Race, Cross, and the Christian

the day since Martin Luther King Jr. stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC

and delivered what is regarded as one of the top five speeches of the 20th century at least in the

English speaking world it is the I have a dream speech many people have heard just at least a

smidgen of it which is probably the bit that I'm going to quote now there's a speech that went on

for about 17 minutes but in that speech he said I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up

and live out the true meaning of its creed that we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men

are created equal I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves

and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi a state sweltering with a heat of

injustice sweltering with a heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be

judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character I have a dream it's a dream that

he unfortunately didn't see come to reality at one minute past six in the evening on April the 4th 1968

a shot rang out as King stood outside room 306 on the second floor balcony of the Lorraine motel

in Memphis Tennessee the bullet struck him in the side of the face he died an hour and four minutes

later at seven five minutes past seven p.m. according to one of his biographers a taylor branch

king's autopsy revealed that though he was only 49 years old sorry 39 years old he had the heart of a

60 year old which branch attributed to the stress of 13 years leading the civil rights movement in the

united states the fight for freedom and justice and equality for african americans cost martin luther king

his health and his life he articulated and symbolized a great dream of racial harmony and social justice

and it's a dream as we've been seeing in the last four weeks it's a dream that aligns with god's purposes

for this world it's a dream that i believe uh must start with christians and must start with the

church the local church and it and it ought to start here at st paul's the biblical vision that we've been

engaging with um in this fifth week now is much bigger than how black and white people relate to one

another in the united states and i'm pretty sure king knew that one of the ways um to understand the

issue and understand god's purposes in the issue um is to look at the end and to see how god's been

driving in that direction and that's what we're doing today we're arriving at the end in the book of

revelation to see where god is taking history and so if this is where god's taking history that means

this is what history is about it means it's what st paul's is about it's what chatswood is about it's

about what australia is about it's about what the nations are all about and so you can learn your reason

for being by looking at the goal of god in history where's he taking it all

now we're going to go there in a moment we're going to go to the end of all things but let me

just recap the trajectory we've been heading over the last four weeks and how each bit comes together

to get to that ultimate end we saw in the first week genesis chapter one that god created adam and eve

in his image and what flowed from there was that every person born of adam and eve which is every

person uh also carries the image of god which has massive implications of how you treat another

individual um there is solidarity in our image even though we are all individually unique

but as there is solidarity in image so we saw in the second week solidarity in sin

as adam sinned in rejecting god what we saw from that is that all of humanity is tainted by sin

as a result our natural bias is towards sin it's part of our nature and one of the big consequences

of that is genesis chapter 11 where god judges all people where he scatters them and confuses their

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

language so that they will not work together again in order to storm the heavens and depose god

but god doesn't just act in judgment he also has the plan to reverse it all and genesis chapter 12

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

is the turning point in the bible it's the hinge where god starts his plan of redemption

um it is his beginning and he begins with a promise to an insignificant bloke called abraham

and he says to abraham that all peoples on earth will be blessed through him and we saw in the third week

how this plan is worked out through all of history and finds its culmination in the death and resurrection of jesus

and this is how galatians 3 puts it

you are all sons of god through faith in christ jesus for all of you who are baptized into christ have clothed yourselves with christ

there is neither jew nor greek slave nor free male nor female for you're all one in christ jesus

if you belong to christ then you are abraham's seed so if you put your trust in jesus it means

that you are an inheritor of the promise that god made to abraham back in genesis chapter 12

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

and as a result of that reconciling work where god pulls people to himself through jesus

jesus calls his disciples to go and share this message of reconciliation to the world that they too may be partakers of it

but he tells them to wait for the holy spirit to come who will pull them together and empower them as his people

and the holy spirit comes on the day of pentecost it was just read out to us just then

and in the coming of the holy spirit what you see there is a symbolic reversal of the tower of babel

as god comes and dwells with his people by his spirit and gathers his people to himself

people are gathered and even on that day in the day of pentecost language is not a barrier

as all these people of diverse languages hear god's plan of redemption through jesus christ

the one who shed his blood to unite all bloodlines

jesus is the one who brings unity and harmony from all the division and diversity

and you see it there at the end of chapter two of acts where this new community is formed and born

and people together in unity and harmony of all their differences together in unity and harmony

sharing with one another and caring for one another

what is symbolic in acts chapter two is reality in revelation

in chapter five verse nine of revelation we get a picture of chapter five of the heavenly realms

and in verse nine john tells us why jesus is worthy to open the book of the end of history

so that things unfold according to the plan of god jesus is worthy because of how his death

relates to all races and tribes and peoples and languages of the world it says you are worthy to take

the scroll and to opens its seals because you were slain and with your blood you purchase men

for god from every tribe and language and people and nation you have made them to be a kingdom and

priests to serve our god and they will reign on the earth and so the reason that jesus has the right to

open the book of history is that by his death he has ransomed people for god that is for the glory of god

and the worship of god and the worship of god from every tribe and language and people and nation

that was god's design

in the death of jesus to ransom some from every kind of race and language and make them one kingdom

one kingdom

they would have one king that is they would all live with jesus as their supreme treasure and lord

jesus is the one who would unite them

and they would be priests that is they would be full-time worshipers jesus died to ransom

subjects for the king and worshipers for the king from all languages and races and nations and peoples

and so the consummation of god's plan for human history includes the reversal of all the judgmental

aspects of genesis 3 to 11

the curse is removed

they return to enjoy fellowship with god the scattered ones once separated from god and separated from each

other and now brought together under the reign of jesus

and finding god's blessing

as he promised to abraham

and we see the vision fulfilled in verses 11

sorry 13 to 14 of revelation 5

then i heard every creature in heaven

and on earth

and under the earth

and on the sea

and all that is in them

singing

to him who sits on the throne

and to the lamb

be praise and honor

and glory and power

forever and ever

and the four living creatures said

amen

and the elders fell down

and worshipped

see the

picture of the end of all things

it is all things

worshipping the king

that's the trajectory

of human history

that's the trajectory of all created things

it's what

we were created for

it's what this world was created for

it's what history is about

it's what the nations are about

it's what the races are all about

it's what the languages are all about

it's what St Paul's is all about

it's what my life is meant to be all about

it's what your life

is meant to be all about

that is the end of all thing

all things gathering around the throne praising their king.

And so it is inconceivable that we should believe that this is the goal of God in history

and the aim of the death of his son

and not care about racial harmony in this city and in this church.

It is critical that we today visualize the body of Christ and the people of God correctly.

Christians who gather around the throne of God are going to rub shoulders with people of all races.

God's intention for his people is to be multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-generational

but all united in their fellowship and their worship of God.

How easy it is for us to think that God is just like me.

Just type in Google at some point and come up with images of Jesus

and have a look at how often we make Jesus in our image.

There's a black Jesus.

There's a white Jesus who...

I mean, Jesus was white, wasn't he?

I mean, when you see all the pictures of Jesus, he's got these beautiful blonde curly hair.

He's got blue eyes.

He looks more handsome than me, for sure.

And then there's Asian Jesus.

And I looked at Asian Jesus.

Well, Jesus wasn't Asian.

I mean, he was white, wasn't he?

And then there's cool Jesus.

There's hip Jesus.

There's all sorts of different Jesus.

We think God is just like us.

And yet the picture revelation is that the whole diversity of God's people

is going to be more astounding than we realized.

And I'm pretty confident that Anglican worship won't be necessarily front and center.

Pretty confident of that too.

My contention here is that we need to work towards that ideal if that is our future together.

It's unfortunate, however, that our worldly associations and identities...

It's unfortunate when we allow those things to determine the composition of our churches.

Here's a quote from American theologian Michael Horton.

He said,

South African theologians have pointed out that this principle in mission work laid the groundwork for apartheid.

Now that racial segregation is less explicitly deployed as a church growth strategy,

we carve up Christ's body into socioeconomic and generational segments.

Some churches use demographic marketing to appeal to different music styles with country western or rock or jazz services.

I read recently of a growing movement of cowboy churches where preachers deliver brief talks from their horses to other riders in their saddles

and they all depart with the song Happy Trails.

It's what's called the homogenous unit principle.

People like to be with people who are like them.

It's a principle that's propagated by the church growth movement in the 1990s.

It has led to churches planting or churches being planted to target specific demographics,

particular segregations of people,

and for churches putting up congregations for individual purposes.

We segregate people based on traditional service or a family service or an Australian-born Chinese service or a youth service.

It is the standard practice of church life on the North Shore of Sydney.

It's the standard practice for church life in Sydney Diocese, the Anglican Church of Sydney Diocese.

It's how we operate.

It's how most of my ministry life has been.

It was St. Paul's up until a few years ago.

We'll get to that in a little while.

But this is not the picture that you see in Revelation chapter 5.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

Now, I understand that not all churches will be multicultural.

It's hard to have a multicultural church if you're living in a monocultural context.

But that's not the context of St. Paul's.

And so we have to labor hard to see God's ultimate intention lived out now as much as possible in this church.

God's intention for us is to be multi-ethnic, multicultural, multilingual, multi-generational,

but united in our fellowship and our worship of God.

And that intention will cost us corporately and it will cost us individually.

It will cost us because, as I read recently,

evangelical Christians have a strong in-group identity

that gives us a sense of distinctiveness from the rest of the world.

That is, we like to see how we are different from everyone else.

The negative of this is this in-group mentality has led ultimately, I think implicitly,

to the degradation of other people not as part of that group.

We are the elite.

Everyone else is not.

And while the evangelical church historically has led the charge

in pursuing racial justice on a society level,

it appears that it does not trickle down into interpersonal behavior on a local church level.

We fight the battle out there in Canberra,

but not here in the local church level.

And again, I think it's an implicit racism rather than explicit.

An extensive research project in the United States

discovered that mainline Protestant churches, that's what we are,

were less welcoming to racial minorities

due to the implicit belief that they wouldn't fit into their congregations.

And one reason for that

is that mainline Protestant churches, like St. Paul's,

use liturgies, music, and readings historically rooted in European culture,

which is incredibly wordy.

And so because of our way of doing church, which is culturally formed,

it's less likely to appeal to people who are not part of that culture.

In fact, studies have found that expressive contemporary worship styles

are most effective for transcending racial boundaries.

And this possibly may be, at least potentially,

one question we should be asking ourselves,

of Sydney Anglian churches,

why we struggle to build multicultural churches,

even though we really want to.

We really struggle with it.

Now, one of the changes we made here at St. Paul's

in our corporate worship

is to move away from the homogenous unit principle,

which divides us based on age and stage of life

or ethnicity or tradition or whatever it is.

We've started doing that since 2011.

We did not advertise our services based on personal preference.

Our services are advertised based on language only.

It's the only church I know of the North Shore doing that.

Language only.

It's the only distinction that I can see in the Bible.

The only thing that should cause difference between us.

Now, that change has cost us dearly since 2011,

as I expected it would,

but I'm committed to it.

And I'm really pleased as I look around,

particularly at our English congregations today,

and I see a much higher level of ethnic diversity

than what we had four years ago.

Because God's intention for this church

is for his people to be multi-ethnic,

multicultural, multilingual, multi-generational.

The reason I say that is because that's exactly

what Chatswood is,

and that is our mission field.

That's our place.

That's our context.

That's where we exist.

And that's why we have a mission statement of our church

that says that we exist to know Jesus,

to treasure Jesus,

to represent Jesus for God's glory

and the joy of all people.

And we have core values like treasuring Jesus together.

It states that we're committed to things

like welcoming people from every background.

We are committed to openness towards new people

and the avoidance of clickiness.

We are open to purging our lives of sin

that causes division

and pursuing increasing visible, authentic,

and practical ways of loving each other.

My point is that we must treasure Jesus

above every other association that we have in life.

The gospel is what this world needs.

The gospel achieves unity

where unity is not possible.

The gospel is the power of God

that breaks down the dividing wall of hostility

between Israelis and Palestinians

and Russians and Poles

and Jews and Nazis

and white and blacks

and male and female

and the Asian and Cantonese and Mandarin.

The gospel is a power that breaks down all those walls.

It breaks through every wall that this world puts up.

And so that means that in the gospel,

the church has a resource like no other resource

for spanning cultural and generational divides.

No institution, including the United Nations,

no organization, no entity or group on the planet

has more power to turn cultural and generational tension

into cultural and generational harmony.

Jesus himself is building his church

and Jesus himself, therefore,

is the great meeting place for his people.

And particularly people who would naturally be at odds with one another.

The end of ethnic pride

and the pursuit of racial harmony

cost God the death of his son for us.

It's a high price.

It cost Martin Luther his health,

Martin Luther King Jr.,

cost him his health and his life.

And we've got to expect

that for us to pursue this,

it will cost us dearly as well.

When our Redeemer

and our great Reconciler

and his gospel

are what we hold as first importance,

then we are empowered

to listen to those who have different perspectives,

to evaluate fairly and change as we need,

and to be proactive in reaching across lines

that traditionally cause divisions amongst us.

The cross causes us to take Jesus-like initiative

to foster relationships with people who are not in our group.

And when Jesus is our greatest treasure,

and we say that he is here at St. Paul's,

we see that our lifelong preferences

are not our ultimate hope.

It means that we can actually become eager

to have them changed

if it means that there are less barriers

to others embracing Jesus

and living out the gospel.

When Jesus is of first importance,

we see that the power for real change

and real church building

is in fact Jesus.

It's not in our tradition.

It is in spirit-strengthened message

of Christ crucified

and risen for sinners.

You see, when the cross is our salvation

and our daily strength,

we're eager to crucify our pride

and our love for self

and for our type

and our comfort

and our way

and take the extra steps

to reach across generations

and cultures

with kindness,

with grace

and always with a listening ear.

I think that little bit

is so important for us to grasp.

You see, unlike Martin Luther King,

I have been part of the dominant group

all of my life.

I'm, in fact,

part of the group

that's the oppressor,

not the oppressed.

I've never felt

the sting of racial vilification,

ever.

And what that's meant for me

is most of my life

as I never felt it

and I've never seen

the need

or the urgency

of this issue of racism.

I've always assumed

that while I might be

a little bit racist,

it's only a little bit racist.

I'm not a white supremacist after all.

I don't have, you know,

skinhead or anything.

I'm not one of those guys.

And so my racism

is excusable.

It's taken a while for me

to listen

and to try and understand

what it would be

to be oppressed.

And to help me,

I read a letter

that Martin Luther King wrote.

He wrote this letter

to some white clergy

that,

and I think it might help us

to see,

to have the shoe

on the other foot,

what it feels like,

the sting

of racial vilification.

In April 1963,

King was arrested

in Birmingham, Alabama

for a non-violent protest

against racism.

And the local newspaper

published a letter

from,

excuse me,

a letter

from eight

white

Christian and Jewish

clergymen

of Alabama

criticizing King

for his demonstration.

And the white

clergyman

had all said

he should be

more patient,

he should wait,

he shouldn't demonstrate.

And in response,

King

wrote

what has become

known as

the letter

from Birmingham

Jail.

And he wrote

this.

Perhaps it is easy

for those

who have never felt

the stinging darts

of segregation

to say,

wait.

But when you have

seen vicious mobs

lynch your mothers

and fathers at will

and drown your sisters

and brothers at whim,

and when you've seen

hate-filled policemen

curse,

kick,

and even kill

your black

brothers and sisters,

and when you see

the vast majority

of your 20 million

Negro brothers

smothering

in an airtight

cage of poverty

in the midst

of an affluent

society,

and when you

suddenly find

your tongue

twisted

and your speech

stammering,

as you seek

to explain

to your six-year-old

daughter

why she can't

go to that

public amusement

park which has

just been advertised

on television,

and see tears

welling up in her

eyes when she

told that

Funtown

is closed

to coloured

children,

and see ominous

clouds of

inferiority

beginning to

form in her

little mental

sky,

and see her

beginning to

distort her

personality

by developing

an unconscious

bitterness

towards white

people,

people,

and when you

have to

concoct an

answer for

your five-year-old

son who is

asking,

Daddy,

why do white

people always

treat coloured

people so

mean?

And when you

take a cross-country

drive and find it

necessary to sleep

night after night

in the uncomfortable

corners of your

automobile because

no motel will

accept you,

and when you are

humiliated day in

and day out by

nagging signs which

read white and

coloured,

and when your

first name becomes

nigger,

your middle name

becomes boy no

matter how old

you are,

and your last

name becomes

John,

and your wife

and mother are

never given the

respected titles

of missus,

and when you are

harried all day

and haunted by

night by the

fact that you're

a negro,

living constantly

at tiptoe stance,

never quite knowing

what to expect

next,

and are plagued

with inner fears

and outer

resentments,

and when you are

forever fighting a

degenerating sense

of nobodiness,

then you will

understand why we

find it difficult

to wait.

There comes a

time when the

cup of endurance

runs over,

and men are no

longer willing to

be plunged into

the abyss of

despair.

I hope,

sirs,

that you can

understand our

legitimate and

unavoidable

impatience.

if you're

white,

let that

sit.

Just let it

sit.

The first time I

read that,

I just burst

into tears,

and I

realized

that

my racism

mattered.

it mattered

deeply.

Now,

as far as I

can tell,

we don't have

that level of

blatant

segregation here

at St.

Paul's.

What I've

become more

aware of is

the implicit

racial biases

that we

have.

these are

the stereotypes

and attitudes

that affect

how we

unconsciously

think about

and act

towards someone

who is

different from

us.

These will

lead us to

treat someone

differently

without us

even realizing

that that's

what we're

doing.

And so

while very

few of us

would say

that we

are racist,

discriminatory

behavior persists

almost everywhere.

more often

than not,

I can't

see it in

myself.

I need

others to

help me

see it.

And when

the cross

is our

daily salvation

and our

daily strength,

we are

eager to

crucify our

pride and

our love for

self and

our own

type and

our own

comfort and

our own

way and

take those

extra steps

to reach

across

generations

and cultures

with kindness

and grace

and with a

listening ear,

I need to

hear from

you how

it feels.

Because I

don't feel

it.

Martin

Luther King's

dream was a

beautiful one,

but it was a

partial one.

God has

the ultimate

dream and

the ultimate

purpose for

all nations

and all

languages and

races,

that is to

unite together

to display the

majesty of

Christ.

And that's

our passion.

And I would

call you to

dream your

own personal

dream,

your corporate

dream for this

church and a

city-wide dream

and finally,

ultimately,

a kingdom

dream,

and to pray

and to act

by God's

grace to make

it a reality.

The cross

of Christ

creates a

cross-cultural

and cross-generational

community.

And at

St. Paul's,

we call that

treasuring Jesus

together.

Amen.