Do you remember your first day at school, or first day at work, or even your first day at church? Whether you knew a few people or not, you arrived in a new place, uncomfortable and out of place. Maybe even excluded from the “in-crowd”. Many of us know what it’s like to be a stranger, with all the awkwardness and self-consciousness. You may even have felt that it was impossible for you to ever be accepted in this place where some people are accepted and others are not.
In the book of Ephesians, Paul reminds the believers that all of us (as Gentiles) were once strangers:
…remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Ephesians 2:12
Look at the strong words: “separated”, “alienated”, “strangers”, hopeless and without God. This is how we all were, lost in our own sin, separated from God. But the good news is that God reached out to us–the death and resurrection of Christ made it possible for us to be included:
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:13
Isn’t that great news?? Jesus made it so that we could have a relationship with God. And Paul goes on in the same chapter:
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
Ephesians 2:19
See, it’s the character of God to take excluded people and to bring them into relationship with Him. His inclusive nature brought Him to pay the ultimate price so that we could be part of His household.
Paul goes on to say that the church’s job is to reflect this message to everyone, so much that even the angels can see:
…through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 3:10
See, the church’s job is to embody this inclusive nature of God. Every week at our church groups there are newcomers who come. They are strangers, possibly unbelievers, who are out of place and alienated from the community we all enjoy. Will we be the kind of church that Paul describes in Ephesians, who embody the message of inclusiveness to everyone?
Everybody likes to be included. We all are prone to having cliques, to having exclusive clubs and leaving others out. Most of us know the thrill of being included, and the pain of being excluded. So why do we still form exclusive groups in our church and exclude those we don’t want around? Why do we have cliques and invite only an elite few to be part of our parties and get-togethers? What is wrong with this picture?
Let’s look for the excluded, the strangers, the people without hope, and bring them into our community in the name of the gospel!
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