Summer Epiphanies

After my Army reservist dad visited a Maine church one summer Sunday during a two-week reserve hitch, he was followed to the parking lot by several church trustees who warned him never to return. Yes, to a church. Their worry? My dad was a Black man. Never mind that he was a decorated World War II hero who had been awarded three Bronze Stars, a Victory Medal, and an American Theatre Campaign Ribbon for his valor and service as an infantry unit commander during battles in the North Solomons, Netherlands East Indies, and Bismarck Archipelago. In America’s segregated Army, my dad had distinguished himself and still was serving in the US Army Reserves.

At the Maine church, however, the white men there declared their own decree: You’re not enough. Not white enough; thus, not right enough. So leave. And don’t come back.

The apostle Paul faced similar tensions during the time of his letter to the churches in southern Galatia. Topping the list of controversies was the relationship of new believers, especially Gentiles, to Jewish believers and the laws that some still passionately practiced.

Calling instead for post-law unity, Paul wrote, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith” (NIV). Then came the real challenge: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Driving the point home further, Paul added, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

During America’s Jim Crow era, some churches chose bigotry instead of inclusivity. Sadly, some still do. May all finally learn that, in Christ, we’re humbly all his, all in Christ, all together. Forever.