Jesus the Reconciler
I live in a region and neighborhood that share a tragic racial history. For instance, the daughter of one of my elderly neighbors was part of a civil suit to force area schools to obey federal law and desegregate. As I’ve spoken with my neighbors, I’ve had to grapple with the racial divide in my country, with the many ways people have yet to fulfill God’s mandate to be agents of reconciliation.
Prejudice by Association
The sound of her name made me recoil. I knew the strong testimony of the well-known speaker and had no justifiable reason to avoid her podcasts. My disgust had nothing to do with her or the worthy cause she represented. I’d been hurt by someone who idolized her, so my prejudice came because of her association with that individual.
Driving Out Darkness
In early 2015, a fraternity at the University of Oklahoma in the US was caught on video singing a deeply offensive and racist song. Reaction by university officials was swift and stern, and rightly so. But what did Isaac Hill, president of the school’s Black Student Association, have to say? After all, the chillingly racist chant had targeted African-Americans.
helping the stranded
After Nelson Mandela’s death at the end of 2013, many stories surfaced of his genuine concern for others. In 1950s Apartheid South Africa, Mandela once saw a white woman standing beside her broken car in Johannesburg. Approaching her, he offered help and was able to fix the car.
no more prejudice
Many years ago, it was assumed that women could not play the French horn better than men. Their thoughts were challenged and disproved, however, when Julie Landsman auditioned for the role of principal French horn for the renowned Metropolitan Opera. During her audition, Landsman sat and played behind a screen—and played beautifully. After being declared the winner of the lead chair based on sound alone, she stepped out from behind the screen. The judges gasped! They didn’t expect to see a woman.
right with God
Theologians are debating what the apostle Paul meant when he said that “we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law” (Romans 3:28). Traditional Protestants follow Martin Luther’s insight that sinners like us can’t do enough good works to satisfy a holy God. We become right with God by putting our faith in Jesus. When we trust Christ, God our Father performs what Luther called the “joyous exchange,” placing the guilt of our sin upon Jesus and counting His righteousness as our own.
dangerous concessions
In 1857, a few white members of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in South Africa asked permission to celebrate the Lord’s Supper separately from their black brothers and sisters. The General Assembly believed their request was wrong, but acquiesced “due to the weakness of some.” This concession soon became the norm. And this racism prompted the unwanted black Christians to leave and start their own churches. So the South African church, divided by race, eventually became a vocal supporter of apartheid. In 1924, the DRC argued that the races must remain separate, for “competition between black and white on economic levels . . . leads to poverty, friction, misunderstanding, suspicion, and bitterness.”
love in action
During the US civil rights struggle, lovingkindness required the demolishing of unjust laws, but it also required that individuals take deliberate action. It was not enough for whites to take down the “Whites Only” signs or allow blacks to vote. True welcome and relationship required whites to move toward friendship; and it also required blacks to embrace (again and again) the risk of stepping into friendships within contexts where they had been wronged and excluded. It required love in action.
enemies
I am forced to preach under something of a handicap this morning,” said Dr. Martin Luther King on a November day in 1957. His physician had instructed him to stay in bed, but King insisted on speaking.
Paraphrasing the words of Jesus, he declared to the congregation at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama: “You have heard that it…
near
Invictus, a film starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon and set in South Africa at apartheid’s end, tells the story of Nelson Mandela’s inaugural years as South Africa’s first black president. The opening scenes are grim, showing blacks playing soccer in a dumpy, dusty field, while whites, clad in crisp, clean uniforms, are playing rugby on a plush field directly…
rude and racist?
Jesus could be harsh at times. He called Pharisees “whitewashed tombs” (that is, nice on the outside, disgusting within); He called Herod a “fox”; He even called Peter “Satan” (Matthew 23:27; Luke 13:32; Mark 8:33). Yes, Jesus could be forthright—but rude and racist? Some think today’s story proves so. Jesus was hiding in a home in the region of Tyre…
smashing serpents
Martin Luther King Jr. famously said that 11 o’clock on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America. He meant that white Christians and black Christians often worship in separate churches. Recently I’ve noticed a new kind of Sunday morning segregation. It’s increasingly common for churches to divide according to worship style, holding traditional services for older folks who…
justice
Two of my neighbors, Eugene and Lorraine Williams, have lived a story we all need to hear. Back in 1958, they bought a house on Ridge Street, and the welcome from their white neighbors wasn’t exactly warm—most of them moved away. Soon the Williams family also realized their third-grader Scheryl would be bussed to a black school across town, while…
the walls come tumbling down
If you perform a Google search for the Rwandan genocide, you’ll encounter thousands of disturbing stories and graphic images. The most disturbing emerge from a church building in Nyarubuye, where between five and ten thousand Tutsis were murdered. The visual depiction of such gruesome violence in the one place where the victims thought they would be safe is horrific. BBC…
alone in the night
In 1963, Darryl Hill endured scorn. A wide receiver for the University of Maryland football team, Hill was the first black player to break into the racially segregated Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Each week, Hill encountered hostile crowds, with some opposing fans dressed in white Ku Klux Klan robes or holding large dangling nooses. During one game at Wake Forest,…
