There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s, then you are… heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:28-29


Today is Emancipation Day.  Our day of remembering that the enslaved ancestors  became free people many moons ago. They were no longer beholden to Bakra Massa, or so they thought as we both find that the struggles they faced then continue to haunt us almost 200 years later.

But in God, with God and through God, we are all the same. Yet we still place ourselves in little pockets, silos, that restrict us, that divide us.  We do not do this or that because of what people will say. We do not allow persons to be themselves. We trample on people’s confidence. We stifle people’s creativity in an effort to maintain who we think we are, what we believe should happen,  or to maintain a situation where we have the upper hand. 

If we stop and think about it, this happens almost anywhere there is a group.  Even in how we treat persons on an individual basis, we see that we do not regard all persons as equals.  We believe that others are not as worthy as ourselves. Others are not as fit as us to enter the kingdom. 

We then must analyse our attitude.  Why is it that we object to a particular person.  Why do we pick on a particular person.  Is there any real reason, or it it that we are protecting something within us.  Is it that we see this person as threatening our authority, our position. And to what end?  Does it really matter. 
Paul says it doesn’t.  We each have the same promise.  We each are worthy of the kingdom.  The thief on the cross would agree.
Ephesians 3 tells us that jesus Christ is the cornerstone of our faith, and we are all  fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.  Jesus in the Gospel of John prayed that we would be all one in him.  Being one with each other or one with God does not mean we are to be clones of each other. It doesn’t mean that we must agree on all things or that there is only one way to worship God or to live out our Godliness.  It means we respect and treat each other as we want to be treated.

Our ancestors fought for freedom to make their own decisions and to live life as they saw fit.  We now need to recognize that we also strive to live life in Christ as we each understand Christ in our own context or perspective.  We are all human beings, different personalities,  different experiences,  and different understandings of life.  God doesn’t call us to be like each other. God calls us to live in the freedom of being heir to God’s promises, remembering that God loves each of us no matter what. That is our commonality, our common heritage.   God cares  for each of us as we have need and looks after each of us as the strength of God pilots us; the power of God preserves us; the wisdom of God instructs us; the hand of God protects us; the way of God directs us; the shield of God will defend us; the host of God will guard us against the snares of evil and the temptations of the world. Where God is, all is well. All will be well, all manner of things will be well.