Many times our passages can be tied together in theme and content. In a way that happened today. Two observations about today’s passages:
First, Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae can be compared to our passage in the Psalms. The Apostle Paul is basically stating that in the church we are all equal. No one is above another. We are all one in Christ. Verse 11 of this third chapter states this truth in summary:
11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:11 [ESV])
In Psalm 113 we see that God has elevated the poor and the disenfranchised so that they sit with princes and kings. Below is this Psalm in its entirety:
Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised!
4 The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens!
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord! (Psalm 113:1-9 [ESV])
There really is no difference between us and those we worship with and do ministry with. God deems us all in the great equalizer. Yet many state that Sunday mornings in the church is the most segregated hour in our Christian experience. We think of our church as being the best or our way of doing things most effective. We may even have a church of a differing culture worshiping in our building, but do we change the signs to read in the two differing languages or do we let them fend for themselves?
When we realize that God raises the poor and needy to sit with princes and kings then we must realize we all one really in God’s sight when it comes to value and honor.
Two Christmas Eves ago in our church we sang songs in English, Spanish and Ukrainian and had simultaneous translation in Spanish. We wanted to include as many as possible in celebrating the birth of Jesus.
Second, I have been to Ukraine some 30 times and have ministered to many there. The Apostle Paul mentions a region of Ukraine in his letter to the Colossian Church. The word Scythia is a region south of Kiev. One of Ukraine’s patron saints is the Apostle Andrew. The story is too long for this devotional, but tradition has it that after visiting this area on a missionary journey Andrew took word back to Paul about what had happened here and Paul used it in this letter explaining our oneness in Jesus. Personally, once reading about this connection it has blessed my soul. Just thought I’d throw this little factoid in this morning. Let’s celebrate our oneness in Christ today with someone who on the outside looks nothing like us but is one with us in Jesus. Lord bless you all.
Sixty-six books in a year 