R. Is love real? I think most of us would say, “Yes”, but we cannot see it, touch it, feel it in our hands. Except, we can do all those things because we do see it in the couple, married for fifty plus years, who still hold hands. We touch love when we hug our mother, our sweetheart, our friend. We feel love when that baby looks up at us, smiles, and reaches out.
This is similar to the way we know God is real. Martin Luther pointed to nature as a means of knowing God is real. The wonder of creation, in all its complexity and beauty, was a sign of God’s work. We also know the reality of God in the same way we know love. We see it in others. Especially others who we trust. I know God is real because I was taught this by Jean, daughter of Beatrice. Who learned it from her mother, Marian. And they have not steered me wrong in my life. I also know God is real because I have experienced the same things that my mother and father and countless others who I trust have told me. I have felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room. I have seen how God acts in my life. I have experienced the presence of evil and felt the power of God to work wonders in this world. I have felt the peace that comes over me when I pray and confess my sinfulness.
Can we see God in the same way we can see the President, or the Pope, or the Grand Canyon? No, but there are still many witnesses to the reality of God in the world. Jesus is one such witness. The presence of the Church, the assembly of believers, the persistence of this belief in the face of great persecution is witness to the reality of God.
As Paul says in 2 Corinthians, “we walk by faith, not by sight”. We trust, have faith, that what those we love has taught us is real. We trust, have faith, because we have experienced that reality ourselves. We trust, have faith, because that is the gift given to us.
Let me know if you have further questions by contacting me.
God’s Blessings,
Pastor Brian
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