Ephesians 2:11-22
When we read this passage from Ephesians (2:11-22), do we see a call for Christianity to be inclusive? A good call for sure, but we might be missing our place in the passage. Paul summons: Remember where you came from. You. Us. We.
Jesus was a Middle Eastern Jew, a revolutionary itinerant teacher who set out, not to invent a new religion apart from Judaism, but to bring in a new era of how to commune with God and our neighbors with love and compassion.
The Ephesians passage was not originally for us to be inclusive of people outside our faith structure, but rather that they, still Jews, were choosing to include those outside their walls. We were the outsiders. Paul wrote to the Galatians: in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek (Greek being Gentile, or non-Jewish), slave nor free, male nor female (Gal 2:28). Gentile was not the name of another religious sect. The name referred to everyone not Jewish, every outsider, the leftovers. We were those invited to the table only through Christ Jesus.
If we embrace the call, remembering where we came from, remembering we were
outside and invited in, then, friends, it becomes natural that we likewise remove our
walls of separation; for in Jesus, we all hold hands as equal outsiders, now family, around the table, not because we are the ones to decide to invite others, but because Jesus has invited all of us, despite all our human-constructed labels.
All languages, all ethnic, geographic and cultural backgrounds, all races, genders and orientations, all religious and political affiliations, diverse in age, in talents and passions, even in historical era. . . .Come to the table. Jesus has invited us all as one big family, and, wondrously and mysteriously, together, we become a place where God lives (v. 22).
PRAYER: Forgive us, God, when we think we are in charge of the guest list. Thank you for inviting us to the table, and may we love all the other guests as unconditionally and extravagantly as you love us all. Amen.
originally published as an Advent devotion in Advent: A season of Expectation, 2025
The Ephesians passage was not originally for us to be inclusive of people outside our faith structure, but rather that they, still Jews, were choosing to include those outside their walls. We were the outsiders. Paul wrote to the Galatians: in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek (Greek being Gentile, or non-Jewish), slave nor free, male nor female (Gal 2:28). Gentile was not the name of another religious sect. The name referred to everyone not Jewish, every outsider, the leftovers. We were those invited to the table only through Christ Jesus.
If we embrace the call, remembering where we came from, remembering we were
outside and invited in, then, friends, it becomes natural that we likewise remove our
walls of separation; for in Jesus, we all hold hands as equal outsiders, now family, around the table, not because we are the ones to decide to invite others, but because Jesus has invited all of us, despite all our human-constructed labels.
All languages, all ethnic, geographic and cultural backgrounds, all races, genders and orientations, all religious and political affiliations, diverse in age, in talents and passions, even in historical era. . . .Come to the table. Jesus has invited us all as one big family, and, wondrously and mysteriously, together, we become a place where God lives (v. 22).
PRAYER: Forgive us, God, when we think we are in charge of the guest list. Thank you for inviting us to the table, and may we love all the other guests as unconditionally and extravagantly as you love us all. Amen.
originally published as an Advent devotion in Advent: A season of Expectation, 2025
No comments:
Post a Comment