Easter Devotional - Day 44

"Israel, I am Yahweh God, and the Ethiopians are no less important to me than you are. I brought you out of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Crete and the Arameans from Kir. My eyes have seen what a sinful nation you are, and I'll wipe you out. But I will leave a few of Jacob's descendants. I, Yahweh, have spoken!" Amos 9:7-8

These were hard words for any Israelite to hear. They were, after all, the chosen people, the descendants of Abraham, the children of the promise. Yahweh had hand-picked them from among the nations to be a special people under the care of the Almighty. While the other nations were under the care and handling of lesser gods, the people of Israel was special, set apart, uniquely cared for by Yahweh. Israel was no great nation among others in the Ancient Near East. They were not especially wealthy, powerful, or sought after for trade and special skills. All they really had going for them was their special relationship with Yahweh.

Amos' words just seemed to dash the national sense of dignity, pride, and esteem. All they really had going for them was being special to Yahweh—God's chosen, prized possession among the nations. Now Amos had to go and say that this special relationship was simply a measure of grace. Yahweh had chosen them as a special possession, but did not care for them more than others. That would take the wind out of their sails. It definitely did not earn Amos any brownie points.

It would seem that even in Jesus' day the people had not accepted the reality behind Amos' words. They were still struggling to feel special on the basis of Abraham as their ancestor. They clung to privileged status from a question of birthright. In the process, they ignored and overlooked God's interest in the other nations—an interest held on the same level with which God prized Israel.

Jesus struggled with the disciples to bring them to the understanding of Amos. It was only long after the resurrection that Peter finally understood that God held the Gentile nations as worthy of the love and grace of Christ Jesus. Paul's ministry to the Gentiles flew in the face of accepted ethnocentric norms prevalent among Jewish society. Over and over again, the prophets spoke this same message to the chosen people, but the message fell on deaf ears.

Worst of all, all too often we fail to hear the message today, as well. We like to think more of ourselves than we ought, just as the Hebrews and Jews of Amos' and Jesus' day. We look to our standing as children of God, born anew under the grace of Christ Jesus. In the process, we somehow fail to glimpse that it is through grace that we are God's children. It is not for any inherent superiority over others, but the simple fact that we have accepted God's offer of grace.

Unintentionally, perhaps, we look down on others who have yet to hear or respond to the gospel as though they were of lesser value to God. That is not the case at all. They are simply those we have failed to embrace in the love of Christ, failed to reach with the message of God's grace. Like God's people through the ages, we need a constant reminder to look upon the entire world as God's beloved creation and value those outside the realm of faith even as Christ, who loved them enough to die.

Check your attitudes toward those outside your comfort levels and boundaries of faith.

"Lord, help me to view all with the depths of your love, becoming more aware of your grace."

—©Copyright 2009, Christopher B. Harbin

http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/ 
My latest books can be found here on amazon

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