Here is Isaiah speaking about the messiah

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;

My brothers and sisters,

This applies to us as well. We are called by God’s action in the Holy Spirit. Every man, woman, and child is called.

I love the story of Cornelius. God surprised Peter here. God did something unexpected. Cornelius was a gentile. Remember last week, we spoke of how the gentiles came to worship Christ. The Magi were our representatives. As gentiles, we are grafted unto the vine. We are part of that vine now, not separate, not unequal. We are Israel.

Many Evangelical Christians are Christian Zionists. Their views on the end of the world, called pre-millennialism, call on them to support the Jewish people as having a unique, separate, and parallel role with the Church. They support the reestablished Israel and believe that Israel’s existence will bring about the end of the world. They hold the Jewish people and gentiles as separate.

My friends,

We are not separate. Rather we as gentiles are equal heirs, equal partners in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus Christ is our Messiah; He is the world’s Messiah.

The Jewish people continue to hold a dear place in the heart of God, for God has not forgotten His promises to them. Their role as Israel by the flesh and their place in the history of salvation is only known to God, but that role is assured.

So we must not get caught up rhetoric that differentiates the Jewish and gentile peoples. Trust rather in what God has done. Cornelius the gentile —“ and his whole household received the Holy Spirit right in front of Peter’s eyes. Peter subsequently baptized them. Peter was confounded, taken off guard, he was not in control. God showed him what He wanted.

As with Cornelius, God has taken us by the hand and has called us. As Isaiah eludes, He calls us to be

a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

Your baptism is your inclusion. You have been made part of the vine. Your inclusion in the new Israel carries both rights and responsibilities.

When you consider your role as the new Israel and your place in the Polish National Catholic Church, by right of your baptism and by your choice, you must not forget that its teachings are authentic and true. You must not forget that they are different. That they are not Roman Catholic or Protestant, nor can you easily equate them. You must remember that they are authentically catholic.

That is why, when you step outside, because you think something else is appealing or true, or when you walk away from the PNCC because you think another faith tradition is ‘just as good,’ you endanger your soul.

Do you understand what they teach? Do you understand what you are buying into? Do you understand that integrity calls you to study and come to a well informed decision before you endanger your soul? Do you understand that the PNCC places its emphasis not in tomes of rules, but in the Holy Spirit’s guidance in your life?

Do not let anyone fool you into believing that there are answers in Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam. Don’t let anyone fool you into believing that some shadow of a seed or truth found in other faiths makes them right. That shadow is only the realization of the fact that all of humanity is called to the one God. It is symbolic of the fact that all of humanity is justified, sanctified, and made adopted sons and daughters by the saving action of Jesus Christ alone. The wholeness of God’s love and justice, the complete truth, is found in Jesus.

Jesus didn’t need to be baptized. He said however that he needed to fulfill all righteousness. He did so to show us the truth and the Father Himself proclaimed it from the heavens:

[As Jesus came up] out of the water
He saw the heavens being torn open
and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens,
—You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.—