It’s been suggested by some that we got our word
“newspaper” because at the head of certain periodicals the following symbol was
placed: N-E-W-S with the N above the E-W and the S below the E-W – indicating
the four points of the compass, the four corners of the earth, north – south –
east – west; news from around the world.
What a great symbol for churches to use to
indicate the godly value of inclusiveness. In fact, that has always been a high
value for God. For example, contrary to some opinions, the Old Testament God
was regularly calling for radical inclusion among the people of God. Here’s one
of those passages.
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Be just and fair
to all. Do what is right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you and to
display my righteousness among you. Blessed are all those who are careful to do
this. Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest and keep themselves from
doing wrong.
I Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say, “The
Lord will never let me be part of his people.” And don’t let the eunuchs say,
“I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.” For this is what the Lord
says: ‘I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose
to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me. I will give them—within the
walls of my house—a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters
could give. For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never
disappear!
‘I will also bless the foreigners who commit
themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do
not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant. I will
bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my
house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my
Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.
‘For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the
outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.’”
(Isaiah 56:1-9, New Living Translation) God sends a very pointed message to the
Hebrew people of that day, people who considered themselves the “chosen” of
God, a nation called by God to be a “light” to the world. They had become
extremely exclusive and selfish, arrogant in their claims to be special to God.
Rather than being a light for revealing the character of God, a channel of the
divine way, they had turned inward, afraid of contamination from “outsiders”
and proud of their understanding of truth. “We are the only Way,” they boasted.
As a result, they had set up a culture of
“insiders” and “outsiders.” A purity religion based upon what you believed and
how perfectly you lived in harmony with God’s commands. They stratified their
religious community – a sacred hierarchy – with the spiritual professionals at
the top and the “sinners” and “unclean” at the bottom. You were either welcome
and included or not, based upon where you fit on the ladder.
Notice the two groups of people God singles out
in this passage for radical inclusion: foreigners and eunuchs. Foreigners were
considered “out” by virtue of birth. If you weren’t born a Jew, you couldn’t be
included. And eunuchs were considered “out” by virtue of physical handicap
(castration), either by their own choice or the choice of another. As a result,
they were both impotent and unable to have offspring, both conditions considered
by the Jews to be wrong and therefore worthy of judgment. Both groups were not accepted
into the religious life of the community and looked upon as “outcasts.”
Notice what God says to both groups. In essence:
“You belong! You’re In! I embrace you!” And what’s more, God promises each
group special privileges that will enhance their sense of belonging: to the
foreigners – “You have full and complete access to all the rights and
responsibilities of my people – you can come straight into the Temple of God
and worship like everyone else.” To the eunuchs – “Though you may be missing
the ‘equipment’ to produce offspring and descendants to carry on your name, I
will give you a legacy and a name that will live on forever.”
Imagine what this radical inclusion does to the
sense of community? God takes those considered by the “church” as unworthy and
undeserving and “grafts” them into the community. God gives them full status
and dignity and honor regardless of genetics or geography or physiology. To
God, everyone is welcome! “My House will be called a House of Prayer for all
people.”
In fact, Jesus quoted that verse when he went to
the Temple and chased out the money changers and religious leaders. He cleansed
the Church because ordinary people were being excluded by the religious
establishment. People were being marginalized and kept out because they didn’t
measure up to the external standards of the established purity religion. And so
Jesus, knowing the radically inclusive nature of his God, refused to let that continue.
God’s House was a House of Prayer for all people.
So why is it that so often the one place on
earth that should be inclusive is exclusive? Why is it that those who claim to
follow God so often act contrary to God? Imagine what it could be like if
people would actually emulate the real God – a God who values diversity, humility
and inclusivity. Imagine if spiritual and religious communities established
themselves around these godly values in how they think and how they behave; if
they really believed that difference is not deviance, that variety is positive
not negative, that the “body” needs more body parts, not less, that God doesn’t
make copies, God makes originals and therefore all have equal value. Imagine
what life could be
like then!
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