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      I remind myself from time to time that I am a person of faith. Specifically, I follow the Christian faith. When I am holding onto my faith, I feel grace coming towards me. On the one hand, there is a record, my guilty conscience, the real thing I broke in this world.  And on the other hand, there is an endless amount of love and grace extended to me despite my actions. Grace is a spiritual term that means unearned favor and delight. This spiritual grace is fully aware of who I am. It sees me all the way through, and still comes to me. The grace I am talking about is not exclusive to me or even to Christians. There is grace for you and even grace for my enemies. When I am reminded of my faith, I can see it.
      When I am living out of my faith, I become aware of many things, not just grace. There is a love in the world for each of us, that is stronger than all the love we have ever known. It is a love that is stronger than the love your parents expressed to you when you were first born. It is a love deeper and more animated than the loudest and proudest first-time grandmother. It’s a love that transcends my actions and my loyalties. As unattractive as my behavior may be, I know this love is real. In fact, this love exists whether I am aware of it or not. The truth of the matter is that you are being loved right now. Do you believe it? Can you see it?
      In the Christian faith, followers of Jesus try and let go of the stuff that keeps us separated from living in our faith, moving in that grace, and believing that great love. In our world, churches compete with a variety of voices and models for love and grace. Some people try to purchase love, earn worthiness, or deny that true grace could ever be authentic. People are told they are unlovable, or at the very least undesirable and unimpressive. And many people believe these terrible voices. They carry these voices in their soul, year after year, like a poisoning that won’t end.
      Voices like the ones mentioned hide God’s love, grace, and mercy. They speak as if the reality of this great love is not to be trusted. My question for you is - what are the voices you hear the most in your week? Is there a voice that points you to faith and a great love, or is it the other voices that are loud, platformed, performative, backed by an advertising department? Do you ever need to be reminded that you are a person of faith? I do. I need to be reminded that I am a person of faith in Jesus Christ because all of us have past moments that cause us to cringe and recoil. We all have moments when we made a move in the world and forgot about our faith. I believe the most famous person to find themselves in this dilemma was Judas, one of Jesus twelve disciples. Hours after Judas’ feet were washed by Jesus, Judas betrays Jesus to death. The Scriptures say that Jesus knew Judas would betray him. So, it is striking that Jesus would still wash Judas’ feet and serve him communion. Loving our enemies never seems that natural in our modern world.  It’s like the whole point of Jesus’ movements in this section remind us that God loves His enemies. And perhaps Jesus’ love had the greater effect on Judas. The Scriptures say Judas was seized with remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver. It is obvious he regretted moving against Jesus.