Christmastide

December 29, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 147:12-20

Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
   Praise your God, O Zion!
For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
   he blesses your children within you.
He grants peace within your borders;
   he fills you with the finest of wheat.
He sends out his command to the Earth;
   his word runs swiftly.
He gives snow like wool;
   he scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down hail like crumbs—
   who can stand before his cold?
He sends out his word, and melts them;
   he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
He declares his word to Jacob,
   his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
   they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the Lord!

I learned the word ethnocentric in my first semester of college Sociology 103 course. The Greek word ethnos means “nation” or “people.” So, ethnocentricity shows itself in a lack of respect for other ways of life, and an ethnocentric person feels that his or her own nation or group is the cultural center of the world*. The above Psalm reeks with ethnocentricity from gated communities to expecting all who enter our nation must know and follow our laws. The challenge for those of us who live in the United States is that we are an amalgamation of every nation in the world to lesser and greater degrees. I was amazed the first year I lived in Colorado. I went to buy black-eyed peas for New Year’s dinner only to find out, I thought, they were sold out. When I inquired if there were any in the back, they assured me they did not stock them at all. What kind of year do they have if they do not eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s day?

I know that this is heresy for some, but I do not accept either the Doctrine of Discovery or Manifest Destiny as carried out in our country. God may well have allowed us to develop to demonstrate for the world that people can live together in diversity, even learn from each other’s traditions and values. Sameness is not Christ’s Oneness. The people of the United States need to take this role very seriously, for it is a fundamental value of God’s Kingdom on Earth.

Prayer: Gracious God, forgive us when we presume superiority, shine your light on our relationships with others so we can see how your Oneness works and strive to follow it. Amen.

* https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethnocentric

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.