One Family, Many Nations

Today is a joyful glimpse of the family God is gathering. The clothes we wear carry stories. The languages we speak carry memories. The dishes we will share taste like home to someone and invite the rest of us to pull up a chair. We come from different nations, congregations, and traditions, but in Jesus Christ we have not been brought into separate rooms. We have been welcomed to one table. That welcome is at the heart of Acts 15. As we have walked through Acts, we have seen the gospel cross boundaries and the early church wrestle with what that meant. Some insisted that Gentile believers had to be circumcised and keep the whole law of Moses in order to truly belong (Ac. 15:1). The leaders in Jerusalem prayerfully answered: salvation is the gift of God’s grace through faith in Jesus. Their letter also offered practical guidance so Jewish and Gentile believers could share life without needless offense (Ac. 15:19–29). Paul, Barnabas, Judas, and Silas carried that letter to Antioch. When it was read, uncertainty gave way to joy. Believers from different places strengthened one another, and the church moved forward together in teaching and mission. This is a picture of what Christ desires among us today. Jesus makes one family out of every nation, and that family grows stronger when we welcome one another with joy, speak courage into one another’s lives, and share God’s truth together.