The Great Gathering

One of my fondest memories of growing up were our family reunions at Caledonia State Park in southern Pennsylvania.  Though our family was far-flung in multiple states, we reunited every summer.  I always found it fascinating because our clan was such a mixed bunch.  For starters, we were very diverse in life calling, all the way from cousins Jim and John who were doctors, to aunts Deedie, and Jean, and Barb who were homemakers.  In addition, our family didn't always get along, with one relative or more always feuding with another relative.  But we still gathered every summer, recognizing we were still one despite our diversity and division.

Have you noticed, the trend is not to gather if there's diversity or division?  Why, we stay away from each other, taking pot-shots at each other, labeling each other not as persons made in God's image, but persons made in the image of a suspect political party, race or ideology.  But that's not God's dream.  As Paul reminds us in Ephesians 1, in the fulness of time, God wants to "...gather up all things in [Christ Jesus, His Son], things in heaven and things on earth..."  (Ephesians 1:10).  In other words, God wants to mobilize our diversity and division through Jesus, as He challenges us to see each other not as persons with the "mark of the beast," but as persons with the "mark of the Creator," making us all equal, worthy, and vital.

God's mission to gather us despite our diversity and division runs throughout scripture.  For example, in Acts 2, Luke portrays God pouring out His Spirit on all people despite a diverse Pentecost crowd from all parts of the world (Acts 2:1-13).  In Ephesians 2, Paul portrays God in Christ as a wall-breaker who "...is our peace...[who]...has broken down the dividing wall...the hostility between us..."  (Ephesians 2:14).  And in Revelation, John portrays God's ultimate vision as "...a great multitude, that no one can count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing...before the Lamb...saying...Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! (Revelation 7:9-10).  

As God dreams of the Spirit pouring out on all people -- the collapse of dividing walls -- of all tribes and languages standing together -- we are called to do the same.

We do that as we see as Jesus sees.  When we see each other, we see male, female -- Caucasian, Latinos -- young adult, older adult.  But when Jesus sees us, He sees only persons made in the image of God.  For "...there is not longer Jew or Greek," to quote Paul in Galatians 2:20, "...there is no longer slave or free, there is not longer male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."  (Galatians 3:28).

For Dietrich Bonhoeffer, this results in a dramatic outcome:  there is no such thing as a direct relationship; everything and everybody is viewed through the Savior.  "....Jesus stands between us and all other [people] ...and reality, " Bonhoeffer writes in The Cost of Discipleship.  "The call of Jesus teaches us that our relation to the world has been built on an illusion...We cannot establish direct contact outside ourselves except through Him...To think otherwise is to deceive ourselves." 

I don't think my elementary school growing up, Lincolnshire Elementary, set out to deceive me, but it did.  As their yearly fundraiser, the Lincolnshire Elementary PTA held minstrel shows.  As you might know, a minstrel show featured white persons smeared with blackface performing skits and musical acts; in doing so, they represented African-Americans as dimwitted, lazy, buffoonish folk.  But in the 1950's, we thought such portrayal was normative; so I grew up with a distorted picture of black persons as comical, "less than" individuals.

But in fairness to Lincolnshire Elementary, there are all sort of minstrel shoes around distorting what's true.  There's the minstrel show portraying science as contrary to faith.  There's the minstrel show portraying women as unequal to men.  And then there's the minstrel show portraying Jesus as a white man, favoring a white church rather than a savior who so loved the whole, wide world.  I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being deceived.  I want to see as Jesus sees: demonstrating regard for people of color -- validating God's wisdom in science -- affirming the equality of women and men -- identifying Jesus with all the people of the world.

But such a new vision requires new thinking.  Specifically, to think stew pot, not melting pot.  The traditional way of speaking of our unity in Jesus is to talk of uniformity.  This was especially true as immigrants came to the U.S. in the early 20th century and historians referred to America as a great melting pot; that is, differing nationalities melded together into a uniform, homogenous blend.  But neither America or the Church is homogenous; we're heterogeneous, more of a stew pot than a melting pot, with each of us having a unique flavor and role.  Sure, we're one in our value in Christ -- but -- unique in our contribution for Christ.

Paul accents this as he reminds us that "....[God's] intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known..."  (Ephesians 3:10, NIV, emphasis added).  For to God, difference is not deficiency; yes, we are one in Christ, but manifold, diverse, in the unique flavor each of us adds to the Body of Christ.

For the early church, it was the flavor of both Jews and Gentiles, as they discovered in the words of Paul, that "...both Gentiles and Jews...share equally in the riches inherited by God's children.  Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus..."  (Ephesians 3:6, NLT).  For us, it's the flavor of both Anglos and Latinos, Caucasians and African Americans, Spaniards and Dominicans.  Bottom line:  we need to see each other not only as persons marked by the image of God, but also, persons marked by the unique gifts and cultural contributions of God.

In 1411, St. Andrei Rublev painted an icon, The Hospitality of Abraham, for the abbot of the Trinity Monastery in Russia.  It depicted Genesis 18:1-15 where the Lord visits Abraham in the form of three strangers who represent the Trinity.  The icon is powerful, reminding us that though God is one, God is also diverse as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Rublev accents such truth through His technique.  Why, each member of the Trinity is depicted as equal as each holds a rod, wears a cloak of blue, and share a similar sized face.  But God the Father's color has the feel of transparency as the hidden Creator, His head elevated, lifted high.  And God the Son is adorned with the reddish purple of royal priesthood, as He blesses the cup.  And God the Holy Spirit wears a cloak of green, in addition to blue, symbolizing life and regeneration, His head inclined in deference toward the Father and the Son.  And so even as God gathers, God gathers in diversity; yes one, but unique, as God the Father -- God the Son -- and God the Holy Spirit.

As God assembles, we're to assemble, affirming in the words of Paul, that in the fulness of time, God does "...gather up all things in [Christ Jesus, His Son], things in heaven and things on earth..."   Thus, we celebrate our unity in Jesus, but also our diversity in Jesus, fully displaying the rich variety of His Church as the manifold, multi-flavored wisdom of God!