Outside

Ephesians 3:1-12

This is why I, Paul, am in jail for Christ, having taken up the cause of you outsiders, so-called.

I take it that you're familiar with the part I was given in God's plan for including everybody. I got the inside story on this from God himself, as I just wrote you in brief.

As you read over what I have written to you, you'll be able to see for yourselves into the mystery of Christ.

None of our ancestors understood this.

Only in our time has it been made clear by God's Spirit through his holy apostles and prophets of this new order.

The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I've been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God.

They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board.

This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message.

Paul's message was radical and revolutionary. It had landed him in jail and eventually he would lose his life because of his determination to preach The Message.

It runs counter to our human nature.

"Inclusion" isn't what we tend toward...."exclusion" is. We see differences more readily than similarities. We take care of ourselves and those we care for. Reaching out to others and including them on equal footing is an act of extreme generosity, confidence and humility.

Those kinds of actions and beliefs come from God. And that's the life and message followers of Jesus are called to embrace.

What's amazing about us is how quickly we take a message of radical inclusion and pull it around ourselves like a security blanket.

What ground does any Christian person ever have for limiting the inclusive power of The Message or hampering the growth and vision of a church?

None.

We forget that this Message does not belong to us. We are the grateful recipients of a free gift. And our call is not to hoard the gift...but to share it with everybody equally.

That's not easy. We're going to like some people more than others. There are people we have more in common with. There are people who think like us, talk like us, look like us. And then there are those who don't.

Thank God that someone like Paul was there to lead the charge for the inclusion of "The Gentiles," (that's us) in The Message of Jesus. He withstood major opposition, but his faith and willingness to hold to the calling changed the world.

Paul knew how much he had been given. He was not the same. May it be so for all of us.

Prayer: We are thankful for the work of your servant Paul, and for our inclusion in the message that he preached. Like him, we pray that you might use us to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others as we live our lives in relationship with you and one another.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.

Tomorrow's Scripture (No Blog): Matthew 2:1-12