The Blessing is Belonging

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. (Ephesians 1:3-8a)

God’s blessings are indeed rich.  All that we have is a gift of God, and God likes giving gifts.

For sure, we might say.  We know that’s true.  That’s the Christian stuff we believe alright.  But looking around us, it sure doesn’t feel very true. 

We hardly see other people, and when we do, we’re accustomed now to treating them with the actions of suspicion and mistrust: we keep our distance, shield our faces, and remain vigilant and cautious.  This loss of social graces isn’t what we want to do, but it’s what we’ve been trained to do in the new normal of our lives.  We’ve lost the capacities and skills to be with other people.  And that doesn’t seem like a blessing.  Nor do the continuing health restrictions.  Nor do the continuing campaigns to induce compliance though fear of the numbers.  Nor do any number of other things.

Of course, people have faced much worse down through the ages.  Christians have too.  And those Christians have continued to affirm these words of Ephesians, even in the worst of it. 

Because God has blessed us.  We need to be reminded of it sometimes and invited to see it again behind the shadowy veil of our present circumstances.  Listen in again.  God has chosen us, created us, and filled us with purpose. That purpose being nothing more nor less than becoming a part of God’s own family.  Because we are.  We’ve been redeemed and forgiven through Christ, and now belong to the family of God to the praise of his glorious grace, lavished on us. 

The blessing is belonging.  When no one sees us anymore these days: God sees us.  When no one choses us to be the ones they reach out to with visits, calls, or cards: God reaches out to us.  When our lives feel adrift and purposeless: God reminds us that our very presence in his family brings glory to him and gives him great joy and delight such that he smiles on us.  When we feel most lonely and alone, God reminds us: we still have a community and a family of belonging with Him. 

We long for the day when those blessings are made tangible in a way we can see and touch.  But even now, Jesus invites us to place our hope in him, because in him, we are not forgotten, but rather are specially chosen and blessed children of the Father who have a place, a home of belonging with him.