To me these lessons say that God is not distant but is active and involved in life, from the moment of creation. Jesus brought home the message of love and the active presence of God by what he did and said. And at the last what he left us with was a command: you take this message now as you received it from me and spread it around the world. And he assured us he is not leaving us bereft of hope or ability.
He sent the Holy Spirit who manifested immediately the power and grace of God by giving each of his followers the miraculous ability (and charge) to speak to others in a language they would understand - and in actions more powerful than words he called upon us to act toward one another and to the world in ways that show that love of God: creative, empowering, generous, liberating.
We see God in Genesis gently calling forth - and making room for - all things that be, greatest to smallest, mountain to mountain flower to bee that rests on the flower to pollen on the leg hairs of the bee. How much more then does God love and look after each human person?
The Christian position, then, as William Temple wrote long ago, is that God is not a remote watchmaker or first cause uncaused: God is love.
Creation is an act of love. For this infinite love of God needs an object - and that object is us, and all creation. We know that in the mystery of the Trinity there is an eternal dance of three persons, Son, Spirit, Father: an exchange of love more fierce than sun’s fire. But we also know that God’s love has made room for more than this mysterious communion: that his grace spills over into the large and small acts of daily being.
And so the charge to us today: live that love, proclaim that grace. And in the doing and the speaking, come to know in ourselves the truth of the matter: that God, in father, son, and spirit, is love - and that love will fill the universe.
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