Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. (Luke 17:11-15)
When I was in kindergarten, I had a poor self-image. I was shy and had no social skills. It wasn’t fun to be ignored or picked on, but many children are because of personality, physical abnormalities, race, or language barrier. It was my destiny to become friends with the other shy girl. Throughout elementary school, we were miserable together.
As we carry our dreams and our baggage on our trip to Jerusalem with Jesus, we’re on the border of two regions of people who hate each other, the Samaritans and the Jews. Here at the border, the Jews and Samaritans, who have been discarded from their races, live and are friends because the misery of being lepers has united them. Jesus travels this border, recognizing no differences in us that would make us a leper. He has mercy on all and sends us on a mission. When we obey, He heals us. He sent the lepers to the priests because the priests will declare their cleanliness.
When we travel with Jesus, we need to leave our prejudices at the border, obey Him, identify our baggage, and connect with Jesus, saying, “Jesus, Master, have pity on me.” Then, God will cleanse us on our journey, helping us identify and ridding ourselves of dirt. Of course, Jesus’ blood covers all our sins, but on our journey He’ll free us from bad habits, addictions, and prejudices, so we don’t repeat them.
Dearest Heavenly Father, point out my prejudices and make me realize they are wrong. Help me leave them at the border. Have pity on me. Cleanse me of ___________. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
It is a wonderful thing for us that He cleanses us and that He will free us from our sins. It is a very freeing feeling. My prayer is the same, to be rid of any prejudice in my life.
The altar to gods of nature set up in the bedroom I stayed in recently horrified me. Yet I love the couple who live there. I also love God and strongly believe He is the one and only. Am I prejudice? I am also praying for God to free me from bad habits. I want to do better.
I do not think you are prejudiced but I think that you have a hard time thinking about different religious beliefs, as do I and many others also have this problem. There are a lot of different thoughts about religion. Some people go back thousands of years before Christ and study the Druids and Celtic religions. A lot of people are very interested in the Celtic religion, including a Methodist minister I knew in Fort Wayne. He would incorporate some of their traditions in services. I guess I equate it to Bible scholars that interpret the same passage differently. I do not understand someone that wants to speak in tongues or use snakes in worship. That horrifies me! Baptists and Lutherans and Catholics think differently than Methodists. I don’t think that it is anything to worry about but just a different way to find peace in meditation and prayer. There are over 3000 different religions. Do we try and respect how others think and worship. I believe we do try and respect and not be fearful of differences unless the differences are based in hate.
I try not to be prejudice against people who are members of religions that are partially built on hate — even the parts of Christianity that treat women poorly. I cannot assume people are hateful because of their religion. I do try to love and respect everyone regardless, even if I don’t respect their religious practices.