(John 17:1 NASB) These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee,
(John 17:2 NASB) even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life.
(John 17:3 NASB) "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.
(John 17:4 NASB) "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do.
(John 17:5 NASB) "And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.
(John 17:6 NASB) "I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word.
(John 17:7 NASB) "Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee;
(John 17:8 NASB) for the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them; and they received them, and truly understood that I came forth from Thee, and they believed that Thou didst send Me.
(John 17:9 NASB) "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine;
(John 17:10 NASB) and all things that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.
(John 17:11 NASB) "And I am no more in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We are.
(John 17:12 NASB) "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
(John 17:13 NASB) "But now I come to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy made full in themselves.
(John 17:14 NASB) "I have given them Thy word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
(John 17:15 NASB) "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
(John 17:16 NASB) "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
(John 17:17 NASB) "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth.
(John 17:18 NASB) "As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
(John 17:19 NASB) "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
(John 17:20 NASB) "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
(John 17:21 NASB) that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.
(John 17:22 NASB) "And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one;
(John 17:23 NASB) I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me.
As I was considering what I would say on this day I began to think back to my childhood. I was born in Fort Meade, Maryland, the son of an Air Force Master Sergeant. I believe I was less than a year old when my sister and I were whisked off to Plattsburgh Air Force in upper state New York where we would spend the next eight years.
Living up in New York has left me with fond, warm memories except for having to move to Baltimore because my Mom and Dad were splitting up. The Plattsburgh air force base was predominantly white. I remember being one of the few black in my kindergarten and first grade classes. I remember the first girl I had a crush on was a little red head named Nancy. I remember playing with my friends, we were so naive of skin color--to this day I don't remember what color they were. All I remember that they were all my friends. As I think back some thirty years ago, I don't remember one incident of racism in Plattsburgh. Psychologists would say I have repressed memory syndrome. I would have to disagree.
I don't remember experiencing any discrimination until I moved back to Maryland. I think we moved back in 1966, I was eight. We lived with my aunt in a community of South Baltimore called Cherry Hill. As I remember, Cherry Hill was a community with one of the highest crime rates in the city and it was occupied predominantly by Blacks.
Now, before we moved to Cherry Hill that summer, I had spent eight years of my life living with, playing with and being educated by white folk. If people from different racial groups and different geographical areas sometimes look, act and sound differently, who do you suppose I acted and sounded like? White folk!
It was culture shock to me! I had never seen so many Black people in all my life. I was afraid to go outside because of the attention that my brother and sisters and I were getting because of our accents. But I was also afraid to stay inside because my aunt's house was infested with roaches.
After several weeks, my mom rented a house near Poplar Grove Street (Tony Evans old stomping grounds). This was also a predominantly Black neighborhood. The discrimination continued as the neighborhood children noticed that there was something different about us. But soon it subsided as we learned to blend in as kids eventually do.
My first experience with racism may not be racism at all--you decide.
I remember when I was about 12 years old. By this time we had moved away from Poplar Grove area to what could be called a middle class community which was about 80% Black and 20% white. I noticed how my friends and I treated a fellow named Ronnie who was white. Ronnie was discriminated against because he was white. But I believe he was picked on more so because he was different--he was not only white but he was fat. I believe that we was singled out not only because he was white and fat, but he was also goofy. Not only was he white, fat, and goofy but he was an only child and he was spoiled. His parents spent much money on him. When we had to steal supermarket carts to make go karts, his parents bought him a gas-powered three-wheeled metallic purple cycle. And he wouldn't let any of us ride it. So we teased him and picked on him every now and then but it went no further--at least with the the group of guys that I hung with.
I experienced another incident of racism about two years later in the same community. I remember one fall day walking home from the recreation center with my older sister, Joyce. As it was getting dark, we noticed a car approaching us with it's lights off. It came to a stop when it reached us and we noticed that it was filled with some white teenagers. All of a sudden someone yelled out something like "Hey Niggers" and we heard gun shots. Joyce and I saw flashes of light as the gun was fired. I ran behind my sister in fear and the car raced away. This was the first time that I knowingly experienced hatred directed toward me because of my race.
As I grew up there were other incidents. Being called "boy", or being stereotyped. Folks automatically assuming that you can't read or write because you are Black.
As I entered the job force, I experienced discrimination but I had difficulty determining whether it was racial or religious. As I began my career, I had also rededicated myself to Christ. I shared my faith and taught Bible studies on the job as well. so some of the discrimination may be as a result of my testimony.
About ten years ago, my wife, children and I became members of a congregation of believers that was mostly white. I had already been in leadership in a black congregation for several years and had attended a school that the pastor of this white congregation had attended as well. But the pastor continued to use younger-in-the-faith White believers in leadership positions rather than myself and another Black brother who also attended the church with his family. When I confronted the pastor and appealed to him about his favoritism, he responded with tears in his eyes that he wasn't a bigot. But the excuses that he gave for preferring those who were less qualified gave indication to me that he indeed was.
I was asked by Pastor Sam to speak on "Racial Reconciliation"--a topic in which I have no personal experience. In fact, I view racism as I view any other SIN that the Bible forbids. This is the way that I have always looked at it since becoming a Christian. When asked what I thought about it I would always reply, "For the Christian it is not a color problem or race problem, it is a sin problem. If the shoe was on the other foot, and Blacks colonized the Americas, we would have dragged white folks off of their continent and packed them like sardines in slave ships. We would have branded them, worked them like dogs and cattle, and raped their women. We would have ripped their families apart, sold them like chattel, stripped them of their self-worth and in many cases murdered them.
So it is NOT a race problem, it is NOT a color problem, it is however, a SIN problem. The Bible declares racism as a sin. Since the Bible declares racism to be a sin we must look to the Bible for a solution.
So from here on out I’m mainly going to be talking to Christians because there are certain things that God doesn’t expect unbelievers to be able to do.
(1 Cor 2:14 KJV) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The worst thing I could do is take a bunch of principles that God has reserved for those who have trusted Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior and thrust them upon the heathen.
You see, a true Christian is one who has a sincere desire to obey his or her Master, Jesus Christ. Jesus said:
(Luke 6:45 NASB) "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
(Luke 6:46 NASB) "And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?
(John 14:15 NASB) "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
The things that upset Jesus should upset a Christian. The things that Jesus counts as sin a true believer would count as sin as well. This is what Paul was talking about when he wrote that Christians have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).
The Bible's declaration of racism as a sin.
Before we discuss this I want to say that I know that people can use the Bible to justify any sinful attitude or practice. People have use the Bible to justify adultery, homosexuality and other sin such as child abuse drunkeness. People have even used the Bible to prove that they could enslave men, women, boys and girls with God’s blessing. Usually these justifications are a result of twisting the Scripture, misquoting it or quoting verses out of their context.
Let’s look at a passage of Scripture.
(James 2:1 NASB) My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
(James 2:2 NASB) For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes,
(James 2:3 NASB) and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,"
(James 2:4 NASB) have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
(James 2:5 NASB) Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
(James 2:6 NASB) But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?
(James 2:7 NASB) Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
(James 2:8 NASB) If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law, according to the Scripture, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are doing well.
(James 2:9 NASB) But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
(James 2:10 NASB) For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
Mild Exposition
(James 2:1 NASB) My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
Right off the bat, the Apostle James teaches his readers that personal favoritism is not characteristic of those who are followers of Christ. Notice he is talking to Christians, “my brethren.” Notice the emphasis is placed on the Lordship of Christ. “Glorious Lord” kurios, koo'-ree-os; the One who is supreme in authority. In other words, if Jesus is your boss you don’t show partiality.
(James 2:2 NASB) For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes,
(James 2:3 NASB) and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,"
(James 2:4 NASB) have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
James elaborates on the point made in verse one. Notice where James points his fingers. He offers a hypothetical situation of discrimination on the basis of external appearances. This is precisely what racism is, discrimination on the basis of appearances.
What would you conclude about the following true story? A company in Maryland had a management slot open. A young man in California who attended an Ivy league school and sent his resume and was subsequently interviewed over the telephone. The interviewer was so impressed that he asked the man to fly to Maryland for another interview. It wasn’t long after he arrived that they told him that he wasn’t qualified for the job because he lacked the experience.
What really happened was that the interviewer saw that the man was a member of a minority race.
James asks his readers in verse four, “have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?”
Have you ever noticed that children usually don’t have this problem until they are taught to discriminate by someone else--their parents or their peers?
It's not amazing to see children of all colors playing together. Children are usually color blind when it comes to skin color. Notice I said usually. I remember when one of my daughters was very young--about a year old. I don’t think that they had seen too many white folk. We had a visitor and when my daughter saw her she noticed that something was very strange and different. She seemed to say by the look on her face, “Whoa, what in the world happened to her, did she fall into a bucket of bleach?”
I remember the same thing happening to me when I approached a toddler who apparently hadn’t seen a black person up close. His mouth dropped and he seemed to be thinking, “Mommy, somebody painted this man all brown!”
As we grow up, we seem to develop our prejudging attitudes.
When God sent the prophet Samuel in a search for a king to look at Jesse’s boys, Samuel was naturally drawn to the impressive Eliab who was probably a good looking young man.
(1 Sam 16:7 NASB) But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
This is an indictment against the partiality of man. Pity the deformed person or the unattractive. Have mercy on the fat, the skinny, the bald. Billions of dollars are spent every year on cosmetics. Thank God! That He doesn’t look on the outward appearances because some of us wouldn’t be going to Heaven.
This is how Paul could declare:
(Gal 3:26 NASB) For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
(Gal 3:27 NASB) For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
(Gal 3:28 NASB) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
In another place Paul writes:
(Col 3:9 NASB) Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,
(Col 3:10 NASB) and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him
(Col 3:11 NASB) --a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
(Col 3:12 NASB) And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
(Col 3:13 NASB) bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
There will be no discrimination, no racism in Heaven.
(Rev 7:9 NASB) After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;
(Rev 7:10 NASB) and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."
So what do we do? What is the answer to racism? How can Blacks and Whites and other people of color be reconciled?
Outside of Christ all one can do is legislate laws to discourage racism and discrimination and prejudices of all kinds. But this will only foster integration of sorts but it won’t get rid of the hate and the bitterness. It won’t eradicate strife and prejudice.
You see, racism is a SIN problem and only men, women, boys and girls who are in Christ can truly be reconciled.
(2 Cor 5:17 KJV) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
(2 Cor 5:18 KJV) And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
(2 Cor 5:19 KJV) To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Yes the wounds are deep. The hatred is deep on both sides. Some of us have had relatives who have been victims of hatred. I have a cousin who was paralyzed some 20 years ago from a gunshot wound in the back by a Georgia police officer.
But there is no bitterness that can cause a stain that cannot be wiped away by the blood of Christ. There is no hatred that is too deep for God’s grace to reach.
This is what we need to do as Christians:
Admit, submit and commit.
