Thinking Out LoudMy wife and I have just returned from a tour of the ancient world that made the modern world. We led a group of 34 Australians from diverse church backgrounds through Greece and Turkey in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. To read the Pauline epistles against a backdrop of ancient ruins, and where Caesar was worshiped as a god, is to sense the strangeness of Paul and his message.
The first Christian believers didn’t offer sacrifices to Roman gods, marking them out as separate from their neighbours. They believed that Jesus, a crucified and risen Jew, was Israel’s Messiah and now revealed as the Lord of the whole world.
This strange new cult was also radical. They showed care for the poor, sang together, and served others with new hope and joy. Women, Gentiles, and slaves were equals with men, Jewish believers, and masters. The early church was a new expression of humanity.
Under the shade in ancient Ephesus, we read from Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church that Christ had broken down the wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles and had formed a new humanity. In a world today that has retribalised, particularly around nationalism and politics, to pray for a new humanity that breaks down walls of hostility is a radical act.
The Australian election also happened while we were away. On election night, some of us were in shock and some rejoiced at the result. We felt how seriously we took our politics. But the next day, the walls of division were gone and we sang together and prayed for the new Government because our identity is fixed in something and Someone who transcends politics. We were indeed walking in the Footsteps of the Apostles and early church.
This Thinking Out Loud was first published on Facebook.