“For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ.” — Colossians 2:9.
Saturday afternoon, I walked to the church to take a few photographs. I wanted to write a new “Reasons to go to Church” column, and God spoke to me directly from one of the images. I have taken better photographs of our church, but I don’t think I have shared a better idea.
Right there, walking south on Saint Patrick Street, I noted how the corner stop sign visually covers the church entry. It begs the question, why stop? Why not walk on by?
I can imagine Jesus stepping out from behind something, holding his hand out palm forward like Diana Ross & the Supremes and saying, “Stop! In the name of love.”
The implications give me chills. Just stop. Stop walking. Stop paying attention to those other things that have been on your mind. Stop being distracted. Stop focusing on everything else and not what’s important.
Take pause to think about what Jesus means by “Stop in the name of love.” Because for Jesus, love was — love is — the prime motivating force that led him to distill everything about God into the person and presence of a small, helpless baby.
Love is the lens, the filter through which Jesus pours every moment. Love defined his life and his love was so complete, so captivating, so full with goodness that when it bumped up against the powers of this world, they crucified him. When corruption is confronted by such goodness and purity, what happened to Jesus was inevitable.
This love, like the splitting of an atom, released such power — such a cosmic explosion of grace and goodness and light — that even death is extinguished in the wash, the torrent, the flood, the pure energy of Jesus.
That is what Jesus means by “Stop in the name of love.”
Jesus means each one of us to stop, to look around and to take stock. Then he wants us to walk into church, take a seat, pray and open our hearts to the forgiveness and the promise that belongs to each one of us.
Come to church. Come to Jesus. Come home.
— Derek
