Years ago I helped to lead Club’56. It was a youth ministry we created for fifth and sixth graders. That was one of the most fun ministry seasons ever. We had a run down, gutted out trailer that was overflowing with kids every Wednesday night. Our worship was a giant boom box, a stretched out bed sheet, and a transparency machine that would fall down from a chair half the time because we were having so much fun worshiping God. Thirty seconds into worship, all 60 kids would be shaking that trailer apart because we were jumping up and down and praising God. Or volunteer leaders were so involved and hands on, giving hope to those kids reminding them how special they were.

What was special was the diversity in that ministry. In fact, we celebrated the diversity and spent a lot of time educating the kids on the pitfalls of racism. God hates it. One of my favorite all time lessons was using m&ms. I would pass out m&m’s and have the kids get as many as they wanted. Then I would have them take one m&m at a time, suck the color off, and spit the chocolate into their cup. After every color I would ask if it tasted better than the one before. No one could tell the difference!

Then I would I bring it home by showing that the color of the m&m didn’t matter, but the inside was always the same. The green was just as good as the yellow. The yellow was just as good as the blue. They all had chocolate underneath, and they all were good.

My hope is that 22 years later they will remember that lesson tonight. My hope is that they will remember God cares about them no matter the color of their skin tone. My hope is that they will know the truth, that God wants them to have peace beyond their circumstances. My hope is they have joy despite our nations chaos, and that they are telling their own kids the same tonight.

God, heal us. God, may we all begin to see people the way you see us. May we have hope again. May we as a nation, seek You and not political stances or bigotry. Thank you for being the God of hope. Thank you for creating diversity. May we speak life to everyone we come into contact today, and show them who You are. Again, bring healing to our land. Amen.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope

Romans 15:3