April 29, 2021 – Proverbs 18-22

So many proverbs and so much wisdom, here! Again, this morning, one proverb has caught my eye: “The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all” (22:2). People, especially politicians, seem, so often, to focus on that which divides us. Maybe some politicians take to heart the old adage about dividing and conquering; hmmm . . . But that’s not the gospel way, is it? No matter the differences among us – political, financial, educational, age, sex, ethnicity, etc. – in the gospel, and standing before the cross, we are one. We all have the same essential problem (sin), and one solution (the gospel) exists for us all.

Paul got it, didn’t he? “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27,28).

Let us recall that in our midst

Dwells God’s begotten Son;

As members of his body joined

We are in Christ made one.

No race nor creed can love exclude

If honored be God’s name;

Our family embraces us all

Whose Father is the same. --Omer Westendorf, translator