Did you know that every gathering of followers of Jesus shares something?
Every person, place, and thing that reflects Light and Life shares something in common.
In making all things new, each of us has been given a new identity. And it is this identity, mixed with Spirit, which unites us. Nothing less. Nothing more.
Verse: 1 Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
“A beast does not know that he is a beast, and the nearer a man gets to being a beast the less he knows it.”
― George MacDonald
We share a commonality. It used to be called “Catholic”, or One – unified. I love the idea that on any given Sunday countless millions are all worshiping God together. Each Easter, (whenever the actual date is) we all celebrate it. When we take communion, its practice is shared with everyone in the family of believers.
One of the things God is doing is making all things new. This includes, among many other things, a new identity for each of us. The spirit of Christ does this. When I was in high school, I worked for Blockbuster (RIP). One of the locations I helped at was the one that used to be up at Wyoming near the Walmart in the Heights. Years later, I happened to stop in that same building but I wasn’t looking for movies to rent anymore. I was shopping for a mattress. The place had become a Mattress Firm. While it was technically the same location, a new spirit had come to inhabit the building.
We are all One, united, whether we know it or not. We all share the Holy Spirit. Sure, we may have the same old body, but our Spirits have been irrevocably changed by Jesus. Just like while we have all seen the sunrise in all its glory, each one is its own work of art. Different, yet also the same. What marvelous new creations we are each being taught and grown in the name of God. I challenge you to pause what you’re doing and contemplate this now.