August 26, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I AM who will save My people from the countries of the east and the west. I AM will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be My people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.‘” (Zechariah 8.7-8)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

The ultimate accountability and responsibility falls on the shoulders of God Himself for the welfare and the future of His people. Let me emphasize what is said here: His People; their God. While the promise can be applied to “all” people, it is evidenced by those who are His people. Further, the promise to be their God is not to be defined as any other god. There is a tremendous stress on the concept of exclusivity. In a day and time as the one in which we currently live where inclusion is the byword which defines who the “right” people are, it seems to be overlooked at the element of “exclusivity” which is promoted by it. If one is not inclusive, that is- accepting of all people as they have chosen to be as valued, worthy and exempt from judgmentalism, then one has been excluded from society. Granted we should not be judgmental. Discerning, yes. Judgmental, no. As I have previously offered, judgmentalism includes the suggestion of guilt with a sentence of punishment. Discernment is about differentiating between right and wrong, good and evil. When those who are discerning are called to make a decision as to the appropriate response to a “right or wrong/good or evil” event or thought it is with the intent and purpose of reconciliation that should be their first priority. Those who are truly discerning measure their responses based on the scriptural maxim: “For we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God intended for each person.” If it were not for the grace of God and His abundant mercy, we would be excluded from His blessing and favor because of our own decision to be falsely inclusive. Doesn’t it seem strange that those who would promote inclusion are themselves exclusive in order to promote the lie as the truth? Even those in the Church may be guilty of such thinking when their denominationalism because exclusive by saying their version of the truth is universal and singular. It is true “there can only be one.” However, the true “ONE” is God: His Word, His Will, His Truth and His Way. For those who pursue it as all righteousness will find such an exclusive inclusion that everything else will pale in comparison. Perhaps this is why Jesus is spoken of as “the light of the world.” In Him is the glory of God so visible that all else seems to fade from sight and is no longer necessary.

Without question, mighty ones of God, this way of living, acting and thinking can be challenging as we minister to a weary and broken world. It stands against the “conventional wisdom” of the world in which we currently live. It has stood as such since the beginning of humanity’s walk beyond the Garden. We have struggled mightily to keep to the course of righteousness because it appears as one course among many. The theory of “majority rules” will never apply. Those who keep to the path of righteousness will exist as the remnant of a people. They will always number less than the whole of those who are around them. But it is never for the sake of excluding others that this is the truth. The hope of the remnant should be that everyone is welcome when they are defined by the righteousness of God and call upon His name to be their own as a people. We have to remember the call of Christ was never to be “a Christian.” That term was conceived for those who had chosen to be followers of Christ in Antioch. What Jesus called His followers to be by name were “My Disciples.” In the Great Commission that title was affirmed with the call of Christ to “Go, therefore, into all the world and make DISCIPLES of all nations.” We are called to be God’s people known as “disciples of Jesus the Christ of God.” It is an exclusive group of people, set apart in righteousness to be different from those who cloak themselves with unrighteousness. They are an inclusive group of people, set apart in righteousness to make disciples of all nations and welcome them in to “the Way, the Truth and the Life” which leads to God and eternal life. It is that quality of way, truth and life which makes Christianity different from all other “religions.” It is that function of way, truth and life which sets Christianity apart from all other “lifestyles.” It is that hope of way, truth and life which sets Christianity as the singular (yet diverse) reality among all presumed reality.

What makes it different is Jesus Christ Himself. He is the I AM of God who dwelt in the flesh as Immanuel, God with us. With the presence of all believers in Him as the Son of God who takes away the sins of the world, He remains Immanuel, God with us in this world as He will be in the next. He has saved the people of God. He has redeemed them with His own blood. He was fought the good fight and run the good race as no other can do and claimed the prize which is above all others: those who follow after Him in spirit and in truth for eternity. And this is the good fight and the good race set before us, too. We do not fight it alone nor do we run it alone. We are those disciples who pursue Immanuel as the singularity of authentic living and loving. The most difficult aspect is living in the truth as the “already but not yet.” The day is coming when all things will have worked together for good for those who call upon the name of the Lord. It is good for all people. It will work for all people. It is available to all people. Like a city set on a hill it is visible to all people. We will not exclude and keep the gospel from them. We will include them in faith, hope and love being called to the transformation and renewal as is extended to the world. If there is an exclusion it will be because they refuse to believe it, receive it and become it: disciples of Immanuel- God with us.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.