Celebrating our progress

Saturday After Ash Wednesday
Gospel: Luke 5:27-32
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030825.cfm

Redemption is always possible with God. We always have the ability to choose to follow Christ. This choice, while being a point in time, is also a journey. In the story of Levi, he made a commitment to follow Jesus. That was a moment in time, but his journey didn’t end there. It’s not a one-time decision, but a willingness to be open to God’s ongoing work with us and in us. Sometimes the commitment to being changed by God can be easy, and at other times, it can seem unbearable or impossible. In this instance for Levi, it left him driven to celebrate and share with those within his community.

While this was an amazing thing, those who were respected by society as faithful saw Levi and Jesus’s behavior as debauchery. Our revelatory divine experiences and our response to it may not always be seen by others for what it is. This judgment can cause us to backslide and slip. We are all so fragile!

While we may have our own experiences of being victims of such judgment, we may be guilty of unnecessarily judging the progress of others and causing them to backslide as well. We all have the potential to be condemners and victims. It’s easy for us to do given the juxtaposition of confidence and vulnerability we find in revelation.

Regardless of where we are in our journey, God is with us. When we backslide, God is there. With each step forward, no matter how far away it may seem, God is there. As more distance is revealed and our worldview is transformed, God is there. In the midst of our progress, even when there’s judgment from others, God is with us celebrating our progress.