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Just for Us
Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?”
– Acts 11:1-3 (NRSV)
When white slaveholders required enslaved Africans and African Americans to attend pro-slavery worship services, their intention was to maintain the status quo of slavery through Bible stories and the name of Jesus. Enslaved people interpreted a different message from those stories: freedom. Jesus became both the faith and the code for freedom. “Steal away to Jesus,” they sang. Steal away to freedom.
Freedom was not the slaveholders’ intended message. To the slaveholders, the name of Jesus was supposed to teach obedience to the enslaved; freedom was reserved just for the slaveholders.
But freedom just for a few is not freedom.
Just like the good news of Jesus just for a few (or its counterpart, the-good-news-of-Jesus-for-all-but-exactly-like-we-tell-you) is not the good news of Jesus.
“Why did you go visit them, Peter? Why did you affirm that they can have the good news of Jesus, too? We thought Jesus was just for us.”
Why do they get Jesus?
Why do they get freedom?
We thought it was just for us. Just for us to determine and distribute the good news of Jesus. Just for us to have and assign freedom. Just for us to receive grace for our sins and crimes. Just for us to grocery shop without being terrorized. Just for us to legislate the capabilities of a uterus.
Just for us. Not for them.
But “just for us” is not justice. “Just for us” is not freedom. “Just for us” is not Jesus.
“We thought Jesus was just for us,” said the believers to Peter in ancient Jerusalem. But when Peter explained his experience in Caesarea—how God gave visions to all people, how the Holy Spirit baptized circumcised and uncircumcised alike—the believers silenced their “just for us” complaints … and they rejoiced that God is for all.
Prayer: God, have mercy! We cling so tightly to “ours” and anger so quickly over “theirs.” Forgive our possessiveness over freedom, over grace, over life, over Jesus himself. Multiply goodness for all on earth as it is in heaven.
written for the Daily Devotional
Eastertide Psalm: Peace
O people, blessed are you
who come in the name of
the One who was and will be.
In death, in life, in renewal
the Promise says to the mourner:
“Peace be with you even when
the wounds seem to suggest
peace is not possible.”
O people, blessed are you
who come in the name of
the faithful Testimony.
In hope, in awe, in frustration
the Teacher says to the disciple:
“Peace be with you though
you strive after answers that
can only be known in living.”
O people, blessed are you
who come with a song
for the Victor and Healer.
In persistence, in resistance,
Holy Joy says to the doubter:
“Peace be with you through
desperation and triumph,
until neither one remains.”
O people, blessed are you
who come with love
for the One who frees.
With breath, with forgiveness,
Freedom says to the restless:
“Peace be with you until
at last you understand
it has already been found.”
O people, blessed are you
who come in the name of
the chief Cornerstone.
At a glance, with a touch, in a moment,
the First-and-Last says to the fearful:
“Peace be with you with every
marker you place along the way
to reassure one another.”
O people, blessed are you
who come in the name of
the Spirit of Peace.
cross-posted with RevGalBlogPals
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