When my kids were little, one of the things that they liked to do each day was watch Sesame Street. It was an hour of learning fun with Big Bird, Elmo, Oscar the Grouch, Bert & Ernie and many other characters. One of the games that the characters played was a comparison activity. There were always four items displayed, but one was different. Sometimes there were 3 pieces of fruit and 1 vegetable, or 3 squares and 1 circle, or 3 large shoes and 1 small shoe. It had a catchy little song that accompanied it that went like this: “One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the other, before I finish this song?” As an adult, it was very obvious which item was different, yet all the items had something in common and it was sometimes difficult for the characters on Sesame Street or my kids at home to decide on the correct answer.
Now, I haven’t watched Sesame Street in quite a few years, but I have been thinking this week about things that don’t seem to belong, and that silly song popped into my head again. We all have places where we feel like we belong and also places where we don’t. You’ve heard the phrase “I feel like a fish out of water” to describe someone who feels completely out of place or who doesn’t belong at all. I myself feel like a fish out of water at a black tie event or a junior size clothing store. Perhaps a pig farmer – fresh from the barn – would not feel like they fit in at The Bluestem, or a mechanic who just completed a days work would not belong on the living room couch. I can only assume that a single person feels out of place in a room full of couples, or that a person bound to a wheelchair feels out of place in a world that caters to those who can walk.
So where do we belong? I find that the places where I feel that I belong are where things are familiar and similar. I feel like a fish at sea when I am in my home, or in my office; with my friends, or with my family. It is there that I have things in common with others. Recently, I was visiting with a dear friend before worship and they expressed their feelings that someone who joined us in worship didn’t belong there. At the time, I didn’t know what to say, and I understood why they would think that, but it has been rehearsing in my mind all week. As I sat in the sanctuary on Thursday evening, I wondered if I belonged there. What makes me any different or better than someone who we would say doesn’t belong? If Judas had showed up at Calvary, would the other disciples have told him that he didn’t belong there? Would Jesus have spoken those words?
Honestly, none of us belong here. One of these things is not like the other, and that would be Jesus Christ. He is the perfect one who doesn’t fit; the only one who would have reason to say that he doesn’t belong with the rest of us. And yet he loved us so much that he paid the ultimate price so that we could all belong. Galatians 3:28 says “There is now no distinction; neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, (rich nor poor, young nor old, intelligent nor simple); for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We are all sinners in need of a Savior. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. Praise God we all belong!
Erin