Other foods

Sunday November 2^nd, Revelation 7: "9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" Part of Jesus’ ministry on earth was to reach out and draw new people, those who had been rejected, into the kingdom.  The task of the disciples was to announce that the Kingdom was near. That message, that ministry, landed Jesus and the disciples in a great deal of hot water. By and large, the church doesn’t want new people.  I see it all the time in congregations, often what they prefer is more people who are just like them in some way, but not new people who might change the way they respond to God’s love. People tend to like the arrangement of us and them with us on the inside and them on the outside. When you start inviting the “them” in, the next thing you know the “us” have to face change. Other languages are spoken on our street corners. Other foods are cooked and served in our restaurants, other music, thoughts, ideas and problems begin to invade our sensibilities and we become uncomfortable. In order to include these “others” we have to change even though it is our church or our country. I think that was God’s plan all along. The Saints help us see that “God vision” of the Kingdom through the clouded vision of our own version of the little kingdoms where we gather for worship.