Paul continues to build on his theological argument of unity in today's reading. Remember yesterday he established that everyone - Jew & Gentile (non-Jew) is equal in God's eyes. If you're wondering why Paul keeps hammering this concept home, it's because the Old Testament is all about the Jewish people. They were the chosen people who had a direct relationship to God. Gentiles included everyone else. It was very much an "us/them" world. After Jesus died, the Jews who believed thought Gentiles still needed to become Jews before they could become Christians. Paul spent much of his ministry correcting this wrong.
Today, our reading starts with "For this reason." This is a grammatical clue that the evidence given in the previous paragraph is relevant for the coming paragraph. So, here Paul is talking directly to the Gentiles to drive home the point that they have a place in God's family because of the redeeming work of Jesus Christ.
Paul states that he himself was commissioned to preach to the Gentiles when Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus. At that point, Paul was a religious leader who received permission to hunt down and convict new Christians. He felt that Christianity was a cult that threatened the very fiber and being of Judaism. He was willing to stop it at any cost. Jesus Christ appeared to him personally and Paul's life took a 180. His eyes were opened, literally, and he gave everything he had to the ministry of Jesus Christ. Paul was also given a special calling to go preach to the Gentiles. This is especially interesting since before this he wouldn't have given Gentiles a second glance. His life had been all about Judaism. Because of his past, Paul considers himself the least of the apostles (the leaders of the Christian church). Yet, he doesn't let his past hinder him. Instead, he looks to the task at hand and gives it everything he has.
I think we can learn a lot from Paul. Through him we see that it doesn't matter who you were in the world. What matters is who you will be in Christ. Jesus died for all of us - royal lineage or not. He died for the police officer and the serial murder, the doctor and the junkie, the nun and the prostitute. If Paul, who was so completely off the mark of God's will during his years of persecution and bloodshed, can so radically change - so can you. It's simply a matter of understanding that it's not about you, it's about HIM. Put your life in His hands, put your focus on Him.
I'll leave you with Paul's prayer, as translated by the Message Bible. This prayer is for every Gentile - that's you and me. Those who were on the outside looking in. With Jesus there is no outside anymore. So, write this one down & say it often . . .
"My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
20-21God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Glory to God in the church! Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus! Glory down all the generations! Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!"
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