“[Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ And he said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’ And he said, ‘Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.’ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.” [1]
Diversity, equity, inclusion—the words have become familiar to almost anyone who is even marginally conversant with the news of this day. And if the words have become disturbingly familiar, the concept of D.E.I. is becoming distressingly common, and equally oppressive, throughout contemporary western society. To prove their “woke” credentials, corporations must hire directors of diversity, openly showing their commitment to the contemporary standards of diversity, inclusion, and equity. Corporations champion a focus on race, gender identity, who an individual sleeps with—everything except for diversity of political thought, or equity in the realm of acceptance of civic responsibility, or inclusion of those committed to obedience to biblical standards in an effort to prove commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Even sports teams work at providing for the magical standards defined by diversity, equity, and inclusion. Except people don’t want diversity, equity, and inclusion applied in the sporting events they pay to watch. Here’s what I mean. No basketball team will hire a blind forward; likewise, you will never witness a baseball team hire a centre fielder who must wear an artificial leg. However, no one complains that sports teams are being ableists. Corporations will be reluctant to hire a COO who is dyslexic or a CFO who cannot add or subtract. Yet, these corporations are never held up to ridicule because they discriminate in this manner. Many of those who profess themselves to be “woke” in the world of politics or jurisprudence will quickly argue that religious organisations must accept atheists to work in their organisations, though it is highly unlikely that the Liberal Party of Canada will ever knowingly hire someone who belongs to the Conservative Party. So, the “woke” world is highly selective in polishing the credentials they deem critical for advancement in this day.
We are witnessing something of a backlash to the woke philosophy that seems to have infiltrated the board rooms of numerous corporations. Anheuser Busch appears to have paid a hefty price to celebrate a grown man pretending to be a little girl for one year. In a comparable manner, Target and Disney have been on the receiving end of a consumer backlash. It is not at all clear that these corporations are prepared to alter the path they have apparently chosen to follow, and it isn’t clear that consumers will continue to punish these Corporations, though they are taking a hit at the present.
But, what happens when the “woke” philosophy is brought into a church? What happens when the attitude of the world takes precedence over the revealed will of God? Will the people who claim to follow God, people claiming to honour His Word, obey what is written? How will the professed people of God respond to Him once they are “woke?” It seems that a growing number of churches are determined to find out what happens when they go woke. And in our text we witness an example of a religious organisation that had brought the philosophy of the world into their sacred precincts.
SCRIPTURE IS FULFILLED — “[Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’
“And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son’” [LUKE 4:16-22]?
The following day the local paper was prepared to print headlines that screamed, LOCAL BOY MAKES GOOD AT THE SYNAGOGUE! Jesus hadn’t yet commented on what was written in the scroll, He had only read the Scriptures. At this point, everyone present was focused on the fact that Joseph’s son was before them and reading the Scriptures. The local boy was speaking in the old home synagogue, and everyone was pleased.
Who among us doesn’t exult when a fellow citizen excels on the world stage? We are proud of Canadians who win in Olympic competition as the whole world watches. A measure of their success is reflected onto all of us. We are Canadians, and we all are honoured in the success of our own. When we watch the Maple Leaf raised and “O Canada” played as one of our own is honoured for winning a track and field competition, we are proud that as Canadians we share in the honour. In an analogous manner, when a sporting team refuses to sing our national anthem, and some even kneel, as did the USA Women’s Soccer team at the FIFA Women’s World Cup this past July, the entire nation is shamed by these privileged, entitled infants. Such pitiful players are unable to convince the nation to implement their self-destructive philosophies, so they choose to display their pique through reveling in their own powerless condition.
It is accurate to say that the crowd at the synagogue that day was volatile. They demonstrated this when they went from praising Jesus as one of their own to seeking to kill him in a matter of moments. But what triggered them that they would make such a radical U-turn? Let’s examine what transformed them from adoring supporters into a raging mob? They were triggered by Jesus’ commentary on what He had read.
A SERMON GONE TOO FAR — “[Jesus] said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.”’ And he said, ‘Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.’ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath” [LUKE 4:23-28].
If only Jesus had stopped after reading the passage… Everything was going swimmingly until He provided His commentary on the passage He had just read. He said that the words Isaiah had written were fulfilled in the hearing of all who were present that day. There was no problem with Jesus claiming to be enrobed with the Spirit of the Lord, nor was there a problem with His claim to have been anointed to proclaim good news. There was not even any strong objection to His proclaiming good news to the poor, recovering of sight for the blind, or even setting at liberty those who were oppressed. And as for proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favour, well, who could object to that!
No wonder all present spoke well of Him, marvelling at His gracious words. Why, it was no problem to stretch what He said to include all present as doing these very things. It just made everyone feel good about themselves. However, Jesus wasn’t finished. He anticipated the reaction to what He was about to say, quoting an old saw, “Physician, heal yourself.” The people wondered why He wasn’t doing in His hometown what it was reported He did in Capernaum.
Thus it was that as Jesus read the Scriptures and then began to comment on what was written that those listening were pleased. He was one of them! They would share in the honour that was being bestowed on Him. However, as He rolled up the scroll and handing it back to the attendant before being seated as appropriate for one who would speak as an expert, Jesus began to comment on what He had just read. His first words drew attention to Himself, for He said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” [LUKE 4:21].
Then, as the crowd murmured their approval, anticipating, no doubt, some words intended to flatter them for their superior understanding of God because of their commitment to the Scriptures, Jesus continued speaking. And what He said transformed the service that day. Jesus said, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well” [LUKE 4:23]. No doubt Jesus had their full attention at that point. They waited for what might follow, but they didn’t have to wait long, for Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian” [LUKE 4:24-27].
You see, Jesus had spoken of something they couldn’t miss, something that was certain to stir their hatred. He talked about Elijah and the widow who lived in Zarephath, and He spoke about Elisha and Naaman the Syrian. The people in the synagogue did not miss the implication of what Jesus was saying. Jesus was saying that the Good News would be proclaimed to the Gentiles. Jesus was speaking positively about Gentiles! Well, that changed everything, and the change was immediate! These pious religionists couldn’t tolerate anyone speaking in a positive fashion about the dirty Gentiles. Jesus had quit preaching and gone to meddling! There was only one solution to such an insult to these good people: “Throw Him from the cliff!”
Every preacher that actually presents the message as given in the Word has had a similar experience on more than one occasion as members of the congregation let him know that he had quit preaching and gone to meddling. In my own service, I have had parishioners shake their fist at me as I spoke. I’ve had multiple occasions when members of the congregation accosted me to tell me to ease off, or to warn me that I was offending powerful people. I suppose every preacher of the Word has had such an experience. Certainly, that was what happened as Jesus preached in the synagogue in Nazareth.
KILL HIM! KILL HIM RIGHT NOW! “They rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away” [LUKE 4:29-30]. There are few sentiments more devastating, more degrading than religious sentiments that are not founded on the Living God. Religion elicits deep emotions, and when there is no foundation for the religious impulses people hold, there is nothing in the heart but raw emotion. And raw emotion leads inevitably to grave injustice. To question the basis for an errant religion, or to question the foundation for that which is built on lies, is to threaten to destroy what is held as a vital part of the individual.
While we might readily think of mobs of Muslims raging in Pakistan, in Iraq, in Iran, or on many American college campuses such as Harvard Commons, or though we might easily think of Hindu riots in India, or even Jewish riots in Israel, the world has witnessed mobs of professing Christians enraged because someone questioned their favoured beliefs. I am careful to say that no one has ever witnessed a mob composed of Followers of the Christ who are walking with Him, but only religious mobs of those who at best hold loosely to the outward tenets of the Faith. Without much effort, we can recall riots of Mormons or of Catholics, because the message of Christ offended their religious beliefs. I’ve witnessed more than my share of people angered by the preaching of the message of the Cross. On several occasion, some offended church members have even offered to fight me because they were irritated by what I had preached.
One dear friend from my days living in Texas, related that while working in Utah he was threatened by a man who repeatedly stabbed a box with a knife as the man insisted that Ben apologise for scoffing at the nonsensical story of Joseph Smith holding a hat in front of his face, claiming to translate golden tablets that no one but himself could see. The enraged Morman insisted that Ben had to agree that Joseph Smith did see golden plates and that he did speak with an angel named Moroni. Consequently, no apology was given, and the angry Mormon eventually decided he didn’t really want to fight a combat veteran such as Ben.
I recall how on one occasion church leaders here in Canada wanted to physically fight me because I questioned why they were unwilling to accept for baptism people coming from an immigrant culture who professed Christ as Master. These august church leaders didn’t want to demean and debase “their” church with people who weren’t “Canadian.” Even the women married to these pious church leaders were enraged because I failed to show deference to their husbands! In their rage both the men and their wives were united in saying some awful things about my wife’s husband—things I was reasonably certain were untrue. Religion without the modifying influence of the Spirit of Christ can be vicious, easily inflamed, and utterly destructive. And if all we have is adherence to rites and rituals without the Spirit of Christ, you and I are susceptible to the same spirit of wickedness that would adopt the spirit of this age.
What really enraged those who heard the Master speak in the synagogue on that fateful day? The basis for their rage was that Jesus violated their favoured views of relations with others. The people who heard Jesus speak were exclusionists. They spoke of “Gentile dogs” and they looked down on women. The head of a Jewish household would start the day each morning with this prayer: “I thank you, God, that I am not a Gentile, a woman, or a slave.” The thought of diversity, of inclusion, of equity, was not a part of Jewish life.
And yet, Jesus did advocate diversity, He did teach inclusion, and He did insist upon equity. What He taught, and demonstrated, was not as the “woke” attempt to foist on all in this day. Jesus practised diversity by bringing Gentiles, women, and slaves into His orbit and into the Family of God. Those whom He brought into His discipleship were an eclectic group, which is a polished way of saying they were diverse—really diverse! Those who were excluded from society were welcomed to come to life in the Beloved Son of God. You may recall how Jesus testified, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” [LUKE 19:10]. No wonder, then, that those opposed to Jesus openly grumbled, “This man receives sinners and eats with them” [LUKE 15:2].
Jesus included outcasts among His followers despite the objections raised by the Pharisees. These religious leaders believed Jesus was violating Mosaic law by even showing compassion to those on the margins of society. And make no mistake, the outcasts could be repulsive to the elite of society. They differed in their standards of cleanliness, standards of dress, and in their standards of acceptable behaviour. The same holds true for those seen as outcasts in this present day. The truth that even we who follow Christ often forget or neglect is that Jesus did not eat with tax collectors and sinners because He accepted them as being pious—He was not authorising their lifestyles. Jesus ate with the outcasts because, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” [LUKE 5:31-32]. And that is the reason we should be open to accepting the outcasts from our own society, if we accept the model provided by our Master.
What is especially tragic about the religious leaders arrayed against Jesus in that day, is that by closing themselves to the marginalised of society these religious leaders closed themselves off to the love of God! No wonder they were unwilling to receive Jesus as the Messiah promised by God! They couldn’t receive Him because they couldn’t permit themselves to touch—or be touched—by those who weren’t part of the privileged caste they had constructed for themselves.
Surely that doesn’t happen in this day! Or does it? Do Christians actually close themselves off from the marginalised of society? I understand there are scam artists. Nevertheless, we must not close ourselves off so completely that we are no longer willing to soil our hands by touching those we deem unclean in our society! There is always an element of risk when we dare minister to those positioned on the fringes of society. It was the Pharisees who questioned why Jesus would recline at table with tax collectors and sinners [e.g. MATTHEW 9:10-11]. And His disciples were likewise associating with just such social outcasts [see LUKE 5:30]. We need to take seriously the admonition delivered by the Apostle Paul, “Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly” [ROMANS 12:16b]. And that will likely include some sketchy characters who make us uncomfortable!
I recall an account that was related to me by Doctor Jim Higgs, who told of a seriously ill young man who faced his final few days lying in a hospital bed. The young man had been diagnosed with AIDS, and he would soon be dead. Frightened by his pending death, the young man sought consolation from one who might speak with him of what lay before him and whether there was any hope for him. The man had been raised in the home of a pastor. But when he “came out” as a homosexual, his religious parents disowned him, no longer acknowledging him as their son. The conservative church in which he had spent his childhood years, refused to acknowledge him, the members treating him as an outcast who would live out his days on the fringes of decent society. He moved to San Francisco where he was accepted within the gay society. As was tragically common, he contracted HIV, and was ultimately diagnosed with AIDS.
Lying in a hospital bed, deserted by everyone, even those he thought were his friends from his days living the “gay” lifestyle, this young man sent word to Doctor Higgs, asking if he would come to the hospital and pray with him. While Doctor Higgs was in the room, a nurse brought the young man a meal, literally throwing the tray on the floor, apparently so terrified that she didn’t even want to be near this young man. Not even the hospital staff wanted to serve this dying man. He was utterly bereft of anyone who would show him compassion.
Doctor Higgs not only went to the hospital and into the room where this young man was dying, he prayed with this young man and spent time listening to the young man’s sorrowful story of a life spent running from God. As he told the story, the pastor asked the congregation, “What if that was your son? What if that was your child?” Later, and in a different congregation, I would recall the account my pastor had related when a member of my church family wept while telling of a child who “came out,” breaking the hearts of the child’s family. I used that illustration to counsel my own parishioners that they would need to walk a tightrope in which they condemned the sin though affirming their love for their child. And while the world condemns the concept of loving the sinner while hating the sin, it is nevertheless the godly model we are provided. It is not love when we affirm the sinner while that sinner continues wallowing in the sin.
In the sermon He delivered that day in the synagogue in, Jesus read from the Prophet Isaiah, proclaiming “the year of the Lord’s favour” [see ISAIAH 61:1-2]. To accept what Jesus proclaimed that day would mean the religious leaders needed to repent; and these pious frauds felt they had nothing of which they needed to repent. But without repentance, they would be excluded from the Kingdom of God. Rejecting Jesus meant they were rejecting the life He provided within the Kingdom of God!
Whenever we hear the term “inclusion” in today’s world, it is often in combination with the words “diversity” and “equity.” [2] This particular combination of words is almost always associated with the demand that all lifestyles, all characteristics, or every choice are to be deemed legitimate. There is this one caveat, however—the lifestyle defined by anyone advocating living in a monogamous relationship as a married couple must be denigrated, especially if that individual holds the binding union of one man and one woman as the standard for all marriages. Any individual that embraces the Christian Faith, choosing to vigorously live as though that Faith is real, must be rejected as toxic. The very existence of such a one is offensive to many who advocate diversity, inclusion, and equity; even those who claim they feel neutral toward the one living a godly lifestyle are often ambivalent as to whether the Christian lifestyle should be tolerated or whether that one attempting to follow the Saviour should be cancelled. And, of course, any choice that fails to rejoice in aberrant or mentally deficient lifestyles must itself be rejected and the one making such a choice must be punished for making the one holding to the mentally tortured lifestyle feel uncomfortable.
Inclusion is often confused with unconditional acceptance, or even preferential acceptance. Consequently, if we who follow the Saviour adopt such a novel understanding, we will lose the ability to call others to repentance. Jesus recognised the diverse audiences to whom He spoke as equally in need of being included in the message of salvation. Just so, the message with which we have been entrusted must recognise that all peoples are called to repentance and faith. That message demands repentance and would require discipleship. As Christians, both individually and collectively, we need to take care not to exclude any group from the message of salvation. When we withhold the message of salvation and the repentance it requires from one group or another, we tend to exhibit inevitable theological mistakes.
You will no doubt remember how Jonah refused God’s appointment to preach repentance to Nineveh. His hatred for the Ninevites drives him to disobey God. Jonah could only see the Ninevites as an irredeemably lost cause. Thus, in his estimate those living in that city were deemed unworthy of the salvation God had asked him to preach there. In short, Jonah did not want the Ninevites to be saved. He knew God was “gracious ... and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” [JONAH 4:2]. Jonah erred when he refused to accept that God would show overwhelming grace to the people of Nineveh. Maybe we have become too much like Jonah in our dealings with those we have identified as opposed to God, or even as opposed to our political leanings!
Jesus was condemned because He accepted tax collectors—TAX COLLECTORS! Tax collectors, and other sinners, were coming to Jesus, and thus it was said, “This man receives sinners and eats with them” [LUKE 15:2b]. Jesus was condemned because women burdened with a notorious reputation were known to touch Him [see LUKE 7:36-39]! Zacchaeus was welcomed into the Kingdom of God as a son of Abraham. The tax collectors and sinners were welcomed as sheep that had been lost. The notorious woman was sent on her way with the encouragement, “Your sins are forgiven,” and she received divine confidence when the Master assured her, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Whenever we begin to write off “tax collectors and sinners” as irredeemable, we are acting on a false assumption that our prejudices are greater than God. When we act in this manner, we are attempting to place constraints on the God who has no constraints. At that point we differ not a whit from the Pharisees who tried to limit God to working only within the boundaries of their tradition. Jesus’ ministry demonstrated that God was living and active beyond the boundaries erected by the religious leaders of that day. And the God we proclaim is greater than all the barriers and boundaries we attempt to erect in this day. Our puerile efforts to keep our associations pure dishonour God and reveal a despicable lack of understanding who God is.
We witness a similar dynamic to that which Jesus faced when Stephen was confronted by the leaders or the Synagogue of the Freedmen. You will recall that this godly deacon had been accused of speaking against the temple and Moses. Thus accused, Stephen responded by narrating the numerous times when God worked beyond the confines of the temple, and even beyond the boundaries of the nation of Israel. He argued that God is not bounded by our views. [3] You must know that when we exclude others from the message of salvation, we are placing an artificial constraint on God, and we are underestimating the power of the Gospel.
Followers of the Risen Saviour readily acknowledge that calling others to repentance is a form of exclusion. We draw individuals to a Jesus with whom we align our own expectations and values because He is transforming us through His Spirit Who lives in all who are born from above. We don’t call those who are part of our redeemed community—we call sinners to repentance. Yes, our inclusion is a means of exclusion because we refuse to pretend that evil is good or that good is evil [see ISAIAH 5:20]. To restrict our interaction only to those who live as we do is an exclusion that finds no warrant in Scripture. Such an attitude is a de facto exclusion because it denies the transformative decision that the Gospel requires. When we accept Christ and follow His teachings, we are not only saved from death but also from the fallen state that caused it.
Jesus did not offer outcasts inclusion into the kingdom on their own terms, yet He was not afraid to include Himself with outcasts to proclaim to them the way of salvation. As we seek to be inclusive, we should keep in mind that we are not including people in the kingdom but in the message of salvation. That message leaves unchanged no one who accepts it, nor is it a message that requires one to change before receiving it. When we orient ourselves toward inclusion, we do not embrace the notion that God has no moral standards but that all are invited to consider the Gospel. Inclusion welcomes everyone to conform to the image of Jesus Christ.
Consider the numerous times this message is trumpeted throughout the Word. Think of the admonition we are given when the Apostle writes in one of his earliest letters, “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” [GALATIANS 3:26-28]. In terms of priority or standing within in Faith, neither culture, nor social standing, nor sex counts. All that counts is faith in the Risen Saviour.
Again, in a later missive to the Christians of Corinth, the Apostle reminded them, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:13]. These Christians needed this reminder because they had forgotten who they were as evidenced by their segregation into cliques during the worship we know as “The Lord’s Supper.” They were gathering into factions that separated the Body of Christ into sects.
Here is another example of the instruction that is too easily dismissed even in this day. Writing the Christians gathered in the Roman community of faith, Paul instructed, “All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” [ROMANS 8:14-16]. And if we are children of God, we belong to the same family, and God is our Father. Therefore, we cannot segregate those who share in this holy Faith, deeming some as of greater worth than others.
Permit me to point to one further example of the teaching that cannot be ignored within the Body of Christ today. You will recall that the Apostle of Love has written, “To all who did receive [the Christ], who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” [JOHN 1:12]. We become children of God, twice-born members of the Family of God, through receiving Christ the Lord as Master over life.
Equity in our world today speaks of equality of outcomes rather than equal opportunity. In that sense, there is no such thing as equity in this world because equal outcomes cannot be guaranteed. Western heritage, based on Judeo-Christian foundations, accepts that all citizens must have equal opportunity in life. Outcomes depend upon the effort invested. The Constitution of the United States makes this understanding apparent when the framers of that document wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The statement is a masterpiece of clarity establishing that all citizens—regardless of race, religion, sex, family—begin life on an equal footing. This understanding of the status of citizens is embraced by all contemporary democracies, at least in theory. Many have turned from putting this concept into practise, but they still profess to believe this to be true.
In the Kingdom of God, we who are citizens of Heaven have equal opportunity from the moment of the New Birth. There is a promise of this equal outcome that all shall be accorded a place in Heaven by the mercies of Christ. This is evident when we read, “Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-13].
Or consider again Paul’s statement to the Christians of Galatia when he wrote, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” [GALATIANS 3:27-28]. The Apostle is reminding us that in the Faith, we are no longer characterised by where we were born, by what we possess, or by accolades casually thrown about by those living for this dying world—we are just followers of Christ. In this congregation, we have no super stars because of possessions or because of an accident of birth or because of how much melanin one possesses; here, in the Body of Christ we are just Christians, each one having been placed here by the Spirit of Christ.
Allow me to emphasise this truth by reminding you of what is written in one other portion of the Word teaching this same truth. Recall how in the Letter to Colossian Christians, Paul has taught, “[You] have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” [COLOSSIANS 3:10-11]. Here, in this assembly of saints of the Living God; here, in the congregation of the righteous; here in the house of the Risen Saviour, we have no claim except that we are twice-born people, redeemed by the blood of the Crucified One. Amen.
Any follower of Christ has opportunity to live for the Saviour and to honour Him in all things. Not all who are redeemed strive to excel in the work of the Kingdom; nevertheless, each Christian is encouraged to live for Christ’s glory, knowing that the Father knows who we are and that He will reward us according to the effort we invest in living for the glory of Christ the Lord. Isn’t this what we witness when we read what the Apostle wrote in his first missive to the Christians of Corinth. Recall that he wrote, “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” [1 CORINTHIANS 3:10-15].
The message delivered this day is a call for each follower of Christ to refuse to be confused by the transient fads that are proclaimed by those of this dying world. Do not give them even a moment of attention, for these fads are quickly passing into the mist of oblivion. At the same time, each one who follows the Saviour is encouraged to strive to excel in advancing in the Kingdom of God. We Christians are to so live that we glorify our Saviour and seek His rewards which are to be given at his return.
But what of you who listen, though you have never been born from above? There is a place for you in the Kingdom of God. If you will take your place in the Family of God, you must receive Christ as Master over your life. He gave His life as a sacrifice after taking all your sin upon Himself. The Good News is this is that He did not stay dead; He rose from the dead after three days. He walked among those who knew Him before ascending into Heaven where He is seated at the right hand or the Father.
The Word of God calls you, saying, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” [ROMANS 10:9-10]. The Word of God promises you and all who will listen, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [ROMANS 10:13]. And that is our invitation to you this day, believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved. Do it now. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] The following thoughts are suggested by an opinion piece, James Spencer, “Friend or Pharisee? How Inclusivity Affects the Church,” Townhall, 4 June 2023, https://townhall.com/columnists/jamesspencer/2023/06/04/friend-or-pharisee-how-inclusivity-affects-the-church-n2624008, accessed 4 June 2023
[3] The entire account is recorded in ACTS 6:8-7:52.
