For St. Paul to help people understand the message of Jesus he gave a history lesson. “Fellow children of Israel and you others who are God-fearing, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors.” It was only by knowing the story of their past would they be able to appreciate what God was doing in their present. Certain politicians today are reluctant to look at the past in all of its glory and all of its messiness. They want to see things through rose-colored glasses. But we only understand the presence and action of God by looking at the whole story — the good, the bad, and the ugly. God’s redemptive power is perhaps best recognized when we face the ungodly part of the story, that God continues to work even when we are mired in sin and strife. We are not condemned by our actions in the past because God continues to work transforming us into a closer approximation of the kingdom of peace and justice that God designed.
