God's Honour for Our ShameSample

On his chariot ride home from Jerusalem, the blinding sun made reading the scrolls difficult. So did the tears. He had travelled for days to worship the God of the Hebrew people, only to be turned away from the entrance to the temple. It wasn’t just that he was a foreigner from Ethiopia. It wasn’t any sin he had committed – he would make sacrifices. It was that he was a eunuch, possessing a physical deformity that prevented him from fathering children. Whether he had this condition from birth or his masters in the royal palace, we don’t know – all we know is he was excluded from the people of God by their laws until he met a man named Philip.

The man was reading scriptures about someone who faced shame as he did, but Philip offered him so much more than just a sermon! No, Philip’s offer was greater – baptism, a sign of total inclusion into the people of God!

How could Philip offer inclusion to a man the temple had rejected? Simple – he had been a disciple of Jesus, and Jesus had rewritten the lines of who was included in the people of God. No shame of ours can contaminate Jesus because his honour is infinite. The extraordinary Ethiopian man became the first to bring the Gospel of Jesus to the continent of Africa!

Once you begin to look for it, it’s impossible not to see God has a heart for outsiders. Think of how Jesus lived –spending days with tax collectors, prostitutes, and foreigners—healing the rejected. Did you know even Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were among the forgotten? As residents of a leper town, they were too unclean to be seen, yet Jesus stayed in their home!

Have you ever been an outsider? Many children born with physical disabilities around the world experience this rejection. Though her parents abandoned her when she was born without hands, 11-year-old Cleidy in Guatemala has been raised with love and confidence. Her grandmother didn’t give up on her, and her local Compassion centre taught her to write with her wrists, where she has won awards for her writing. The community of faith accepted her, loved her, and believed in her bright future. Why? Because they had experienced God’s unconditional acceptance for themselves.

Shame is a response to a community's exclusion, but honour needs an audience too. Look for a community that will do as Jesus did and welcome the outsider. Let your story be known, and keep your eyes open for those who welcome you anyway.

Are you able to see God’s love and acceptance of you? Are you able to offer this honour to others?

Pray and talk to God about the ways you have felt outcast and alone. Pray that you would experience his love and a community of people who see God’s image in you.