Christian Education: Martin Luther and the Freedom of the Christian part 3

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Dear Good Shepherd,

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”( Revelation 7:9-10)

The passage above is from John’s vision of heaven in the Book of Revelation. It is a fascinating text testifying to the power of the Gospel. Notice that God has gathered his people from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. They do not stand apart from one another, separated by ethnicity, they stand as one body and worship the one Lamb who is Christ. Notice also that though they do not stand apart they are not the same. Ethnicity has not faded away or been eradicated. Instead, the differences that in the fallen world divide us serve, in heaven, only to amplify the beauty of God’s creation and the glory of the Lamb who reconciles all peoples to himself.

Racism or any kind of ethnic prejudice flows directly from the Fall. The human condition is such that the love of self supersedes every other love. Self-love bears rotten fruit in a kind of narcissism that says: those who are like me are superior to those who are not. Then it begins to count the ways.

The Gospel destroys such prejudice because the first word of the gospel is the word of death. God demands that you be righteous and follow his law, but you do not do it. No matter how hard you try, you will not do what you must. Therefore, you rightly deserve death and condemnation because of your sins. There is no pride here. The one who truly understands his or her sinfulness is downcast, humble, not puffed up. He looks to his white neighbor or black neighbor and sees that he too is in the same condition. We are united as one in our guilt and in our helplessness. And yet, as Paul writes, “God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.”(Romans 11:32)

And here is the word of life. God himself took on flesh and became one of us. He set himself down in our place and bore the penalty for our sins in his body and soul and then God raised him from the dead. He did all of this so that everyone who calls on his name, Jew, Gentile, African, European, Latino, anyone who turns to him is forgiven, cleansed, made new, each one indwelt by the Spirit of Christ and made a member of his body, the Church.

Where is the place for racial animus for ethnic division? Christ has joined us together as one, his blood has sealed our union, his Spirit dwells in each of us, who are we to reject anyone Christ has received or to look down on anyone for whom Christ spilled his precious blood? From now on we no longer regard one another from an earthly perspective but through the eyes of Christ, which are eyes of love and self-sacrifice and kindness.

I know that you all believe these things. I thank God that he has brought so many people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds together at Good Shepherd and has given us such a peaceful union. My purpose for writing has to do with this very foundational agreement in the Gospel that we all profess.

It takes only a moment’s observation to see that our nation is experiencing racial trauma and chaos the likes of which we have not seen for many decades. Cities are burning. Lives and livelihoods have been lost. A week ago a police officer drove his knee into George Floyd’s neck until he died. Mr. Floyd begged for his life and called for his mother, but the police officer refused to relent. While we cannot know his motivations, his cruel act brings up for many African Americans the many decades of legalized and enforced racism along with illegal but sanctioned lynchings and beatings, stretching all the way back to the days when their ancestors were kidnapped and forced into slavery. Grief, anger, and calls for justice are all good and right responses to such cruelty.

Now here is where things become difficult. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that everyone reading this is grief-stricken and horrified by the killing of George Floyd. I also know that everyone reading this rejects racial hatred as the evil denial of Christ and his work that it is. I know that everyone reading this supports freedom for peaceful protests and protestors and rejects the violent chaos caused by groups trying to co-opt the protests for their own ends.

But I still fear that there may be unnecessary divisions among us. You and I agree on all of the above, and those are essential agreements, but because we do come from different backg...