2-2-2022

 Good Morning All,

          Galatians 3:28; “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ.”

    Why is it that we always seem to look for the differences at first? Why do we seek those things which we use to divide and separate? It often starts out innocent enough: it is how we identify individuals. We see Suzy as the short, blonde girl and Billy as the tall red head. But all too soon we take those differences and use them to hold others down or try to push them back; all in an effort to get to the front.  So, we take those differences, and we begin to categorize people. This group is greedy; this group is lazy, this group is selfish, this group is made up of criminals. (I did not list who, but you probably filled in the blanks).  Instead of looking at what we have in common and try and build on that; we build walls to keep some back from us or out of our sight or away from us.

    Yet when God looks at people He sees one thing, a sinful creature in need of salvation. Before God we are all the same. There is no difference; we are all sinners deserving eternal punishment. But by God’s grace, God sees only righteousness and holiness when He looks at His redeemed children. All God sees is Christ’s atoning sacrifice. He sees us as one in Christ, holy and undefiled. We are not male or female, tall or short, fat, or skinny, black, brown, white, yellow, purple, or orange; we are the redeemed children of God. That is how God sees us and that is how we should see our fellow believer. We are all the same. We are forgiven sinners who live by God’s grace and mercy. We need to tear down the walls we build and see what God sees, forgiven creatures.

    This is part of what Jesus came to do for us. Sin had built up walls between people. Jesus came to break those walls down and He did. So, why do we insist on rebuilding those walls? Those walls, those judgements, those selfish claims only serve to destroy. In this act of sinfulness, God weeps. He weeps over his children who still will not get along, who still fight with each other. As Christians, we are better and should not let ourselves be drawn into a tussle which serves only the devil. Our neighbors deserve better of us. Do not hate, do not seek revenge, so not judge, all these are God’s directives for his believers. Because we are forgiven, we should be able to rise above the devil’s ploys. Yet we often fail. Yet, with a love that we cannot understand, God continues to forgive His people and to call us back into His holy family. Seek the Lord’s face while it may be sought, the psalmist tells us. Seek the Lord, receive his forgiveness and walk in His ways and break down the walls that sin has built.

Father in heaven, too often we let our sinful nature lead us into prejudice and suspicion. Forgive us our sin. Guide us Lord to remove the walls and the barriers which we build between us and our fellow believers. Cause us to see them as our brothers in Christ and to feel their pain and to share in their joy to your glory here on earth. In Jesus’ precious Name we pray, Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret