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“In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 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.”
My Two Cents….
Divisions fall away in the face of the gospel. This simple truth is one that the Pharisees didn’t understand when Jesus was proclaiming the kingdom of God through word and deed. It was also something that the early Christians in Jerusalem didn’t comprehend when it came their chance to spread the gospel and build the church. They were used to the dividing line that circumcision provided within their former religious identity of Judaism.
From ancient times, God’s people were circumcised, the Gentiles were not. Women, who’s biological plumbing prevented circumcised, really didn’t count unless they were attached to a male. The Christian leaders in Jerusalem, who all happened to be Jewish, male, and staunch defenders of circumcision as an identity marker demanded that all new male converts visit a mohel. They allowed “what we have always done” - honored and preserved as tradition - to build a wall between Jewish ‘insiders’ and Gentile ‘outsiders.’
In the book of Galatians, Paul challenges this lack of imagination. Instead of circumcision - baptism becomes the new identifier of those who are a part of the Christian community. Baptism, according to Paul, opens the playing field and who can be on the team. Biology no longer is a limiting factor. All are able to be washing in the life giving waters of baptism. Claimed in baptism, all former divisions wash away. Christianity, at its baptismal heart, is about God’s opening, inclusive, and boundary crossing love.
How can we open our minds and hearts this week as we embrace our own liberating baptismal identity? What boundaries might we cross?
In Christ’s Light,
Walt
Permission granted to share today's content with family and friends. Copyrighted 2019. Walt Lichtenberger