Scripture: Acts of the Apostles 11:26 – “So it was that for an entire year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’” (NRSV)
One of the reasons why Jesus was targeted and suppressed by those in power was because of how transgressive he was. In his spreading the “good news”, he was not only preaching salvation to the wicked and healing the sick but was also teaching the world how a new life might be possible if one put faith in God before other concerns.
Jesus sought out sinners and the “unclean” of like prostitutes, tax collectors, and lepers to tell them that they were part of God’s kingdom. He healed with divine authority and not with the sanction of society. He accepted women into positions of leadership, including financing his ministry. He was even willing to heal Gentiles like Romans and Syrians. He preached that Sabbath was for humanity, and not humanity for the Sabbath, and criticized legal interpretations and temple worship that favored some people over others or that kept the powerful in domination over the people. Jesus even called his disciples to leave their families and their jobs to follow him. As he said in the Gospel according to Matthew, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” In other words, Jesus’ mission was undermining the social structure of the family, community, state, and religion. There is little wonder that people sought to kill him! But Jesus reminds us that love and faith transcend even the most important bonds in our lives.
Jesus did all this as a member of the Jewish faith, and his teachings are extensions or improvements on the teachings of the Law and the Prophets, which favored the lowly and criticized the powerful. But over time, people noticed that the Way of Jesus was no longer just a reform movement within Judaism. Once Peter ate with Gentiles and declared all people clean, the floodgates opened to preach the gospel to all people, even if they were not ethnically or ritualistically Jewish. This, too, led to more suppressed and persecution, even from some of Jesus’ followers, who wanted to limit the community to those who looked like or acted like them. But life in Christ was something different, and so when Barnabas and Paul preached in the Gentile city of Antioch, they began to call themselves Christians.
Even after two thousand years, Christianity is still a different way of doing things. Christians are different because our priorities are different, our loves are different, and the way we overcome the fear and inertia in our lives is different. In the past, everyone was nominally a Christian, so that difference was mostly invisible. But now in a region and a world where Christianity identity is rapidly shrinking, it is time to reclaim our difference. Jesus taught that the broken, weird, and outcast were loved, not despite their differences, but because of their differences. Being a Christian means realizing that you are different and welcoming different people into your circle of love. We might not live without hope of something greater like some or give lip service to Jesus while perpetuating a life of division and judgment like others. We are different. So do not be afraid to be different and live out love and mercy in all that you do.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, teach me to embrace being different and celebrate the various gifts and identities of others. Amen.
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