The gift of inclusivity
"For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
It's only through Jesus that we can receive this invitation to this inclusivity.
In the Old Testament, we read that God chose a specific people, set apart to live holy lives pleasing to Him and to be witnesses to the world. In the New Testament, we see that this "inclusive" group offers a unique invitation through Jesus to all those who believe and would like to participate.
God had chosen a select group to represent his holiness to the world through personal witness. To keep this group holy, God set firm boundaries and restrictions on food and relationships with others. Keeping his laws and restrictions symbolized obedience and love for God. There was an intentional separation from other nations and cultures to preserve this holiness.
One example of this is the book of Ezra. When God's chosen people disobeyed, they were punished and taken captive into exile by the Assyrians and Babylonians. When it was time to return to their land, some Jews had intermarried with non-Jews and had children. This was against the Jewish beliefs and considered unfaithful to God. Ezra and Israel's leaders decided to send the foreigner wives and children back to their native land to correct the unfaithfulness. For Ezra said: "You have been unfaithful: you have married foreign women, adding to Israel's guilt." Ezra 10:10
Although this may seem like a cruel act, it was considered righteous to protect the Jewish descendants' holiness.
I remember a time at church during a kids' Christmas program we were sitting right behind a couple who was arguing about why their daughter was not one of the main characters in the play. We overheard the wife say: "because she's the daughter of a staff member!" referring to my daughter. To which the gentlemen replied, "That's nepotism!"
My husband and I looked at each other and asked ourselves, "what's nepotism?" We immediately Googled it. We chuckled innocently about it since we had nothing to do with the decision.
We didn't let this conversation ruin our moment to be present for our daughter. The more I thought about this, I realized that my daughter was chosen and shown grace over someone else, and it had nothing to do with her. She had done nothing to deserve it. She was happy and enjoying herself as she sang along.
The experience reminded me that Jesus doesn't show favoritism like we often do. In the New Testament, we read about how Jesus came and amended those ties of inclusivity. Jesus showed compassion and healed those who needed healing, whether they were Jews or gentiles (non-Jews), and gave high value to humanity in general.
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:9
Being a Christian is not just a special privilege of unlimited access to God. It's also the opportunity to minister to others in His name. In reality, God opened the invitation to all of us to become his legitimate children by believing and following Him. Being a Christ-follower, we are called to a higher standard over those without faith in Christ. We are called to represent Christ with our testimony.
My prayer for you is that you recognize the high calling and vote of confidence God has placed in you so that together as God's people, we may encourage each other to be obedient as we witness to others while honoring God.
Blessings,
Grimelda Sanchez
Associate Pastor