I got accepted!

Good Friday, 2014

I got accepted!

I can read the emotion on their faces.

It begins with apprehension, a moment of quiet joy, and then finally a settled confidence.  When new students enter the classroom midyear, a young couple begins a courtship, a stranger walks into the church for the first time, or a man on a cross looks to the Christ next to him --- their question is the same -- will I be accepted or rejected?

On this Good Friday, I rejoice that I have been accepted by the grace of our Savior.  Yet I am also indicted.  How many times have I walked past those that need to be accepted?  How many times have I not allowed God's grace to flow through me towards others?  

As I watched a recent viral video of a young man reading his acceptance into college, I am reminded of the joyous celebration that grace brings.  By our "standards" he should never been allowed into an environment of higher education.  Our world typically does not allow those with intellectual or developmental disabilities to be included in much of anything  Yet one college, informed by their Christian faith tradition, has made it an intentional mission to practice the grace of acceptance.

On this Good Friday, I long for the day when the local church models Christ and offers grace to all those looking for acceptance.

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http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/04/17/wisconsin-college-offers-opportunities-for-students-with-intellectual/

http://www.edgewood.edu/Prospective-Students/Cutting-Edge