TITLE: ALL LIVES MATTER
SCRIPTURE: MICAH 6:8
There has been much debate and concern about the movement that begun in our nation a few short years ago – The “BLACK LIVES MATTER” movement. It is a movement and network that ADVOCATES FOR DIGNITY, JUSTICE AND RESPECT OF BLACK LIVES. Matter of fact I was very proud of our State of Oklahoma as we witnessed the Black Lives Movement and March in our States Capitol last weekend. A few thousand, Black, Whites, Hispanics and others marched peacefully as our nation witnessed once again the deaths of two more young black men –
• Alton Sterling shot and killed in Baton Rouge, LA
• Philando Castile of St. Paul, MN who was also tragically killed in St. Paul, MN
• Millions across the nation marched saying once again - Enough is Enough
There are many that would attempt to tell us Black Lives Matter is Racist yet have never made comments or rarely make the same comments against the KKK! We are intelligent enough to understand Black Lives Matter does not meant – Blue lives don’t! It does not mean only black lives matter, that was only said by the Media and other Networks. I fully agree that Blue Lives Matter! And support the thought and stance.
We don’t have to be for one and against the other. That is an insult to our intelligence – to think we have to be either for Black Lives Matter or be for Blue Lives Matter. Our hearts still grieve for the five police officers killed in Dallas, TX and Seven others wounded. We still grieve with our nation as these officers were tragically gunned down and Ambushed –
• Officer Brent Thompson
• Officer Patrick Zamarripa
• Officer Michael Krol
• Officer Michael Smith
• Officer Lorne Ahrens
• Their families and the Dallas Police Department are still in our prayers
Can I tell you this morning we need not draw a line in the sand and be forced to choose sides because no one wins with that philosophy! As Christians our claim should be all lives matte!! But let me be clear, so there is no misunderstanding as to my position. “Black Lives Matter” is real and needful and deserves our respect and attention. It’s like if I have a little accident and break my right leg and go to the Emergency Room. They send me to X-Ray and the Technician says firstly we will take an X-Ray of your left leg. I would respond, we don’t need an X-Ray of my left leg because it is my right leg that is giving me pain and needs attention at this particular time. The technician would respond, yes sir I understand but both your legs are important, both of your legs matter. Well…that is very true, however; right now, at this time, it is my right leg that is in pain and needs attention. So, yes, both my legs are important, but since its my right leg that needs attention right now, “My Right Leg Matters” -- So, therefore; yes All lives matter, but right now what needs America’s attention is the amount of young black men and women who continue to lose their lives in the streets of our nation, so yes “BLACK LIVES MATTER.”
Let me call your attention back again to our Old Testament text that has already been read. I suppose we would be quite alarmed if a lawyer walked into the church and presented a court summons to our church - FBC, along with several other churches throughout Ardmore as well as Churches around our nation informing us the Church is being sued.
• This MASSIVE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT has a variety of charges
• If surprise describes our reaction to being sued
• I believe fear would describe our feelings when we discovered who it is that is suing us—THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY
This imagined scenario was a reality for the nation of Israel. The prophetic literature is full of instances when the prophet acts as an agent of the heavenly court who informs the people of God that God holds a grievance against them. Micah comes before the nation of Israel like a baliff in modern day courts.
• However, instead of requiring the citizens of Israel to stand as the honorable judge enters the courtroom
• Micah declares that all of creation is already standing as the courtroom
• If Israel so dares, they can stand before God and plead their innocence before the mountains
• If Israel desires to justify what they have been doing, they have some heavy charges to answer
• Micah informs the Israelites that God has a dispute against them
• God has a contention against his people, and he demands an answer
In this text for examination, the Prophet Micah condemns the leaders of his people for injustices perpetuated against the poor and powerless, a complacency that pretends nothing is wrong and the abuse of power by both political and religious leaders. When Micah confronted the leaders of the nation with these injustices, their response was to change the subject. They say –
• Hey, we are good Jews
• We go to the temple every Sabbath
• We offer sacrifices and we generously give to the temples coffers
WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT FROM US ANYWAY?” And that is the question that Micah answers in our text today --
--“WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU? TO DO JUSTICE, TO LOVE MERCY AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD”
Micah brings specific charges against the nation –
• Do you dare think you are honoring God by simply bowing before Him?
• Do you think God is pleased because you bring burnt offerings and gifts of incense to the altar?
I hear this same question being asked of us today – WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT FROM US? One of the saddest commentaries on the church today is that we really don’t understand what God expects from us as Believers, as Christians. We need to know that God’s charges through the prophet Micah are resounding through the tunnels of time and into our churches today.
• God’s concern is not that we make it to Church and Sunday School on Sunday morning
• God’s concern is not that we make it to Bible Study on Wednesday night
• God’s concern is not that we are giving 10% of our income into the offering plate
• God’s concern is not that we know all the right places to sit and stand during the worship service
• God’s concern is not that we sing loudly and pray eloquently
• God’s concern is what is going on in our hearts
• God’s concern is how we respond to our fellow man
God doesn’t owe us a life of blessing because we go through the routines of worship. We thank God for granting us a life of blessing by being a people of worship. Can I state for the record God cannot be pleased in we who call ourselves Christians when SUNDAY MORNING CONTINUES TO BE THE MOST SEGREGATED HOUR IN AMERICA.
• We draw the line in the sand
• We all go to our respective Churches with people who look like us
• I lift up that we take the lead in Ardmore, OK and start Pulpit Swap
• White Pastors, Hispanic Pastors fill this pulpit on a Sunday Morning
• We in turn Black Pastor stand in the Southern Baptist Pulpits, our local Hispanic Churches
• We will then begin to live out “All Lives Matter”
What is God concerned with? Old and New Testament scholars alike have recognized as the GOLDEN RULE OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES.
• What does God require of you, Oh man and Oh woman?
• To Do Justice
• To Love Mercy
• And to Walk Humbly with your God
What does God really care about, what is it that God is looking for his children do? -- G. K. CHESTERTON rightly remarked that, “CHRISTIANITY HAS NOT BEEN TRIED AND FOUND WANTING; IT HAS BEEN FOUND DIFFICULT AND, THEREFORE, NOT TRIED.” This text would be easy for us to understand and accept it were Shallow, the way we treat our Christian Values and Obligation. What does God require of us O Mortal Man? This passage speaks to the depth of our souls and lets us know that we are found short this morning.
• Christianity does not request that we perform minimal requirements
• God demands from us our maximum potential
What does God really care about, what is it that God is looking for his children do? God requires us to be concerned about JUSTICE – WHAT DOES JUSTICE MEAN IN THIS CONTEXT?
• The word “Justice” means fairness, fair play and equity within the human family
• In the thought of the Old Testament to do justice involved the basic needs, requirements, or even rights of people living together in community
• It should have the same connotation today
• Makes no difference what side of the tracks you live
• Makes no difference what type of house you live in
• Makes no difference the market value of the vehicle you drive
• Makes no difference what your income or social status
• Makes no difference what your Ethnicity
• Makes no difference English being your Second Language
JUSTICE, THEN, IS DECIDEDLY SOCIAL IN NATURE. The practice of Justice, either by God or the people, would be to –
• Rectify the inequities of a society that allowed some people to be oppressed to the point where they were deprived of the basic needs, requirements, and rights that would allow them to function as part of the community
• It is this perspective that lies at the heart of the exodus, and defines the nature of God as a God of justice
• Justice is severely lacking in our nation
• Justice should not be based upon your income and social standing
• Even our Pledge of Allegiance recognizes this and proclaims “Justice for All”
• Although it is obvious we no longer honor that creed in our nation
• There is no longer Justice for All
• Justice based upon your ethnicity
Doing justice would involve both Personal and Social responsibilities. It would compel one never to act in ways that might produce injustice. And it would also compel one to address the social causes of injustice or conditions that fostered it. God demands that the Hebrew people take responsibility for their personal behavior and the behavior of their leaders. It is no different today. God demands that Christians take responsibility for our actions and Stand Up for Justice!
• Christians standing for so called leaders that call II Corinthians Two Corinthians
• So called leaders saying they take the drink and little bread
• So called leaders that say they have never asked God for forgiveness because they don’t believe they have ever done anything wrong!
As is so often evident in Scripture as well as human experience, such a practice of justice most often brings one into conflict with oppressors who are perpetrating the injustice, and that makes doing justice an act of courage as well as an act of devotion to God. That is why we have such conflict in our nation and Black Lives Matter is viewed as so negative and pitting against Blue Lives Matter. Conflict is with Oppressors who are doing nothing more than perpetrating injustice! These movements are not at odds with one another! I would venture to suggest, they are one in the same.
WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU? TO DO JUSTICE, TO LOVE MERCY -- What does “Love Mercy” mean in the context of Micah’s message? This is the Hebrew term “Hesed” which has a depth of meaning hard to capture in a single English word. It has been translated “Kindness” and “Mercy” but no one English word can express its meaning.
To Love Mercy - is not a warm-fuzzy-feeling kind of love, but the commitment and steadfast dependability that arises from mutual relationship. To love “Hesed” was to be committed not only to God who had demonstrated “Hesed” to the people.
• It was also to live in community in such a way that "hesed" marked life together as God’s people
• To love "hesed" was to be committed to a quality of life that was governed by the principles of mutual respect, helpfulness, and loving concern
God has bigger concerns than our cultural rules that we define with the language of piety. To “Love Mercy” moves us out of our comfort zone.
• Love Mercy - that means forgiving someone who does not deserve to be forgiven
• Love Mercy - That means tipping your waitress or waiter twice what you normally would even though they did a terrible job and is visibly upset, and even leaving a short note encouraging them that brighter days lie ahead,
• Love Mercy - that means taking the time to listen to somebody who needs someone to listen
• Love Mercy – cannot fear one another because we look different
• Love Mercy – cannot look down upon those that don’t look like you
• Love Mercy – cannot despise those that were not afforded the same educational opportunity as you
WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU? TO DO JUSTICE, TO LOVE MERCY AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD -- Finally, what does it mean TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD? "Walking a path" is a common biblical metaphor for living a certain kind of life. "Walking humbly with God" –
• Is a call to do more than to come to God with offerings thinking to buy God’s favor
• It is a call to live our lives with God in ways that would work out in every aspect of life
• It implies a sensitivity to the things of God
• To allow our hearts to be broken by the things that break the heart of God
• It is a deep desire to see the world through the eyes of God, to act in the world as God would act
We have become so desensitized in our nation. Police Shootings no longer bother us. Police officers gunned down in Dallas, TX no longer disturb us. No longer walk Humbly with God or these things would bother us. Nine African Americans gunned down in South Carolina during a Bible Study. A Pastor and eight of his parishioners tragically taken at the hands of a young white shooter. This City of Ardmore had no City Wide Prayer Vigil. Five Officers gunned down, ambushed by a young black shooter and this city called a City Wide Prayer Vigil – rightfully so.
• Were these white police officers any more important that nine blacks gunned down in Church?
• We have to do better than that in this City
• By the same token a few African American Churches came together for a Prayer Vigil for the SC murders, just a handful from the community
• The African American Churches did not call for a prayer vigil for the Five Police Officers
• We have to do better than that in this City!
• We must Walk Humbly with Our God
• When that happens we grow to the point we understand – “All Lives Matter”
When this final requirement is placed alongside the first two, “Walking with God becomes synonymous with having a heart for justice and compassion. In this sequence, "walking with God" is actually the overarching category for doing justice and loving mercy. They cannot be separated, for walking humbly with God, living all of life under God and in relationship to God, will result in both.
If the Prophet Micah was here today, I think he would ask us if we have forgotten our covenant with God. I think Micah might say to us -
• You have been delivered from slavery and arrived in the Promised Land
• You enjoy a life of freedom and the abundance of that land
• But you have forgotten God and your relationship with God and the things you need to do to maintain that relationship
• You have forgotten that you represent the Kingdom
We would be unsettled in our comfortable Churches on Sunday morning and protest. And Micah would ask, “WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU?” And you would answer: “TO DO JUSTICE, TO LOVE MERCY AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD.”
--He would say, “It doesn’t matter where you are on Sundays, if you are not walking humbly with your God on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday
--And we would say, “But God, we live in a Christian nation. Our leader is a compassionate conservative. We boldly proclaim our Christianity to all the world.”
--And Micah would say, “It doesn’t matter if you post the Ten Commandments on all your public buildings if only the rich can afford justice in your courts
--It doesn’t matter that you stand up for prayer in schools, if you deny poor children the health care that your children all have access to – and against Affordable Health Care Act
--It doesn’t matter if you are pro-life and demand that no fetus ever be aborted, if you refuse to provide the resources, the tax dollars, to keep them fed, and healthy and educated once they are here
--It doesn’t matter that you shout loudly when somebody wants to take “In God We Trust” off your currency, if your whole life is consumed with consuming, with acquiring, with buying the things that those dollars can buy and never helping the poor
“What does the Lord require of you?” “To do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”
--We must be vigilant in our personal and political lives to make sure that every child of God is treated equally and fairly
--We must be certain that no child of God is left behind in slavery to the forces of greed
--We must live as Jesus lived and love as Jesus loved
“What does the Lord require of you?” “To do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”
--To understand “Black Lives Matter”
--To understand “Blue Lives Matter”
--But most importantly “All Lives Matter”
