"we're All One Family"

Conflict between neighbors existed in Bible times. The Samaritans were a half-Jewish, half-Gentile ethnic group that lived apart from Jews and Gentiles and were looked down upon by both. People traveling would go around Samaria to avoid “defiling” themselves by contact with Samaritans. Jesus not only went there, He approached a Samaritan woman at a well, and to her surprise offered her the water of life. His parable of the Good Samaritan contains a message to those who think they’re superior. We can’t express compassion to our neighbor until our hearts experience God’s love, the source of love.

The Rev Dr Martin Luther King warned that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” King also said that “Racism must be challenged at the dinner table, at our places of work and worship, in schools, the media, and in every institution of society.” We can be agents of reconciliation. Prejudice is taught; so is tolerance. We need to care when people are being discriminated against. German pastor Martin Niemöller wrote during WWII: “When the Nazis came for the Jews I didn’t protest because I wasn’t a Jew; when they came for the gypsies I didn’t protest because I wasn’t a gypsy. When they came for the Catholics I said nothing because I’m not Catholic. Finally, when they came for me, there was no one left to speak up.”

I remember when soldiers couldn’t be stationed at bases in certain states, because inter-racial marriage was illegal there. When Moses married an Ethiopian, his sister Miriam criticized him…and God struck her with leprosy. I’ve known soldiers who, when stationed overseas, married without honoring their brides’ culture or learning their language. In my travels I’ve appreciated being exposed to many cultures; the experience was enriching.

An old friend and neighbor of mine, Ron Downing, tells this story of his Army days: “In 1977 I was a new 23 year old US Army Lieutenant stationed in Germany, as a Platoon Leader with about 35 people. One day unannounced, an Equal Opportunity representative walked into my office. He introduced himself and asked, ‘Lieutenant, how many minorities are in your platoon?’ I was embarrassed; I had to tell him, I didn’t know. I walked over to the manning board and looked at each name, had to think for a moment and reported to him what appeared to me to be each person’s race; black, white, Hispanic, Asian. I said, ‘I’m sorry, Sir. I didn’t think I needed to keep that information. All of these people are my soldiers.’ He said to me, “Lieutenant, you answered my question perfectly’.”

Paul tells us in Galatians 3, “We are all children of God through faith in Christ…there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ.” We have a fellowship that brings about harmony and reconciliation. The Apostle John writes, “Whoever does not love does not know God.” Love is not a sentimental feeling but unconditional acceptance.

God expects us to love and respect one another, not just with words but with actions. This means we don’t let differences become a determining factor in how we treat others. We can be welcoming even when we can’t affirm someone’s lifestyle. Poet Edwin Markham wrote, “He drew a circle that shut me out, but I drew a circle that took him in.” All who are within the circle of Christ’s love must be within the circle of our love. The grace that brings us to Christ binds us together, because we live in the transforming power of love.