Black lives matter, Asian lives matter, far-eastern lives matter, First Nations lives matter, white lives matter. The list could continue. Wherever there are tensions between peoples and nation states how often is it bound up with racial undertones.
The URC Daily Devotions at the moment are going through the book of Genesis and there we witness the machinations of men and women to have children and to 'start' the foundation stories of the various nations and tribes that they thought inhabited the then earth. It does not really make for edifying reading in many ways as these stories are borne out of jealousy and prejudice that we are inheritors of today. The false Biblical reading that propped up the Apartheid state of South Africa and the misguided notions of many ultra-evangelical Christians as to the status of the secular state that is Israel (although it has pronounced itself 'Zionist'), are witness to the ongoing problems of racial and nationalistic identity turning into political ideologies given credence often by various religious interpretations (not all Christian in origin).

At first glance our Matthew reading could encourage us to think that Jesus intended his work and ministry to continue only to his own people, the Jews of his day. Jesus instructs the disciples to go only to 'the lost sheep of the house of Israel' rather than the Gentiles and Samaritans. Taken out of context this could lead to a very limited Christian community from which we are excluded! Yet this passage also contains a very interesting list of Disciples. Peter, Andrew, James and John were Galilean by birth, according to the Bible, and were considered second-class Jews by the inhabitants of Jerusalem. We don't know the backgrounds of others but Philip would suggest a Greek influence somewhere in the family. Simon, in Matthew, is described as a Cananaean. At first glance, again, we may conclude that he identified or came from the ancient Canaanites who Joshua reportedly drove out of the country. Here though it more than likely means 'Zealot' as compared to Luke and Mark's ascription. (The Good News Bible uses 'Simon the Patriot' in all three lists). Judas Iscariot from the very south of Judea and finally Matthew, the tax-collector, the Roman collaborator. A really mixed bag!

Calling these marginalised people to reach out to the 'lost sheep' was either a stroke of genius, or real folly if Jesus wanted to influence 'the great and the good'. Yet in the wider context, it is these very people who are called on by Jesus at the end of the gospel of Matthew to 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit'.
Within a generation that is precisely what was happening and our second passage comes from Paul's letter to the Roman church. He had never been in Rome. He is writing to a predominately non-Jewish gathering that he hasn't met yet but at the end of this part includes all as 'sinners' whom Christ has died for - Gentiles, Jews, indeed 'all nations'.

This passage is hugely significant in the development of the church. 'Justified by faith' was the phrase Martin Luther agonised and struggled over until he came to the conclusion that no human credentials were of any import to God. We are all equal - we are all sinners - but also all have the opportunity of faith.

It is from that deep understanding of our equal status before God that Christians over the centuries have sought to bring justice to the unjust systems of the world. Many times they got it so wrong - as with the attempt at a Biblical 'blessing' on the slave trade. Yet it was other Christian thinkers and activists that were firmly at the forefront of the Abolitionist movement - many from our own traditions.
If we see that all are equal under God then we need to join our voices with those peaceful protestors who claim 'Black lives matter' - as does any life and any individual whatever race, creed or colour. All lives matter. Young, old, poor, rich, gifted or 'special needs' we are called to build the sort of society that honours all its members and we start with the church.

This was bought home to us several years ago on a day trip to the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool. Our visit, unbeknown to us, coincided with an annual day of remembrance in that city for all those who had died in the slave trade. On this occasion the crowd was to be addressed by the son of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, also called Martin Luther King. After he had addressed us we were given the opportunity to throw a red carnation in the river Mersey. Those red flower heads bobbing on the river in their thousands was a stark reminder of all the lives lost in that appalling way. I watched my carnation until it got caught up in the swirling mass. What it represented mattered. The people one carnation represented were known to God and I offered a silent prayer - not just for those it signified, but for all victims of injustice and I asked for forgiveness for not standing up more against injustice but remembering 'God proves his love for us in that while we still sinners Christ died for us'; white, black, asian, far-eastern, first nation, last nation, or however we label ourselves. God in Christ seeks to reconcile us to one another and seek 'the lost sheep' of every generation.