Tear Down These Walls

The years following World War II were labeled the Cold War as nations jockeyed for superpower status via exchanged threats and power lunges including the Bay of Pigs and the space competition. The Berlin Wall, built in August 1961, divided the East German capital from its Western counterpart; it stood as one of the most powerful symbols of the smoldering animosity. To most Westerners, it was representative of good vs. evil:  the “good” West Germany was as modern as anything in the United States, Canada or Western Europe, and the “evil” East Germany embodied the communist Soviet Union and its ideas of socialism. Penalties for trying to cross the wall – if the climbers were unsuccessful – included long prison terms and sometimes death, as the Moscow-led government strongly discouraged dissent. On November 9, 1989, the announcement came that citizens could freely cross from East to West Berlin. The following year, the wall was demolished resulting in long-lost families and friends being reunited.

Joseph was such a man who defied walls. Back in Genesis 37, we all learned about the hatred, jealousy, and eventual sale of the youngest sibling by his older brothers to slave traders en route to Egypt. To cover up the sale, they alleged that an animal had killed Joseph leaving his father Jacob to tear his clothing in mourning! When a famine brought the family face-to-face many years later, Joseph treated the brothers with kindness (Gen. 50:21), helping to restore the damaged relationship between them.

If we've built walls of anger and separation between ourselves and others, the Lord is willing and able to help us tear them down today. All we have to do is ask.