Acts 22
How often do prejudices get in the way
of the giving and receiving of the Gospel?
It is said that the most segregated time in U.S. America is 11 a.m. on
Sunday morning as so many people find their way to churches filled with people
of similar ethnic backgrounds.
Paul’s passion for the forgiveness Jesus
had given him moved him to proclaim the Gospel to the crowd of Jews who had
just tried to kill him. It’s fascinating
that, as he spoke to them of his own conversion, they listened. They didn’t get upset at the name of
Jesus. They didn’t balk at his
baptism. It was not until he said the
word, “Gentiles,” that the riot broke out again. Because of their racial prejudice they missed
the point that Jesus had come to show God’s love for all people, and so they rejected
God’s love for them.
When I was attending seminary my wife
taught at Messiah Lutheran School, St. Louis, and I did my fieldwork in the
church. Messiah’s mission statement at
the time said that they were a church for all nations. When we worshiped on Sundays there were folks
from many nations with many skin tones.
There were the descendants of the Germans who had founded the church,
but there were also African Americans, immigrants from Russia and Haiti, Jewish
believers, refugees from Vietnam, Somalia, and Eritrea, and people of different
financial statuses; wealthy, blue collar, and homeless. (Today, their senior pastor is from Ghana, and
Messiah appeared even more integrated than ever.)
Part of the scandal of the Gospel is
that is truly cuts across all lines that divide us from one another. Paul points this out in Colossians
3:11 when he states that in Christ’s salvation there is no separation on
basis of gender, religious past, or current culture. What matters is faith in Jesus, who is true
God and true man, who died to pay for our sins – for sin is truly what
separates us, one from another – and rose from the dead proving that our
salvation was won.
Are we still divided as God’s
people? Sadly, yes. But a day is coming when, in Jesus presence,
all those things will fall away and we will be united in His gracious glorious
presence.
Lord Jesus, come quickly and heal us of our
divisions. Until then keep us steadfast
in Your Word, forgiveness, and Spirit.
Amen.
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