Scripture: Romans 3:29-30

Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, seek of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

Thought for the Day: This idea that there is one God whom we all come from and worship is as problematic today as it was in Jesus’ time. For thousands of years, the Jewish people were the only monotheistic religion on the planet. They worshipped the “God of Israel,” and everyone else was a Pagan. Then Jesus comes along and says, “Hey people! This God of ours is more than we’ve imagined; in fact, the God of Israel is the One True God of the entire universe.” Paul takes this idea to its logical conclusion: God must not be simply the God of the Jews, but the God of all humans, Jew and Gentile alike.

And therein begins a conflict between people of faith that rages to this day. Our modern religions continue to insist that God is for “us” and against “them,” because “we” have communion once a month and “they” do it every week, or because “we” baptize by immersion and “they” sprinkle. Whatever. Modern religions fail to realize the important truth revealed in Jesus: God isn’t “against” anybody, God loves all of us equally, and certainly doesn’t care about our worship styles. God is bigger than that. God is pro love and anti-hate. God is pro-justice and anti-oppression. God is pro-freedom and anti-slavery. God is about the big picture of a world harmonized to God’s selfless love, and likely doesn’t give a whit about how we serve communion or who we serve it to. In fact, the God revealed in Jesus would command us to serve communion to everyone, whether they belonged to our church or not.

Prayer: Help me proclaim the peace, compassion, love and forgiveness of the Gospel—the “Good News” that God loves all of us, and is willing to do anything to help us right our individual relationships with God, no matter what we call ourselves. Amen.