Is everybody in?

from vox.com

The job of the peacemaker is to stop war, to purify the world, to get it saved from poverty and riches, to heal the sick, to comfort the sad, to wake up those who have not yet found God, to create joy and beauty wherever you go, and to find God in everything and everyone.  Muriel Lester

Poor Starbucks.

Every year as we approach the Holiday Season, Starbucks gets flack for serving their coffee in cups that aren't Christmas looking enough. The cups are green and not red, which is enough for the company to be vilified for taking Christ out of Christmas, as though Christians can only be identified by the colour of the cup we drink our coffee from during the holiday season.

The CEO and Chair of Starbucks, Howard Schultz gave this defence:

"The green cup and the design represent the connections Starbucks has as a community with its partners (employees) and customers. During a divisive time in our country, Starbucks wanted to create a symbol of unity as a reminder of our shared values, and the need to be good to each other."

He has a point. The lead up to the election of the next U.S. President has been divisive. And though he said nothing about Christians, admittedly we have been more inclined to add to that divisiveness rather than bridging the divide.

But can we as Christians be anything but divisive? I mean we do believe in heaven and hell, we do await a Final Judgment and we do draw a line between what is true and what is false, between what is good and what is evil. But we also believe that we are not to judge, and that if vengeance is required, that's God's business and not ours. We are to do good regardless of who's involved, to turn the other cheek regardless of who hits us and how hard, we are to love our enemies without exception as though they are as much God's children as we are.

Which has me asking: Is everybody in God's kingdom? When I die and face God, will I discover that everyone's in regardless?

I simply don't know. The sacred texts seem universal in that all you need is love, that God desires mercy over judgment and even though we are deeply flawed, we are, because of Jesus, blameless in her eyes.

What I do believe is that if anyone is in, it's because of Jesus. He pointed at the void before the worlds began and said 'let me go there, die if I must to affirm that life prevails over death, love over hatred, peace over war, giving over greed, mercy over judgment.'

His bodily resurrection overwhelms the void regardless of where the void is. Even in the places where all you can smell is death.

What I do know is there are people living among us who are already in God's kingdom: poor people, deeply discouraged people, people unjustly treated, and people persecuted for what they believe. In his kingdom already are humble people, downtrodden and vulnerable people, people the world stomps on in the name of prosperity and renown. They are child soldiers dying in a war not their own, they are mothers and infants in famine, they are elderly and dying alone. They are homeless, friendless, vilified, despised. They are the ones we do not honour whom God calls her own.

They're already in. They are the people God calls blessed - not blessed as in will be, but blessed as in now.