If you attended college away from home and lived in a dorm, think back to your favorite place to go for off-campus eating. It had to be open late and have good food that was also cheap. In the late 80’s in Jackson, Tennessee that place for me was Village Inn Pizza. Like my alma mater Lambuth College, Village Inn Pizza is no more, but both have a large pizza’s worth of warm, cheesy mozzarella memories in my mind and heart from that slice of life.

One thing I remember about Village Inn Pizza was a sign near the counter where you placed your order that teased, “Free Pizza Tomorrow”. Of course if you came back the next day the sign still said, “Free Pizza Tomorrow”. It always made me want to say to the person taking my order…but what about today?!?!

Sometimes this dynamic can exist in how the church engages people. It isn’t intentional, but the church can at times dangle the spiritual food a person needs as something that is within reach, yet seems is always just beyond our grasp. In preaching, teaching, counseling, and meeting people in their moment of need, a pastor or a church can be guilty of focusing on giving hope for tomorrow without first offering strength for today.

1st John, chapter 3 opens with these words…  “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” (NRSV)

These words offer assurance that the mystery and longing we live with now will one day result in a greater understanding. The key to sustaining faith during the journey is making sure what it offers for the future is rooted in the present certainty of God’s love for us today. Even as we search and sacrifice to endure the trials or uncertainty we face now, there is a very relevant reality that can satisfies and sustains us. This passage first tells us that through the love God has given us, “…we should be called children of God, and that is what we are.”

 Present tense.

It continues, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.” We don’t become children of an earthly god…we are Almighty God’s children now!

For the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to provide hope for tomorrow, it must have a firm and relevant meaning for today. Imagine if your church had a sign at its welcome desk that teased, “God will love you tomorrow”. How many times would that hungry visitor come back before they started to question the sincerity of the Spirit in a church purporting to be a witness for Christ?

As a Church, and as God’s Children, before we point others to what God’s love can mean for their lives, we must first freely, openly, and enthusiastically make sure they know what God’s love has been doing for them before they ever knew it.

In the Wesleyan slice of the Christian pizza pie, the spicy, grace-based toppings that help us taste and see God’s goodness include the pepperoni of prevenient grace, the jalapenos of justifying grace, and the sausage of sanctifying grace. Combined, they awaken us to be fully aware that God’s love has always been there…is here today…and is what will lead us into tomorrow.

God’s love is already at work. We are now called to join in offering the Love of Christ to anyone and everyone. The question for us is will we offer our witness to a hungry, hurting world in a way that doesn’t put off until tomorrow what we are called to do today? This portion of 1 John 3 concludes with, “What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”

Let us not stain the purity of the moment by delaying or denying access to the Kingdom of God that Jesus Christ has proclaimed is open to all.

I know this has been an extra-cheesy devotion, but I believe it has a gouda message. Maybe Village Inn Pizza is closed in part because it advertised in jest something that it never intend to offer…let’s hope our discipleship efforts do not do the same.

May we go where Christ is leading us,

Rev. Dr. David O. Weatherly