Deacon Mike Meyer / Sunday, May 5, 2024 / Categories: Blog, Homilies God Doesn’t Play Favorites Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter Charlie died and went to heaven, where Saint Peter greeted him at the Pearly Gates and offered him a tour. Charlie enthusiastically accepted, so the two spent the day exploring and enjoying the wondrous sights and sounds of heaven. At the end of the tour, they approached a massive wall that stretched into eternity, dividing one side of heaven from the other. Confused, Charlie asked Saint Peter, “Why’s there a wall here, and what’s on the other side?” Saint Peter quickly hushed Charlie and said, “Be very quiet. On the other side of the wall are all the people who think they’re the only ones up here.” The folks on the other side of that wall didn’t seem to understand that God doesn’t play favorites. Perhaps they should’ve listened to today’s readings. In our first reading, St. Peter categorically states that “God shows no partiality.” As a good Jew, Peter likely avoided contact with people who didn’t observe God’s laws until he came to understand through his encounter with Cornelius that “God shows no favoritism to one nation over another[;] all stand as equal candidates for divine blessing and [adoption].”[1] Our Psalm hammers this message home, proclaiming that the Lord has revealed his saving power to all the nations. Not just to Christians, not just to Jews, not just to the people we like, but to all. Now, God isn’t simply impartial, observing his creation from the sidelines with casual interest. God loves us—every one of us, and he loves us perfectly. The fact that God loves us perfectly explains why God can’t love one person more than another. Think about it: we believe that God is love, and God is perfect. So that means that God’s love must be perfect. If God were to love one person less than another, then God’s love in that instance would be less than perfect, which would necessarily mean that God would be less than perfect. Then, God wouldn’t be God because God can only love one way—perfectly. Believe it or not, God loves every one of us one way—perfectly. God doesn’t play favorites. We also know that God created us in his image and likeness. God intended for all humanity to be like God. So, if God created us to be like God, and God doesn’t play favorites, then God doesn’t want us to play favorites, either. And if God created us to be like God, and God loves us perfectly, then God intends for us to love each other perfectly, too. What does that mean? We need to listen to what Jesus tells us to do in today’s Gospel: we need to love one another as Jesus loves us—as God loves us—perfectly. Jesus explained in word and example what God’s perfect, unconditional, and sacrificial love looks like: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Whoa! So, God’s telling us that we have to love one another the way God loves us, without playing favorites? Yes. Even the person who occupied my favorite pew this morning? Yes. Even the person who scratches my last nerve at work or school? Yes. Even the person who insulted or bullied me or made my life miserable? Yes. As hard as it may be to imagine, God wants us to love everyone so much that we’ll be thrilled to see them in heaven, no matter how bad they may have been on earth. How in the world do we do that? I have two thoughts. First, remember that love is “willing the good of another”—wanting what’s best for another person. It doesn’t mean that we have to be all huggy-kissy with someone we don’t like. We don’t have to invite them to Thanksgiving dinner. It means that we want what’s best for them—health, happiness, wisdom, moral virtue, and salvation. It means that we want them to get to heaven. Second, we let God do the work. Saint John tells us in our second reading that love comes from God. “God’s love for us is the source of our power to love God and one another.”[2] So when we truly receive God’s love, when we don’t block it with our fears, hurts, anger, or ego, we won’t be able to hold it in. Why? Because God’s love is dynamic, not static, it has to move. Just as God’s boundless love spills over into humanity, the love we freely accept from God will flow through us like the South Branch through Clinton after a stormy night. Today’s readings speak to us so poignantly because our times aren’t all that different from Saint Peter’s. We label and classify people by race, religion, political beliefs, and our assessment of how they live their lives. We write people off who wrong us and do our level best to disenfranchise, silence, and exclude those who disagree with us. We play favorites. But God doesn’t. “The Spirit doesn’t belong to any nation, tongue, denomination, or religious tradition. God’s Spirit blows in all directions.”[3] So, whenever we draw lines between us and them, remember that Jesus is standing on the other side of the line, calling us to cross over and love them as he loves us. Jesus breaks down walls, drawing every human being into communion in him so that we can all be one, as he and the Father are one. We can break down walls, too, if we choose to love as Jesus loves us. Today’s readings challenge us to answer a fundamental question about eternal life: Can we be happy in heaven if the person we dislike the most is there with us forever? If our answer to that question is no, then we don’t understand what heaven’s all about. Heaven is living in God’s perfect, unconditional, and sacrificial love. If we start loving God and one another as God loves us, the world we be a much better place and maybe the people in heaven won’t be so surprised to see us when we get there. I don’t know about you, but I thank God that God doesn’t play favorites. Readings: Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 4:7-10; John 15:9-17 [1] Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010), 225. [2] C. Clifton Black, “The First, Second, and Third Letters of John,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 12, ed. Leander E. Keck (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), 429. [3] Mary M. McGlone, God Shows No Partiality,” National Catholic Reporter 60, no. 15 (April 26-May 9, 2024), 19. A Bout with Doubt Choose Sides Print 552 Please login or register to post comments.