirrors this quote from Paul and then expands it for his character’s own musings and understanding.  In the play of Hamlet, he says; “To be, or not to be, that is the question:  Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep, No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to:”  Shakespeare’s character goes on to realize that death is not the end.  The quote from Hamlet goes on to muse how in death, it may be likened to sleep and in sleep we dream, and the question is posed, “To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause—there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life.”  

I wish that we could get back to a society that, in the least thinks like Shakespeare.  We have incredibly high suicide rates.  We don’t hear about them, as they are not publicised.  We have an unprecedented number of organisations educating us all on how to speak with and support those who are contemplating suicide, but none of them comes from a position like Shakespeare who certainly also believed in a life after death and asks the question about what may come.   Shakespeare makes it known to his audience that there is a life after death and therefore his character is unsure if it is better or worse than living.

God gives us our physical life.  He calls us into being and provides for us.  The Bible tells us that the blessing of God is a long life and so we know that the life that God intends for us, is a good and long life.  The Israelites in the desert, still had to go out and collect their provisions and work to turn it into the bread that they ate.  But God ensured that it was there and it was good.

Saint Paul had a calling, a God given work, to spread the Good News of the Gospel.  His life did not enjoy such a length, where as Saint John did.  For both of them to live was Christ and to die was to be with the Lord.  In giving their life to Christ they gained an abundant life such that, unlike Hamlet, who contemplated the lessor of two evils, Saint Paul contemplates the better of two goods.  He concludes that God still had some value in his earthly life and so he knew he would continue.

The life that God gives us, is not just about whether we have God’s work here to do, but that God delights to give us this life and He desires for us to rejoice in it.  He shows us in the readings today, just how we should think about that life so that we can enjoy it and today’s readings reenforce the message that God is good and in trusting his provision, he will not disappoint, but will surpass our expectations. 

Our Gospel reading begins with a worker gaining employment for the day, agreeing to the wage of 1 denarius.  This amount was the standard for a day’s wage and was enough to provide for an average family.  Think about this; Dad works and earns enough for Dad, Mum and the rest of the family.  The average family in those days was four to eight people.  That is a generous wage!  God provides!  In many ways this is the same as the Israelites gathering enough Manna for one day.

Those workers who were hired later still received one denarius; enough to provide for their families for one day.  They hadn’t worked the whole day, but they were in the market place prepared to work.  No doubt, all of them needed to provide for a family – they all received what they needed, regardless of time worked.

Some were jealous.  … the people grumbled!!  They thought they deserved more.  Who do these people represent?    In the church denominations there is often Jealousy.  Why is it that the new church is growing while those who’ve been here doing the job of keeping the faith through all kinds of trials seem to be just getting by?  This is just one example and I’ll leave you to contemplate other applications.  What matters is the message that Jesus is teaching us; God will give us what we need.  God provides!

I often think of this scripture in regards to those who may think that Heaven is a matter of gold brick houses and they are working to have a better house in Heaven.  Heaven does not work that way.  The best prize we could ever have, is the love of God, and you cannot have more of that, than you already have. 

The love that God has for us is so amazing, that he came as one of us and died for us, so that nothing need ever separate us from that love… even if at some point we rejected him.  Jesus is the bread from Heaven.  God provides….  

Saint Paul, knowing that he might not see the Philippians again leaves them with this advice; “… live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ,..”  

We can be thankful when we don’t suffer for Christ, but we need to so feed on Christ, the bread of Heaven that we become totally secure and aware of God’s love.  Only then can we be prepared to stand up for the Gospel values regardless of what people think of us.  In all that we do we strive to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ –   We live to please God first and foremost.   And God is good.  We can never have more of his love than we already do.  Grasping this reality, we will find the strength to live our lives working for God’s purposes.  

We can choose to grumble about the state of the world, but we are actually called to be the prophets of hope.  Secure in the love and salvation of God, we cannot loose, but out there in the world are people who don’t know this hope and they desperately need to know that God loves them and has provided for their eternal salvation.  They will only come to know this hope through us.  We don’t need to get too far ahead of ourselves, worrying about not having the resources for tomorrow, but we do the work God calls us to today, and trust God for his provision in tomorrow.  God provides!

Resting in the amazing love of God, let us pray for God’s direction as we labour in his vineyard…. Where is God calling us to be working today?  

Forgiveness - 17th September 2023 Pentecost 16 or Proper 19A

                                                   2023 09 17  Proper 19a  Pentecost 16

Genesis 50:15-21  Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13    Romans 14:1-14    Matthew 18:21-35

The key message in all our readings today, can be summed up as this; We are not to look down in judgment on one another and we must forgive.   Wow! What an easy sentence to write, and what a difficult reality to live…. In fact, it feels like a condescending thing to say, because it gives no indication of how hard it is for all of us, to actually live it.

 

However, some have been able to live it in extreme circumstances.  Do you know the story of Rachael Scott?  April the 20^th, in 1999, Rachael was the first person shot in the Columbine Massacre.  She was a Christian and her parents’ book about her life, including her Journal entries and writings to relatives state that this was widely known at her school and a reason for her being shunned by some – even possibly the reason she was targeted first.  A letter of hers that she wrote just days before her death says; “Now that I have begun to walk my talk, they make fun of me. I don't even know what I have done. I don't even have to say anything, and they turn me away. I have no more personal friends at school. But you know what, it's all worth it." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Scott)

 

On 14^th August 2019 Rachel’s father was at Deer Creek High School teaching staff about forgiveness, kindness and overall mental well-being.  Indeed, many of the stories about that shooting involve prayers and forgiveness and this includes the mother of one of the boys who did the shooting. 

 

I recently saw the movie, “The Sound of Freedom” –  A true story about children kidnapped and sold as sex slaves.  Some of these were rescued by a Christian policeman and a few others who risked life and livelihood.  How is it possible to forgive such horrible evil?

 

We have been following the story of Joseph, sold into slavery.  Not kidnapped but sold by his family.  He forgave.

 

If there was one word out of the readings that I think best describes today’s society it would be that word, found in Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans… and the word is “Quarrelling”.   We quarrel about so many things, and we forget to love.

 

One thing for certain, there are no shortages of things to pray about at the moment.  There are so many strong opinions about the political decision making in our society and as Christians, we find ourselves in a very interesting place.  While there can be pressure to speak for one side or another, there are some who would say that the church needs to stay out of politics, but if Christians never got involved in societies’ matters, slavery would still be legal, and many other injustices would still be so prevalent.   Have you noticed that we don’t seem to have made much headway with bullying?  When I look at the behaviour of our media and our Politicians I can understand why this is – they don’t seem to know how to disagree without it becoming a personal attack.

 

I recently read a facebook post that said, “God loves the you, but…” and then it had correction marks on it, that crossed out the “but” and said, “this cancels out that” and a line and circle was drawn around the word “loves”.  This was a post to explain that those who say “God loves the sinner, but hates the sin”, were diminishing the love of God.  What do you think?  To some extent they are correct.  When we read a sentence with “but” in it, we do tend to focus on that latter statement.   For example; the post is correct, but there is more to it.   Hmmm… you see… I just did it.  And now that I have you convinced that we shouldn’t judge – because after all, that seems to be a message in today’s readings, let me just add something more. 

 

If “someone” is being unjust to another person, that “someone” is loved by God.  BUT that does not mean we don’t call that “someone” to cease their actions.  AND that doesn’t mean that we can’t name that unjust action as sin.

As Christians we need to be a voice for the voiceless and speak for those who are suffering an injustice.  We can make judgements about actions.  They are either life-giving, neutral or life-taking.  Ethics in Christianity is complicated and the reason we have so many denominations. We  need to hold our leaders up in prayer, because these people have a responsibility which isn’t just about being loving and life-giving to some, but about understanding the long-reaching effects and benefits or pitfalls for the many.

 

The reality is that on both sides of an arguments there will be valid points, and there are people on all sides who are hurting.  It is a grown-up version of the argument of two children who come crying to Mum with their own side to the sad story and in the end, Mum can only recommend that both of them drop the matter because only God knows who is in the right and who is in the wrong.  Well… that is what Ms Niki the teacher sometimes has to tell the kids, but those are simple matters, which can be dropped.

 

Amid our current social climate, God gives us some direction about how to live.   “14:1 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarrelling over opinions. 14:2 Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.”  The argument of that day being over the eating of meat.  The Jewish people had many rules about what they could and couldn’t eat and in the Jewish tradition, allowable animals needed to be slaughtered in a certain manner, with strict guidelines.  I doubt that the Roman community cared very much about those guidelines and much of the meat available to the Roman Jews and Christian Jews may have been offered to other “gods” or demons.

 

Some thoughts to ponder; God did give specific requirements about food to the Jewish people.  God did also give a definite vision to Saint Peter showing him that all foods were permissible… a whole different understanding to all that Peter had previously known.  By faith, Peter knew that faith was nothing to do with what we eat, but those early Jewish people would have found this idea very strange.    

 

We have this same issue today in the church.  What rules should we follow?  Those who want to please God, read their Bibles and see that Daniel abstained from eating meat and was rewarded for his faithfulness with great health and wisdom and so there are some Christians who think we should all be vegetarians.  This stands in stark contrast to a book I read many years ago that was written by a Christian convert who had previously been a satanic priestess who said that the cult group promoted vegetarianism because it kept people weak and vulnerable to suggestion.

 

We have whole denominations built on some of these legalistic beliefs.  Consider the Seventh Day Adventists and others who believe we must honour Saturday as the Holy Day.  Hmmm… I think Jesus dealt with this one… but obviously he was not obvious enough!  These people who follow these traditions are totally sincere in their faith.  Although, note that this sincerity is regarded as those who are weak in their faith.   How could Saint Paul call such dedicated and sincere people weak in their faith? And are we likewise weak in our faith, trusting in our theology rather than trusting in God himself?

 

Saint Paul understood well the mercy of God and he understood that God chose him not because he had kept the Jewish commandments – and let me tell you, Saint Paul had kept all of them!  He was a Pharisee of Pharisees in his pre-Christ encountered life and it didn’t stop him from killing and persecuting.  Saint Paul knew well that simply keeping the commandments was not enough to be saved.  Then when he encountered Christ, Saint Paul knew that only one thing mattered; Accepting Christ as his Saviour and following him with all his heart, mind and strength – and that he did.

 

By accepting Christ as our saviour, we find that this is the only real thing that matters.  Christ gives us his Holy Spirit and His Holy Spirit leads us and teaches us.  We too have been saved by Jesus Christ.  We follow this truth, but without such a dramatic conversion as Saint Paul, we may take it a little for granted and be like the servant in our Gospel story.  The servant, after being forgiven a great debt by the Master, went and demanded payment from another servant, throwing that one in jail and holding them accountable.  Had the servant forgotten the mercy of his master?  Have we forgotten the mercy of our God?

 

We need to forgive and forgive completely, understanding that there, but for the grace of God, go I.  Joseph forgave his brothers a great injustice.  He was no longer in a position where they could hurt him.  Joseph now had the power.  For some of us, without this kind of power, we may need the help of others or even the law of the land, to protect us from being hurt again.  This forgiveness doesn’t mean that we allow those who have hurt us to continue hurting us, but that we understand God’s love for them and God’s love for us.

 

Saint Paul realized how much God had forgiven him.  John Newton, who wrote the song, Amazing Grace, was formally a slave trader.  John Newton realized how much God had forgiven him.  Neither of these simply said, “God loves the sinner”… they knew that the sin needed to stop.  They had to dramatically change what they were previously doing.  In the case of John Newton, he went on to fight for justice for the enslaved.  He fought to abolish slavery.

 

Saint Paul vigorously spread the truth, the message about Jesus Christ.  Previously he had fought against this truth and considered it a lie.  Now that he knew it to be true, he was willing to lay down his life for it and all his life was about it.

 

Today we are called to recommit to this purpose.  To remember the great saving Grace of God and to accept Jesus Christ as our saviour.  The overflowing of this in our lives will mean we will not look down in judgment on one another and we will forgive.  

 

When we come to our communion time the statement made is; “Body of Christ” – this is our weekly invitation to recommit.  Amen – we accept the Grace and love of God.  May he so fill us with His love and the Holy Spirit that we can serve him with all our heart, mind and strength like Saint Paul, John Newton and Joseph, fighting for justice, but yet forgiving, knowing the love of God for all.