Nobody Excluded?!

Today’s scripture: Ephesians 2:15-22 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Keith Phillips):

I love the way The Message says it:

“Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father” (Ephesians 2:17–18).

Outsiders and insiders, treated as equals. Nobody excluded; all sharing in the same Spirit with the same access to God. Thanks be to God!

I’ve always had the gift of feeling like an outsider, and so becoming part of the family of God is constant Good News for me. And, as an adult (my childhood and adolescent sins are forgiven), I’ve been pretty inclusive. Living under the Rainbow flag helps. I recognize that I have baggage, but I regularly advocate for my ethnic and racial neighbors, I have a soft spot in my heart for the poor and for children with special needs, and I’m ready at a moment’s notice to sit as a calming presence with the dying. Philosophically at least (this hasn’t been tested), I can include child molesters, serial killers, and Nazis. I am called to comfort the afflicted, the outsiders.

But then, there are the insiders, or those who think of themselves as insiders. Strangely, I have greater difficulty including them. For example (and at this point I am jokingly stereotyping), those who live north of 86th Street, here in Indianapolis. Something within me finds it very difficult to be inclusive of those who insist on being exclusive. And I don’t know what to do about that. I know that God loves them as much as God loves me. I know that God forgives them in the same way God forgives me. I know that God’s own Holy Spirit seeks to dwell in and work through them just like me. But. . .

Part of my problem is that when I think biblically, I think of that type, even those who are  self-identified as Christians, as Pharisees: self-satisfied, powerful, wealthy, and self-righteous with more truth than love. That makes it worse for me to be inclusive. I ask, “What would Jesus do?” And I’m still stuck. Jesus evaded them, Jesus spoke truth to power, Jesus got angry with them. Even Jesus couldn’t include anyone who didn’t want to be included in his community of peace, justice, and equality. And they crucified him, which is exactly what I fear they will do, unintentionally, to our nation in the 21st century.

The gap between the rich and the poor in this country has never been greater. The polarization between red folks and blue folks has never been more explosive, especially from “truth-wielding exclusivist Christians.” I ache, knowing that we are not one, that we can’t/won’t get along. I so wish it were otherwise, and I wish I knew how to help.

Thought for the day: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, to include in your beloved community those whom I perceive to be 21st century Pharisees. Amen.

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