This chapter is very inviting – it elaborates on God’s love and salvation for all people, not just Jews.
“Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely separate me from his people’… the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants… these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer… for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (3a, 6a, 7 abr)
Up until colonial times, people groups and ethnicities were far more divided, and foreign to one another. A foreigner was generally considered to be someone not from your country / people group / culture / religion. Nowadays, with global travel, satellite communications, and multiculturalism in our world, it’s much more difficult to consider someone “foreign” to us.
With today’s diversity you can easily have 5+ countries / ethnicities represented in any sizable gathering – even my workplace of 30 people has 5+ countries represented. Since there is so much intermingling in our world today, “foreigners” are no longer foreign to us, and I know very few “foreigners”.
I suggest we update the definition of “foreigner” to simply mean someone who follows a different belief system (ie. someone who is not yet a follower of Jesus). By this updated definition, I now know many foreigners, and you probably know some as well. Let’s follow God’s lead and welcome foreigners into our households and churches, showing the hospitality and love of Jesus. In doing so they may become less foreign, and may even pursue citizenship in the kingdom of God.
Father God, our Wondrous Creator, You have blessed us with such diversity and uniqueness. Father You invite us to welcome foreigners into the church and disciple them as if they were born into it. May we be open and inviting, extending the love of Christ to those who do not yet know it, and allow Your Spirit to teach them through us. May we do these things in the name of Jesus, the One who destroyed all barriers to Christlike fellowship, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training