We continue with pieces from “Holy People” by Gordon Lathrop.
A Christian assembly is the “holy people” only in the sense that the prophet of the return from the exile used the term: a people that might have been called “no people at all” or “forsaken people” shall now be called “The Holy People” (Isaiah 62:12). The Isaian sense is even further intensified for the Christian community is made up of people from many different nations, of sinners and outsiders, with no birth claim to the holy inheritance of the Word. They are “called to be the holy ones” (1 Corinthians 1:2) with the same “call” that makes them part of the ekklesia. Not many of them are wise, powerful, or noble “by human standards” (1 Corinthians 1:26).
We cannot forget that we are a people who could be called “no people at all” in regards to how we behave or hope to behave. We say that God makes us a people. The notion of being “no people at all” and then being a people beloved by God in a manner that is up to God – that is unconditionally – is a notion that is beyond our comprehension. Therefore, we are encouraged by the Holy Spirit to simply trust what God does. But take note: in a fear-filled world, allowing people who are “no people at all”…that is people who don’t count or people who are not like me or different than mean…may mean that we would rather not go along with the breath of the Spirit. Instead, it is easy to put up barriers and limitations and qualifications so that the “holy people” will be exactly who we would want them to be. I can sense the prophet Isaiah being very disturbed.
Connection: How do we train our eyes to see others in the light of God’s gracious Reign and not bound up by our prejudice as we walk through this day?
O God of New Life who takes what is and brings to life that which is blessed among us, transform us by your grace and hold us within your loving embrace so that we will be shaped by you as we touch those around us and come to see your holiness reigning among those we may not want to call holy. Amen.
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