Strangers and aliens.

“So now you are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God’s people, and you belong to God’s household.” – Ephesians 2:19, Common English Bible.
Our church is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. In 1872, a group of German-speaking Swiss who had claimed homesteads in the area within the previous 10 to 15 years founded a church at Berne. It would take another 20 years or so for them to build a sanctuary to worship in. But it wasn’t a building they were founding in 1872. It was a people of God. 
Those Swiss immigrants were foreigners when they arrived. They were strangers to the Dakota people who had stewarded the land for centuries. They were strangers to their European neighbors, some who spoke English, others Norwegian or Polish. For that matter, though they came from neighboring cantons in the old country, they were mostly strangers to each other. Sometimes, they experienced conflict over these differences. 
However, in the 15 decades since the congregation began, more strangers kept being folded into the church. Some of them were outsiders who married the local Swiss farmers. Others moved into the neighborhood, or followed a pastor they admired, or were attracted by the community-building mission of Berne Wood-Fired Pizza, or simply wandered into our little sanctuary or onto our live-stream. 
In the world and culture we live in, the tendency is to spend your time with people with whom you share something in common. That something-in-common may be based on who you cheer for in sports or politics, or who you’ve known since childhood, or whose kids hang out with yours, or who shares your educational level or business interest.
But church is different. That’s where we get to spend time with people with whom we have little else in common, and discover that we are in fact one people of God. 
The letter to the Ephesians is written to churches like this. It addresses the Gentiles—foreigners to God, in a way, at least from the Jewish perspective—and affirms their place in the household of God. It is Christ, the letter says, who breaks down the barriers of hatred between two ethnic groups to create one body, one community. The cross of Christ reconciles their differences, because his sacrifice was made for all and not just for some. 
If those old Swiss—we call them “Schweizers”—had insisted on keeping their little church for themselves, it would long since have become irrelevant. The true measure of their faith—and ours—is that they learned to accept people with different ideas, lifestyles and backgrounds.
It’s still a work in progress, and it’s not always easy, but as people of Christ living in God’s household, we really don’t have a choice. We have to accept everyone God accepts, and love everyone God loves. We are finding that when we do, we keep meeting God where we least expect to. 
Wherever you live, I encourage you to visit nearby churches. When you find one that accepts and loves you just the way you are—that lets you know you are not a stranger but a fellow citizen—you will know you have stumbled upon the household of God.
PHOTO:  Pastor’s Column – Rev. Karen Larson