OPENING: Joe had ordered an expensive suit for a banquet, and the tailor finished alterations just in time. But as Joe left the shop, a sudden rainstorm doused the jacket and shrank one of the sleeves.
"We can’t do anything about it today," the tailor told Joe when he returned to the shop. "Just stretch the sleeve over your hand, and no one will notice."
With his arm contorted, Joe left the shop, and again was doused by rain. This time, a pant leg shrank.
"I can’t take care of that now!" exclaimed the tailor. "Pull the bottom of pants over your heel, and nobody will notice."
His body twisted, Joe again left the shop. Two women were passing by.
"That poor man!" said on. "I wonder what’s wrong with him?"
"I don’t know," said the other. "But he sure is wearing a nice suit!"
APPLICATION: This man so contorted himself to make the suit look normal that he made himself look abnormal. The Bible tells us that is the condition of our souls. Often we so contort our lives to allow for sin, that we look abnormal to God. Jeremiah said it was because our hearts are deceitful.
As we examine this story of Miriam & Aaron we find that this has happened to them as well. Some form of sin has caused them to speak out against Moses in a way that incenses God. What have they done?
I. Why did Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses?
Their main complaint seems to be that Moses married a Cushite woman. Cushites were what we now call Ethiopians and they were black people. What this seems to indicate is that Aaron and Miriam were basically guilty of bigotry towards Moses and his new wife.
Their prejudice had contorted them so that they became disobedient to God.
ILLUS: I once knew of a denominational church whose hierarchy gave a small town congregation a choice of only two candidates for their preacher. a white woman and a black man. They chose the woman (an unbiblical choice to begin with) because she was white.
But that’s a denominational church. The Churches of Christ wouldn’t do that would they? Yes, we would. I know a preacher who adopted black child while he was serving a small congregation up north. Not long after that, he was fired.
But certainly I wouldn’t be guilty of such prejudice. Yes, I would. Years ago at Lake James Christian Assembly (one of church camps) I was sitting around with a group of 4th and 5th graders, talking and telling jokes. I had just bought a Pepsi and one of the kids asked to have a sip. So I passed her the can (yes, I know it’s unsanitary, but a the time it didn’t bother me). Then another child asked for a drink. Again I shared. But then, a little black girl asked for a sip… and I hesitated. I remember thinking at the time - "This is ridiculous. Why would I share my Pepsi with ’white’ kids and hesitate with this little girl?" I shared my drink, but my initial response shocked me.
Prejudice is a terrible sin. It haunts the minds of many who would even seek to be holy. And it shows its worst side when those who purport to be men of the Bible pervert scripture to validate their evil.
One of the oldest justifications for this perversion comes from a misapplication of Genesis 9:20-25
"Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father’s nakedness.
When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers."
Those who use this passage to support their bigotry maintain that Canaan was the forerunner of the black’s of Africa. But that can’t be. Notice curse was on Canaan, not Cush the oldest son (10:6). Cush went on to be the father of the Egyptians (they weren’t black), and Canaan became the father of those who settled in Canaan. They weren’t blacks either. There is no justifiable way the curse on Canaan can be used to support subjugation of anyone of the Negroid race.
Of course, there are those who attempt to base their bigotry on a previous Bible event - the curse upon Cain. One heretic I encountered even taught that Cain was the offspring of Satan & Eve! But this heresy also runs afoul of Biblical teachings. Because, in order to hold that the curse upon Cain was that he became a black man, a teacher would have to ignore the Flood and the fact that Noah and his family were the only survivors.
II. Prejudice. When it takes hold of our hearts it has destructive power.
ILLUS: Consider Mark Twain. Church leaders were largely to blame for his becoming hostile to the Bible and the Christian faith. As Twain grew up, he knew church elders and deacons who owned slaves and abused them. He heard men using foul language and saw them practice dishonesty during the week after speaking piously in church on Sunday. He listened to ministers use the Bible to justify slavery. Although he saw genuine love for the Lord Jesus in some people, including his mother and his wife, he was so disturbed by the bad teaching and poor example of church leaders that he became bitter toward the things of God.
ILLUS: A deplorable incident occurred in the life of Mahatma Ghandi. He said in his autobiography that during his student days he was interested in the Bible. Deeply touched by reading the gospels, he seriously con- sidered becoming a convert. Christianity seemed to offer the real solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India. One Sunday he went to a church to see the minister and ask for instruction on the way of salvation and other Christian doctrines. But when he entered the sanctuary, the ushers refused him a seat and suggested that he go & worship with his own people. He left and never went back. "If Christians have caste differences also," he said to himself, "I might as well remain a Hindu."
III. If anything, God has gone out of His way to show His favor to those whom many now despise.
The 1st Gentile Convert (from conversion to Judaism) was an Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-39). We often refer to this man as the Ethiopian Eunuch. Notice that God sent Philip to preach to this man! Apparently, God wasn’t put off by this man having "black" skin.
Simon of Cyrene was the one who carried Christ’s cross the final part of that fatal journey. He is noted to be the father of Rufus & Alexander, two prominent leaders in the church at Rome. The people of Cyrene were from the Negroid race.
When Miriam and Aaron objected to Moses’ union (Miriam would appear to be the instigator of this rebellion) God in essence said "Miriam, if you like white - I’ll give you white." And Miriam was afflicted with Leprosy - a disease that could make the skin white.
We all come from the same set of parents. Whether we hale from the Orient, Africa, S. America, N. America, Europe, or wherever. And we’re not even white! The foremost authority on color - Crayola Crayon Company tells us we’re beige
III. God told Samuel - it’s not the outward appearance that God looks at (I Sam. 16:7)
God doesn’t see our color or cultural background. God focuses on the color of our souls - the blackness of our hearts. Isaiah 1:18 says:
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
CLOSE: Hitler was the epitome of prejudice. He was so prejudiced that he even declared that Jesus couldn’t have been a Jew because they were such a low breed of people.
BUT GOD HAS A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR
Jesse Owens always remembered the moment when Adolf Hitler entered the Olympic stadium in Berlin in 1936.
Berlin in 1936 was to be the stage and the Olympic Games were to be the vehicle for showing the Aryans’ superiority. Their prowess would overwhelm all inferiors, including the "Black Auxiliaries" from America. Particularly the blacks, said Dr. Streicher, founder of the obscene newspaper "Der Sturmer", since they "were little more than trained baboons."
But James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens, born Sept. 12, 1913, in Oakville, Alabama a grandson of slaves, gave the lie to that and all the other foolishness about the master race.
Owens was awesome as he put himself through one contest after another. He won gold medals in the 100- and 200- meter dashes, the long jump, and the 400 meter relay, in which his team set a new world record.
There is no doubt that Owens stunned Hitler. His star performance alone wrenched the carefully staged Olympics out of the direction they had been expected to take. It was a black man who took most of the bows.
OTHER SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
Whose Will Be Done? = Exodus 4:19-4:26
The Fingerprint of God = Exodus 8:16-8:19
Stand Firm = Exodus 14:5-14:31
Thirst Quencher = Exodus 15:22-15:27
Strike the Rock = Exodus 17:1-17:7
Get Real = Exodus 34:29-34:35
Of Pride and Prejudice = Numbers 12:1-12:16
