Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 135; Jeremiah 10:1-10; Matthew 9:1-9; Galatians 3:21-29; Psalm 115
One of the challenges we progressives face is maintaining a sense of perspective about the changes we help effect in the world. For instance, it’s easy for us to work on matters of inclusion in the church, and then end up bragging about how we were the first to welcome or recognize a particular group of people. I’ve never understood that sense of pride or accomplishment. For when I hear that, my mind always returns immediately to today’s passage from Galatians: “In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ” (Galatians 3:26-28 – The Message). In light of this Scripture, then, individuals and communities that are welcoming should not be proud of their accomplishment. After all, they’re just doing what they are supposed to. Instead, it should be the communities that first separate people and then exclude certain groups that should be ashamed of themselves - for they have rejected God’s vision for the world. As you go into the world today, I invite you to consider the composition of your world. Is your world composed exclusively of the equivalent of Jews or non-Jews; slaves or free; male or female; straight or gay; legal or illegal resident; Democrat or Republican? Or does your world reflect the true nature of God’s vision and include folks from all social locations? Til next time…
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