For All--October 15, 2020"So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith." [Galatians 6:9-10]
It's everybody. It really is. This is one of those times where we really need to be clear and let it sink in: "all" means "all."
When Paul the apostle looks out at which people on planet Earth are to be candidates for Christians to do good for, he throws up his hands and says, "Well, shucks--it's all of 'em. It's all of us. It's everybody."
Part of the way you know that is that Paul then mentions that other Christians are an obvious subset of that "all." He says, "Let us work for the good of all," and then just in case you thought he only meant, "Let's work for the good of just fellow Christians..." or "Let's only look out for the interests of our group..." or "We're only supposed to take care of our own," he adds, as if to make it clear just how wide "all" really is, "especially for those of the family of faith."
In other words, he's saying it's obvious we will already be looking out for people who are already in our group; that's sort of a no-brainer. But Paul pushes us beyond those boundaries: we are called to do work for the good of all, an all which includes-but-is-not-limited-to other Christians who are "like us." Here from the earliest generations of the Christian community, we were being taught to think beyond "Me-and-My-Group-First." Looking out just for the interests of in-group members is just a vision too small for us.
We are dared to dream bigger, wider, and deeper than just taking care of our own. But we live in a time when it has become not just normal, but seen as patriotic and virtuous, to champion only doing good for "your own group first." We have forgotten--or stopped listening--to the calling Paul gave us from the beginning. Paul's words here put us to shame: we are called to do good for all, including people whose faith, whose language, whose skin color, whose nationality, whose culture, are not our own. We are called to love and serve all.
In an earlier age, that's what we were known for, we Christians. I am reminded of what a pagan Roman emperor, remembered now as Julian the Apostate, wrote about our ancestors in the faith. Writing to another official in the empire in the year 362, he called out Christians (whom he referred to as "Galileans" because of Jesus' ancestral home) and noted that "...the impious Galilaeans support not only their own poor but ours as well, all men see that our people lack aid from us." It used to be our calling card that we didn't just focus on ourselves. It used to be the thing that Christians were known for that we didn't just support the voices that promised to make things easier for Christians, but that we spent our resources to supports others who weren't Christians. It used to be our reputation that we were the ones helping out everybody's poor, not just covering our own bases and helping fellow "club members." That was the thing that made us stick out like a sore thumb to this pagan emperor, who otherwise hated Christians because he feared we were pulling the Empire away from its former "greatness" and he wanted to restore that era of long-lost pagan Roman "greatness" once more. But he had to give it to us "impious Galileans"--we put the Romans to shame by our generosity.
That is the legacy we were meant to inherit. It is still ours for the claiming if we dare to practice it. We have been called into the great relay race of doing good for all that has been going on for two millennia now, and this is the moment the baton is being passed to us. It is our choice in this moment, and every day of our lives, whether to aim our efforts at the measly, embarrassingly small self-centered thinking of "Me-and-My-Group-First!" or whether we will again capture the watching world's attention by committing to choices, actions, and words that do good for all, not just people-like-us. It is not a single day's or single moment's choice, but a daily commitment to keep doing what is right, what is good, what is generous, for all people, not just what is convenient for me or beneficial for people in my tax-bracket/nationality/religion.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to be a footnote in history that is remembered for being the time period when Christians were selfish jerks. I want to be a part of that great human chain of saints whose vision was expansive enough to include others who aren't "like us" or part of our group. I want to be a part of a movement in the Kingdom of God whose graciousness is so notorious that we would make the modern day emperors call us "impious Galileans" all over again and think we were fools, suckers, and losers to give good things to others without seeking anything in return. I want us to be known for loving ALL.
That, it turns out, is what the Scriptures have been calling us to all along.
Lord Jesus, keep our vision as wide as yours to include all, and give us the strength not to grow weary in doing what is good for all people.
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