God rubs off on us.

Rom 5:1-11  Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.  For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.  But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.  Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.  For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.  But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Paul speaks about taking pride in the glory of God. This is not earned, but instead it rubs off on us from spending time with God. I remember taking my wife out to dinner: she had got all dressed up. Eyes, hair, special perfume. After a lovely evening, when we came home, we went to say good night to the children: one of them kissed me and then exclaimed “You smell just like Mommy”. Her perfume had rubbed off on me! In the same way the glory of God rubs off on us when we spend time with God. This is captured in the story of Moses on Mount Sinai. Moses came down and everyone could see the glory of God, because it had rubbed off on him. (Exodus 24:39).

 It is not our own, it is the presence of God. This then is both an invitation and a challenge. The invitation is to spend time with God, and allow the character of God to rub off on me. The challenge is to then live as one who shows the glory of God. I can therefore never be satisfied with ‘second best’ behavior. I am God’s billboard/advertisement. I am to invite people to look at me – because my hope is in the glory of God “because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us”.  

 

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Fifth  Sunday of Easter

Love is the Sign
Scripture reading taken from A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants p.167