Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. . . .” (Isaiah 55:1) “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh . . .” (Joel 2:28)
Words such as everyone and all are difficult to divide. They encompass every single one of us–people from every tribe and tongue and nation. Who is it that you or your congregation struggles to receive or include?
As we lean into the ways of God and seek to be faithful to God’s radically inclusive vision, we might well remember, as did the early church, that we should never go it alone. When Peter went from Joppa to Caesarea he took some of the circumcised believers with him–namely, some Jewish Christians.
May the circles of our inclusion continue to expand outward until the whole world lives under the umbrella of God’s all-encompassing love.
This message was adapted from “Breaking the Rules” written by Gladys G. Moore that appeared in the January/February 2011 issue of Lutheran Woman Today (now Gather) magazine.