“Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.”

(Genesis 22:18, NIV)

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”

(Psalm 33:12, NIV)

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.”

(Proverbs 14:34, NIV)

          If God is the Creator, and indeed He is, He is creator of all, and all bear the stamp of His image upon their being. All are of infinite worth without exception. The price He paid for us through the Son leaves no question about this. Not only is He creator of all, His intention has always been to be Father to all and Savior to all. He is willing if we are willing.  This is clearly understood in the first book of the Bible as He promises to Abraham, a man of Semitic ethnicity, “Through your offspring ALL nations on earth will be blessed.” There is no room in God’s Family for bigotry or bias. He explained this to Abraham and affirms it at Pentecost, which we celebrated this past Sunday. 

          Pentecost was an amazing event on several counts, among them the inclusion of people from many different ethnic backgrounds.  As Luke recalls in The Book of Acts, many different people groups were present when the Church was born and were in turn baptized in the Holy Spirit:  “Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs.” (Acts 2:9-11, NIV) And it did not stop there.  The Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has continued to spread to every continent and almost every tribe. And in The Book of Revelation, the last book in The Bible, John shares the beautiful vision of a multitude of representatives from every tongue, tribe, and nation gathered around the throne of Jesus Christ and singing with one voice, one song of praise and adoration. (Revelation 5:9)   

          For this reason, as followers of Jesus Christ, where injustice is found, as in the case of George Floyd, we must call for things to be set right and encourage safeguards to be put in place to insure justice and fairness prevail.  God cares deeply about justice.  This is plainly seen in the Scriptures. 

          Now, having said this we should also acknowledge that God equally cares about righteousness.  And amidst the legitimate protest for justice across our country has been mingled disproportionate, unrighteous behavior that itself has perpetrated injustice, chaos, injury, heartbreak, and ironically – loss of innocent life. The last that I heard 11 people have lost their lives because of the riots, using the George Floyd’s death as a pretext.  No nation or community can expect to last long which celebrates or turns a blind eye to such behavior. We ought to be deeply concerned for our country. We are in trouble! 

          In actuality both injustice and unrighteousness share a common thread: the absence of God. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the great Soviet dissident warned the graduating class of Harvard on June 8th, 1978 about where our nation was heading. His words were prophetic. Tragically, they laughed at him and booed him off the stage.

          Solzhenitsyn warned that the West was going down the same path that his former country had traveled 60 years earlier, the path of godlessness.  He recalled as a little boy sitting by the fire hearing the older members of his family discuss how their nation had ended up where it did with the Revolution, tens of millions slaughtered and 6 to 7 million imprisoned in the gulags.

          “We have forgotten God,” insisted his Grandfather.  “We have forgotten God!” Interestingly, years earlier the German, atheist philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, also saw where the West was heading – toward godlessness. He too prophesied destruction and chaos for the nations that turned away from God and His ways. Predictably, the 20^th Century turned out to be the bloodiest the world had ever known.

          Where are we headed now, as a nation?  What’s next?  What hope do we have?  The truth is, no amount of social programming, government intervention, or justice reforms are going to address the real root of our problems. OUR ROOT PROBLEM IS A SPIRITUAL ONE. And the only solution is God. 

          What recourse do we have then? The Church, those of us who name His Name, must be the visible Church before the watching world. The time is now to pray for a spiritual awakening throughout the land and set an example for our neighbor by how we live and love. The time is now to quit talking about our faith in Jesus Christ and really live the life of fully committed believers, consistently ministering to the needs of the poor and needy, and unashamedly sharing the Hope that is within us. Nominalism is the bane of the Church. It’s passionless, powerless, and pointless and the Lord will judge it. Let’s not fool ourselves. 

          A few years back Michael W. Smith sang these powerful words.  I think they’re quite timely for our present situation: 

We’re passengers aboard the train

Silent little lambs amidst the pain

That’s no longer good enough

And when it’s time to speak our faith

We use a language no one can explain

That’s no longer good enough

And God knows it’s a shame

‘Cause if we look to pass the blame

We are not the worthy bearers of His name

For the world to know the truth

There can be no greater proof

Than to live the life, live the life

There’s no love as quite as pure

There’s no pain we can’t endure

If we live the life, live the life

Be a light for all to see

For every act of love will set you free

          Church of Jesus Christ, we are called by our Savior to do something about the state of our land.  It’s time for us to live the life!

Yours in Christ, Pastor Paul