Words of Faith: God’s children called to love, respect one another

“In Christ there is no East or West, in him no South or North, but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.”

The words of this hymn by John Oxenham sum up the message of St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians. Paul wrote, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27-28).

When Paul wrote these words, there was disagreement among the first Christians. Many of the early followers of Jesus had first been Jews. As such, they still followed the law of Moses. But gradually the message of Christ spread to people who were not Jews. These non-Jews were called Gentiles. Some thought that to be a follower of Jesus you first had to be a righteous Jew and follow the law. But in his letter to the Christians at Galatia, Paul teaches that justification before God comes not by keeping the law, but by having faith in Jesus.

Now that faith has come, Paul says, you are all children of God. All differences have been removed. All are one in Christ.

Sometimes, though, this truth is hard to live into. Our differences can seem to be more powerful than what we have in common. For Paul the distinction was Jew or Greek. This may not seem like an important distinction today, but we have our own distinctions that divide us. Democrat – Republican, gay – straight, rich – poor, Christian – Muslim, black – white – Latino. Right now these divisions seem especially pronounced.

This kind of division is unhealthy. It creates disunity, distrust and hatred. We witnessed the result of this kind of hatred in Orlando when the 49 people were killed in an attack on the Pulse nightclub. It was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. This act in itself was horrific enough but the tragedy was amplified by the fact that the night club was targeted because it served the LGBT community.

That gunman targeted that group of people because they were different from him.

As Christians we are called to refuse to let differences divide us. We are reminded that we are all children of God. Despite our differences God loves each one. Even when we have different opinions, we are to value the other as our brother or sister in Christ. As God’s children we are to seek unity, not division.

Several years before I went to seminary, I was part of an study group called Education for Ministry. This group, meant to train lay people to exercise their ministry, met for four years studying Old Testament, New Testament, Church History and Theology. We were a very diverse group. Some were very conservative, others were very liberal. We often disagreed. Sometimes it was difficult – there was often tension between the members of the group.

At the end of the year, we gathered for the ordination of our group leader to the priesthood. During that service, we sang a hymn by Brian A. Wren. Its effect on me was so profound that almost 30 years later, I still remember the occasion. The third verse of this hymn reads, “As Christ breaks bread and bids us share, each proud division ends. That love that made us makes us one, and strangers now are friends.” As I sang this hymn, I knew that even though we were very different, all of us were one in Christ.

We have been loved. We have been forgiven. We have been blessed. If we accept that love, we cannot be divided from the rest of God’s children. We must allow that love to make us one. No, we will never all be the same. And yes, there will be times when we disagree.

But as God’s children in this world we are called to love and respect each person. When we do, we are one in Christ.

This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 1:31 PM with the headline "Words of Faith: God’s children called to love, respect one another."