“Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect!”

Are you kidding me? There is no way that I can be perfect as my Heavenly Father is perfect. I’m a sinner. Every day I sin. I don’t always see my neighbors in need. I don’t always love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me. I’m indeed a sinner who is in no way perfect and is definitely in need of God’s grace.

And because I’m not perfect, I’m thankful for the rains that reign down on us. Rain is holy and cleansing. It washes the ground clean and takes away the dirt. It makes all things new again. It gives life to the ground so new life can spring eternal.

And like the rains that reign on the righteous and the unrighteousness, God claims God’s people through the holy waters of Baptism. Those Baptismal waters wash us clean and remind us that we are forgiven and loved.

I don’t know about you, but rain reminds me of the promise of God’s love for the entire world. God did not send God’s son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. And so every time I stand with rain coming down on me and the smell of rain permeating the air, I’m reminded of the promise of God’s love and forgiveness for us all.

On the cross, as Jesus uttered “I thirst” and breathed his last, God’s love for the world was embodied as Jesus died for our sins. But then three days later, Jesus was raised from the dead. In that moment, we are reminded that life not death has the final world. The final word that reigns down on the earth through refreshing cleansing rain–a reminder of God’s redeeming love for the world.