God Has No Partiality

May 5, 2024

Sixth Sunday of Easter

I have been known to enjoy a good whiskey now and again. I am partial to Bourbon and Scotch, and each has a place in my culinary routine. (This is where She does the massive eyeroll.) Some are lovely for a pre-dinner cocktail, others are nice after dinner, and others are preferred for a nightcap. (And, if for ANY reason, alcohol is not an option for you, know that a soda water is yet another favorite of mine. With lemon, not lime.)

But whatever you do, please don’t ask me to name my favorite. That would be like asking me to name my favorite grandchild. Impossible. Plus, my taste is whisky changes quite regularly, so how I’d answer that question today, would vary dramatically from how I answered it last week. Fickel? Nah. I’m not partial, it’s just that there's so many whiskeys – so little money.

In today’s readings, it seems that God is trying to decide if being partial to one group or another is in the plan. In the First reading, Peter had a vision wherein God tells him that God has no partiality to anyone! God loves everyone. This was a shock to Peter, but he knew to embrace it. This was a defining moment for the early church and continues to be a challenge in the 21st century.

But then in the Gospel, Jesus is very partial to his disciples. “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you…” [John 15:16] Jesus is telling his followers that, as much as they think they had made a conscious choice for Christ, in fact, they had been chosen beforehand. I need a minute to let that sink in.

My life has been an exercise in deciding, day by day, to follow the teachings of Jesus. And yet, here he is, telling his disciples, and me, that God had chosen me first. When I reflect on that, I  am beyond humbled. God loving me has absolutely nothing to do with how much I love God. It doesn’t matter how many times I attended mass or confession. God. Loves. Me. Just. As. I. Am.

God has no partiality. I cannot tell you how significant that is to me. After many, MANY months of searching for a church to be a part of, we stumbled upon a small church. The first words I remember hearing, was “where there is no partiality.” I knew I was home.

My challenge is to live a life that embraces God’s “no partiality.” Even if I cannot fully grasp the enormity of such love, there are lessons to be learned in the Gospels. I have to do my best to love all whom God loves, whether poor or rich, woman or man, Democrat or Republican, people of faith and no faith, regardless of race, culture, religion, gender, or status.

Lord, help me to not be partial, but to see you in the face of each and every person I meet.

Every Day.

© 2024 by Timothy J. Doppel

All Rights Reserved