With all the noise in the world, do you hear the voice of God? Your calendar tells you what to do, but do you remember who you are? Being comes before doing. This is a call to put first things first. Return to the Lord with this daily pattern of prayer and devotion. Set aside this time as a sanctuary. Find a space free of distraction and follow this pattern.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Word
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21)
Rev. Micah Glenn spoke with high school youth and adults about racism at the LCMS Youth Gathering in 2019. Below is transcribed from a recording posted on the Concordia Theology webpage.
Glenn: Racism, bigotry, prejudice is only born of one thing and that’s hate. It’s sin and it’s brokenness. And so, for the rest of our lives and for the rest of time, the topic is always going to create a certain amount of tension and a certain amount of uncomfortability. But instead of promising to relieve you of it, what I would say is – embrace that tension. Be uncomfortable with me for the next forty-five minutes because we are going to use that tension and we are going to use that uncomfortability to propel us, the church, forward. So that, as the topic comes up, we can hit it with the force that it needs. The force that our real and present God gives us through the faith that we have in Jesus Christ. Because, Jesus, the gospel, is the only way that these tensions, this brokenness, is ever going to become something that the church deals with in a way that, I believe, is truly faithful to the God we serve…
I think one of the first ways to get through this is proximity. If you’re in a context where there aren’t a lot of Black people or people who look differently than you, it might seem difficult. But, there will come a time in your life when it’s not difficult. I’m sure of it. But, if you’re in a neighborhood where there are people of color and you’re afraid to go there, because you have preconceived notions of what that neighborhood would be like – go. Meet the people. Get close to them. See what makes them tick. Understand who they are and then maybe you might begin to understand their pain and their struggles, why they do the things they do. And, through building a relationship with them and investing time with them, you’ll be able to help them overcome their preconceived notions of you, as you overcome your preconceived notions of them. And then through that proximity, through that empathy, there will most likely be space for you to share who you really are. Not simply a person of color, a white person, a German, an African, a Mexican, but a child of God, one who has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
https://concordiatheology.org/2020/06/do-we-really-need-to-talk-about-racism/
Why might Lutheran-Christians be called to embrace tension and discomfort in order to address racism? How might proximity build empathy? Think of an example from your own life where proximity led to empathy for someone who differed from you.
Prayer
Father, invade my heart with the love You have for Your children, that I may view each who holds breath with compassion and honor. When tempted by despair and outrage, keep my hands from hurting, my tongue from disparaging, my thoughts from dishonoring one that You’ve made in Your likeness. Let me not forget that you died for them, too. Amen.