Release Date: March 18th, 2026One in Christ
- by Pablo Kim Sun
Galatians 3:28 – “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
Paul’s words in this passage are astonishingly bold.
In the first-century world, divisions defined society. Jews and Greeks distrusted one another. The Roman Empire organized life through strict hierarchies between slave and free. Patriarchal systems elevated men and diminished women. These were not minor cultural differences for they shaped power, privilege, and belonging.
At times, it is hard not to wonder how much more our fragile world can bear.
Yet Paul proclaims that in Christ, these dividing walls no longer have the final word: you are one.
Through Jesus’ life, teaching, death, and resurrection, God has begun the work of reconciliation, restoring relationships not only between people and God, but among peoples, and even within creation itself.
And yet the world still groans.
We live in a time of deep crisis. Wars rage and people are displaced from their homes. Millions flee violence, hunger and instability. The earth itself burns and strains under the weight of human greed and exploitation. Systems of power continue to privilege the already powerful while the vulnerable suffer most. At times, it is hard not to wonder how much more our fragile world can bear or even whether our shared humanity will endure.
Even in a world marked by fear and division, we are called to live toward the vision Paul describes, people reconciled in Christ.
Lent invites us not to look away from these realities.
Jesus himself walked the path of suffering. The cross reveals both the depth of the world’s brokenness and the depth of God’s love.
But the cross also tells us that God does not abandon the world.
Throughout Scripture, God has often called small and unlikely communities to embody a different way of life. Abraham and Sarah were called to become a blessing to the nations. The prophets spoke against injustice and reminded God’s people of their calling. In the 16th century, early Anabaptists sought to follow Jesus’ teachings of discipleship, community and peace amid violent conflict and religious upheaval. Often a minority, they tried to live according to the kingdom of God rather than the powers of their time.
Today, we are invited into that same calling.
Even in a world marked by fear and division, we are called to live toward the vision Paul describes, people reconciled in Christ. Whenever communities practice hospitality across difference, pursue justice, care for creation, and refuse the logic of domination, we bear witness to another kingdom.
These acts may seem small. Yet they are signs of resurrection life.
For we believe in the God who raises the dead and makes all things new. And so we continue walking the path of Christ. Sometimes with lament, often with uncertainty, but always with hope.
- Pablo Kim Sun is author of Building Mennonite Belonging and is an ordained MCEC minister.