One of the most beautiful New Testament descriptions of what God is doing in our world is that he is building a new household into which all are invited through faith in Jesus. Centuries before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah foresaw the day in which even those who once had been aliens and strangers with no lasting place of belonging would be fully accepted as members of God's family. Isaiah prophesied,
The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD... 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;
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
The Book of Acts is a historic record of God's work of founding this kind of household, i.e., one in which Jew and Gentile, young and old, rich and poor would be able to know that we are all full members in God's family on the basis of what Jesus accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection. In this "unexpected family" (unexpected to people because the members are constituted from among people not normally together—though surely not unexpected to God because this has been his eternal plan), the walls that usually separate people from people in our world are torn down.
This clear biblical statement of God's mission is the foundation for a local church as a place in which all people are welcomed. All who follow Jesus are to find a way to worship and serve together. The conviction that a church is God's household for all people has implications that help us address the generational divisions that often exist in our world. And it should also help us know the starting point for discussing the complex issues related to immigration in our world too. Any church in which God is in charge will be a house of prayer for all people.
We will be focusing on becoming more fully this kind of household here in the San Gabriel Valley this weekend at our church gatherings. In preparation, read the Apostle Paul's profound words recorded in Ephesians 2:17–19:
Jesus came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we all have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are... members of the household of God.
To His Glory,
Jeff Mattesich & Kara Powell