One in Christ
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
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So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19).
Read Ephesians 2:8–22
Today, we are reminded again that we are saved by grace through faith. Today’s reading highlights God’s generosity in accepting us as we are, bringing peace and overlooking our differences. We are assured that we are welcome in God’s family as ‘fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God’. Not only that, but we are also ‘a dwelling place for God’.
God has no favourites. What an interesting thought! When we look around us and see the different ways people express their faith in God, how can we tell who is right and who is wrong? This passage and many others make it clear that our faith is a gift from God and that you or I do not get to make the call on who is right and who is not.
Not only that, but grace is also a great leveller. Through Jesus’ death on the cross, the dividing wall of hostility between us (whichever ‘us’ you can think of) is broken down. Hostility is gone. Laws are done away with. Peace removes barriers of distance and difference. You and I are each a dwelling place of God, and Christ is our cornerstone.
Our God is a generous God – giving so much to you and me, no matter who we are or from where we have come. Our God is a kind God, gladly welcoming all into a close relationship. Our God is a peaceful God who casts aside the hostilities between us.
How should we respond to this generosity, kindness and peace? I guess the only answer is ‘gracefully’.
I have checked out the meanings of grace in my oversized Oxford Dictionary. There are a variety of definitions: implying attractiveness, courtesy, goodwill, favour – or (in Christian belief) the unmerited favour of God, a divine saving and strengthening influence.
It’s becoming obvious that I will have to think more about grace and what it means to live in God’s grace and how I relate to others in light of that. You may choose to do that, too.
Gracious God, thank you for accepting me into your household. Thank you for your generosity, courtesy and kindness in welcoming me and giving me the gift of faith. Please help me treasure that faith and nurture it so it continues to grow and sustain me through the good times and challenging times. Amen.
Colleen lives in Adelaide with her husband, John. She enjoys reading, writing and keeping in touch with friends and family in Australia and overseas. After growing up in rural New South Wales, Colleen attended university in Sydney and then moved to Adelaide for two years in 1974. After meeting and marrying her husband, she has never left.
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