'There is No Longer Jew or Greek'

Praying for Change: Daily Prayers for Anti-Racism

by

August 2022

There is no longer Jew or Greek,

there is no longer slave or free,

there is no longer male and female;

for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

– Galatians 3:28 NRSV

“No longer.” What a phrase the old saint presents, O Loving God of possibilities and of hope. There is no longer . . . division, separation, hierarchy. No longer. There is no longer jealousy and envy, no longer oppression and hatred. No longer.

Except, there is. Even among the ones baptized into Christ, even among those who have clothed themselves with Christ. There is still this dividing wall, this way of seeing and of being. There is us and them, those like us and those not like us. How can this be, Lord, how can this be?

Can we begin, in whatever small ways are within us, to live into the possibility of “no longer”? Can we embrace that kin-dom way of living right here and right now? Where do we begin? How do we dare to believe that there is a “no longer” and that there is a oneness? Shall we risk “no longer”?

Christ, have mercy. Amen.

The Rev. Derek Weber curates "Praying for Change: Daily Prayers for Anti-Racism" for Discipleship Ministries. Subscribe.