Developing this, my friend pointed to the British justice system and how it comes from the biblical principles that shaped us as a Christian country and birthed in us, as a nation, a strong sense of biblical law, justice and fair play. This offers a peace which attracts many to our shores.
Across out nation many have drawn lines about who is and isn’t welcome to our country and almost everyone I meet has an opinion about immigration. Christians often ask the same questions about ‘who’s in or out’ and we find them drawing lines too as they think about who’s welcome in Church and the cost of admission.
The problem is that we want our world, our nation, our churches, clubs, and groups to be places where we feel comfortable and ‘in control’. We want it done ‘our way’ because we want to belong and feel that the place, and us, are special and we want to keep it that way. Things were exactly the same in the sixth century BC and many of the religious people (as Jews) were keen to keep their religion free from outsiders - people who were different from them - just as much as we are today.
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah spoke about this very topic (Isaiah 56.1, 6-8) and to make sure the people took notice he began his conversation with the words, “Thus says the Lord God.” (Not sure it works for our nation in the same way today!).
In this passage the people of God are told to:
i. Maintain justice and do what is right: this will attract others (outsiders),
ii. Recognise that those ‘foreigners’ who come, if they act rightly are welcome and accepted by God: and so should be accepted and welcomed by those who are already members,
iii. God calls those who love Him to be inclusive, gathering those for whom Church is foreign into the family: all should be welcome in Church, remembering in god that inclusive does not mean permissive and that whilst all may ‘come as they are’, they should expect to leave made different.
This passage asks the question: “Do we want to share God and make Him known or are we keeping Church and our ‘religion’ for ourselves by drawing lines and deciding who is acceptable according to our own attitudes and traditions?”
We cannot (and must not) stop the love of the God we follow from overflowing to others drawing lines in the sand to contain, constrain, and reject them. Others might be different to us and yet, should they come to God and recognise and regard and honour Him then the promise of that something special at the end of it all (in the Isaiah passage it's the 'holy mountain' for which we should read ‘heaven’) is theirs also.
We don’t possess God, we share Him – a message for today’s Church and for the citizens of our nation with regard to being part of our society as we realise that this also applies to the many ‘foreigners’ who have come, contributed and made Britain Great. Being part is about more than being in a place: It is a state of mind and heart.
"Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant - these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered."
Isaiah 56.1, 6-8
 |
| The way we act determines the way people see our God! |
No comments:
Post a Comment