December 16, 2022

Isaiah 56:1-3,6-8

A very happy Friday to you. There are things that we take for granted in church. Things like the diversity that we find in our churches. I have been watching the World Cup with great interest and it has amazed me how the players bring their cultures to this great event. Did you know that Brazil once got in trouble for celebrating too much after scoring. Yes some Europeans thought celebrating like that dishonored the games. Well we don’t expect a Brazilian to celebrate like an English man right!!! We bring our cultures. Let’s get back to the scriptures. The Lord says “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.”

It sounds simple but this little statement almost broke the early church. God was a Jewish God and the non Jews well they were just not welcome. Then came St. Paul and the Greeks. St. Paul argued that people do not have to be Jewish to be followers of Christ. In fact the first council of Jerusalem which was presided by the brother of our Lord, St. James the just, settled the question of eating pork. The Greeks loved Pork chops and for the Jews it was unclean. And the circumcision question was tackled at this council too. Anyway bring yourself and all that you are. For in the house of the Lord it is about prayer not politics. All are welcome.