OPEN ACCESS
THURSDAY, JULY 10
READING: EPHESIANS 2:12-18
Categories help us understand the world. They help us sort things out and make sense of complexities. Plant or Animal…ProteIn, Fat or Carb…Day or Night. Categories can be really helpful to help us understand things we encounter in the world; however, when we begin to categorize people, feelings get hurt, toes get stepped on, and hostilities can easily arise.
The early church was made up largely of 2 categories of people, Jews (God’s chosen people) and Gentiles (everyone else). According to common understanding of the day, Jews were IN God’s favor and Gentiles were OUT. The Jewish people took great pride in their heritage because of the blood that ran through their veins.
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians seeks to obliterate the categories common to their day by showing that only one type of blood mattered in terms of experiencing peace with God, namely the blood of Christ. Through Christ, those who once had no access, now have gained entrance; those who were far off, now are brought near; those who were lost, now are found.
Through Christ each and every one of us can be brought near every day in one Spirit to the Father. Now that is a hopeful truth that has staying power.
The early church was made up largely of 2 categories of people, Jews (God’s chosen people) and Gentiles (everyone else). According to common understanding of the day, Jews were IN God’s favor and Gentiles were OUT. The Jewish people took great pride in their heritage because of the blood that ran through their veins.
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians seeks to obliterate the categories common to their day by showing that only one type of blood mattered in terms of experiencing peace with God, namely the blood of Christ. Through Christ, those who once had no access, now have gained entrance; those who were far off, now are brought near; those who were lost, now are found.
Through Christ each and every one of us can be brought near every day in one Spirit to the Father. Now that is a hopeful truth that has staying power.
REFLECTION
His oath His covenant His blood
Support me in the whelming flood
When all around my soul gives way
He then is all my hope and stay
Support me in the whelming flood
When all around my soul gives way
He then is all my hope and stay
- Slowly read the stanza above from The Solid Rock, by Edward Mote.
- What words or phrases are you drawn to?
- Ask God what He might be trying to say through the words you’ve noticed.
- When you celebrate Communion each Sunday, how do you experience the support of Jesus no matter what ‘whelming flood’ you might be facing?