Daily Reading: 15 December

(from www.christianaid.org.uk)

United in dignity

Something to read

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

- Galatians 3:26-28.

Something to think about

Advocates of school uniforms often argue that having all children wear the same clothes lessens the disparity between children from richer and poorer households, providing a more equal opportunity to flourish in education. But as well as the problematic costs of many uniforms, opponents cite the importance of individual expression over bland uniformity.

The tearing down of human divisions based in ethnicity, economic status, gender and sexuality, or anything else, is at the heart of the gospel message. But it would be a mistake to read these famous verses from Galatians as advocating for a bland uniformity over the God-given diversity of humanity. Rather, the unity of the people of God is based in a shared dignity that cannot be taken away or destroyed: that Jesus deemed each one of us worth his own life.

In the renewed humanity that Christ came to instigate, we don’t need to look the same or dress the same, nor glaze over our different backgrounds and identities to fit in around the family table. It is the systemic evils of racism, slavery, sexism, poverty, persecution and oppression that need to be eradicated, in order for the glorious dignity of all the children of God to be fully expressed.

Something to do

Explore the profiles of women working for equality through Side by Side, the faith movement for gender justice of which Christian Aid is part. Choose one of the pairs of women to particularly thank God for, and pray for their work.

Something to pray

Thank you, God, for the intrinsic value and worth you give to all without exception. Give me courage to acknowledge the ways in which I benefit from unjust systems, and to repent of the ways in which I’ve upheld them. Help me now to be part of the tearing down of inequalities. Amen.

Today’s contributor is Rev Claire Jones