SCRIPTURE: Acts 11
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. [John 17:20-21]
Through Jesus, the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile is torn down, and now we can be one – for through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. [Ephesians 2:11-18].
These readings show the heart of God, Jesus and the Spirit, to bring all nations together as one.
We do not always get this.
We naturally separate and socialize with those most like us.
We avoid those that are different (what that means will be different from person to person).
We may have rationalizations that we use to justify ourselves, but often at root it is lack of love and respect.
But that goes against the Spirit.
The Spirit of Jesus and of God that is in us pushes beyond the barriers we erect, and spills over into the lives of people outside our circles.
Those who were scattered, preached to the Jews only, but the Spirit prompted some to talk to the Greeks.
The Spirit warns of a coming famine, and the result is that believers of every culture and background rally together to support their Jewish brothers and sisters.
In fact, they give with amazing generosity (see 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, where we read of the Greek response).
Through Jesus, a new season has begun, and the Jews are not the only chosen people of God.
The old covenant code is no longer in effect, and God’s family includes people of all nations.
Thus is fulfilled the original promise of God to Abraham, that through him every nation on earth world be blessed [Genesis 12:1-2].
Jesus’ desire is to seek and to save the lost, to restore all people back to God’s family.
In His prayer, He anticipates those that will be reached through the apostles.
And in Acts 11, through the spreading church, He blesses them with multiple non-Jewish converts.
The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. [Acts 11:21].
This is still God’s heart today, still Jesus’ prayer today.
How inclusive am I?
How intentional am I about reaching beyond my cliques?
Am I full of the Spirit, Who is prompting me to reach out to others?
Do I see people through eyes of faith, not as those who are different from me but at those who are one with me in Christ.
PRAYER:
Lord, give me a heart that loves people regardless of who they are or what they are like.