I write this post on a Monday morning in the midst of RFS 1. 150 students have been on campus all weekend and it has been wonderful, and it has been challenging. Many students were asked by friends and family, “Do you really want to go to Minneapolis right now?”

Our city has been engulfed in a tumultuous situation. We all stood in shock as we received the news that Renee Nicole Good had been shot and killed by an ICE agent. Many of our streets have been filled with protestors. Conflicting narratives have been swirling through our various media channels and communication networks. Anxiety is high.

It is a challenging time and difficult to know how to be a Christian Public Leader.

Let us take a deep breath together…

…

This morning, in Chapel, we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord. We will feel the water of baptism rain onto our skin. We will be reminded that we are anchored deeply in the waters of God’s Grace. We are reminded in Psalm 29 that God is in the storm. We are reminded in the story of Jesus’ baptism that he is the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. He is the one anointed by the Holy Spirit. He is the one to whom and about whom the voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, my beloved. Listen to him.”

We are reminded that Jesus came into a world riddled with fear and oppression. His people lived under the tyranny of an oppressive Empire. They lived in the shadow of a corrupt King who colluded with the Empire, slaughtered his own people and family to protect his power, and distorted the Temple of God.

Jesus showed us the way. He showed us how to lean into our identity as a child of God, to love our neighbor as ourself. To stand strong in the face of oppression and be agents of God’s love, grace, and salvation.

We are reminded that Jesus did not overcome evil with evil or violence with violence. Jesus took the violence into himself on the cross. He overcame the violence with love, with forgiveness, with truth, justice, peace, and resurrection.

This is my prayer for us this week at Luther Seminary. May we be grounded in our baptismal identity. May we be reminded that God looks upon us and says, “You are my beloved child.” May we be people who do not give in to fear, but stand with those who are vulnerable, speak truth in love, and, in the name of Jesus, proclaim Good News as we seek to embody Shalom in all that we say and do.

Lord, have mercy.