Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - Exclusively Inclusive

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:

to look after orphans and widows in their distress 

and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

James 1:27

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on Me, 

because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn." 

Isaiah 61:1-2

     Well, there's a list for you: distressed orphans and widows, the poor, people held captive and in darkness, people who are mourning. Know anyone who fits one of these descriptions?  Do you fit one of these descriptions? My heart connects to at least one of those groups. 

     Jesus chose and read this Isaiah passage in his hometown synagogue as a way to announce His Purpose on earth. His inclusive call encompassed and embraced his poor, hard-working, oppressed Nazarene listeners. They were accustomed to put-downs and insults. No one expected much from them. When Philip the disciple told his friend Nathanael about Jesus the Nazarene, Nathanael scoffed, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" (John 1:46), but the way Jesus read these familiar words stirred a breath of fresh hope. 

     Ironically, after Jesus' hometown folks responded in amazement to His teaching, their warm fuzzy sense of community in the Lord turned into blind, murderous rage. What sparked the change? Jesus' warned them against excluding Him as a prophet because He was one of them. He used two examples of how the Hebrews had rejected God's prophets only to see them bless Gentiles. They were incensed at the suggestion that God had included those filthy half-breeds instead of their own Hebrew ancestors! How dare this young upstart compare Himself to Elijah and Elisha! Who knows which idea angered them most: the idea that God included Gentiles in His Plan, or the suggestion that Jesus was a prophet like Elijah and Elisha? They could accept being at the bottom of the Hebrew ladder but they wouldn't withstand any Gentile sharing their ladder or any of their own townspeople climbing higher.

     Human nature tends to include this family but not that one; invite that person, but not this one. We want to be included, but then we want to decide who else to include and who to exclude. Aren't we the hypocrites? 

     God's Plan and His Salvation are exclusively inclusive: no resumes, credentials, references, or social registry required. No purchase necessary, no small print, no fees, and no credit checks. No fraternity or sorority rushes or harrowing interviews. God doesn't do background checks, spell checks or grammar checks. There are no riders on His plan; He covers everything and everyone. There's no waiting, no list, no bouncers. We don't have to make prerequisite pilgrimages or perform rituals exhibiting our worthiness. There are no steps to climb on our knees and there's no penance we can pay or favors we can do to be included in His Plan. Salvation and relationship depend solely on Who we know, but He's already with us, waiting to reveal Himself and His Plan.  

   Let's relax and let the warm fuzzy feeling of belonging overcome our souls. Then may we open our hearts, our arms, our homes, our Bible study classes and our churches to include all of the above. "For God so loved the world . . . "

Lord, we're bad to huddle up and omit people. Sometimes it's because we're hurt and afraid, but sometimes it's self-centeredness or thoughtlessness. Heal us of all these ailments. Make us functional, compassionate people and churches. Transform our minds to put others first. Keep us from labeling people, even in our minds, as unacceptable or unworthy of inclusion. Teach us to build Your church through reaching out rather than reaching in. May we never ignore or exclude any group. We all fall in the category of "sinners who need Your Grace." 

In the Name of Jesus, Whose Arms stretched out to embrace the world

Inspired by Live Loved, by Max Lucado
photo from Google images