“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are equal.”
1. With those words, Abraham Lincoln changed the course of history.
B. Fast forward 100 years to a sweltering August day in 1963, when a quarter of a million people traveled to Washington, D.C. for the largest civil rights demonstration in American history.
1. Gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial, the multitudes heard a 34 year-old preacher named Martin Luther King, Jr. say these words:
2. “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character; I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together...When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men., black sisters and white sisters, Jews and Gentiles. Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty we are free at last.’” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
3. Those four words, “I have a dream” became the rallying cry of an oppressed people who would no longer be denied justice.
4. The words of Dr. King and President Lincoln hearken back to this statement from the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
C. God has a dream as well, and actually, it is where the founders of our constitution, and where Abraham Lincoln, and where Martin Luther King, Jr. got their dream.
1. Jesus put that dream into these words in a prayer from John 17: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (Jn. 17:20-23)
D. Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr Day.
1. It is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.
2. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King's birthday, but this year it happens to be on his birthday, January 15.
3. As you know, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law.
4. The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968.
5. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later.
6. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays.
7. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.
E. And here we are, in January of 2018, it has been about half a century since the Civil Rights Act and the 15th Amendment to the Constitution which gave voting rights to all American citizens regardless of race, color or previous condition of servitude.
1. And half a century since the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr, and it is a good time for us to be reminded of the Biblical truth that the gospel is for every person, regardless of race or ethnicity, or anything else, and that the church is to be the most lovingly integrated place on earth.
2. I wish I could say that the church has always led the way of racial reconciliation, but it has not.
a. Since the church’s very beginning, we see in Scripture the struggle to welcome and value all people regardless of racial background or societal position.
b. Thankfully, there have been times and places in the past 2000 years of the church’s existence when churches have done a good job in embracing and loving all people.
c. But as you know there have been times and places in those 2000 years when the church has failed miserably to embrace and love all people.
3. I wish I could say that our country has always led the world in the way of racial reconciliation, but it has not.
a. Our history is replete with examples of terrible mistreatment of groups of people, whether it be what we did to Native Americans, or African slaves, or other immigrants.
b. Thankfully, the reality is that most of us and our ancestors had little or nothing to do with any of those atrocities.
c. But that doesn’t mean that we are completely innocent or unaffected by our history.
4. I wish I could say that the problems of race are a thing of the past and are no longer anything that we need to be concerned about, but that is not the case.
a. Even the most casual observer of the news over the past year or so knows that racial tensions have been on the rise.
b. I was so disturbed a week ago, when I heard a story in the news that hate groups in America are on the rise.
F. “What are hate groups” you might ask?
1. By definition, all hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.
2. Listen to these statistics: (Southern Poverty Law Center, www.splcenter.org)
a. There is a 197% increase in total number of anti-Muslim hate groups up from 2015.
b. In 2016, studies revealed that there are 130 Ku Klux Klan groups in the U.S.
c. In 2015, studies revealed that there are 193 Black Separatist groups in the U.S.
d. In 2016, studies revealed that there are 663 antigovernment ‘patriot’ groups in the U.S.
3. What do we know about these hate groups?
a. Anti-Muslim hate groups are a relatively new phenomenon in the United States, with many appearing in the aftermath of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
1. Beginning in 2010, anti-Muslim legislation increased and opposition to the development of an Islamic Center in lower Manhattan made headlines.
b. The Ku Klux Klan, with its long history of violence, is the most infamous — and oldest — of American hate groups.
1. When the Klan was formed in 1865, it was a single, unitary organization.
2. Today, there are dozens of competing Klan groups that are categorized as Neo-Nazis, and white supremacists.
3. Although black Americans have typically been the Klan’s primary target, it has also attacked Jews, immigrants, homosexuals, and Catholics.
c. Black separatists typically oppose integration and racial intermarriage, and they want separate institutions - or even a separate nation - for blacks.
1. Most forms of black separatism are strongly anti-white and anti-Semitic, and a number of religious versions assert that blacks are the Biblical “chosen people” of God.
4. It was at Charlottesville, Virginia last August were assorted white supremacist groups gathered to demonstrate, and violence erupted between those groups and numerous counterprotesters, including local residents, members of church groups and civil rights leaders.
a. Sadly, in the midst of the riot, someone drove a car into the protestors, killing one and injuring 19 others.
5. I bring this up as just one example of the hatred that is alive and well among some people in our nation.
6. And it goes without saying that hatred has no place in our hearts, nor in our church!
G. I hope and pray you will be patient with me today as I address the plague of racism in our world.
1. The last thing I want to do today is to be political, because although there are political aspects and ramifications to this problem, it is first and foremost a spiritual problem and every Christian and every church has the mandate to practice the love of God for every person.
2. I have to admit to you that I approach this subject with trepidation.
3. I have feared tackling this topic for a number of reasons.
4. I fear that my trying to address the problem will be counter-productive, and if misunderstood could do more harm than good.
5. I fear that by addressing the problem that the people in our congregation that are most like me might feel like I am somehow criticizing or attacking them.
a. Certainly, many will readily admit that there is still a problem with racism in our country, or in our community, but they may feel like it has nothing to do with them.
b. My fear is also that many of us may listen and nod approvingly at what the Bible says about this, but then won’t have the courage to put it into practice.
6. Another fear I have is that my non-white listeners may take offense at something that I say.
a. After all, what can a middle aged white guy know about the problem of racism?
b. How can David Owens understand what it is like to be an African American male or female, or what it feels like to be an immigrant from or descendent with strong ties to Hispanic, Asian, European, African, Cuban, Canadian, South American, or Central American culture?
c. I will admit that there is much that I don’t understand, and it’s impossible for me to know what discrimination you may have experienced in your own life.
d. I hope that you will be able to sense that my motives are pure and that you will forgive an unintentional offences on my part.
e. But I hope that you will also acknowledge that racism can be a double-edged sword that cuts both ways – that the natural, unspiritual response by some to the prejudice and hatred they receive is prejudice and hatred in return.
H. One of the main points that I want to make today is that we must strive to know and understand each other as individuals.
1. Here is a poignant statement about prejudice: “Prejudice is a great time saver…It allows you to form opinions without having to know the facts.”
2. Every single one of us has a personal life story and until we know that life story, we might wrongly judge or wrongly categorize a person.
3. You know the old adage about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. it is a good one, right?
4. The adage says: “Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes.”
5. Meaning that before judging someone, we must understand his or her experiences, challenges, thought processes, etc.
6. Of course, I like the silly take off on that saying that says: “Before you criticize someone you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes!”
7. That, of course, is not why we should walk in each other’s shoes!
I. Please allow me to share a little bit of my story of growing up and my experience in race relations.
1. Share my story here…
J. That’s my story, but it is only one story out of the 200 different individuals who are a part of our church family.
1. We each have our own unique story and we need to learn each other’s stories.
2. I want to show you a video clip that helps to illustrate how everyone’s story is different and how our stories affect our attitudes and challenges of our lives.
3. It is not a perfect illustration, but hopefully it causes us to stop and think before we assume anything or judge - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5fbQ1-zps
4. Here are another way they might have done that exercise:
a. Take two steps forward if you grew up in a two parent household.
1. Take two steps backward if your parents fought almost every night.
2. Take two steps forward if your father didn’t abandon you.
3. Take two steps backward if he set forth unreasonable, unattainable and demoralizing expectations.
4. Take two steps forward if you never had to help Mom or Dad with the bills.
5. Take two steps backwards if you never saw your parents because they were too busy working all the time and you were at the babysitter’s.
5. Again, I showed this video and made these comments because we need to realize that all our experiences are different, and yet, we each have the responsibility to do what we can to overcome the things that might hold us back.
a. We are a product of our past, but we don’t have to be a prisoner of it.
b. Here is a different way to approach the game by focusing on personal responsibility:
1. If you go to class every day and pay attention, take two steps forward.
2. If you do your homework every night, take another two steps forward.
3. If you don't smoke marijuana, take another two steps forward.
4. If you obey the law and don't hang out with troublemakers, take another two steps forward
5. If you have an after-school job - whether it's baby-sitting or making hamburgers at McDonalds - where you learn personal responsibility and to show up on time and to learn basic business practices and ethics, take five steps forward.
6. If you're not pregnant or planning to get pregnant until you're married, take three steps forward.
7. If you completely understand that your actions are your own, and you’re responsible for your own actions, and that you have EVERYTHING to do with your own mind and your own character, and what you do to develop it, then take 100 steps forward!
K. One of the challenges that each of us faces is that each of us is biased and blinded by our own thoughts, emotions, desires and experiences.
1. It is literally impossible for us to be completely unbiased and impartial, and to have no preconceived notions.
2. All of us filter and interpret everything we see and hear through the filter of our experiences and understandings.
3. To illustrate this let’s consider the S.U. Basketball team.
a. I am an S.U. Basketball fan – I bleed orange!
b. So, when I watch an S.U. game do you think that I am impartial and unbiased about how S.U. is being treated by the refs?
c. It is impossible for me to be impartial or unbiased.
d. When the refs call a foul against S.U., I am likely to think they are wrong.
e. When the refs don’t call a foul on behalf of S.U., then I am likely to think they got robbed.
4. To use another similar illustration, consider the New England Patriots.
a. I really, really, really, realy dislike the Patriots because they are in the division of my favorite team, and for almost 20 years they have dominated our division.
b. I long for those earlier years before Bill Belichick became their head coach and Tom Brady their quarterback – they were terrible back then.
c. Anyhow, because of my distain for them, guess what – I’m more likely to believe a negative story about them – whether it is spy gate or deflate gate.
d. And every time Brady goes back to pass and he has forever to find an open receiver, I’m convinced the offensive line must be holding – they must have found some way to cheat.
5. Bias and prejudice are not too bad when they are involved in our sports teams, but they are just plain wrong when it has to do with people’s lives and important situations.
6. If we immediately think the worse about someone before exploring the facts, that is just wrong.
a. That’s true whether we are talking about the police, or someone who has been arrested, or about a politician, or about entire groups of people, like immigrants, the poor or the rich.
b. We must not prejudge. We must be careful to keep our biases under control and to do our best to rid our minds of them.
7. James addressed this problem directly when he wrote: My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:1-4)
L. As I draw this sermon to a close, I want to remind us about these Biblical truths.
1. All people are created with equal value in God’s eyes (In the image of God he made them male and female. Gen. 1:27)
a. Although we may be culturally diverse, our lineage is the same…we have the same parents - We are all descendants first of Adam and Eve, and then Noah and Mrs. Noah.
b. We are one blood, one people, one human race.
2. All people are loved by God (For God so loved the world! John 3:16)
3. All people are stained and tainted by sin (For all have sinned and fallen short! Rom. 3:23)
4. All people are able to be redeemed in Christ (Go make disciples of all nations! Mt. 28:19-20)
M. Here is God’s dream for the church:
1. Before God sent the apostle Peter to the home of Cornelius, a Gentile, God gave him the same vision, three times, of a sheet being let down from heaven with all kinds of unclean animals.
a. In the vision he was told to kill and eat, and each time when he said, “I have never eaten anything impure of unclean,” the voice in the vision said, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
b. When Peter went to the home of Cornelius and witnessed the Spirit of God being poured out on the Gentiles, Peter understood God’s point and said: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.” (Acts 10:34)
2. Paul wrote to the Galatian church and explained to them: You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3:26-28)
3. Here is the heavenly vision we have from the book of Revelation: After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:9-10)
4. God’s plan and God’s dream for the church on earth and in heaven is one where all people – from all nations, and colors, and backgrounds, will be one in Christ.
5. We are all equally loved and valued by God, and therefore, we must equally love and value each other – that’s God’s will and God’s dream for the human race.
N. On a practical level, here is what I want to encourage each of us to do:
1. First, I want to encourage us to strive to have a genuinely Christian attitude toward ethnic and racial diversity that is not one of toleration, but of celebration.
a. Let’s celebrate the fact that we are different and unique, yet we are one in Christ.
2. Second, I want to encourage us to develop relationships with people who are different from us.
a. Racial harmony begins with developing friendships with people who are different from us.
b. Let me ask you: Do you have any close friends who are of a different race or nationality, or a different socio-economic situation?
c. Or are all your friends just like you racially or ethnically?
d. One of the best ways to develop relationships with others is by meeting together for coffee or having someone in your home for a meal.
e. It is one thing for us to be friendly here at church with people who are different from us, but we must go further than just being friendly here at church.
3. Third, and finally, I want to encourage us to stand against hatred and prejudice and to stand up for victims of it.
a. Whenever or wherever we witness someone being harmed by bigotry or prejudice, we must do whatever we can to put an end to it.
b. That’s what the apostle Paul had to do when the apostle Peter was being discriminatory – Paul confronted Peter about it face to face (Galatians 2).
e. That’s what Pee Wee Reese did for Jackie Robinson.
1. It was 1947 and Reese and Robinson were both playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
2. Pee Wee Reese was from Louisville, KY, was a veteran player and a fan favorite.
3. Jackie Robinson was a black man breaking the long-held racial barrier in the major leagues.
4. During one game in a ballpark on the road, Robinson was receiving death threats, taunts, and heckling from the crowd, so Pee Wee Reese walked over to Robinson on the infield and put his arm around Robinson’s shoulder and stared down the crowd.
5. Later, Jackie Robinson said of the situation: “Pee Wee kind of sensed the sort of helpless, death feeling in me and came over and stood beside me for a while. He didn’t say a word, but just looked over at the chaps who were yelling at me and just stared.”
f. Brothers and sisters, that is what we need to do – we need to stand together, united.
O. The world needs the church to be a witness and an example of unity, harmony, diversity, and acceptance.
1. If the church will unite across racial lines, ethnic lines and social lines, we will turn the world upside down.
2. Jesus said that all people will know that we are His disciples if we love one another. (Jn. 13:35)
3. Let’s fulfill God’s dream by loving all people, just as God does.
