Love
Love That Knows No Bounds
In this final week of Advent, as the light of Christ draws ever nearer, we turn our hearts to contemplate love – not as an abstract concept, but as the revolutionary force that entered our world in the form of a vulnerable child. This divine love, embodied in Jesus, would go on to challenge every boundary, break every barrier, and transform every life it touched.
As I reflect on what it means to love boldly and without bounds in our context today, I’m drawn to Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:17-19: “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.”
The dimensions Paul describes – width, length, height, and depth – paint a picture of love that refuses to be contained. This is the kind of love that compels us to move beyond comfortable charity into the challenging work of change for the sake of life itself. It’s the love that drives us to examine our own hearts, confront inequities, and actively work for the dignity and flourishing of all God’s children.
In our synod, we’ve witnessed this boundless love take concrete form through our racial equity initiatives and local ministry partnerships. We’ve seen congregations brave difficult conversations, forge new relationships across dividing lines, and commit themselves to the long journey of transformation. This is what bold love looks like in action.
Yet as we grasp how wide and long and wide and deep the love of Christ truly is, we recognize that there is more work to be done. More boundaries to cross. More walls to dismantle. More relationships to build. More justice to pursue.
As we prepare to celebrate the ultimate expression of God’s bold and boundless love in the birth of Jesus, let us ask ourselves:
– How is Christ’s revolutionary love calling us to stretch and grow?
– Where are the boundaries in our lives and communities that need to be challenged?
– What would it look like to love more boldly and without bounds?
Prayer for the Week:
Holy One, as we await the coming of Your Son, expand our capacity to love as You love.
Give us courage to love.
Give us wisdom to love.
Give us strength to love more boldly, justly, and without bounds.
That through us, Your reign might draw near… with God’s help and in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Yours in Christ’s bold and boundless love,
Rev. Leila M. Ortiz, Bishop
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