The overarching theme that speaks to me in today’s lessons is that of restoration. God created us in the image of God (Gen.1:26), the imago dei. We are born into this life in that perfect image, as innocent as Adam and Eve in Eden, but like Adam and Eve, we soon choose to go our own way, separating ourselves from the Holy One. God spends the rest of our lives working in love to restore us to the imago dei we were created to be.

Our story of Naaman from the Hebrew scriptures provides a telling example of how we still today rebel against the healing, restoring hand of God. The action somehow doesn’t meet our expectations. We don’t want to cooperate. We’d rather do things our own way and continue to suffer. But when the Divine finally is able to get our attention, if we allow ourselves to accept what God has to offer, Love can wash us clean from the inside out, making us whole and holy once more.

The psalmist knows the joy and gratitude that comes from such healing, such restoration. He exclaims: “ . . . you restored me to health. You brought me up, O Lord, from the dead; you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.” It sounds as though he may have undergone what we have come to call a near-death experience, doesn’t it? Like Eben Alexander most recently in his Proof of Heaven and countless others through the years who have had such change-of-life experiences, the psalmist proclaims his overwhelming gratitude: “therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing; O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you for ever.” When we know that we have been restored, we simply can’t keep quiet.

In our epistle, Paul speaks of a different kind of restoration, of reconciling “in a spirit of gentleness” one who has separated from the community. It is the God of Love who inspires our compassion and mercy, who initiates the desire for reconciliation in our hearts, enabling us to restore the exiled one in love. Jesus knew that not everyone would welcome his message of restoration of the kingdom of God—even so, he called us to incarnate God’s love, to proclaim the good news, and “cure the sick whoever are there” to pave the way for his coming, now as then. As our community grows in love in this time and place, we will be preparing for “the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets.” (Acts 3:21)