Who is acceptable to God?

In the Jewish world of Jesus’ day, one of the hot topics was who is and who is not acceptable to God. Various Jewish groups such as the Pharisees and the Essenes (the community that lived near the Dead Sea and who was responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls) had strong views on this. Each group drew tight boundaries around who is acceptable and what conditions must be met to make one acceptable. We see this thinking at work when the Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of not observing the ‘correct’ method of washing hands before meals.

But it seems that even Jesus had his prejudices. When a Gentile (i.e. non-Jewish) woman approaches him for help, his first impulse is to ignore her request and push her away. Her wit and perseverance win out and change his mind, as Jesus learns an important lesson on who is acceptable to God.

As Christians we hold that every person is acceptable to God, whatever their race, religion, gender or status. But as I look around at many church congregations, including our own, I wonder how well we live out this open welcome in reality. Whether intended or not, we easily erect barriers that make some people feel unwelcome. What might need to change for us to be a community that reflects the amazing and life-giving reality that everyone is acceptable to God?

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