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Enriched by diversity

 

Last weekend I attended a fun fortieth birthday party with my daughter. It was fancy dress—come as something starting with the letter s (the birthday girl was Sammy). My daughter went as sushi and I went as soy sauce! We were amazed at the variety of costumes. Some costumes were simple—one of our friends went as ‘shiny’ wearing a shiny hat, shiny beads and bracelets. Others were very inventive. We had S.W.A.T. teams, sheriffs and secret service agents. We had spies. We had the Spice Girls, scarecrows and sponge bob. One extended family had dressed up as surgeons and scrub nurses including the toddlers and baby. Sammy’s enterprising husband came as spaghetti although his noodles kept knocking people’s hats off! We also had a Salvation Army soldier. So with approximately seventy people participating there was quite an assortment of costumes. Everyone was dressed differently but were gathered for a common purpose; to celebrate the birthday of a friend.

I thought about our church. We have different ethnicities, different cultures, different socio-economic groups and different ages attend. We dress differently, we talk differently, we have different hobbies and interests as well as different jobs and different talents but we gather with a common purpose—to worship God. As I look around, I see a rich tapestry of believers who make church something beautiful. Who make worship deep and meaningful. The Christian community spreads across the whole world and it is such a blessing to belong to a worldwide diverse family.

Just as Sammy was the reason we gathered last weekend, God is the reason we belong to this beautiful faith community. He not only put us in blood kin family units, but he put us in one huge family through the blood of Jesus. How humbling is that thought, how amazing is His creation and how great is our God.

My prayer for you this week is that you will have joy. God bless you.

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