Sermon for March 8, 2020 - Lent 2 - The Rev’d Jeffrey W. Mello

Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17

When I pray I am grateful for the assured confidentiality that comes with that arrangement.

I can say whatever I want to God, and God won’t tell anyone.

I am also grateful for the grace that comes to me in those conversations.  I do not feel harshly judged, or shamed, or ridiculed for the questions in my head or the contents of my heart.  Any judgement or shame or ridicule I do hear or feel, comes from a source other than the God of love to whom I am praying.

I am grateful, too, for the perspective my conversations with God give me.  For a time, I’m able to see the struggles of my life, my deepest questions and longings in a perspective that is bigger than my own. A view from above, if you will.

Most of all, though, I am grateful for the love I feel surrounded by when I pray.  Though I am over 50 and my parents are now deceased, the desire to be held, assured and loved unconditionally has not waned.  God seldom disappoints, though I may not feel it all the time.