This issue of The North Star News will be published on May 17 which is Norwegian Independence Day or simply “Syttende Mai.” At our house the Norwegian flag will be unfurled, we will eat gjetost, sil, and lefse (no lutefisk in the springtime), and celebrate our wonderful Nordic heritage. The Irish have St. Patrick’s Day, the Italians have Columbus Day, the Mexicans have Cinco de Mayo, the French have Bastille Day, but our family celebrates Syttende Mai. Each of these special days celebrates what makes each group different and distinctive.
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When we turn to the Bible we find that Jesus is a man who transcends all the ethnicities, tribes, tongues, and nationalities of the human race. When St. Peter was explaining to Cornelius who Jesus is, he added parenthetically “he is Lord of all.” (Acts 10:36) Cornelius was an Italian; Peter was an Israelite. Cornelius was a soldier; Peter was a fisherman. Cornelius was a serious seeker after God; Peter was a full-fledged life-long Jew (Acts 10:11). But when Peter baptized Cornelius and his household into the Christian faith they were united as brothers in the faith. They might each enjoy their heritage, but they delighted in a new found unity in professing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
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In Jesus’ great prayer in John 17 he prayed for his disciples “that they may one, even as we are one.” [Jesus Christ and his heavenly Father] (John 17:11) He went on to pray “not for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that the world might believe….” (John 17:20-21) It was not long before those who believed in Jesus came not just from Judea and Galilee, but from Italy, Ethiopia, and other places all over the globe. Indeed, on Pentecost Day there were “devout men from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) who listened to Peter preach, were filled with the Holy Spirit, and were baptized into the faith.
Those of us who live in predominantly Christian communities and a predominantly Christian nation are to remember that God cares for all the people in the world and watches over every nation in the world with as much love and care for one as for any other, even those where other religions predominate. In John 10:16 Jesus the Good Shepherd said, “And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.”
As much as one may delight in an ethnic heritage, or take pride in being a member of the Red Sox nation, or be proud to live in Twins Territory (even in 2012), what really matters is that Jesus Christ is Lord and God is Father, so all become brothers and sisters in Christ. As it says in Ephesians 5:5 “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.”
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