Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Recently, my wife took one of those tests that gives the regional origins of her ancestors. I had taken a similar one earlier in the year. For the most part, the tests confirmed what we already knew of our ethnic background. There were a few surprises, though. My mother’s known German background included traces from northern Italy. We both had traces of Scandinavian origins, probably through Viking raids of England.
The story of how we came to be who we are in this place, is a complicated one that we will never know fully; but it involves people who took a chance and left homes for long unknown journeys. The surprise twists show us that this is nothing new, as even centuries ago, people crossed seas and mountains to new homes.
In Deuteronomy 26, the people of Israel were to remind themselves that their ancestors were wandering people who ended up in Egypt and was then led to the land they later occupied. It was a part of a declaration at the harvest. It reminded the people that what they had was a gift from God, including the harvest, the land, who they were even after years in other places. It also reminded the people of God who continues to be with his people wherever they may end up. It was an assurance that the God of then and there is also the God of here and now.
Whatever our own story is, we remember God who has been with us. God was with us when we were German, English, French, Scotch, Spanish, Swedish, etc. When we look at people among us of other ethnic lines and backgrounds, that same God has been and continues to be with them. The sum total is that in God, there is no distinction, we are all united in Him.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Martin H. Horn