Asylum seeker Kadim Dai fled to Indonesia to escape the Taliban in fear of his life.
Kadim, who is part of the persecuted Hazara ethnic minority in Afghanistan,
fled to Pakistan with his family when he was a child.
He left Pakistan in 2013 when a bomb went off near his school
that killed 124 people, including a dear friend of his.
Kadim, who has been found to be a genuine refugee by the United Nations Refugee Agency,
is living in Indonesia until he is resettled into another country.
He featured in the recent multimedia series Frontiers of Hope,
and he agreed to participate in a question and answer session
about the life of a refugee on the Age newspaper's Facebook page last Monday night.
What happened next highlights the state of the asylum seeker debate and racism in this country.
Here is what some of our fellow citizens wrote on the Age newspaper's Facebook page.
Another privileged elitist trying to illegally enter Australia.
Only Australians have right to say who can live here.
No other should have influence.
And out of those, only those who pay taxes should have a vote.
Why is this Australia's problem?
We are not a super country that can save six billion lives.
What's wrong with Indonesia?
They are mainly Muslim and should be welcoming their fellow Muslims.
He should not be a burden to our society.
Why should I have to work hard to pay for my mortgage and food and my foxtel?
And this toad comes in through the back door and my taxes feed him.
That makes me hate asylum seekers even more.
He should be shot dead.
And yes, I would gladly donate money for the bullet.
Now, I hope your blood boiled.
I left out the expletive laden ones for the sake of propriety here this morning.
And ones that were even worse than that, which is hard to imagine.
I found it hard to believe that someone would put that stuff out there on the public forum.
A disgraceful treatment of another human being, and yet it's out there in our society.
And it's hard to believe that that's the sort of attitude that has historically found a home in the Christian church.
Even within our lifetime.
And one of the clearest examples is the history of the black-white relationship in churches in the United States.
In parts of the United States, where Christian values were the strongest and church attendance in the highest,
millions of whites belonged to the white supremacy group, the Ku Klux Klan.
And even as far back as the 1950s, that's not that long ago,
church groups would be involved in public lynchings of Negroes.
There's photos on the internet.
Church families just walked out of church, all dressed up for church,
and they're with people hanging from trees.
That's not that long ago.
The Ku Klux Klan has been involved in the segregation and slavery and torture and murder of many black people.
And yet, the Ku Klux Klan was, and in fact still is, a powerful advocate of Christianity.
The Christian cross features heavily in its activities,
and it has consistently campaigned for the compulsory teaching of Christianity in public schools.
It still does.
There are some very dark chapters in the history of the church,
and yet, I have hope.
I believe that the local church that treasures Jesus together
can be a pace setter for the wider community on this issue.
And so this series is not about St. Paul's being perfect on the issue.
It's about movement in the right direction.
That's what it's about.
The theology of the Apostle Paul, I believe, helps us move in the right direction
of ending racial pride and ethnocentricity.
Hopefully, in the last three weeks, you've already been challenged
about some attitudes of your own heart.
If not, I would encourage you to keep tuning in.
So let's go to Galatians 2.
It was just read out to us by Debbie.
Galatians 2, verses 11 to 16 particularly I want to focus on.
The key phrase that I want to focus on is verse 14.
When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel.
That's the verse.
That verse implies that there is conduct,
that is, there's behavior, actions, things that we do
that is out of step with the truth of the gospel,
which is what we focused on last week.
Or to put it another way,
the gospel governs not just what we believe,
but what we do.
So there is gospel belief,
and there is gospel actions.
And some beliefs contradict the gospel,
and some actions contradict the gospel.
And Peter's action here in Galatians 2
was contradicting the gospel.
And so this is one of the most important questions
that we can ask.
Ask of our habits,
of our actions,
of our behaviors,
of our attitudes.
Do they contradict the gospel?
Or positively,
are my actions, behaviors, attitudes
in step with what I say
that I believe about Jesus?
Do they say true things about the gospel?
Does it reflect the gospel?
Does it look like the kind of action
that would flow out of the gospel?
Now, Paul here leaves us in no doubt
about what the heart of the gospel is.
So we're going to look at it again
so that we're clear on it.
We don't have to go any further than verse 16,
I think.
So look at that with me.
Galatians 2 verse 16.
We who are Jews by birth
and not Gentile sinners
know that a man is not justified
by observing the law
but by faith in Jesus Christ.
So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus
that we may be justified by faith in Christ
and not by observing the law
because by observing the law
no one will be justified.
And so the heart of the gospel
for the apostle Paul
was justification by faith alone
apart from works of the law.
Justification is what a judge does
in a courtroom.
It is a declaration that a defendant
is found innocent
because they are actually innocent.
The defendant is declared to be just
that is right, justified,
just if I had never sinned
because they are just.
It's as just as if they had never sinned.
So how can God, the judge,
declare us righteous and innocent?
And the answer is what we looked at last week
is that Jesus Christ lived and died
and to provide our righteousness
and to bear our punishment.
Justification by faith
puts all of us,
every single person,
on level ground
in utter dependence upon him.
Utter dependence upon his grace.
And one thing that justification does
is it smashes pride.
That's the heart of the gospel.
And my friends,
from that gospel,
how many new and sweet
and tender and deep
and strong and beautiful
and noble and humble and kind
and wise and patient
and caring and serving attitudes
and behaviors
flow from that gospel.
And one of which
is the breaking down
of ethnic hostilities
and suspicion
and creates instead
unity and harmony
where there was once division.
justification by faith
and justification by faith
and justification by faith alone
has overcome all,
all,
all
the divisions
that there are
between people.
Galatians 3 verses 26 to 28
is very clear on that.
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.
If you belong to Christ,
then you are Abraham's seed
and heirs
according to the promise.
Remember,
Galatians,
oh sorry,
Genesis chapter 12,
turning point that I said,
Abraham.
That's where it all started,
God's redemption plan.
When Paul states here
there is neither Jew
nor Greek,
slave nor free,
male nor female,
he strikes
at the three,
at least the three
of the major barrier
forming divisions
in human society.
Ethnic,
economic capacity
and sexuality.
There was a Jewish prayer
in the first century
that went like this.
Blessed be he
that he did not make me
a Gentile.
Blessed be he
that he did not make me
a slave
or an ignorant peasant.
And blessed be he
that he did not make me
a woman.
That's a Jewish prayer.
I assume prayed
just at men's breakfasts,
the bacon-free
men's breakfasts
that they had
back in those days.
And the Christian gospel
smashes all of those barriers.
And it forms,
doesn't just break down
the barriers,
it forms a radically
new society.
It doesn't obliterate
the differences.
Greeks are still Greeks,
slaves are still slaves,
and women are still women.
What obliterates here
is the barriers
that are formed up
in those differences.
And what's also obliterated
is a person's status
among the people of God
based on those differences.
There is no race,
no nation,
no class,
no gender,
no denomination
that has a favoured status
with God.
This was radical theology
in Paul's day
because it flew
in the face
of all traditional norms.
And it continues
to be radical theology
today
because it conflicts
with many of our
cultural norms as well.
The gospel brings
unity,
not uniformity.
But at the end
of Galatians 2 verse 12,
we see that Peter
was governed by fear
and not by the gospel.
And Paul rebuked him
for it
in Galatians 2
verses 11
to 13.
When Peter
came to Antioch,
I opposed him to his face
because he was clearly
in the wrong.
Before certain men
came from James,
he used to eat
with the Gentiles.
But when they arrived,
he began to draw back
and separate himself
from the Gentiles
because he was afraid
of those
who belonged
to the circumcision group.
The other Jews
joined him
in his hypocrisy
so that by their hypocrisy,
even Barnabas
was led astray.
And so Peter
had been
experiencing
the freedom
of the gospel
as a Jew
and he'd been
crossing
ethnic
and religious barriers
to eat with Gentiles
ever since
Acts chapter 10.
If you want to go back,
that's a turning point
for him.
And then
it says
in verse 12
that certain men
came from James.
Now these were
the Jerusalem
conservatives
who believed
that the Gentiles
because of their
uncircumcision
and because of their
unkosher
dietary habits
and because of their
failure to keep
the holy days,
they were
off limits
even if
they were
Christian,
they were still
off limits
for Jews.
And so these
conservatives,
theological
conservatives
came down
from Jerusalem,
the
Sydney Anglicans,
they
came
to
Hillsong
and started
throwing stones.
religious
and ethnic
issues
were
inseparable
for them.
Now I'm not
sure exactly
what Peter
was afraid
of,
but it's
clear,
excuse me,
it's clear
that he was
afraid of his
own group.
and what
is absolutely
clear is
that that
fear ruined
practical
gospel
faithfulness
and
relationships.
He was
free,
he was
eating with
brothers across
ethnic lines
and fear,
at least for
that moment,
destroyed the
diversity and
the harmony.
And so at
very least I
think I could
say from this
passage,
don't let
fear ruin
your joyful
freedom in
living and
working and
worshipping and
relaxing and
eating with
brothers and
sisters who
are different
from you.
Or to put it
positively,
fall in love
with Jesus
again.
That's what it
means.
Fall in love
with Jesus
again.
Rejoice all
over again
that you are
justified by
faith alone.
It means we
need to keep
Jesus front and
centre.
We need to
keep justification
by faith
front and
centre.
Consistently,
level playing
field, no
room for
pride.
It means
treasuring
Jesus together.
Again,
keep putting
to that,
treasuring
Jesus
together.
And yet
fear is a
very real
issue.
I went to
the Hillsong
conference this
year.
First time
ever.
I ran into
a friend of
mine, a
colleague from
all colleagues
there.
We were both
surprised to see
each other.
fear.
I said to
him, let's
take a photo
and stick it
on Facebook.
Preferably with
Brian if we
can.
And he said,
I'm glad to be
here.
I'm not quite
ready for the
vitriol.
Fear.
I agreed with
him.
Fear.
We need to
keep putting
Jesus front
and center.
We need
Jesus to be
our greatest
treasure.
We need to
remember that
the divide
could not
have been
larger between
sinful human
beings and
the infinitely
holy son of
God.
And Jesus
did not
despise us.
He came to
us.
He loved
us.
He died in
our place to
give us
life.
And he
did that
when we
were more
alien to
him than
anyone has
ever been
to us.
Jesus
needs to
be front
and center
consistently.
You see
when we
think or
feel or
act with
disdain or
disrespect or
avoidance or
exclusion or
malice towards
a person
simply because
he or she
is of
another race
or another
ethnic group
we are
in effect
saying that
Jesus
acted
foolishly
towards
us.
And I
don't believe
we ever
want to
say that.
Now
as far as I'm
aware here at
St. Paul's we
don't face the
issues of
Galatians.
That is
exclusion because
of lack of
circumcision.
far as I'm
aware that's
not the
case.
But we do
face numerous
divisions.
We have
divisions of
race and
age and
gender and
social status
and financial
status and
theological
awareness and
historical
connection.
We don't
have signs up
in the
building
segregating
people of
different races
morning tea
here lying
for whites
and we
don't have
that sort of
thing happening.
Hopefully that's
long gone.
We don't have
a KKK
option to
sign up for
Activate.
But we do
have our
prejudices and
implicit beliefs
that linger in
our hearts.
And that's
the key issue
I think that
we need to
be looking
at.
The key
issue is
our hearts.
On the
whole,
our issues
I believe
are more
implicit.
Sort of
like a
motor
mechanic
who
implicitly
assumes that
girls can't
fix cars.
And so
with that
implicit
assumption
he gives
less
attentions
and fewer
opportunities
to his
female
apprentices.
Because it's
an implicit
belief that
he has.
Boys are
better at
fixing
cars than
girls.
And so
my hope in
this series
is that we
would put to
death those
implicit beliefs,
the remaining
corruption in
our hearts
that think or
feel or
acts with
ill will
towards others
because of
difference,
especially race
and ethnicity.
So what I
want to try
and do for
the rest of
our time
together now
is to
help us
to see
and remove
one of the
subtle
sinful
prejudices
that's in
our hearts.
I want us
to focus on
a particular
part of the
text that
was read
out from
John chapter
1.
It's not
the main
point of
the text.
It's an
implication I
think relevant
for our
situation.
It's in
verse
43,
Jesus
calls
Philip to
be his
disciple.
In
verse 45,
Philip finds
Nathanael and
says to him,
we have found
the one Moses
wrote about in
the law and
about whom the
prophets also
wrote,
Jesus of
Nazareth,
the son of
Joseph.
In other
words,
Philip has
believed in
Jesus as the
Messiah and
he's eager for
Nathanael to
know him
too.
He identifies
this one
written about
Moses and
the prophets
by calling
him Jesus
of Nazareth.
So he
identifies Jesus
with a town,
with a group
of people who
live in that
town, just a
small town,
about 2,000
people,
something like
that.
And for
whatever reason,
Nathanael responds
to Philip's
announcement in
verse 46 with
Nazareth,
Nazareth.
Can anything
good come out
of Nazareth?
And so his
question amounts
to a foregone
conclusion.
Nothing good
can come out
of Nazareth.
What's the
nature of his
mistake?
One way to
describe it would
be say that it
was sinful
prejudice against
the people of
Nazareth.
He had what
you call a
stereotype of
people from
Nazareth.
He made his
judgment about
Jesus based on
that negative
stereotype.
But another
way to look at
it is that
Nathanael did
what we do
every day.
He made a
generalization
based on
multiple
experiences,
possibly
biblical
evidence,
and then
formed a
probability
conclusion
based on
that
generalization.
So let
me try and
unpack that
in this
context.
My experience
is that the
people of
Nazareth are
pretty ordinary
people.
And I don't
see in the
Old Testament
that the
Messiah actually
comes from
Nazareth.
death.
Therefore,
from those
general
observations,
I think it's
highly
improbable,
if not
impossible,
that Jesus
is the
Messiah.
Now,
before we go
any further,
I would say
generalizing from
our experiences
and drawing
probability
conclusions
is both
inevitable
and good.
The human
brain works
that way.
In fact,
our life
depends on
it working
that way.
For instance,
you observe
that mushrooms
of certain
colors,
particularly
bright colors,
generally are
poisonous.
And so,
when someone
offers you
with a
mushroom,
which is
orange and
yellow and
purple and
says,
here you go,
taste that,
you turn it
down.
You've never
tasted one
before,
ever.
You've never
tested that
particular mushroom
whether it's
poisonous,
but you see
that it belongs
to a general
class of
mushrooms that
are known to
be poisonous.
And so,
you form a
probability
conclusion and
you refuse to
eat it.
Your life
depends on
not treating
that individual
mushroom in
isolation from
your experience.
You with me?
Let me just
say that again.
You're with me?
Fantastic.
Of course,
sometimes our
judgments are
totally wrong.
They seem
legitimate,
but are dead
wrong.
My experiences
in Alice Springs
in 2005
that I mentioned
a couple of
weeks ago.
And there was
another time I
was at a
restaurant with
a former
Chinese member
of our church
one day.
We were sitting
down,
we were just
about to order,
and the
waitress came
over and
this member
spoke to this
waitress in
Mandarin.
And the
waitress looked
at him and
just didn't
say anything.
And I
looked at the
waitress and
I said,
you've got no
idea what he
just said,
do you?
And she
says, no,
I don't.
And I just
laughed.
It turns out
she could only
speak English and
she was in fact
Korean.
The probability
conclusion based
on observation and
experience was in
fact wrong in that
moment.
But that's
what our brains
do all the
time with our
information.
Sometimes it's
sinful.
I'm driving
along the road,
stopped the
said traffic
lights, man
standing at
the traffic
lights, based
on what he
was wearing,
the beard
that he had,
the haircut
he had, and
his general
appearance.
I immediately
concluded,
he was a
Muslim man of
Middle Eastern
descent.
The next thing
that happened in
my mind was
sinful.
I wonder if
he's linked to
terrorism in
any way.
That was the
next bit in my
mind which was
sinful.
So what does
Nathaniel do?
Was his
non-sinful,
fully warranted
probability judgment
that proved to be
wrong?
Or is Nathaniel
guilty of sinful
prejudice?
I think he's
guilty.
Because he doesn't
say, can the
Messiah come from
Nazareth?
He says,
Nazareth?
Can anything good
come from
Nazareth?
If his heart were
right, gracious,
loving, patient,
hopeful towards the
people of Nazareth,
he might have been
legitimately skeptical
about whether the
Messiah came from
Nazareth.
Although he would
probably would have
not said, Nazareth,
can anything good
come from Nazareth?
You see, he's
moved from
legitimate probability
conclusion to sinful
prejudice.
His view of these
people is so
negative that he
sweeps all of
them into the
stereotype including
Jesus, which is
what I did on that
night in November
in 2005 with those
Aboriginal people.
notice too that his
reaction to what
Philip says is
immediate.
He doesn't consider
the possibility that
Philip might have
been right about
what he knew what
he's talking about.
He's temporarily
blind to his
prejudice.
Now here's the
point that I want
to make.
There's a fine line
between legitimate
probability judgment
and sinful
prejudice.
but there is
a line.
There is a
line.
And God
sees it even
when we don't.
And we do
not, we need
to be careful
to not allow
our
genuine
and right
assessments of
people and
circumstances to
function in our
hearts in such a
way that it
becomes a
subtle self
justification for
sinful prejudice.
I've noticed
that since doing
this series that I
have less patience
with some people of
some races than I
do with others.
Our hearts are
deceitful and
corruption remains.
We must put it to
death.
And so may the
Lord give us
absolute honesty
with ourselves
and with him.
May he expose
every remnant of
sinful prejudice.
May we never use
the legitimacy of
generalization to
cloak what is
sin.
And so let me
close with three
indications of a
good heart as we
struggle with this
line between
inevitable
generalization and
sinful prejudice.
It's a heart I
believe that has
received Christ,
knows forgiveness
and is indwelt by
the Holy Spirit.
Number one,
this good heart
desires to know
people and to
treat people for
who they are as
individuals, not
simply as
representatives of
a group.
if this were not
so, Jesus
could not be
recognized for
who he is.
Do you
desire, I
mean really
desire to know
people and to
treat people as
individuals, not
just samples of a
group?
Number two,
the good heart
is willing to
take risks to
act against
negative
expectations and
belittling
stereotypes when
dealing with a
person.
Paul says,
love believes
all things,
hopes all
things, and I
think he meant
that love strives
to believe and
hope for the
best and not
for the worst.
Number three,
the good heart
is ready, like
Nathaniel, to
repent quickly
and fully when
we have made a
mistake and
judged someone
wrongly.
This is what I
want my heart
to be towards
you, it's what
I want your
heart to be
towards me, it's
what I want our
collective heart to
be towards the
city of Chatswood.
And I believe it
is vital for God's
glory and our
society, our
society needs to
see this kind of
racial harmony and
peace in action.
And so I would
invite you to start
right now.
when I say now,
I mean when we
finish here and
move out to
morning tea, we
finish our formal
time together.
I don't want to
trivialise the
gravity of the
issue that we're
dealing with in
these series by
making the
application trite
and simple, but
let's do it
anyway, let's
start there.
Why not move
out of here and
talk with someone
who's different
than you?
As a starting
point, not just
gather with the
people that you
normally gather
with, across
boundaries.
Maybe next week
when you come to
church, sit with
someone different
than you.
Ask God to
help you by the
power of his
spirit to build
bridges of peace
and harmony.
I think it's
absolutely essential
and it has been
for us and the
Christian church
for decades to
deal with this
issue.
John Stott
wrote this in
his Ephesians
commentary back in
1970-something,
76 I think,
79.
He said,
it is simply
impossible with
any shred of
Christian integrity
to go on
proclaiming that
Jesus by his
cross has
abolished the
old divisions and
created a single
new humanity of
love while at the
same time we are
contradicting our
message by tolerating
racial or social or
other barriers
within our church
fellowship.
We need to get the
failures of the
church on our
conscience to feel
the offense to
Christ, to weep
over the credibility
gap between the
church's talk and
the church's walk,
to repent of our
readiness to
excuse and even
condone our
failures and to
determine to do
something about it.
I wonder if
anything is more
urgent today for
the honor of
Christ and for
the spread of
the gospel than
the church should
be and should be
seen to be what
by God's purpose
and Christ's
achievement it
already is.
A single new
humanity, a
model of human
community, a
family of
reconciled brothers
and sisters who
love their father
and love each
other, the
evident dwelling
place of God
by his spirit,
only then will
the world
believe in
Christ as
peacemaker.
Only then will
God receive the
glory that is due
his name.
Amen.