As I was talking to a friend this past week she recommended watching a sermon by Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, preached at the National Cathedral on February 16, 2025. So I did!
Rev. Warnock focuses his message on a passage from Acts, “God shows no partiality. But in any nation, anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable in God’s sight.” And he proclaims that ‘this is God’s executive order!’ He continues with a call- ‘Let’s stand together in the best of the biblical tradition… The gospel teaches us that in God’s economy, in God’s dream for the world, in God’s vision, there is diversity. The Jesus movement is a diverse movement, it was a diversity movement from the start. We become more when we embrace all. In our diversity is our strength.”
In these difficult times we can forget this message. It can be easy to fall into patterns of believing that we must all think the same way, have unity in our actions and singularity in purpose. And yet, we come to our actions, to our thoughts, to our purpose from our different perspectives, our unique experiences, our individual callings. We need that diversity in our midst. We need to hear one another’s voices, each other’s truths. We need to stop and listen, even when, especially when, that is difficult.
Rev. Warnock reminds us that, “Diversity is sometimes offensive. It makes you uncomfortable. When you are accustomed to privilege, diversity might feel like oppression. It pushes you out of your comfort zone. There are moments when all of us are made to feel uncomfortable, when we’re pushed to be in places that mitigate against our sensibilities. Yet God in this moment is stretching us, because there is no growth without discomfort.”
So friends, may we be stretched and may we grow together. May we hear God’s executive orders, and may we see in one another that beloved diversity of God.