3/28/14

3/28/14

"For the lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:17-19 NLT)

In the 1971 movie "The fiddler on the roof," the line between Jew and Gentile is clearly drawn. There is a distinct "no hanging with" norm in place. Jews just don't hang out with Gentiles. We also saw this same detest for foreign people in the story of the 'woman at the well'. It is very clear that being around Samaritans is not something that the Jews did. There was a separation there. I have to ask myself, "where is the disconnect?" Was this not a point that God tried to make to the people of Israel, by repeating it several times through Moses? God wants Israel to show His love to the foreigners around them. He wants them to be a light in the darkness, a beacon of hope to those around them.

We might think, "how does this apply to me?" The answer is that we as Christians are the "called out ones," and therefore, we are the chosen of God. Much like the Jewish people of the Old Testament were the chosen people under the old covenant, we are the chosen people under the new covenant in Jesus' blood. So, we need to be that light to the world, and we need to be the people that break down barriers, and wipe away the lines in the sand between the people that we interact with. There should be no foreigners, and if there are, they should be quickly welcomed into the family of people that are all bought with His blood. The "church" has done a pretty good job of being and exclusive entity throughout it's history. I want to be a church that re-writes that history, that welcomes all people with open arms. That does not say that "you don't belong here," simply because of someone's race, status, sexual orientation, or what side of "the tracks" they come from. We are all God's creation, and we need to treat each other as such. We need to include people that we aren't comfortable including. This is how Jesus rolled. He ate with sinners, He set free an adulteress (whom he had the right to condemn), He touched lepers, He cared for the poor, He empowered women in a time when they were regarded like slaves, and He cared for - and hung out with - foreigners. He is the ultimate example of what we need to live like. We need to break through our disconnects and LOVE!

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