final thought: no longer strangers
Becky Macfarlane shares how Christ’s redeeming work gives us a template to care.
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth…were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.
Ephesians 2:11-2
Over the past 20 years, hundreds of thousands of people from many different countries who have applied for asylum have been dispersed around the UK while awaiting the outcome of their claims.
Reading this passage with them in mind draws attention to familiar words: ‘hostility’, ‘barrier’, ‘regulations’, ‘excluded’, ‘foreigners’, and ‘without hope’. The focus of government policy here and in many other countries continues to be ‘protecting borders’ rather than providing safety. This results in vulnerable foreigners experiencing a punitive system, extreme poverty and deteriorating health.
What a contrast to God’s purpose in history towards Gentiles, previously excluded from his people!
■ Far away? Brought near (v13)
■ Barrier? Destroyed (v14)
■ Regulations? Put aside (v15)
■ Hostility? Put to death (v16)
■ Foreigners and strangers? Fellow-citizens, members of one household (v19)
Through the costly death of Jesus Christ on the cross we have:
■ Access to the Father on equal terms by the Holy Spirit (v18)
■ Peace with God and with each other (v17)
■ One humanity (v15)
Let’s consider:
■ The privilege of our unity with Christ and with all our brothers and sisters in him; a costly commitment superseding any other identity, citizenship, or loyalty.
■ Our responsibility to identify with the stranger and the excluded, to open doors for welcome, and to offer protection, dignity, and healing.
Prayer
Father, you have opened wide your welcoming arms to us, without prejudice or favouritism. We are so grateful for your love and mercy. You call us to be imitators of you, as your dearly loved children. Please forgive us for when we have failed to love those in need of help. May we be willing instead for a costly distinctiveness from the attitudes of the world around us, and may our welcome of the stranger be a sacrifice acceptable in worship to you.
