*Originally published to ECC on June 3, 2020
Our Kindred preaching series is done, but the need that it addressed is not. The killing of George Floyd, the picture of a police officer kneeling his weight on his neck shouts at us. This is the snapshot of a killing, the final minutes of his life. How to respond? We can hear from George Floyd. And, we can look to God’s word. These are complimentary since George Floyd loved God.
A couple of quotes from the Christianity Today article, “George Floyd Left a Gospel Legacy in Houston” help us:
The things that he [George Floyd] would say to young men always referenced that God trumps street culture. I think he wanted to see young men put guns down and have Jesus instead of the streets.
Again,
His faith was a heart for the Third Ward that was radically changed by the gospel [emphasis mine], and his mission was empowering other believers to be able to come in and push that gospel forth
Here we glimpse the heart of George Floyd and we gain a stronger sense of how unjust his death was. He would want justice. He would want people to stand up against and speak out against his murder. Even more, he would want people to put down their hate, turning to Jesus.
The world is full of hate. We see it in his death and many other recent racially motivated acts of injustice. We also see it every time a father leaves his wife and kids for another woman, every time an elderly person is neglected in a nursing home, every time an unborn baby is killed, every time a child molested (about one in four of all women and one in five of all men), every time an elderly couple is cheated out of their retirement, every time a woman is overlook in favor of a man, every time a child is excluded from play because his clothes are shabby, every time… Our world is full of injustice and we need to be part of the solution or we enable the problem. So speak, pray, vote, reach out a helping hand or protest.
Yet, we need to do more! The weeds of injustice will continue to pop up no matter how diligently we cut them unless we root them out. The gospel of the kingdom is the solution that Jesus brought. He came to root out our problem, to change hearts and be the Lord over all. All, victim and hater, need this. It seems George understood this, so “…the Third Ward that was radically changed by the gospel…”
Jesus reveals this need in Luke 6:43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, … 45The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
So, speak out and protest and stand up for others. In this way we love our neighbor. But do not stop here. Also, give our unjust world the solution. Live the gospel of the Kingdom and proclaim it. George Floyd did so in Houston, and he made a big difference. May our brother hear Jesus say, “Well done good and faithful servant.”
I encourage you to reflect more deeply on this by reading and studying Ephesians 2:11-22.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor MacDonald