Our scripture this morning is Ephesians 2:18-19 (NRSV).
For through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.
Paul speaks of a huge division in the world of his time, Jews and Gentiles. The children of Israel had been chosen by God, but to their surprise, His blessing is extended to all people. Paul is sometimes known as the Apostle to the Gentiles because of his extensive missionary work with communities that were mostly non-Jews.
God made a promise to Abraham that through his descendants the whole world would be blessed: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3). God chose to use a certain group of people to reach out to the world, but His promise is for all His children everywhere.
In Acts 15 we hear Peter, the head of the Jerusalem church say of the Gentiles: “And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us” (Acts 15:8-9). May we have the same love for all His children!
Gracious God, we know You made us and You see us all in the same loving way. Bless us to heal our divisions and love one another as You first loved us. Amen.
