The world imagines that good fences make for good neighbors. It is a way of defining boundaries and who belongs and who doesn’t. We continue to hear in the message of scripture, though, that this is not how God works. In Jesus’ prayer, we hear that we don’t belong to the world but we belong to God. When we follow Jesus, then we follow the path of God. This path is one of welcome and hospitality. This outpouring of divine love and way of living in the world is my prayer for all of God’s children.

God does not work in the categories of included and excluded. God loves everyone and welcomes all people to the table. The early church struggled with this element of the Good News of Jesus Christ. We continue to struggle with this issue of who can belong to the church. When the Holy Spirit trespasses against our artificial boundaries, those boundaries dissolve.

Somewhere along the path of our lives, someone introduced us to the radical love of God revealed in Jesus Christ. This love is radical because it unflinching, unbreakable, unconditional, and unending. Luke tells the story of the Ethiopian eunuch in this reading from Acts. He is lonely and isolated just as many of us are. That isolation happens for many reasons including the pandemic and challenges in our families. It also is made worse as our society struggles with issues of race, class, and sexual identity. Jesus’ practice of hospitality welcomes all and so goes beyond these boundaries that we establish that tell some people they don’t belong.

God welcomes us into God’s abiding care in all moments and places. We always have a place at God’s table. Yet sometimes we feel that we don’t belong because we are inadequate in some way; or, we imagine that others don’t belong because they are different from us and inadequate for that difference. Even in the darkest moments, though, God dwells with us in Jesus Christ. This divine choice is an act of love of the one who is our Shepherd and Host, the one who is with us through all of life and welcomes us to the table.

Jesus comes to us in our moments of confusion and fear and offers us the comforting words, “Peace be with you.” While the confusion and fear can overwhelm us, Jesus reminds us that we belong. As we help others know that they belong, we enter into relationships that bring healing and hope into our lives. These relationships sustain us because they help us know that we belong. They help others know that they belong. There is a mutual dependence in these relationships that strengthen the whole community.

Christ is with us in the midst of all of life’s challenges and chaos. Those challenges and that chaos can overwhelm us, though, at times. Confusion leads to fear as we try to make our way along the paths of our lives. Jesus Christ offers peace in the face of that confusion and fear. This peace is not about the status quo but an invitation to join in the work of tending and nurturing God’s love in the world. We gather to remember that God first loved all of us so that we can go into the world to tell God’s story so our neighbors experience God’s radical love.

Just as he calls out to Mary, Jesus sees and calls each of us by name. Many things in life get in the way of us hearing him call our name. And like Mary, one of the biggest blocks to hearing that in this time is our individual and communal grief. This grief makes it hard because we don’t know where we belong and who we are as we move forward. We all want to be known and loved by God. Mary’s encounter with the resurrected Jesus reminds us again that God never walks by us with eyes glazed; God always moves towards us and always in love.