It was November 2005, and I was in Alice Springs on the invitation of the Bible Society speaking event
to raise awareness for its ministry to remote areas of Australia
and the importance of all people having the Bible, the Word of God, in their own language.
And so I was to speak at this event on the Friday night in an aircraft hangar
with a Bible Society plane behind me and then at a local church on the Sunday morning.
And so a friend of mine came along for the trip.
We'd spent the Saturday after the Friday night exploring different parts around Alice Springs.
And in the evening, we walked down from a hotel into town and then had some dinner or whatever,
and then decided to walk back.
And it was dark as we were walking back, and they were walking along this pathway
on the edge of a dry riverbank, which most of them are, I assume, around there.
And to our left, as we were walking along in the moonlight, we could make out there was a group of Aboriginals
sitting in the riverbank drinking.
And up ahead of us, along the path to the right, we could hear in this sort of slummy kind of area
a lot of yelling and stuff going on up there.
Let me just pause there for a moment in terms of that picture.
I think it's fair to say that we were kind of nervous at that point.
We were in an area that we'd never been in before.
We weren't sure exactly where we were walking.
We knew where the hotel was, and we knew we were heading towards the hotel,
but we didn't know what was here between here and there.
And I suspect we would have been nervous regardless of who was there,
and if it was a bunch of teenagers or something like that,
drinking in there, a big group of them and a big group over there.
But as I said last week, I grew up with a fair amount of prejudice towards Aboriginals.
It came from the rhetoric of my white, rural Australian culture.
It came from my own experiences in both school and at work.
You could say that my friend's experience, the guy who was with me, was more acute than mine.
He spent a good part of his childhood years in Walgett, a fairly troubled place in terms of race relationships.
And so in this moment, on that Saturday night in Alice Springs,
both of our prejudices, which were lying down fairly deep, I suspect, came to the surface.
We'd both been in similar situations in the past.
And so as we walked on this pathway, I said quietly to him,
do you see the group down there on the left of the riverbank?
He said he did.
And at that moment, over to the right where the noise was coming from,
a group of about 20 Aboriginals came out from that area
and it would appear that they were heading straight towards the group
that were down there in the riverbank.
And he said to me, do you see the group up there to the right?
I said I do.
And it was becoming obvious to us that our trajectory would mean
that we were going to basically run straight into this group
as it walked over to the group down here in the riverbank.
We were both silent as we walked.
You could say our hearts were racing with nerves
and our minds were thinking about an escape plan.
In fact, we talked about an escape plan.
If something goes wrong, what are we going to do?
Which way are we going to go?
And where are we going to head?
We were hoping not to run into this middle of these 20 Aboriginals
heading across on this dark path.
And we were hoping that they weren't going to notice the two white guys,
the only two white guys around walking down this pathway.
And it was probably about that moment that our fears were in fact realized.
They in fact did notice us.
And as we approached and literally as we thought we were going to have to stop
as the Aboriginal group came across in front of us,
the leader of that group of Aboriginals, an elderly lady,
put her hands up like this as she got to the edge of the path.
And I wasn't sure what she was doing,
but what I realized what she was doing at that moment
was she was stopping the group from walking over the top of us.
And they all obliged.
They all stopped.
And as we walked past,
she said,
good evening, gentlemen.
We turned and said good evening and kept walking.
And we kept walking in silence
for another 20, 30 paces or something like that.
And my friend said to me,
how bad do I feel?
And I said, yep.
Let me tell you a really simple moment.
Back in 2005,
God used that moment to expose something of the sinner racial prejudice
that was in my heart.
It didn't escape me at all
that I was speaking about the necessity of the Word of God
going to all people, even to remote Aboriginal communities.
That's why they flew me there in the first place.
And I had a prejudice in my heart towards the people
that were meant to be receiving that ministry.
There was a disconnect between what I knew to be right and good
and part of God's purposes and my heart.
I was treated in that moment,
in the darkness, on that path,
with more dignity
than I treated them with my head and my heart.
It should not have been.
There was an article in the Australian newspaper on Friday
that blames current racism in Australia
on our former Prime Minister, John Howard.
Apart from that,
the article did say some interesting things about our culture.
It says,
the situation with Indigenous Australians is a particular one
because they were here long before the rest of us.
Many countries, including some Asian neighbours,
have similar dynamics at play with Indigenous minorities.
A mixture of guilt,
impatience at an apparent unwillingness to assimilate,
and prejudice.
But we occupy the extreme end in Australia.
All those gaping statistical discrepancies in health outcomes,
life expectancy, suicide, incarceration rates,
general indicators of misery,
and corresponding mainstream attitudes.
It's more complex,
a lot more complex,
than simply believing that if mainstream Australia
would stop being racist,
then everything would be fine.
But,
there is a lot of racism embedded in the Australian psyche.
Racism lurks in communities around the planet,
but it's true what the visitors say.
Australia is relatively comfortable expressing it.
Visitors of this country sometimes report
a jarring preponderance of casual, everyday racism.
For instance, British American comedian John Oliver
found Australia a sensational place,
albeit one of the most comfortably racist places I've ever been to.
They've really settled into their intolerance
like an old resentful slipper.
And so,
my point in this series
is that the Christian faith
has got something very significant to contribute
to
seeing the end of racism
and ethnocentricity in our culture.
Although,
as I said last week,
because of the failure
of the institutional church in the past,
we may not be heard.
That's one thing.
The other reason
that this series is for us
is because this church
is a diverse church.
And racism,
while it might not be explicit,
would most certainly be implicit.
I think we're bought into
some of the culture
that we have been marinating in.
In Australia.
But I do believe
that because of the gospel,
that we could be an example
and pace setter
for our community.
Now,
the significant contribution
of the Christian faith
begins with what I started with last week,
Genesis 1.27.
God created man in his own image.
In the image of God,
he created them.
Male and female,
he created them.
And the point is,
as I said last week,
all human beings
are of one origin
by divine design.
And the implication
is the extreme dignity
of your human beings.
We are one blood.
And it's interesting,
genetics agrees with that.
Genetics says that
it doesn't matter
where you come from
in the world,
in terms of the human race,
even with all,
you know,
we might look different,
sound different,
all that sort of stuff.
Genetically,
we are almost identical.
There's a few differences,
but the differences are so minor.
Which is why,
if I ever need
a new kidney or a liver,
I could just get one
from my family,
or I could get one
from the other side of the world.
I could get one
from out of Mongolia,
get one from Africa.
I mean,
there's any number of places.
I mean,
one of you could give me one.
So if I ever need one,
I'll,
you know,
line up
and we'll see
whose kidney I'll grab,
you know.
The Christian view of creation
does,
however,
stand in contrast
to the atheistic evolutionary theory
that is broadly accepted
as fact
in our secular society.
Charles Darwin's
origin of species
gave rise
to the separation
and classification
of plant and animal species.
Really helpful stuff,
classifying plant
and animal species.
So great contribution.
However,
this flowed over
into the categorizing
of the human race
into a hierarchy
arranged according
to evolutionary advancement.
That's where it became unhelpful.
Stephen Jay Gould,
who died in 2002,
he was no friend
of Christianity whatsoever.
In fact,
as an evolutionary biologist himself,
he significantly opposed creationism
in a very popular way.
And so it's really interesting
that he himself wrote
biologically,
sorry,
biological arguments
for racism
may have been common
before 1850.
Note that.
He's saying
that,
you know,
they probably existed,
a biological argument
existed
before Darwin
wrote his
origin of species,
but they increased
by orders
of magnitude
following the acceptance
of evolutionary theory.
He's saying
evolutionary theory
has made a significant
contribution
to racism.
racism.
And that's where
I think the problem is.
It's difficult
to deliver
on an equality
of all people
such as the secular society
wants
when
you explain
the difference
in terms of,
well, that group there
is just not as
advanced
as that other group
over there.
They're just not
evolved yet.
Now,
the Bible knows
nothing of a
hierarchy
of races
as evolutionary
theory does.
And yet,
having said that,
the institutional church,
which is meant
to be built
on the Bible,
has a terrible
track record
of racism
in such a way
that you wouldn't
think that Christianity
has got an answer
or a contribution
to make
to this issue.
The prominent
atheist
and evolutionary
biologist
Richard Dawkins
writes in his book
in The God Delusion,
The God of the Old Testament
is arguably
the most unpleasant
character in all
of fiction,
jealous and proud
of it,
a petty,
unjust,
unforgiving control freak,
a vindictive,
bloodthirsty,
ethnic cleanser,
a misogynist,
homophobic,
racist,
genocidal,
pestilential,
capriciously malevolent
bully.
Now,
the interesting thing is
Dawkins doesn't
believe in that God.
He's got no problem.
He doesn't care.
He doesn't believe
in that God.
His problem
is people like you
and me
who say
that we believe
in the God
of this Bible.
And he says
that there have been
awful atrocities
committed
by those
who believe
in the God
of this Bible
and so therefore
reject the whole thing.
Now,
I want to say
he's right
on one level.
There have been
awful atrocities
committed
by people
who say
that they believe
in the God
of this Bible.
There's some
terrible racism
that's occurred
because some people
over history
have thought
that the Bible
endorses it.
And one of the most
serious and damaging
interpretations
of the Bible
in this whole issue
of race
is in Genesis 9.
It's verses 18
to 27.
It's the end
of Genesis 9.
Noah and his family
have settled down
after the flood.
Noah plants
a vineyard,
discovers wine,
drinks too much
of it,
and ends up
lying naked
in his tent
after a big
night on the booze.
Something like
a university
border kind of
Friday night out
kind of thing.
And his son
Ham
sees his father's
nakedness,
goes,
runs off
to his two brothers,
tells them,
you know,
makes his father
look like an idiot.
The two brothers
instead
grab a cloth,
they walk
backwards into
the tent
and they lay it
over their dad
without even
looking at him.
And when Noah
wakes up
and finds
what his
youngest son
has done,
he pronounces
a curse
on Canaan
who was
Ham's
youngest son.
Genesis 9.
Cursed be Canaan,
the lowest of slaves
will he be
to his brothers.
He also said,
blessed be the Lord,
the God of Shem.
May Canaan
be the slave
of Shem.
May God
extend the territory
of Japheth.
May Japheth
live in the
tents of Shem
and may Canaan
be his slave.
Now,
throughout the last
20 centuries
or so,
numerous
Christian
and Jewish
and Muslim
writers
have connected
that passage,
the curse
of Ham,
with black
Africans.
the text
became
the standard
text
in defense
of slavery
in England,
in the southern
states of America
and for apartheid
in South Africa.
That is,
what they did
was they
translated
through a bit
of dodgy footwork
that Ham
means
black
or burnt.
and therefore,
they made the
conclusion that
this curse
was applicable
for all black
people
and especially
black Africans
because there's some
connection there,
lineage,
line.
they also
concluded that
Japheth
represented
because somehow
he kind of went
elsewhere,
like probably
closer to Europe
and he represented
white people
and therefore,
God commands
the slavery
of black people
by white people
and that explains
nearly 20
centuries of history
of that.
Now,
I'm not going to go
into the details
except to say
you've got to do
some pretty
fancy footwork
with the text
to come
to that
conclusion
but I want
to humbly say
some really
good people
have come
to that
conclusion.
Generally,
not for the
last 50 or 60
years.
I want to
suggest
it's wrong.
There's all sorts
of articles
you can read
about it
but I want to
suggest it's
wrong.
I'm glad
in the end
that we've
got the Bible,
we've got
God's perspective
on the history
of humanity.
The Bible
does not
relate all
of our
racial and
ethnic
differences
in terms
of lower
life forms.
It doesn't
blame the
fact that
God has
got personal
favourites.
He's a God
of favouritism.
It doesn't
blame racism
on John
Howard.
It puts
it squarely
in sin.
That's our
rejection of
God is where
the Bible
puts it.
So on that
night in Alice
Springs in
2005 when
John Howard
actually happened
to be our
Prime Minister
at that
time,
he was
not the
reason that
I acted
the way I
did or
thought the
way I
did.
My
prejudice,
my sinful
heart was
the problem.
My proud
sinful heart
was the
problem.
But the
Bible doesn't
just identify
sin as the
core problem,
the great
thing is that
it also
reveals the
solution to
racial pride
and
ethnocentrism.
So the
Bible sees
the fracturing
of all
relationships
due to
the rejection
of God
in Genesis
3.
Adam and
Eve are
creating God's
image to
display his
majesty and
when they
reject God
all relationships
are smashed.
We see that
right from there
in Genesis
3.
Relationship
with God
is smashed,
between man
and woman
is smashed,
between people
and the rest
of the
created order
is smashed,
everything
is inverted.
And before
sin,
Adam and
Eve were
naked,
they felt
no shame,
there was
intimacy,
there was
acceptance,
there was
no barrier
between them
at all.
As soon as
they reject
God,
they had to
be clothed,
a barrier
went up.
For the
moment they
rejected God,
the unity
of the human
race in the
image of God
became mirrored
by the unity
of the human
race,
in sin.
Romans 1
is Paul's
version of
the fall of
humanity
and he
makes it
clear there
that the
whole of
humankind,
every one
of us,
is contaminated
by sin.
And it's an
ugly picture
of sinful
behavior.
They became
filled with,
this is all
of us,
they became
filled with
every kind
of wickedness
and evil
and greed
and depravity.
They are
full of envy
and murder
and strife
and deceit
and malice.
They are
gossips
and slanderers
and God
haters and
insular
and arrogant
and boastful.
They invent
ways of doing
evil.
They disobey
their parents.
They are
senseless and
faithless and
heartless and
ruthless.
Although they
know God's
righteous decrees
that those
who do such
things deserve
death,
they not only
continue to do
those very
things,
but also
approve of
those who
practice them.
sin.
And our
unity in
sin is
explicit in
Romans 3.23,
all have
sinned and
fall short
of the
glory of
God.
So we're
made for
the majesty
of God
and yet
because of
sin we
all fall
short of
the majesty
of God.
Now some
of us might
lean towards
thinking that
we become a
sinner when
we first
sin.
But the
Bible's
picture is
that we
first sin
because we
are already
sinners.
One of the
Bible's most
important passages
on this issue
is Romans 5
verses 12
to 19.
It explains
there that
Adam's sin
right at the
beginning brought
the entire
human race that
flows from him
both sinful
natures and
God's judgment
and condemnation.
everyone who
comes from
Adam is
connected to
his sin.
We are born
into this
world with
sinful natures
that are traced
right back to
Adam's sin.
And so Romans
5 verse 12
sin came into
the world through
one man and
death through
sin and so
death spread to
all men because
all sin.
sin.
So we are
born with
inner lives
that are
directed towards
ourselves and
what we want
and not
directed towards
God and
certainly not
directed towards
anyone else.
sin.
Because we have
inner lives
bent away from
God in sin
when we are
old enough and
we know the
difference between
right and wrong
we act in
sinful ways.
sin.
We sin because
we are already
sinners.
Now possibly
and I say
possibly a
helpful way to
look at it
might be to
ask the
question of
whether a
tree produces
apples because
it is an apple
tree or does
the tree become
an apple tree when
it first produces
an apple?
Given the look
on your face I am
not sure that is
particularly helpful.
You see the
reality is an
apple tree can
grow for many
many years
before it
produces any
fruit at all
and when it
does finally
produce an
apple you
would say that
it is producing
fruit in
accordance to
its nature
and if the
apple tree that
you bought
when it finally
produced a
lemon you
would say
I have got a
lemon tree.
I bought an
apple tree but
I have been
sold a
lemon tree.
That is what
you would say.
It is producing
fruit in
accordance to
its nature.
Psalm 51
verse 5 says
surely I was
sinful at birth
sinful from the
time my mother
conceived me.
We are sinners
by nature who
show themselves to
be sinners by
choice.
Everyone who is
a parent knows
this to be true
by experience as
well.
I do not
I have never
had to teach
my children
bad behaviour.
Never had to
do that.
I didn't teach
my children to
say no.
I didn't teach
them to disobey
me.
I didn't teach
them to throw
their food on
the floor.
I didn't teach
them to pinch
one another or
to poke one
another or to
take their tongue
out of one
another or spit
at one another.
I didn't teach
them to throw
themselves on
the floor and
scream and kick
in a supermarket.
No parent
teaches their
child to do
that.
Never wants to
teach their
child to do
that.
I didn't teach
them those
things.
But they got
it from me.
In the same
way I got
those things
from my
parents.
I like my
parents before
me have spent
my time trying
to correct
those things
which come
naturally.
There is
solidarity in
being created
in the image
of God for
the glory of
God and
solidarity in
all of us who
fall short of
God's glory
through sin.
And we see
this solidarity
in sin and
its consequences
played out in
racial terms in
Genesis 10 and
11.
So if you've
got your
Bibles go to
there.
Genesis 10
11.
The so-called
table of
nations in
Genesis 10
reveals one
central point.
It stresses
the common
origins of
all people.
That's its
main point.
Common origins
of all people.
And the
relationship
between Genesis
10 and
11 is also
quite significant.
The generational
account which
begins at
chapter 10
verse 1
continues right
through until
chapter 11
verse 9.
which means
the Tower of
Babel account
in 11 and
the Table of
Nations in
chapter 10
go together as
one unit.
The Tower of
Babel story
explains how
and why
people have
been spread
out and
filled the
earth with
different
languages.
It reveals
that the
division into
different groups,
different people
groups,
different languages
is a
consequence of
human sin.
verse 4
says,
come,
let us
build
ourselves
a city
with a
tower that
reaches to
the heavens.
That's where
God is,
reaches to
the heavens,
so that
we may
make a
name for
ourselves
and not
be scattered
over the
whole face
of the
earth.
So
humanity
comes
together
to try
and overturn
God's
judgment
in
Genesis
3,
try to
overturn
God's
decision
at that
point.
They
work here
to try
and depose
God
and God's
judgment on
them was
to forever
hinder
them working
together.
He
scatters
them and
confuses
their language
as an
act of
judgment.
And so
taken together,
Genesis 10-11
reveals both
our unity
as one
blood under
God's
blessing,
but also
our diversity
into many
languages of
groups under
God's
judgment.
The problem
is the
human heart
that wants
to reject
God.
And it
seems that
we won't
work together
on anything
unless it
is to
reject God.
God's
sin.
The good
news is
that God
comes up
with a
remedy for
our sin
and our
division
and our
confusion.
The Bible
doesn't just
tell us
why we
have racism
and ethnic
pride,
it gives us
the solution
to it as
well.
Genesis 10
and 11
sets the
stage for
Genesis 12.
And this
is the
turning point
in the
whole Bible.
Genesis 12
is the
hinge,
it's a
turning point.
This is
where the
good news
comes.
The promise
to Abraham.
The Lord
said to
Abraham,
this is
verse 1,
leave your
country,
your people
and your
father's
household
and go
to the
land I
will show
you.
I will
make you
into a
great nation
and I
will bless
you and
I will
make your
name great
and you
will be a
blessing.
I will
bless those
who bless
you and
whoever curses
you I
will curse
and all
peoples
on earth
will be
blessed
through
you.
So God
judges
in chapter
11,
scatters,
confuses
and then
in chapter
12,
the beginning
of the plan
of redemption.
God's
call to
Abraham here
in chapter
12 is a
direct response
to the
disastrous
situation we
have of
human beings
in Genesis
3 to
11.
This is
the
introduction
to God's
spectacular
redemptive
plan,
a plan
that ultimately
culminates
in the
person of
Jesus.
It starts
with Abraham,
it culminates
in Jesus
and God
focuses on
Abraham
here not
to be
exclusive,
it's not
because he's
kind of
thought,
well,
you know,
Abraham's
the best
of the
bad bunch,
I'll pick
Abraham and
I'll just
shower
favoritism
upon him.
but he
wants to
use this
individual
and his
descendants
to bless
and to
deliver
and to
redeem
the entire
world.
That means
God's solution
to our
sin
reaches
its goal
only,
only
when it
includes
all the
families
of the
earth.
That in
itself
is a
reason for
mission.
the
purpose of
God
choosing
Israel
was to
witness to
the
universal
power and
love of
God for
all people.
And that's
against
Richard Dawkins'
view that
the God
of the
Old Testament
is racist.
You see,
even in the
Old Testament,
God's plan
was for
all the
nations.
Psalm 67,
the nations
will benefit
from the
Abrahamic
blessing
to Israel.
the nations
will come
to worship
the living
God.
In Psalm
22,
86,
102,
138,
145,
Isaiah 2,
12,
42,
45,
the nations
will be
included
within
Israel
as the
extended
people of
God.
And as
such,
they'll be
registered
in God's
city in
Psalm 86.
They'll be
blessed with
God's
salvation in
Isaiah 19.
They'll be
accepted into
God's house
in Isaiah 56.
They'll be
called by
God's name
in Amos 9.
And they'll be
joined with
God's people
in Zechariah 2.
And a heap
of other
passages
smattered
right through.
The God
of the Old
Testament is
not a
racist.
He doesn't
have his
favorites.
The choosing
of Israel
was not
for
ethnocentric
purposes,
but for
universal
redemption.
But
Israel
grabbed
hold of
it and
thought,
we'll just
hang on to
that for
ourselves.
They
failed
consistently
for living
out God's
purpose in
calling them.
They took
the role of
being racially
and morally
superior to
the nations
about.
They
consistently
forgot the
reason why
God chose
them, and
it was the
case right
through until
Jesus'
time.
But with
the coming
of Jesus,
a radically
new way of
defining the
people of
God arrived,
namely,
by faith
in him.
You see,
faith in
Jesus
trumps
ethnocentricity,
which is
why, as a
church, our
mission statement
is to treasure
Jesus.
above
everything
else.
Jesus,
faith in
Jesus trumps
ethnocentricity.
Over and
over again in
the gospel,
you see this
happening.
The story of
the Good
Samaritan,
the foreigner
is the
hero of
faith.
He's the
hero of
compassion.
The healing
of the ten
lepers, and
only one of
the lepers
returns in
Luke 17,
and what is
he?
He's a
Samaritan.
The foreigner
shines with
humble gratitude.
The healing
of the
Syrophoenician
daughter in
Mark 7.
The worshipping
of the wise
men for the
east at the
birth of
Jesus, most
likely from
Persia or
Arabia or
something like
that in
Matthew 2.
And finally,
in Luke 4,
there's a heap of
other passages you
go to, but
Luke 4, in
this passage,
Jesus tells
the story,
two stories.
One story is
taken from
1 Kings 17.
Now, remember
the reading, as
Jimmy read it out
to us a moment
ago.
Jesus stands up
in the temple.
He reads out a
text from the
scroll of Isaiah
61 and says to
the crowd that's
gathered there in
the temple,
guys, this is
fulfilled in your
hearing.
So Jesus, in that
moment, declares,
I am the long
awaited Messiah.
Newsline,
headline, local
boy, declares
himself to
Messiah.
Woohoo!
And that is
blasphemous.
And the whole
crowd in the
temple are going,
he's a good
guy.
He's a great
speaker.
Great, he's
popped in.
Yeah, local
boy, we're quite
proud of him.
And they all
spoke well of
him.
And Jesus
comes back and
said, yeah, but
prophets have no
honor in their
hometown.
They're like,
this one does.
Well, I just
want to tell you
two more stories.
He tells a story
taken from 1
Kings 17.
It's a story
about God
passing over the
ethnic
Jews to
bring a
miraculous
blessing to
a foreign
Gentiles from
the land of
Phoenicia.
And the
second story
is for 2
Kings 5.
Again, the
point is, of
all the
people that
God might
have chosen to
heal of
leprosy, he
chooses a
foreign king
from Syria.
And then
they didn't
speak so
well of
Jesus.
It was
at that
point, it
says, that
they were
furious with
him.
And they
attempted to
kill him.
Ethnic pride
runs deep.
And the
point that
Jesus was
making is
that the
kingdom that
he's bringing
is ethnically
different than
what they were
thinking.
Jesus is
the end of
ethnocentrism
and racial
pride.
He says he
has come to
redeem a
people from
every ethnic
group, not
just from
one or a
few.
God's plan of
redemption, which
started with a
promise to
Abraham, finds
its fulfillment
in the person
of Jesus and
especially in
the death of
Jesus.
Galatians 3
says this,
Christ redeemed
us from the
curse of the
law by
becoming a
curse for
us.
For it is
written,
cursed is
everyone who
is hung on
a tree.
That is, he
redeemed us
by his
death on the
cross.
And then it
says, he
redeemed us
in order that
the blessing
given to
Abraham
might come
to the
Gentiles
through Christ
Jesus.
with
Abraham, God
set in
motion a
plan of
redemption
that overturns
every curse
for everyone
who receives
the blessing
of Abraham.
And that
blessing,
according to
Galatians 3,
is the
forgiveness of
sins and
acceptance of
God that
comes through
Jesus Christ,
the descendant
of Abraham.
You see,
God's
redemptive
plan has
always been
to save and
bless people
from all the
peoples of
the earth.
All of us
who are
united in
sin might
be united
in Christ
as his
people.
So,
friends,
racial prejudice
runs deep in
a sinful
heart.
And I
discovered that
night in Alice
Springs that
I was just
like the
residents of
Nazareth.
God's
love.
My
chosen
place as
a child
of God
by grace
had not
produced
humility
and compassion
for all
people.
And
ironically,
it meant
that I
was not
aligned with
God's
purpose
for all
people,
even
though that's
what I was
there to
preach about.
I
needed Jesus
to change
my heart.
You see,
my problem
is not
biology,
my problem
is not
evolution,
it's not
other people's
interpretation of
the Bible,
and it's
certainly not
John Howard.
it is the
sin and
the prejudice
in my
heart.
That's the
problem.
I need a
new heart
to see all
people made
in the image
of God,
all people
united in
sin,
and all
people in
need of
God's great
plan of
redemption
through Jesus
Christ.
That was
the Saturday
night.
Significant
steps went
forward the
next morning
when I
preached at
a local
church in
Alice.
As I
stood in
the pulpit,
I saw
something that
I had never
noticed in a
church before.
It's not
because it
wasn't evident
in any other
church,
it's because
my own
prejudice was
just so
clear and
focused in
my mind.
I saw
all the
white people
sitting in
the front.
I saw
all the
white people
taking the
rolls up
the front.
I saw
the
aboriginal
people
sitting at
the back
scattered on
the floor
and on a
few chairs
at the
back.
I noticed
for the
first time
that the
greeting and
the passing
of the
peace and
meeting as
we did
just a
moment ago,
you could
virtually divide
the room in
two.
There was a
little bit of
crossover but
you could
virtually divide
the room in
two.
And as the
white clergyman,
I had a bunch
of white people
who wanted to
come and speak
to me and
I literally
had to push
my way past
them.
And let me
tell you,
it broke my
heart when I
approached an
elderly
aboriginal man.
As I
approached him,
he bowed his
head, he put
out his hand
because he knew
that's what I was
going to do, I was
going to shake
his hand, he
put out his
hand and he
wouldn't even
look me in the
eye.
I was told
later that's
because he saw
me as
superior.
Not just
because I was
clergy, it was
partly due to
that, but
because I was
white.
He has learned
all of his
life that I
am better
than he is.
Let me tell
you that racial
division in
the church
frustrates God's
plan of redemption
for all people.
racial segregation
amongst the
people of God
is a movement
away from the
following God's
redemptive plan.
And so I want
to encourage you
to use this
series to check
your heart.
You know, I
had a couple of
people speak to
me this morning
and said, I
don't have your
problem.
I don't have
racism towards
aboriginal people.
That's great.
Who is it
though?
Who is your
problem?
Does your
heart beat
with the
heart, the
Jesus heart
beats for all
people?
And if we're
going to be a
church that is
aligned with
Jesus' mission,
then racial
pride and
ethnocentricity
has to end.
It's got to
end.
It's got to
end in this
congregation.
It's got to
end in our
Chinese
congregation.
930
congregation.
Jesus and
the gospel is
the end of
racial pride and
ethnocentricity.
And that's why
we as a
church seek to
treasure Jesus
above everything
and to seek to
treasure him
together above
everything.
Thank you.