1 Corinthians 14:8 says, “If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?” The church has been given the responsibility to boldly trumpet God’s truth so that are society has an understanding of what is right and what is wrong. One of the reasons we have such moral chaos in our society today is because the church has muted its trumpet…primarily because the church has wimped out. We have refused to take a stand on controversial issues and have neglected to proclaim God’s truth as revealed in His word. Sometimes the truth is not popular, and sometimes the truth hurts but nonetheless the church needs to stand up and speak out on these moral issues. We have attempted to do that these past couple of weeks. We have covered such topics as abortion and homosexuality, but this morning we come to a topic which I consider to be our state’s greatest sin…no its not gambling nor is it that the Bulldogs beat the Kentucky Wildcats in the ’96 SEC college basketball championship game (Although that comes close). No the sin that I am talking about is the sin of racism. The idea that one race is somehow superior to another simply because they are of a different color.
My first encounter with true racism came when I entered the sixth grade. My Dad had just retired from the military and he took a job in Greenville MS. Since my brother, sister and I were all military brats, we had grown up in primarily D.O.D. schools, where the classes were always intergraded and we never knew much about racism at all, but that all changed when we got to Greenville. The town itself was literally separated by a set of railroad tracks, with one side being the black side of town and the other side the white side. The first day of school, we went to a public school there and I was called for the first time in my life a Cracker. I had no idea what that meant but I knew it wasn’t nice. My brother and I got off pretty easy, but my sister was picked on the whole day and came home crying in tears. The next day my dad took us to the school and told the principal there that he was withdrawing all three of us, and then he told her that all that he had taught his kids about not being racist her school had managed to undo in one day. The next day my dad enrolled us at the Christian school that was right behind our house, and there we found that the people were just as racist. Although my Dad had a great paying job there, he quit and moved his family back to his hometown primarily to avoid that racism, although we found it to be in Kentucky as well.
The problem of racism is as old as the history of man. In Exodus 1 the Egyptians feared that the Israelites were growing to numerous and would take over, so they turned them into their slaves. 400 years later, after the Israelites were freed from their bondage, they felt superior to all other nations because they were God’s chosen people. In Numbers 12, Moses married an Ethiopian woman who was more than likely black and Miriam and Aaron opposed him because of it so Miriam was stricken by God with leprosy.
When we come to the New Testament, we see that racism still existed between the Jews and the Gentiles, bet was primarily strong between the Jewish people and the Samaritans. Our text said that the Jews did not associate with the Samaritans.
John 4:4 says, “Now he had to go through Samaria.” Now most Jews would have avoided Samaria had any cost. But Jesus had to go there. The Samaritans were a mixed race, part Jew and part Gentile, that grew out of the Assyrian captivity of the ten northern tribes in about 727 B.C. So intense was the Jewish dislike of the Samaritans that some of the Pharisees actually prayed that no Samaritan would be raised in the resurrection! In John 8:48, When His enemies wanted to call Jesus an insulting name, they called Him a Samaritan. The Jews felt superior and looked down upon the Samaritans so in return the Samaritans reciprocated those feelings of racism of the Jews so that the hatred was mutual. Now doesn’t that sound arrogant and ignorant…but also doesn’t sound familiar?
In an interview with Diane Sawyer on “Primetime Live” Billy Graham was asked, “If you could wave your hand and make one problem in this world go away, what would it be?” And without pausing for breath, he said, “Racial division and strife.”
Racism is a problem that exist all over the world but here in the U.S. it is primarily but not limited to a black and white issue. The U.S. has a jaded history when it comes to this issue, from the issue of slavery to segregation, to the Jim Crow laws, and even though great strides have been made in civil rights legislation, racism still exists today in various forms.
A number of months ago I participated in a funeral, and one of the other officials offered me a ride to the graveside service, and while we rode in the car he took it upon himself to inform me that all blacks wanted welfare checks and that there wasn’t one good black preacher in all of Wayne County. That they were all crooks. Now I happen to know some mighty fine black preachers in Wayne County, and I did my best to control my temper…I would have hated to have got into a fight on my way to conduct a committal. Try explaining that one to the family. But it goes to sow you it still exists to day.
Now there are some who try to use racism for all its worth. Politicians will often play the race card to garner votes. Others use it as an excuse for bad behavior. A couple of weeks back, wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers Terrell Owens upset a lot of people when he scored a touchdown, and then celebrated by pulling a sharpie pen out of his sock and autographing the ball right there in the end zone and then giving the ball to his financial advisor. When he was criticized the next week for his action, he said that the criticism was in reality racism. He said, “You have a white guy as an announcer and a sportscaster. Me, I’m black and we are more expressive than the white guys.”
Now often white people will see something like that and will say that the black community is overreacting…calling everything racist. But racism or even just the perception of racism is still one of the nation’s deepest problems.
One book that has really helped me with this issue is a book that I read this week entitled “Breaking Down Walls” and in the book the authors describe the different ways that racism is defined. When Whites use the word racism for only extreme circumstances, such as the Ku Klux Klan or the skinheads, but the black community’s definition of the word racism covers a very broad spectrum. And any action on the part of whites that is different because it is directed toward a black person, or any action that lessons a black person’s ability is racist. For example , to assume that a black man wearing surgical scrubs and walking through a hospital corridor is an orderly and not a doctor, to the black community that would be racist. Now you might say, I don’t understand how a person can be that sensitive…well try to.
One of the great things about Jesus was that He knew what was in the heart of man, and we need to try to understand what is in the heart of man, and then be empathetic to that person. You might remember the uproar that was caused in the 92 presidential election when Ross Perot addressed a black crowd as “You people.” To him it was nothing but to the crowd it appeared that he was talking down to them. Try to understand how the shoe would feel on the other foot. A good example of this is an experience of mine when our high school wrestling team was traveling home from a tournament, and as usual we all gathered at the back of the bus and one of my friends Robby Higdon started telling jokes, and he told a joke that really belittled all blacks, and another wrestler David McCann was there who happened to be one of the only two black persons on the bus became furious…and Robby couldn’t understand why…nor did he try to. To him it was a funny joke, but to David it was a racial taunt.
So what are the underlying causes of racism. There are many but let’s look at a few. The first cause is parental influence. Racism is a learned behavior above all else. A baby doesn’t come out saying let’s go shave our head and burn a cross, no someone has to teach them. And it doesn‘t have to be that extreme either. Kids are so innocent and loving, but they can by parents be turned into racial bigots. I remember a person from our church telling me about the time the saw a little kid point to a woman at Wal-Mart and say, “Mom look it’s a n……r.” Now that must have been humiliating for the woman who was called that name, as well for the mother, but the child picked the name up from someone. So what are you teaching your kids this morning, that Jesus loves the little children all the little children of the world, or only those who look like we do. Or on the other side, “Don’t trust the man, he’s out to get you. They’re all racist and you can’t trust the first one.” And many kids are being programmed from home to be a bigot.
Many of you were raised that way, and you might say, “well, that‘s the way I was raised and I can’t help it.” You’ve been programmed that way, but as a Christian…reprogram your thinking. Take a look at this world through the eyes of Christ, and what do you see. You see that disciples who were raised to hate Samaritans saw a less than worthy woman at the well, but Jesus saw a person who mattered to God. Reprogram your mind to think like Christ. To see people like He sees them.
The second cause of racism is fear. Proverbs 29:25 says, “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.” And we tend to fear that which we don’t understand or that which is different than us. And you’ll hear people say, “They’re taking over. They’re taking all of our jobs,” or “There trying to hold us down, take away our rights.” and we get so caught up in the fear that we never look beyond the skin color to see the man. And when we do that we fall victim to stereotyping a person. Even before we know them, we judge them. He’s black. He must be lazy, on dope, on welfare and a burden to society. He’s white. He must be a racist bigot who wants to do away with everyone else. And he can’t jump nor dance. That’s prejudice. You’ve prejudged the person before you even know them.
But the third reason and the main reason is that it’s in our sinful nature. James 4:1 says, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” It’s in our sinful nature to want to say that we are better than someone else, to feel superior. To find one way to look down on someone else and at the same time build ourselves up. Galatians 6:3 says, “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Bottom line is this. Racism is sinful. Dr, Tony Evans is a wonderful pastor once said, “Racism is not a bad habit, it is not a mistake, it is a sin. And the answer is not sociology but it is theology.” And we as a church should be setting the example for this world.
So what should our response be to racism. First, we must confess our sin. We often don’t think of ourselves as being racist, but the truth is that in one form or another we all are…yet that is still no excuse. Raleigh Washington is a black preacher in Chicago who preaches at a racially mixed church, and he said that racism is not a matter of skin, but of sin…and when he said that he was addressing the black community. You see, racism exist on both sides, and that’s why its so important for both parties to come to the table, and confess their sins. A while back, Sonny Shaw of our church made my day when he told me about his racist views, and how one night the Lord really convicted him of those views, so he laid them all out on the altar. That‘s what we all need to do. To come before God and confess our sins, and He will forgive us of all our unrighteousness.
Next we need to recognize that reconciliation is God’s will. Jesus had to go through Samaria, why? Because the Samaritans mattered to God. You see, Jesus not only came to reconcile man to God, but also to reconcile us to each other. Jesus said that the world will know that we are His disciples if we love one another. Now do you think He meant, only those of the same color? I don’t think so.
I want to give you a view scriptures here. In Acts 10:34 Peter sees that Gentiles were to be included in the church. It reads, “Then Peter began to speak: "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.” The next one is Galatians 3:28 reads, ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Now there are many more, but the point is that we are one body…one church and Sunday morning should not be the most segregated hour of the week.
You know Heaven isn’t going to be segregated. We are told that people from all tribes and nations will be there, and we often pray “You’re Kingdom come, You’re will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” So let’s get started. I understand that many of you refuse to go to cluster events because of the involvement of the black Methodist churches in Wayne County. Well, if you won’t sing with them on earth how then do you suppose to sing with them in Heaven? Will there be a black choir and a white choir and a Mexican choir and a Asian choir? Of course not. And think about how the secular world, who is so eagerly trying to achieve racial unity would react when they see Christians coming together of all nations and tribes, and of all colors and races…what a testimony to the love of Christ and the fellowship of His disciples.
And lastly, build Positive relationships. Jesus just didn’t say to this Samaritan woman, “hey.” He struck up a conversation, got to know her, spent time there, in fact it says He spent two days there. He took the time to build the relationship. Now this is hard for many of you. Whites are tired of being labeled a racist, blacks are tired of racism and being treated different, and everybody is bitter, but Ephesians 4:31 tells us to “Get rid of all bitterness”. We need to forgive each other and forgive our past failures and injustices and be reconciled to each other and to God.
I love the story in the Old Testament of Joseph. He was sold into slavery by his brothers, then rose to power, but when the opportunity arose to punish his brothers he refused, and instead showed grace and welcomed them into the land saying, “What you meant for harm, God meant for good.” And Joseph was reconciled to his brothers.
Now some of you might say, “I have a right to be bitter! I was a victim of racism, or I was called a racist. I have a right to be bitter.” And you very well may, but you know what, when you became a Christian, you laid down your rights and surrendered them to Christ. The bible says that Love keeps no record of wrong doing. So don’t play the race card, play the grace card.
Many of you might remember what it was like when the schools first became intergraded and bussing was used to do this. In many areas, national guardsman were called in to keep the peace on the school buses. One mother during this time sent her 1st grade daughter to school on such a bus, and when the girl got home, she told her mom, “Mom, I sat next to a black girl on the bus today.” Her mom not really knowing what to expect asked, “Well, how’d it go?” She said, “We were both so scared, we just held hands the whole time.” This world is a scary place, and we need all Christians to come together and hold hands and pray…this is not a time to be divided.
One of the most remarkable services I have ever attended was a service that was not only intergraded, but also had many denominations represented. Halfway through the service, a black Pentecostal preacher got up and told everybody to stand and turn to the person next to you and hold hands…now this was new to a Methodist…but I turned and I was holding hands with AME2 Adams, a black man onboard our ship, and as we were told to sing this song, “The Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you, and the Jesus in you loves the Jesus in me…” And he was really dancing to it to. Then the song goes, “It’s so easy, it’s so easy to love one another.” And I remember thinking, what could make a white Methodist hold hands and love a black Pentecostal man…simple. The Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you, regardless of the color of your skin. As it should be.
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