#myblackhistory The Real Battle Is Yet To Come, The Hidden Cost Of Liberation. Series

Intro: I am so blessed that I can tell the real Black History African American story! Although it is great progress to have a Black History Month where everyone can learn about the contributions of Black Americans, it is also so very limiting.

The narrative of Black people, as taught by most American schools, begins with slavery. But that’s not where our story begins; our story begins in Africa. For each Black American, our story begins in a particular part of Africa, with an ethnic history, culture, and thriving community. I would like to suggest that this sets up a false divide that we see in the Book of Jeremiah.

The book of Jeremiah is often associated with the prophet’s concern for idolatry, the ways that Judah had forsaken Yahweh and turned to other gods.

The book of Jeremiah is primarily concerned with justice—to be exercised by rulers, to be sure, but also by all people. Importantly, then and now, survival in a time of crisis, according to the prophet, depends not on wisdom, might, and wealth, but on fighting for justice for those on the social margins.

“Justice is the protection of the weaker members of society from oppression by those more powerful”

Move 1: While the book of Jeremiah places primary responsibility for executing justice upon kings, kings are not held exclusively responsible for justice. The broader claim of the book of Jeremiah is that concern for justice is to permeate society and is a responsibility for all the people of Judah. The prophet is ordered by God to search Jerusalem for even one person “who acts justly and seeks truth” (v. 1). The prophet’s initial search is fruitless.

However, the initial search (5:1-3) was only among the poor, so God orders that the search continues among Jerusalem’s leaders, “the rich” (v. 5). The results are no better, and the conclusion is that among both poor and rich alike “they do not know the way of the LORD, the law of their God” (Vv. 4-5).

The book of Jeremiah understands that God demands all persons in Judah—rich and poor, common citizen or monarch alike—to be attentive to God’s demands for justice.

Because not a single person could be found in Jerusalem “who acts justly” (v. 1), the prophet warns that God will affect judgment in-stead of pardon (v. 6).

Move 2: In Chapter 17 The Babylonians are coming and will wreak havoc upon Judah and Jerusalem. Most readers of Jeremiah see the totality of the Babylonians’ intentions and actions as the direct result of God’s anger and vengeance toward Judah.

The text makes clear that God was most certainly involved in the coming of the Babylonians. This does not mean, however, that God created the Babylonian empire and armies and instilled therein a sense of vicious imperialism, all so it could be unleashed upon God’s people at their first misstep. It has taken some time to understand that God has not made White Supremacy or Christian Nationalism.

Instead, God makes use of the already established regional policies and practices of the Babylonian empire as an instrument of God’s own judgment and punishment against the deep and ongoing offenses of the people of Judah. Yes, the Battle is not Yours!

The people have invited the impending havoc upon themselves by their choices to turn away from the God of their ancestors, who created them, freed them from slavery, and gave them the land they inhabit.

Move 3 We are all in this History. You see if we are going to celebrate Black History, we have to celebrate the Good and the Bad. Black History Month is not meant to pit blacks and whites against each other. And it’s not meant to celebrate one race while excluding another. It’s meant to highlight some of the important people and events of our American history.

Ignoring the past and pretending it didn’t exist is not going to help us move forward with inclusion efforts.

I started this sermon by saying that the rich and the poor were guilty of not doing justice. And I want to make it clear that the text points out that the fall of Judah and Jerusalem was. The oppressed and the oppressors not doing justice. Black History Month isn’t simply about ethnic diversity in general but remembering the horrors of our shared history and celebrating the progress that has been made, in God’s common kindness, and specifically the many successes of black Americans despite such a history.

Christians honor this month, at least in part, because it helps us understand the awful plight of a people made in God’s image, many of them fellow believers, and acknowledges God’s goodness at work in remarkable achievements…in and through a people who often have been treated with utter wickedness.”

Right now, there is a lot of anger in America. People are divided down political, religious, and even racial lines. Yet God has commanded us to put aside our prejudices and look at one another with His eyes. I have heard time and time white folks say well where our White History month. I think this is the very issue Jeremiah was getting at when he condemns the rich and the poor.