Thank you, Georgia, the singer and the poet.
How did you celebrate our country's 244th birthday yesterday?
Probably in a different way than you have in the past,
since we're not supposed to be gathering together
for all kinds of outside events, or inside in particular.
Yesterday was supposed to be,
and for many people was, a celebration.
But the reality is the mood of this country
is anything but celebratory.
And it's because of two major crises
that we're involved in right now.
One is a health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic.
The other is a social relational crisis, racial division.
Now, concerning the health crisis,
there is a lot of people saying the same thing.
There's a consistent message of how to deal with the coronavirus.
Things such as wash your hands frequently,
practice social distancing,
wear a mask,
stay home if you're sick.
We're hearing these and some other things.
It's a consistent message, isn't it?
Well, concerning this social relational crisis,
we are far from even being able to identify
a consistent message on how to deal with the racial division.
So the question comes up,
at least I think about it,
is there any hope?
And if you watch the news,
if you read,
things are looking bad.
Is there any hope?
If so, where do we look?
Well, before we try to answer that question,
I want to be clear about where we are not to look.
Don't go to social media.
That will only give you an unfiltered,
an unhealthy personal opinion
from people who have absolutely no platform from which to speak.
And a lot that you're going to read on social media
is going to only add fuel to the fire of controversy and division.
Don't write inflammatory things on social media yourself.
It is a terrible witness as Christians.
Number two, don't turn to mainstream media.
Places like CBS, NBC, ABC, CBS,
they are committed to giving you a very one-sided,
liberal perspective on the issues,
and they won't even deny it.
And they seem determined
to keep fanning the flames of racial hostility.
Now this third one is going to surprise some people,
but I think it's the most important place not to look.
Don't look at your own heart.
You know, one of the dumbest things,
statements that have ever been put together is,
follow your heart.
The Bible repeatedly points to,
even explains the root cause of all evil,
including racial division and hostility,
is the sinful hearts of human beings.
I'll give you two examples.
Some of you know both of them,
but look at this from Jeremiah.
The heart is deceitful above all things
and desperately sick.
Who can understand it?
And then Jesus made this statement.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts,
murder, adultery, sexual immorality,
theft, false witness, slander.
And if the subject had been on racial division,
he would have said racial division.
When it comes to the seeking solutions
to our social relational problems,
the first and best place to look is the Bible.
And as Christians, that should be automatic for us
because we should be convinced,
have no doubt that God's word is true and trustworthy.
This morning, as you can see the title,
I want us to think biblically about race.
Last week, went along with this,
thinking biblical about government authority,
with a special emphasis on how law enforcement officers,
they're agents of governmental authority
who enforce laws,
who protect and serve their communities.
As we looked last week,
while there are a few
who do not administer justice fairly,
who are racially prejudiced,
the overwhelming majority
are men and women who are committed
to protecting and serving their community,
upholding and serving justice.
And they do it not flawlessly,
not perfectly,
but they do it consistently.
And they do it fairly.
But this morning,
we're focusing on a different subject,
sub-subject,
thinking biblically about race.
Let's begin at the beginning.
And what I'm talking about is creation.
Creation reveals the foundational oneness
of all human beings.
I truly believe this is the place to begin
when talking about racial issues,
racial division.
Look at the very beginning
of how God started this world.
All human beings can trace their origin
to one common source.
Look at this.
The one common source of human beings
is the creative work of God.
This is in the end of Genesis chapter one.
Look at what it says.
Then God said,
let us make man in our image after our likeness,
and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the heavens,
over the livestock,
and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth.
Humanity, mankind,
is in charge.
God's stewards of the world.
Look at the next verse.
So God created man in his own image.
In the image of God,
he created him.
Male and female,
he created them.
God created mankind,
humanity,
both male and female,
in his image.
That's unique.
Nothing else in all creation
was created in God's image.
That gives every individual
significance,
worth,
dignity even.
Every human being who has ever lived,
who ever will live,
is made in the image of God,
and that makes them important.
Creation also reveals
that all human beings
have one common ancestry.
Look at this.
The one common ancestry
of human beings
began with the first man
and first woman
God created.
Verse 28 in Genesis 1.
And God blessed them.
And God said to them,
be fruitful and multiply
and fill the earth
and subdue it
and have dominion
over the fish of the sea
and over the birds
of the heavens
and over every living thing
that moves on the earth.
That verse is telling us
that if there were written records
of all births
that have taken place
in this world
back to creation,
everyone would be able
to trace their ancestry
to that first couple.
That would blow up
ancestry.com,
wouldn't it?
to have that many records.
The Bible makes this clear
in two other places
at least.
We'll look at it this way.
Adam is the father of us all.
Luke records Paul preaching
and he made from one man
every nation of mankind
to live on the face
of the earth.
And then back in Genesis 3.
And verse 20,
Eve is the mother of us all.
Adam named his wife Eve
because she would become
the mother of all the living.
I want you to understand
that the opening pages
of the Bible
clearly tell us
that the way God created
human beings
makes two things true
about everyone.
number one.
Every person who's ever lived
is of equal worth,
equal importance
because they were created
in the image of God.
That means
every person
you see,
every person you know
you see,
every person you like
and don't like,
every person who is just like you,
everybody who is different
from you,
you should treat them
with dignity
and respect
for one reason.
They're created
in the image of God.
That's what gives
a person significance.
Number two,
every person who's ever lived
is a descendant
of Adam and Eve
which makes every person
a member
of the same original race,
the human race.
And the application
of that is
we should embrace
every single human being
as our blood can.
If the Bible's true,
this is how it begins
with these clear statements
and I want to emphasize here,
Jesus,
the way he talked about
Adam and Eve
and what happened
at creation,
Jesus understood
that Adam and Eve
were literal people.
That God created
this man
that he named Adam,
that God created
this woman
he named Eve
and from Adam and Eve
have come
all human beings.
So what the Bible teaches
about the way
God created human beings
makes a very powerful
statement
about our country's
racial problems.
Listen,
all human prejudice,
all human hostility,
divisiveness
is based on
anything like race,
nationality,
ethnic group
or any other
human distinction.
That is contrary
to the way
God created
human beings
to live.
And we have
prejudice
toward people,
discriminate against
people based on
the way they talk,
the way they look,
something like this.
we are treating
the person
contrary to the way
God intended
for them to be created
and you can look
at creation
and see that.
All this means
is the root cause
of all human
relational problems,
including racial problems,
is sin.
Going against
God's revealed will,
acting contrary
to what God
has ordained,
ordained.
If God created
everyone in His image
from one man
and one woman,
how in the world
did people
get so divided?
Not just today,
but throughout
history.
Well,
the Bible explains
the source
of these divisions.
The Bible explains
the problem,
what went wrong
shortly after creation.
Look out of here,
we'll call it this,
the fall broke
the foundational
oneness
of all human beings.
Now this is found
in Genesis 3.
I'm not going
to turn to it.
We've looked at it
on several occasions
over the years.
Most of you
should be familiar
with Genesis 3,
how it explains
how Adam and Eve
sinned against God,
they disobeyed Him,
they ate the fruit
He said not to eat of,
they sinned
against God,
which immediately
resulted in
broken relationships.
If you read
Genesis 3,
as soon as
Adam and Eve
sinned,
they hid from God.
They had enjoyed
a close relationship
with Him
in the Garden of Eden,
but after they sinned,
they hid,
they were afraid.
their relationship
with God
was broken
as a result
of their sin.
It also tells us
there in the first
few verses of Genesis
that their relationship
with one another
was broken.
It wasn't what
it once was.
When Adam and Eve
sinned
and God confronted
them,
Adam
actually blamed
God
for giving
him Eve
who gave him
the forbidden fruit.
That not only
is an example
of God,
of Adam
blaming God
for his sin,
he blamed
his wife.
Adam
demonstrates
great
male
weakness
in not
accepting
his own
responsibility.
That's what
sin does.
Sin blinds us
to the truth.
Sin causes us
to be selfish,
to protect
ourselves
no matter what.
Even we have
to lie,
cheat,
steal,
or whatever
it takes.
From Genesis
chapter 3
until you get
to the book
of Revelation
chapter 20,
you see
every kind
of human,
broken human
relationship
you can imagine.
Throughout the
Old Testament,
between individuals,
between family
members,
between families,
between tribes,
between nations,
between ethnicity,
and the
Old Testament,
especially,
you see,
in the Old
Testament and
New,
broken relationships
between Jews
and Gentiles,
or Jews
and non-Jews.
God's solution
to this problem
of broken
relationships
is found
in one place,
in the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
The gospel
explains
God's plan
for restoring
unity
and harmony
between people
of all races
and ethnic groups.
The gospel
really explains
the way God
intends for
harmony to be
restored in
every kind
of broken
relationship.
Our relationship
with Him,
our relationship
with other people,
but it also
applies for our
relationship
with people
who look
or act
differently from us.
Now,
let's look at how
Paul explains this.
Here we're going to be
in Ephesians chapter 2.
God used the death
of Christ
to unite
His people,
all His people
in Christ,
by tearing down
walls of racial
and ethnic
prejudice
and hostility.
There's an extended
passage,
Ephesians 2,
11 through 22,
but I want us,
for sake of time,
just to focus on
most of
verses 13
through 16.
Look at this
with me.
But now
in Christ Jesus,
you
who once
were far
off
have been
brought near
by the blood
of Christ.
For He Himself
is our peace
who has made
us both
one
and has broken
down in His flesh
the dividing
wall of hostility
between Jews
and Gentiles,
that He might
create in Himself
one new man
in place of the two,
so making peace,
and might reconcile
us both to God
in one body
through the cross,
thereby killing
the hostility.
One of the tallest
and strongest
walls of separation
that has ever
existed,
existed between
Jews and Gentiles.
It was a
wall
that
no one
could penetrate
basically.
Now the Jews
were responsible
for building
this wall.
They were God's
chosen people,
but God
chose them
for a purpose
more than
a privilege.
God chose
the people
of Israel
to be
His agents
in this world
through whom
He would work
to call
other people
to Himself.
But the people
of Israel,
the Jewish people,
they only heard
and acted
on that part
about being
chosen
by God.
It went
to their head.
They became
arrogant.
They became
condescending
toward everyone
else in the world
who was not Jewish.
So instead
of becoming
agents of peace
and reconciliation,
they became
agents of hostility
and division.
The walls
of division
that Jews
built
also became
the Gentiles'
walls.
The Jews
erected these
walls.
We're God's
chosen people.
If you're
not one of us,
you're nothing.
Well,
the Gentiles
embraced that wall.
We don't want
to be a part
of you.
And persecuted
Jews.
Both groups
embraced
a common
hostility
and hatred
for one another.
Neither
was innocent.
Now,
it's not just
Jews and Gentiles
who build
such walls,
is it?
And it's not
just something
that happened
in the past,
is it?
We all know
in this room
there are
all kinds
of walls
that divide
people.
You've got
some walls
in your life
that you've
erected
to keep
certain people
away from you.
We all do.
And it may
have nothing
to do with race.
It may be
other factors
that we've
built walls
over.
But let's
go back
to our subject
matter,
the race issue.
Like Jews,
white people
in this country
are responsible
for building
the walls
between black
and white
in this country
to start
with.
There are,
there's a
major wall
division today
between blacks
and whites
in this country,
between black
Americans
and white
Americans.
We have
something in
common with
the Jews
as white
people.
we built
the wall
of separation
and division
to start
with.
Walls were
first built
by the
institution
of slavery.
It thrived
in this
country for
over 200
years
during
colonial
America
and then
the first
90 years
after our
country was
established.
these walls
were reinforced
by the
legal
lawful
discrimination
and segregation
that took
place in
this country
for 100
years
after the
end of
slavery
or until
the mid
to late
1960s
we'll say.
That's the
Jim Crow
era.
Now
this is a
fact
that we
cannot
ignore.
and it
is a
fact
that cannot
be
denied.
But
like the
Gentiles
black people
in this
country
have taken
ownership
of these
walls
of division.
Racism
and prejudice
are
it's a
two way
street.
I want to be
clear.
There are some
people
black and
white
who will
argue
that it's
only white
people in
this situation
who can be
racist.
That is not
true.
It is not
true in
theory.
It is not
true in
practice.
Racism and
prejudice are
two way
streets.
There's
racism and
prejudice white
toward black.
There's racism
and prejudice
black toward
white.
Now,
racism is a
term that's
really hard
to define.
You think
about it.
All that you
are hearing
about racism
in this
country,
all that you
have read,
have you
heard a
common
definition?
Have you
heard it
actually
defined or
even clearly
described?
It's hard to
find that.
truth is
many different
people have
many different
definitions.
Here's a
definition that
was adopted
by the
Presbyterian
Church in
America,
PCA
denomination,
that I
think is
academic,
technical,
but it
helps us
see what
we're
talking
about.
Racism is
an explicit
or implicit
belief or
practice that
qualitatively
distinguishes or
values one
race over
other races.
Racism,
it may not
be overt,
it may be
something that's
just sort of
subtle,
inward, you
don't think
about it that
much, or it
may be very
much you have
embraced it and
you talk about
it, but it's a
belief that you
really believe
your race is
better than
another race,
that you're
superior than
another race.
D.A.
Carson, the
New Testament
scholar, adds
the idea of
exclusion to
the definition
of racism,
and he says
this, but if
racism is
defined in
terms of
exclusion, then
racism occurs
wherever anyone
is dismissed or
disowned or
demeaned or
stereotyped for
no other reason
than his or her
race or
ethnicity.
racism.
Now, based on
those two
definitions, anyone
from any race or
ethnic group can
be guilty of
racism.
Now, while we're
on the subject of
definitions, let's
address the
definition of
systemic racism.
That dominates
everything today.
If you look at
news online, listen
to it, read it in
the paper.
You can't read a
paragraph without
reading something
about systemic
racism.
Very few people
define it, by the
way.
But I want to use a
definition proposed
by Derek Johnson,
who is president of
the NAACP.
It was reported in
the USA.com
news.
Johnson defines
systemic racism,
also called structural
racism, or
institutional racism,
as systems and
structures that
have procedures or
processes that
disadvantage African
Americans.
Now, it is without
debate that during
the days of slavery
and Jim Crow, racism
in this country was
systemic as well as
evil.
But since the
Civil Rights Acts
were passed in the
mid to late 1960s,
systemic racism has
actually been illegal,
unlawful in this
country.
Thomas Sowell, he is
one of this country's
leading economists and
commentators, or at
least he was until his
retirement of just a few
years ago.
He is also, by the
way, a black man.
He said in a recent
interview, look at this,
that he has no idea
what the proponents of
the existence of
institutional racism
mean, and that they
themselves do not know
what they mean.
There's a lot of things
being said about
systemic institutional
racism in this country.
But very little
definitions, examples,
proof has been given.
Now, I want to be
clear.
There are definitely
groups of people and
individuals in this
country who are pure
racists to the core.
Some of them have such
evil hearts that they are
proud and public about
their hatred for certain
people whose race or
language or culture is
different from their own.
But what is being said
about systemic racism
being the predominant
attitude of this country,
that is by far
overstating the problem.
It is not accurate.
It is not accurately
describing the issue.
Now, one more thing
needs to be clarified
about the current
racial situation.
The organization,
Black Lives Matter,
does not have the
solution.
It is true that the
lives of black people
matter just as much as
the life of every other
human being in this world
because as we have
already noted, all human
beings are created in the
image of God.
That means every life
matters.
Every life is of equal
worth and dignity.
But the organization
called Black Lives Matter
rejects the Bible's
teaching on family, on
sexual orientation and
gender, and on abortion.
Black Lives Matter, the
organization also promotes
radical socialism and
opposes democracy.
If you have any doubts,
go to their website.
Go do a search.
Black Lives Matter, the
organization, it is there
in black and white, very
clear what they believe.
They make no bones about
it.
This organization, as a
result of these kinds of
beliefs, they are not only
not providing a solution to
our current racial problem,
they are compounding the
problem.
They are fanning the flames
of this problem.
If we are serious about
wanting the walls of racial
division torn down in this
country, then both black and
white Christians must be
willing to assume responsibility
for these problems.
And both black and white
Christians must be willing to
work together for the glory of
God and the good of all.
But the walls will never be torn
down and reconciliation, unity, and
loving relationships will never
take their place without God's
gracious intervention.
Paul tells us that the only way
years of distrust, prejudice, and
outright hatred can be overcome is
by the blood of Christ in verse 13.
And when he talks about the blood of
Christ, he's referring to the Lord's
death on the cross to pay the
penalty for our sins.
As I pointed out earlier, sin is
the foundation that the walls of
division in this country about race
are built upon.
These are sins like pride, like
prejudice, like selfishness, like an
unforgiving spirit.
When we, when anyone turns to
Christ in faith, the response to the
gospel is we must simultaneously turn
from sin.
That's what repentance is.
The gospel, the good news is that
Jesus came into this world to die on
the cross to pay the penalty for our
sins.
He arose triumphantly by the power of
God to prove he has conquered sin,
death, and the devil.
He's ascended into heaven.
This good news, the Bible tells us we
respond to it by admitting we are
sinners in need of a Savior, changing
our mind about the way we've been
living, turning from our sin,
repenting of our sin, and then
turning to Christ in faith.
Now, I want to make it clear what
repentance means.
I can only repent of my sins, not the
sins of what someone in the past has
done.
I'll be more specific.
I cannot repent of the sin of slavery
because I have never owned a slave.
It is impossible for someone living
today to repent of the sin of slavery
that was abolished in 1865.
I want to go further because some
evangelical writers are going further.
Being white is not a sin.
I read just recently an evangelical
pastor made the statement that white
black people need to repent of their
whiteness.
I am not lying.
Google it.
You'll see it yourself.
Being white is not a sin.
Being black is not a sin.
Being brown is not a sin.
Let's go even further.
God made me white.
God made every black man or woman
black.
He made every brown person brown.
That's the sovereign work of God
to make us who we are, put us where we
are.
So we don't repent of other people's
sins.
White people do not have to repent of
being white because it is not a sin.
Black people do not have to repent of
being black because it is not a sin.
Let's go back to what we are talking
about more personally.
But I can and must repent of my
personal sins.
You must, to be a follower of Jesus
Christ, own your sins.
Confess them.
Agree with God.
They are there.
They are real.
People hate them and then turn from
them.
If I have been prejudiced against
someone because of the color of their
skin, in either attitude, word, or
action, I have sinned against that
person.
I have sinned against God.
And that is a sin I must own and
repent of.
The truth is, not a single person in the
world, not a single one of us in this
room, can be right with God and refuse to
repent of any sin that he convicts us of.
We can't make excuses for our sin.
Sin is an offense against a holy God,
punishable by death and ultimately hell.
And the only reason all of us are not bound
at this moment to hell is God sent his son to
this world because he loves us to pay the
penalty for our sins when he died on the
cross so that through faith in him we're
forgiven, made right with God.
And when we die, we go to heaven instead of
the place we deserve called hell.
There will never be complete unity and
agreement on how we as Christians actually do
do the hard work of racial reconciliation and
bring it about unity.
There's always going to be differences in how
we look at the problem, how we identify with
the problem, and how we go about dealing with
the problem, but we can work together.
It won't be easy, but by God's grace, it is
possible.
So we've got to try.
We've got to seek God to help us.
I want you to look at something Billy Graham said
years ago when talking about racial and ethnic
problems.
He says, the issues that face us are complex and
enormous, and simply wishing they would go away will
not solve them.
I do not pretend to know the full answer, but let
those of us who claim the name of Christ repent of our
past failures and relying on the Holy Spirit demonstrate
to a weary and frightened world that Christ indeed has
destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility
through the cross by which he put to death their
hostility.
Right now, I don't want us to think about what's going on in
the world.
I don't want you to think about any other person that you know
or even know of.
I want you to think about you for these next few minutes.
Do you have any walls of racial or ethnic hostility that need to
be torn down in your life?
You may not have built those walls.
You may have inherited those walls.
You may have grown up in a family.
You may have grown up in a circle where those walls were
already in existence, but you embraced them.
The place to begin in racial reconciliation is to admit that
those walls exist, if they exist in your life.
They may not.
But God knows, and you know, because God will make it clear to
you.
The place to begin with reconciliation is to admit there's
walls if there are walls.
Then repent of your specific sins.
Will it be attitude, words, or actions?
That which God has convicted you about through this message.
Or maybe as you watch the news, maybe as you read the Bible, maybe
as you're just going down the road thinking in the spirit of God, if
you're a Christian, has got a hold of you.
Admit the walls exist.
Change your mind.
Change your attitude.
Change your vocabulary.
Change the way that you live.
Turn to Jesus Christ in faith, trusting that he's paid the penalty
for your sins.
Trust that through faith in him, you're right with God.
But also understand that everyone else who puts their faith and trust in
him is your brother or sister in Christ, as well as a fellow member of the
human race with you.
If you're a Christian and you need help overcoming some racial barriers, cry out
to God to change your mind, change your heart, change whatever needs to change.
We all need to ask God to work in this country, to tear down walls, to help people see that
there's a lot, just as human beings, we have in common regardless of our color.
We need to pray that God will also work in our country that people will be able to forgive
and move forward and leave the past in the past and truly experience reconciliation,
oneness in Christ if we're Christians, and brothers and sisters in Christ if they're Christians.
But we need to also pray that people learn to live as brothers and sisters, as fellow human beings.
I want us to pray together, and I want us all to pray about ourselves and the response we need to make.
And then you make it to God right now.
Let's bow.
Let's bow themselves.
How to bow?
Now let's bow as brothers and sisters, who have we be concerned.
Let's bow.
All right.
Bye bye.
My baston.