Isn’t it interesting how often the mercies of God are conveyed —

We have a group in our church working through the Bible Study called Disciple (2): Into the Word, Into the World.  This United Methodist resource is an intense investigation and application of Genesis, Exodus, Luke and Acts.

Lesson 6 is on “Reconciliation.”   It primarily covers Genesis 31-36, and asks this provocative question —

Isn’t it interesting

how often the mercies of God

are conveyed not by the chosen ones

but by those who somehow

stand outside the covenant?

That caught me off guard.  For example, that inquiry’s inherent implications include God being mercifully at work in and through unlikely people, even those unaware of God’s presence…really?

Also, the idea of there being “chosen ones”…really, still?

And if God “so loved the world” as John 3:16 says, how can some people then “stand outside the covenant?”

Then exactly who are these people?  Have I noticed them?  Do I know them?  Have they seriously impacted me with “the mercies of God” in surprising ways?

Today, my hope and prayer is that we’ll find this question nagging us to pay more attention as we interact with others —

Isn’t it interesting

how often the mercies of God

are conveyed not by the chosen ones

but by those who somehow

stand outside the covenant?