Race, Cross, and the Christian

A couple of years ago, I was sitting with one of my girls watching a documentary in Africa,

and you've got all the animals and stuff like that.

They're kind of fascinated by that.

And at one point of the documentary, it showed a tribal group, an African tribal group,

colorfully dressed black people doing some activity, I don't know, dancing or something.

I'm not really sure exactly what it was.

But at that point, my daughter jumped up off the lounge, ran over to the TV,

and pointed at the people and said, I know those people.

And I'm like, well, no, I don't think that's quite true.

And she was at it, yes, I have.

Those people play drums.

And really?

I really couldn't have any idea what she was talking about.

And then Nat calls out from the kitchen and said, yeah,

they had an African drum troupe come through kindy in this last week.

And so it's the first time she'd ever seen a black person.

When she was at kindy, she was fascinated by that.

And she talked about it for some time after this TV program.

And of course, seeing the black people on the TV, she just assumed they were the same people.

And naturally, what black people do is they play drums, which is partly true.

But they're not the only ones who play drums.

Ian Francis played drums as well.

Another time, one of my girls, who was learning a little bit of Mandarin at the time,

was fascinated by different languages that people speak,

asked a member of our Cantonese congregation whether they spoke Cantonese.

And the answer was, yes, I do.

And then, after a bit of a pause, came the qualifying question.

So, you speak Cantonese and normal?

And the gentle response was, no, I speak Cantonese and English.

Out of the mouths of babies.

I could keep going on with stories like that.

We notice difference from a very young age.

Our prejudices begin early.

We work on the assumption that our way of thinking, our way of doing is normal.

And other people are not normal.

They are just different.

Now, on one level, it can be intriguing.

At worst, it becomes rampant racism, which demeans and segregates.

And so, over the next five weeks, as Sam has said,

I'm going to take a look at a very complex issue, race and ethnocentricity.

That's our topic for the next five weeks.

And to kick us off, I've got a bunch of stuff that I want to say by way of orientation

before we get to the Bible.

So, firstly, defining racism and ethnocentricity is not easy.

In most cases, they are used interchangeably,

which is basically what I will do throughout this series,

unless I say, no, no, no, when I say racism, I mean like this.

That's quite specific about it.

But generally, I'll be using them interchangeably, but they are different.

Racism is an explicit or implicit belief or practice

that qualitatively distinguishes or values one race over other races.

So, in that definition, I'm thinking of race primarily.

I'll talk about this probably more next week when I talk about race a bit more.

Is that race is primarily in terms of physical features.

Racism is therefore making judgments based on physical features.

So, the focus of that particular definition is both the heart and behavior.

The heart that believes that one race is more valuable than another race

is a sinful heart and that sin is called racism.

The behavior that distinguishes one race is more valuable than another

is a sinful behavior and that sin is racism.

It is always wrong to treat a person with disrespect on the basis of their physical appearance.

That's it.

You know, always wrong.

No qualification to that at all.

Ethnicity is a little different.

It's a term that's used to stress the cultural rather than the physical aspects of group identity,

such as language, dress, food, customs, values, and sometimes religion.

The two are different, although they are connected.

Ethnocentricity is when I say my ethnic group is the most valuable ethnic group

and the way we do things is the way things ought to be done.

That is, I'm normal and you're not if you don't do it my way.

That's ethnocentricity.

So the two are different, racism and ethnocentricity, but they are connected.

Where it is always wrong to judge a person on their appearance,

I think we are biblically and morally bound to value some aspects of ethnicities

over other aspects of ethnicities.

And where that valuing is rooted in biblical teaching about good and evil,

that should not be called racism at that point.

There are aspects of every culture, such as mine,

which are sinful and need of gospel transformation.

Secondly, why I think this series is important for us.

I think it's important because Australia has always struggled with multiculturalism.

As a multicultural society, Australia on the one hand has been remarkably hospitable

towards migrants from different cultures,

although there have always throughout our history been outbreaks of racial prejudice

against the latest wave of migrants.

The traditional Australian attitude towards migrants from other cultures

and particularly people from different races

is that they have come here to become part of the Australian way of life.

And that therefore means that they should be assimilated as quickly as possible.

That's our thinking.

The Australian psyche is we live in the greatest country in the world,

apart from the United States, which says it's the greatest country in the world,

but we live in the greatest country in the world.

And if you want to come to be part of this country,

you're coming here to be part of the Australian way of life.

You know, we are so ethnocentric.

We don't even register that people might want to come to this country

because they're escaping a war-torn country, for instance,

and we just happen to be the closest one or the cheapest ticket or something like that.

It doesn't even come into our way of thinking.

We just think the Australian way of life,

that is why the whole world wants to live here.

And what that means in translation is that you are welcome,

we welcome you, providing that you are prepared to embrace the Australian way of life and its values,

providing that you make the learning of the English language the top priority when you come,

that you don't rob Australians of jobs or other opportunities like education.

That's been in the papers recently on the North Shore.

Providing that you leave all of your racial and cultural tensions behind

and don't import any sort of prejudices and conflict.

We've got enough of our own.

Providing that you are basically assimilated.

However, there is some tolerance for the preservation of harmless ethnical customs and behaviours.

We can put up with some things.

You are welcome, provided you import your food.

You are welcome that you do not lower the Australian standard of living

by imposing too much strain upon the urban infrastructure and upon the welfare system.

Therefore, assimilation is the key to a successful immigration program.

Migrants should become as invisible as possible, as quickly as possible.

We even had a term for it, the term new Australians.

It was in vogue back in the 1950s and 60s, new Australians.

And it implied that the goal of assimilation, of immigration, was assimilation.

That is, you are now Australian.

So dump all of your cultural heritage.

You're Australian now.

And so while we might be hospitable and welcoming,

we struggle to embrace and we significantly push back on any people group that comes here

and doesn't assimilate.

Why would you not want to assimilate?

We struggle with that concept.

I see traits of that general Australian attitude at St. Paul's.

When I first came to St. Paul's six and a while years ago,

I remember speaking to a number of long-termers who said,

the Chinese are taken over.

They didn't just mean Chatswood.

That had already happened.

They were referring to here at St. Paul's.

The Chinese are taken over St. Paul's.

And so I want us to be thinking about this issue for our holiness

and because our church obviously is living in a very diverse neighbourhood.

I think racial struggles are an ever-present issue

and I believe that we need to keep our finger on the pulse

in terms of racial harmony for the glory of God,

for the sake of the gospel of where we are.

Now, I don't think that it's an explicit discrimination.

As Sam just said, if you're a white person,

yeah, I'm not racist.

It's an implicit discrimination.

It's an inadvertent discrimination is what happens.

And so I want us to even be aware of that

so that we're a church that treasures Jesus together

for the joy of all people.

That's the last bit of our mission statement.

All people.

Thirdly, by way of orientation,

I don't think I'm the best person to speak on this topic.

I wrote our core values,

core values like treasuring Jesus together,

but I'm acutely aware of my own failure in this issue.

I grew up in a country town

dominated by white Australian rural culture.

There we had a few aboriginals that I engaged with at school.

There was the Greek family that owned the cafe

and the Chinese family that owned the restaurant,

the Chinese restaurant, that is.

And, you know, that's probably a little bit oversimplistic,

but you get the picture.

You know, I grew up in a monocultural place

as a camo-wearing, gun-totering.

You know, I've eaten the national emblems.

And, you know, I wouldn't exactly call me a redneck,

but maybe you would.

I, you know, I now wear, I wore a pink shirt this morning.

So, you know, so I think, you know,

but I've never, I've never worn a swastika armband.

I've never regarded myself as neo-Nazi or anything.

I never had a shaved head or anything like that.

I've never done that.

I've just been monocultural.

And so my way of doing things is the way of doing things.

That's where I was.

And so gradually, you know, being introduced

that there are more people in the world

than the 8,000 people in Narrabri

has been, you know, quite a big exposure of things

over the time.

And so my kids are growing up in a very different background

than what I grew up on.

But let me say that growing up where I did,

I grew up, when I look back on it now,

is I realized I was a racist through and through.

I still am.

Been working on it since 2005.

And I might get to that at one point

in this next four weeks, what happened in 2005.

And I grew up a racist, particularly towards Aboriginals.

That was the cultural group that we bucked against the most,

where I was.

You know, we didn't have many Greeks or Chinese,

so they, you know, didn't care.

But Aboriginals.

And when I think of the jokes that I told

and the demeaning way that I treated them

and spoke about them,

I don't really feel like I should be up here

saying this on this topic.

There are those amongst you,

and probably I would say more likely

amongst the younger generation

who have grown up like my kids will

in a very diverse kind of world

who are probably more advanced in your thinking,

in your practice,

in this than I am.

You know, let me just pause at that point.

This is sort of point number four,

but I'll make it point number three.

I, in the next bunch of weeks,

are going to say some wrong stuff.

I'm going to say some silly stuff.

I'm going to say some racist stuff,

and I'm not even aware of it.

Okay?

Just be aware of that.

It won't be deliberate.

It will be inadvertent,

because I'm learning in this stuff.

And so if you need to,

take a chill pill before you come to church.

Okay?

I'm going to say some stuff,

but for some of you,

you're going to go,

Steve, you've just gone too political.

And for some of you,

it's just like,

hang on a bit,

you haven't gone political enough.

You know,

affirmative action is what we need.

Let's,

for some of you,

I'm not going to be biblical enough.

Some of you,

I'm going to be too biblical.

Some of you,

I've just missed the point altogether.

Just, if you need to,

take a chill pill

before you come to church.

I'm not sure if that's an actual thing

that you can buy,

but you know the point.

The one thing I've got going for me

is that I'm the senior minister

of this church.

And when it's my burden,

as it is,

I can influence it

to become your burden.

And it is my burden.

I wrote,

Treasuring Jesus Together.

And that is my burden.

Fourthly,

this is a hot issue right now.

And I think that in terms of our wider society,

I mean,

the newspapers even this weekend,

I think that the Christian faith

has got something very significant to say

to our society on this issue,

although I'm not convinced

that they will listen to us,

the church.

Australia's Race Discrimination Commission

has said a couple of weeks ago

that this is the most volatile time

of the past 30 years

for racial tension in this country.

And I want to say

the Christian faith

has got a contribution to make.

In fact,

I want to say

the contribution to make

to this issue

in a secular society.

But I also acknowledge

that the institutional church

has an awful track record

in such a way

that no one

might in fact

want to listen to us.

I'll give you an example

of what I mean

by a great contribution

to the Christian faith.

The Christian faith

has got a great contribution to make.

W.H. Auden,

he was one of the most influential writers

of the 20th centuries

in the English-speaking world.

I want to clarify that

from my group.

20th century.

He was converted

from intellectual secular humanism

to Christianity in 1940

in one event.

He went to a movie theater

in Manhattan

where he saw a movie

produced by Hitler's Third Reich.

The movie followed

the Blitzkrieg through Poland

and it was a propaganda piece

by the Third Reich

of their great victory in Poland.

And in recounting the incident,

he said that there were

many German immigrants

who had come to the U.S.

sitting in the theater with him.

Now remember,

this is pre-the U.S.

being involved in World War II.

And so,

showing the movie

is probably neither here nor there

in some ways.

And he's sitting in the movie theater,

watching the movie,

and he says,

whenever a Polish person

was brought onto the screen,

normally carted around

by a Nazi German,

the audience would call out

in one voice,

kill him!

Kill him!

Kill him!

And Auden was so shocked

by the response

of these Germans

in this movie theater

that he walked out stunned.

And one question

ran through his mind.

What response

can my enlightened,

secular humanism

give to that evil?

To those who cry out

for the blood

of innocent man?

And what he saw

at that moment

was the bankruptcy

of his secular humanism,

and he began to sense

that the only answer

to this evil

can be found in God.

He was convicted

of God's holiness,

his own sinfulness,

and he became a Christian

in 1940,

not long after

that event.

And so here's a man

who sees an ethnic

hatred happening,

person to person,

ethnic hatred,

in such a way

they're wanting to kill.

And he gropes around

in his system of thought,

his system of secular

humanistic thought,

which leaves God

out of the picture

and puts all the answers

there in front of him

as a human being,

and thought of an,

to come up with

an explanation

as to how can you

deal with this evil,

how can you fix

this evil?

And he makes his way

away from secular humanism

to the Christian faith

because he said,

God's the only answer.

And having said that,

there are people

making the exact

opposite move

in the exact

opposite direction

because of the

awful track record

of the institutional

church on this issue.

They're making their way

into humanism

because they look

at the church

and go,

well,

they've got nothing

to contribute here.

It's nice to hear

the story of people

like Auden's move

into Christianity

as a solution

to racism,

and yet there are others

who are moving

away from it

because there have

been so many

professing Christians

Christians

and churches

who have long

held membership

in the church

and denominations

and the Ku Klux Klan

at exactly the same time.

That is,

the church

has a terrible

track record

in supporting racism,

and so what do you do

when you find stories

that give you comfort

that Christianity's

got something

to contribute?

In fact,

I want to say

the solution

to ethnic pride

and other stories

that show you

that Christianity

was part of the problem.

What you do

is you go to the Bible

and ask whether

they got Christianity

right

or whether,

on the other hand,

they got humanism

right

and Christianity

wrong.

And when I ask

those questions,

I don't see that

secular humanism

has got any answers

to this solution,

although I want to say

that secular humanism,

which is the dominant

philosophy of our culture

in which we live

here in Australia,

it has a bunch

of great aims.

It does want to see

people as equals.

It does want to promote

a selfless morality

and the equality

of all people.

It desires a more

humane society.

Secular humanism

is behind gay marriage

and the equality

of all people

and everyone have love.

That's secular humanism.

But I'm not convinced

that they can deliver

on what they want,

on a more equal humanity

when you embrace

at the same time

an atheistic evolutionary theory

that suggests

that humans came from

lower life forms.

It's not a big jump

when your foundational view

of the human race

is simply that we have

come from lower life forms.

It's not a big jump

from there into racism.

All you need to do

is to describe

all the differences

around the world

as well those people

are less evolved

than I am.

Those people have got

a little way to go.

They're somewhere partly

between monkeys and people.

That's all you need to do.

And that's exactly

what has happened

throughout history.

That's exactly

what Hitler did

with the Germans.

He was a great fan

of Friedrich Nietzsche.

So while I agree

with some of the outcomes,

I don't think

that secular humanism

has got the framework

that enables it

to deal with racism.

Having said that,

I go to the Bible

and I see a totally

different thing

than the version

of Christianity

that supports racism

and ethnic pride.

And so I think

we've got to be honest,

frankly,

right up for the front,

be honest about our history

as part of the institutional church

and say that

we have blown it

over and over

and over again

on this issue.

Almost every people group

has got a story to tell

of the failure

of the institutional church

and I don't think

we need to fight that.

I don't think

we should fight that.

I think all we need

to say is to say,

I know

and I'm sorry

not all those

who profess to be followers

of Jesus

are followers of Jesus

and those of us

who are followers of Jesus

like me

are so imperfect

that I'm going to blow it

again

and again

and again.

But can we please

at the very least

let the Bible

and Jesus

have its say here.

And so that's

what we're going to do

over the next five weeks.

That's all introduction

to the series.

So let's go to the Bible

and dig into it.

One more point

before I do that.

For those of you

who got your sermon

scorecards with you

and particularly waiting

for me to get to Jesus

I'm not going to get to Jesus

in a hurry tonight.

So just relax

put your scorecard down

or put it up.

I'm not going to get to Jesus

tonight

in any big way

but this is a five part series

and each bit's building

on the next bit.

Jesus is going to dominate

probably from next week onwards

he will dominate

but he's there

and all the framework's there.

Okay.

We're going to start

with creation

then look at the fall

then look at redemption

and then we're going to look

at the consummation

of all things.

The unfolding Bible story

we're going to look at how race

fits in with that.

Okay.

Let's get that clear.

Let's dive in.

We're going to begin today

with creation

and I will get to Jesus

eventually

but what we see today

is a very significant point

in dealing with racism

and ethnic pride.

First man and woman

created the image of God.

Genesis chapter 1

Genesis 1:27

verse 27.

Now in case you're thinking

I'm just starting my sermon now

just relax.

That was all

all the introductions

part of it.

Okay.

It's all part of it

and we're going to get there

real quick.

Okay.

God created man

in his own image

in the image of God

he created him

male and female

he created them.

That verse is utterly profound

and significant

and full of implications

on this issue

of racism

and ethnic pride.

Adam and Eve

were created

in the image of God.

Subsequent human beings

born from Adam and Eve

are also

in the image of God.

Genesis 5 verse 3

Genesis 5:3

says when Adam had lived

130 years

he had a son

in his own likeness

in his own image

and he named him Seth.

The words likeness

and image there

in Genesis 5

are the same two words

that are back there

in Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

The point is

the image of God

keeps going on

and on

and on

and on

and on.

The first pair

Adam and Eve

are not the only ones

in the image of God.

Those who come from them

are also

in the image of God

and the implication

is the unity

of the human race.

That's the implication.

Every human

that flows

from Adam and Eve

is created

in the image of God

and there is

no human

that doesn't flow

from Adam and Eve.

That's the biblical premise

right there

from the beginning

of the Bible

in Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

Now I don't want

to go into all the detail

of what it means

to be

in the image of God.

We could argue

till we are blue

in the face

about rationality

and morality

and free will

and all these other things

that would distinguish us

from the monkeys

and dogs and cats

and other stuff like that

and unfortunately

the Bible at this point

doesn't put a big footnote

underneath to say

just to clarify

what I mean

by the image of God.

Possibly

a better thing to do

rather than pick

one of these

wonderful human traits

is to say

that all of them

whatever they are

are designed

to image forth

God

in a way

that no other

created being can.

That's what it means.

We display

we image forth God

we mirror God

in a way

that no other

created thing can.

What that means is

being made in the image

of God

is not just a status

it's a mission.

It has a purpose

attached to it.

That is

for the glory of God.

Human traits

like God

that display

His glory

that's what they're there for.

And so rather than argue

about the details

let's take it

as a mission

to mirror God

to live in such a way

that when people

see us

they see a reflection

of the character

of the quality

of God

and that is

a huge calling.

The extreme

dignity

of human beings

above all

other creatures

is for the sake

of magnifying

the majesty

of God.

And I think

that's the point

of Psalm 8

which was read out

to us

right at the beginning

by Gary.

It begins with

O Lord

our Lord

how majestic

is your name

in all the earth.

And it ends

in the same way

in verse 9

O Lord

our Lord

how majestic

is your name

in all the earth.

God is majestic.

They're the bookends

of Psalm 8.

There's the beginning

there's the end.

That's what it's all about.

It's about

the majesty

of God.

And so it's interesting

about how the rest

of the Psalm

fits into

that theme.

You have set

your glory

above the heavens

from the lips

of children

and infants

you have

ordained praise

because of your enemies

to silence

the foe and the avenger

when I consider

your heavens

and the work

of your fingers

the moon

and the stars

which you have

set in place

what is man

that you are

mindful of him

the son of man

that you care

for him

and what's

the answer

to that question

in Psalm 8

you made him

a little lower

than the heavenly

beings

and crowned him

with glory

and honour

or a better

translation

you have crowned him

with glory

and majesty

and then the

psalmist

goes on

describing

the uniqueness

of man

you made him

ruler over

the works

of your hands

you put everything

under his feet

all flocks

and herds

and the beasts

of the field

the birds

of the air

the fish

of the sea

all that swim

the paths

of the seas

that's

the

mandate

from Genesis 1

coming out

there

to

created

and exercise

dominion

over the

created order

but the psalm

having described

the majesty

of man

the psalm

doesn't finish

with

oh Lord

how majestic

are people

he did say

that

a bit earlier

but that's not

the point

of the psalm

the psalm

ends with

oh Lord

our Lord

how majestic

is your name

in all the earth

the psalm

ends with

a point

of praise

to God

which means

the point

of our

subordinate

majesty

the majesty

that sits

under God's majesty

above all

the other creation

of the world

all the creatures

the fish

and the birds

the point

of it all

is for the praise

of the majesty

of God

that's why

we're made

in the image

of God

is for his

glory

and his majesty

his praise

which means

at the very least

that if you

demean

and belittle

anyone created

for that

end

you demean

God

you rupture

his purpose

for all people

creating his image

to show him

as majestic

and so

this creation

doctrine

of the image

of God

even apart

from redemption

in Jesus

has massive

implications

for example

the horror

of unjustly

destroying

or harming

another human

being

in Genesis

9-6

whoever sheds

the blood

of man

by man

shall his

blood be shed

for in

the image

of God

has God

made

man

there's a sermon

there in and of

itself

to do with

capital punishment

abortion

and euthanasia

all there

and the point

there is

taking the life

of another man

is not

to show you

how invaluable

a human life

is

is to put

the value

of human life

as

there's only

one thing

that can be done

for a person

who deliberately

takes the life

of another person

that is

for their life

to be taken

now

that's the principle

trying to work out

how to do it

justly

that's another matter

all together

I won't kind of

get into that bit

the image of God

has massive implications

for the way we speak

to another human being

James chapter 3

James 3 · chapter mention

with the tongue

we praise our Lord

and Father

and with it

we curse men

who have been made

in God's likeness

and he ends it there

with how can that be

you cannot speak

to another human being

like that

because of the image

of God

and both of those

arguments

are straight out

of creation

apart from

redemption

in Jesus

the image of God

has massive implications

for racial pride

and ethnocentricity

in Acts chapter 17

Acts 17 · chapter mention

which is read out to us

Paul makes

the common origins

of human beings

the ground

of equality

and the end

of ethnic arrogance

Paul is here

he's in Athens

he's speaking

to the Athenians

and they were

very very proud people

they had two classes

of people

the Athenians

and everyone else

they were all

barbarians

that's what they regarded

cavemen sort of stuff

you know barbarians

that was everyone else

everyone else

was lower

than what they were

and Paul gets

one sermon

to this group

and what does he say

to them

I'll pick it up

in verse 24

the God who made

the world

and everything in it

is the Lord

of heaven and earth

and does not live

in temples

made by hands

and he is not

served by human hands

as if he needed

anything

because he himself

gives all men

life and breath

and everything else

from one man

he made

every nation

of men

why does he say that

I mean he could have

said a thousand things

to him

why does he say this

from one man

he made every nation

of men

that they should

inhabit the whole earth

and he determined

the time set for them

and the exact places

where they should live

see what he's doing

Paul walks in here

to these Athenians

and he says

you Athenians

you think you're

so special

you think

that you

have got

some unique

origin

they thought

they popped

out of the soil

like carrots

they weren't

connected

to anyone else

you think

that the barbarians

are so

inferior to you

I got something

to tell you

you and the barbarians

are you hate

you've got

the same daddy

and God decides

where you're going

to end up

and God decides

how you're going

to look

and he's going

to decide

the way you're

going to talk

you're all connected

what's God's goal

in making all

this diversity

God did this

so that men

would seek him

and perhaps

reach out for him

and find him

just like

W.H. Auden did

though he is not

far from each

of us

for in him

we live

we move

and have our

being

and some

of our

own poets

have said

we are his

offspring

a glance

against the

claims of

racial superiority

Paul here

asserts the

unity of

all people

it is

fundamental

to his

theology

he's using

this theology

here to

undermine

pride

and arrogance

and segregation

and superiority

and oppression

and instead

to turn it

around

see the

common origins

of all

people

the unity

of all

people

and especially

the unity

of all

people

under God

God wants

all people

to be unified

in their

seeking of him

through the

Lord Jesus

so my point

today

is that the

Christian doctrine

of creation

itself

apart from

redemption

in Jesus

makes a

very significant

contribution

to dealing

with racism

and ethnic

pride

God

himself

this is what

we're going

to look at

more as we

go in the

weeks

God himself

affirms it

by coming

to his

creation

in the

person of

Jesus

Christ

the image

bearer of

the father

in such a way

that he says

you see me

you see God

he is the

image bearer

of the father

he goes to

the cross

to right

all of

our

wrongs

to bring us

together in

unity

but that's

for another

day

friends

for us

right now

really simply

the diversity

at St.

Paul's

is really

really obvious

there is

always a

threat that

this diversity

could fracture

us rather

than create

a marvellous

gospel unity

St.

Paul's

mission statement

says it

exists to

know Jesus

treasure Jesus

and represent

Jesus for

God's glory

and the joy

of all

people

the all

people

is deliberate

our mission

statement is

represented

visibly

in our

church

logo

it

represents

a racial

diversity

people from

every tribe

and language

and people

and nation

at all

different stages

of being

united together

around

Jesus

so we're

going to get

to Jesus

around

Jesus

that is

our mission

it's our

mission now

because that

is our

future

together

for all of

eternity

but that's

week five

let me pray

and

exactly

so we pray

we pray

we pat

remember

we pray

we pray

we pray

we had

our

我enti

rib