Galatians.

Today in church we had the Lectionary reading from Galatians 5.

This letter of St. Paul includes the notorious list of those who will not inherit the kingdom of God.

This list was quoted almost word for word by Israel Folau when he said that gay people were bound for hell.

But Paul's list does not include homosexuals.

So where does that leave us?

We would do well to remember that Paul was not the Messiah.

Jesus was the Messiah and you will not find such statements in the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus taught unconditional love that was inclusive of those marginalized by the religious authorities.

He did not judge people for the sexuality.

And he did not exclude people from Heaven.

The disciples constantly misinterpreted what Jesus was saying.

The second reading today from Luke sees Jesus rebuking his disciples for threatening to destroy the Samaritans.

So it is clear that Jesus is not in the business of threatening people with hell-fire.

Jesus' teaching is all love.

And this reflects the nature of the Father.


Photo Credit: shaggy359 Flickr via Compfight cc