After the making the case conference, join the Concordia Catechetical Academy at Peace Lutheran Church in Sussex, Wisconsin for our annual Symposium on Catechesis, Christ and the Law, Catechesis on the Ten Commandments.

With Dr. Aaron Muldenauer, Pastor Rick Stuckwisch, Pastor Bernal Eckhart, Pastor Karl Fabrizius, Pastor Wolf Price and myself, Peter Bender, June 21st through the 23rd, learn more at PeaceSussex.org.

PeaceSUSSEX.org

The Gospel reading on Sunday morning is always timely, but maybe this one, and for this upcoming Sunday, is especially timely.

A Gospel that embraces people of all skin colors, ethnicities, cultures, backgrounds, Jew and Gentile alike, all one in Christ.

Greetings and welcome to Issues et cetera, coming to you from the studios of Lutheran Public Radio in Collinsville, Illinois. I'm Todd Wilkin. Thanks for tuning us in.

We're going to be looking forward to Sunday morning, according to the one-year election, the second Sunday after Trinity, Pastor Peter Bender of the Concordia Catechetical Academy will be our guest.

We'll be reviewing the movie Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse with Pastor Ted Geese, and then we'll get an update on a freedom of speech and religion battle involving Finnish Lutheran leaders, Dr. Poppy Rossin,

a member of the Finnish Parliament will join us. Pastor Peter Bender is Pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Sussex, Wisconsin, and Director of the Concordia Catechetical Academy. Peter, welcome back.

Good to be with you, Todd.

Talk about the timeliness of the Gospel reading and all the proper surrounding it, especially given the increased racial division in our society today.

Yeah, the racial, ethnic, cultural divides, which are seemingly greater now than they were 10 or 15 years ago.

The real problem is sin, isn't it? That separates us from God and that separates us from one another.

And we, as sinful human beings, our flesh likes to gravitate toward those individuals and people who are like us.

So the real problem isn't skin color. The real problem isn't a different culture or ethnicity. The real problem is the problem of sin.

Having said that, the call of the Gospel, the invitation to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus is extended by God, precisely out of his self-giving sacrificial love, out of his grace and compassion for all of humanity,

who are all descended from the one man, Adam, by one man's disobedience. The many were made sinners, so also by the one man's obedience, namely the second Adam, Christ Jesus.

The many will be made righteous, and it is on the authority of the work of Christ, whom the Father sent in love for all of humanity, that the Gospel is based.

And so the Gospel is indeed the invitation of salvation, full and free on the basis of the merits of Christ alone and not on the basis of any other consideration.

And all humanity is seen by the church, and by the church in her mission work, and in her evangelism work, through that lens.

And we could add to it, not just skin color and culture and ethnicity, but we could also add to it intellect, we could add to it other things like socioeconomic status and so forth.

The Gospel is for all, and here the second Sunday after Trinity is really focusing in on that message, the call of the Gospel to embrace all people, regardless of skin color, ethnicity or culture, calling them to repentance and faith in Christ.

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