Race, Cross, and the Christian

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.

Galatians 2:11–16

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.

Galatians 2:16

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,

all

the divisions

that there are

between people.

Galatians 3 verses 26 to 28

Galatians 3:26–28

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,

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

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,

Galatians 2:12

we see that Peter

was governed by fear

and not by the gospel.

And Paul rebuked him

for it

in Galatians 2

Galatians 2:11–13

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.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

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.

Fear.

Fear.

Fear.

Fear.

Fear.

Fear.

Fear.

Fear.

Fear.

Fear.

Fear.

Fear.

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

John 1 · chapter mention

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,

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.

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?

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.

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.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.