Well, here we are at a very famous passage in 1 Peter. Songs have been written, and much ado made about 1 Peter 9. And, for good reason! In it Peter makes a radical statement. It was radical in his own time, and it is radical in our time. Race, racism, and racial injustice are mentioned and commented on more than almost any other topic in our popular press. In Peter’s day there were many debates about who could or should be permitted into the Christian faith. But, God, in his beautiful sovereign will, revealed to the apostles through the Spirit that all were one in Christ. We are adopted as joint heirs of the kingdom of God through Christ. There are still distinctions. People are not absorbed into the whole such that they no longer have their own personalities. But, the categories previously used to separate and distinguish people groups one from another are dissolved. In Christ we are one people. In Christ we are a single race. What’s more, in Christ we are a chosen race!
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:9-10
Race and racism in America
The majority of folks in America would rather be called anything else – anything! – than be labeled a racist. And, perhaps that is why if anyone offends someone else for any reason, whether or not it has anything to do with race, it seems the go-to reaction is to label the offending party a racist. In this country we moved from slavery and radical racism to segregation and rampant racism. Next we saw integration, which exposed the truly racist folks for what they were, and brought about solidarity elsewhere. Then, whether in some generational shift, or for whatever reason, we saw (for what now seems a brief moment) American people just being American people. You still heard an off-color racist joke from your more hillbillyish cousin. Or, (if you had any experience similar to mine) you were advised by a policeman of color that you were not safe in a certain neighborhood and escorted out. But, these experiences were few and far-between.
New segregation
Now, here we are in 2023, and the people who are wrangling for racial equality are, at least in the halls of academia, pushing Americans back toward segregation by race, gender, or some other label. The notion that it is “safer” to keep people who look different from others in insulated, separate groups, no matter what friendly sounding label you would like to place on it, is called segregation. And, segregation is a step backwards.
Race and racism are not new issues
In Peter’s time, at the end of the Old Covenant between God and the people of Israel, they faced similar challenges. Under the Old covenant, God chose the people of Israel as His chosen people, set apart for his own. They looked askance at all Gentiles (people of any non-Jewish race), and doubly so at those Jews who worked with or, worse still, worked for Gentiles. Indeed, when the Christian faith began, there were many Jews who thought only Jews could be or, (again) worse still, should be Christians. Peter, himself, had his own struggles in this vein. But, with the coming of Christ and the revelation of the Spirit, a radical change took place. In Christ we are all adopted by God. This is a marvelous revelation. To the apostles it was radical, beautiful, wonderful. I think it still is to this day. In Christ, race doesn’t matter.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Galatians 3:27-29
Christ dissolves racial distinctions, but not reality
It is important to point out that Paul, in writing to the Galatians is not denying reality. He is not telling them there is no such thing as slaves or men or women. There have always been men, women, and slaves. Yes, modern American person, there still are. He is also not saying that every Christian has now become a Jew by becoming Abraham’s offspring. Scripture calls Abraham the father of our faith.
13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith…16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Romans 4:13, 16-17
Sanctification nullifies distinction by race
Paul says that distinctions, like race, that would divide us into categories are immaterial in Christ. If you are familiar with sanctification (see: Sanctification: The Quest: Day 19.0, Holiness: The Quest: Day 28.0) you know that it is the process by which God shepherds our lives until we become living images of Christ himself. That is the good Paul writes about in Romans 8.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Romans 8:28-29
Millions of Christians make up the Church universal. These Christians are each similarly being conformed to the image of Christ. So, where is the separation? Where is the distinction that might allow you to separate white Christians from black Christians, or Jewish Christians from Gentile Christians? If you find it, it is a product of human sin and human ignorance. It is not a product of or because of Christianity.
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:1-6
Worship unites all believers
As Christians, we are one body. As Peter writes, we are a chosen race. Paul calls us to unity under the grace of God the Father of us all. David longed for and praised this very idea. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! (Psalm 133:1) David wrote this Psalm as one of the Songs of Assents. The people of Israel sang the Songs of Assents as they made their way to Jerusalem to worship God together. Indeed, we can see the unity of the body of Christ in action best in worship.
Depending on where you live, you might have a very diverse congregation, or it may appear homogeneous. Should you feel guilty if there isn’t a certain quota of each people group present at your worship service? If you are still thinking this way, you are thinking too small. Each Lord’s Day, not only nationwide, but worldwide, Christ’s people gather to worship God. Your congregation, whatever it’s makeup, is only one small part of the Church around the world. In worship, in celebrating the Lord’s Supper, in baptism, we celebrate Christ’s life, death, and resurrection together. Every race, every Sunday.
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
1 Corinthians 12:12-26
In one Spirit, baptized into one body
The majority of the passage Paul wrote above (vs. 14-26) does not refer to distinctions of race, but of duties and offices within the church. Paul did not need to write beyond verse 13 about racial divisions to the Corinthians. Why? The churches at Corinth were made up of a great miscellany of peoples. Corinth was a Greek port city under Roman rule. Like other major port cities in the ancient world and our world today, it was a melting pot of people from every corner of the Roman economic world. While the passage was solely focused on race, the message is still clear. As Christians, there are to be no divisions among us. We must care for one another, suffer with one another, and rejoice when anyone is honored. Isn’t that beautiful? Like David said, Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
Remember the body next Sunday!
Well, it has happened yet again. I only got to the first clause of the first sentence of the first verse! Really, I only got to the concept of race, not even to the concept of a chosen race! I have a feeling we are going to linger in these two verses for quite some time. Tomorrow I will try to discuss the chosen aspect of Peter’s term chosen race. I am not sure what day it is for you, but I pray that next Lord’s Day you attend worship with a local congregation. I pray that when you are singing praises to God, when you hear the preaching of the word, when you celebrate the Lord’s supper, and when you celebrate baptism, you remember this. All around the world your brothers and sisters are doing likewise.
