Out of Bounds?

Lucy the Infamous Cat knows just where her territory is; and woe to any critter entering therein!  A big part of life is establishing and maintaining boundaries:  residence in a different State means adjusting licenses and perhaps work-visas.  Some lines are more clear:  Foul-lines and baselines govern our sports, our traffic lanes are marked by lines, and we are encouraged at an early age (unfortunately) to color within the lines.  Barriers and fences and dress-codes mark Mine from Thine.  Scripture readings for the upcoming weekend tell us how God thinks outside of the box…

There’s a remarkable, trend-setting occasion recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10:  Peter, hungry from fasting, sees a “sheet” from heaven containing various animals; and a voice says, “Peter, kill and eat.”  Being a Good Jew, Peter disdains “the unclean” three times.  (Everything seems to happen to Peter in threes.)  About this time, messengers from the Gentile Centurion Cornelius urge Peter to come to his house and to preach about Jesus!  What to do??  With continued Divine Prodding, he goes, he preaches–and the Holy Spirit arrives…on Gentiles, those guys across the fence!  Yer outta bounds, Peter!

The First Letter of John is way heavy on esoteric loving.   He says, “for the love of God is this,. that we obey his commandments.  And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world.” (5:3-4)  John’s faith-community has been really good at distinguishing between us good guys and those worldly ones on the other side of the wall.  Some will use this to maintain an elitism complete with passwords and secret ritual–yet I think that John here implies that “love conquers all”, and that God continues to reach across the aisle in gracious compassion.

The Gospel of John gives us the extensive musings of Jesus at The Last Supper.  Here the Lord speaks about commandments (rules or good intentions?) and the resulting intimacy.  “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” (15:15)  Business as usual demands a wide gulf between master & servant (respect, d’y see?), but here’s the Master of All breaking down that separation.  What a precedent that sets!

The post-modern Church needs to be really concerned with wrecking wrath’s walls!  I’m sorry to say that in past times and not so long ago we’ve acted as referees, calling too many Out of Bounds.  If we’re serious about being Reconciling Congregations, it’s an opportunity to grant access and acceptance to those who also have been Created in Sacred Image.

God Bless Us, Every One                    Horace Brown King