Valerie Rae Hanneman
Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)
I was invited over to Bev and Floyd Willis’ home for dinner last Saturday. I’m not lying when I say that Floyd Willis can bar-be-que! The steaks he prepared were perfect. The whole meal was excellent and the dessert was to die for! I ate way too much. It was a miracle I could even get out of that chair! While we ate and even afterwards, we talked and talked and talked. They say that time flies when you are having fun and that is so true. When I got into my car to go home my mouth dropped open when I saw that it was after 10:00! I thought it was around 8:30 - 9:00. I learned something interesting about Floyd and Bev - they were married two years before I was born. There are a span of years between us that is greater than I knew. To the outside world looking in - Floyd, Bev and I have an unusual friendship because we have nothing in common.
There is a man, Ray, that I know because he works downtown like I do. We passed each other often enough on the sidewalk to where we started smiling and acknowledging each other. Now we have long conversations when ever we can. I really look forward to talking with him. Ray is a maintenance person over at Cornerstone Church. I am the chief financial officer of a $4.5 million law firm. To the outside world looking in - Ray and I have an unusual friendship because we have nothing in common.
Sara works for a different company than I do but her office is just down the hall from mine. We always smiled and said hi to each other until the day she said, “Was that your picture in the paper last week?” and we got to talking. Sara is of African descent - she was raised in poverty in South America. She came to the United States through marriage. I am of Irish descent. I was raised middle class. I was born in America. To the outside world looking in Sara and I have an unusual friendship because we have nothing in common.
The Willis’ and I come from different generations but we are friends. Ray and I come from different socio-economic lifestyles but we are friends. Sara and I come from different ethnic groups and different backgrounds but we are friends. And the world wants to know why.
There is a bond between the Willis’ and I, between Ray and I, between Sara and I. It is a bond of blood - but not human blood. It is a bond forged in the blood of Jesus Christ - and that makes it an eternal bond - a bond that cannot be broken.
When Jesus came, He came to turn the world upside down. In a world that valued a person by their ranking (power, money, possessions) He said “In the Kingdom of God the least shall be first.” In a society that shunned the Samaritans and the Gentiles as impure and kept them out, Jesus welcomed them to Himself when He said, “Come to me all you are heavily burdened and I will give you rest.” In a culture that demanded absolute obedience to the law - He offered endless mercy and grace. In a land steeped in religious acts towards God, He came to give a relationship with God. He said that the best of the best who calls out to God and the worst of the worst who calls out to God will receive an equal outpouring of His love and grace.
Jesus is the great equalizer. He says to the high mucky-muck and the one down on his luck - I do not see your social status - I only see you and I love you just as you are.” To the red & yellow, black & white He says, “You are precious in my sight. I do not see your skin - I see your heart. And I love you just as you are” To the elderly, the young and all the in-betweens He says, “I created time and it is a false measure of you. When I look at you I see your eternal soul - not your time-marked body. I love you just as you are”
Jesus came to turn the world upside down by equalizing it. He sees us just as we are without the pretenses of social position, skin color, age or any of the other false dividers that we put between us. He came to see us, love us and save us - equally and wholeheartedly. And He came to change us so that we see the same thing He sees when we look at each other.
To the world looking in, Floyd, Bev, Ray, Sara and I don’t have anything in common. But they are wrong - because we have Jesus in common. He is the connection that runs through all of our lives. When these friends and I get together we talk about different things, but there is always one topic that we always love to get to. One topic that is the same for the young and the old, the maintenance worker and the fiscal director, the black and the white and that topic is Jesus. We talk about what He has done in our live, what He is doing in our lives, and what He will do in our lives. We share as equals - because in His sight we are equals. We share as equals because He has freed us from the world’s dividers. We share as equals because He is the great Equalizer and we are equal in the covering of His blood. And we - as the people called by His name and equal in His sight - cannot let the false divisions of this world affect how we treat each other.
I am really looking forward to being home. I think about being in the presence of Jesus and I get goosebumps of anticipation. I also think about the conversations we will have when we are home. The things of earth won’t matter to us anymore so my best guess is that our conversations that will be based on the One who is common to all of us. I am looking forward to sitting down with people from every tribe, tongue and nation to hear their story of their place in His-story. To hear them tell of what Jesus did in their lives. I want to hear David tell about rushing towards Goliath. I want to hear Daniel talk about petting those lions. And I want to hear your story about His glory. And just as our stories are equal at home - they are equal on this earth.
I went to the dentist this week. I was in “the chair” looking at the church’s financial statement when the dental assistant came in. She asked me what I was looking at, and I told her. She asked how the church was doing, and I answered that like most churches there was more need than resources but all-in-all we were doing pretty good at meeting the need. She shared about what was going on at her church and I shared about FFBC. Then we shared our stories of His glory in our lives. Our stories were different, but the Jesus we live for was equal for both of us.
LORD Jesus, You have made us equal to each other - we are one in the story of Your grace and glory. Help us to share our stories with each other and with the world.
Contact Valerie or subscribe to the e-Ministry of Fresno First Baptist at valerie@fresnofirst.org
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Posted by Valerie at July 29, 2005 06:26 PM