Elephant in the Room

The following is from a message I gave to our church on August 2nd. It was not what I had originally intended on preaching, but God has His own plans and I simply need to be obedient. This message came on the heels of two particular incidents in the news; the story of Professor Gates of Harvard and Sgt. Crowley of the Cambridge police force, and the story of the sixty black children in Northeast Philadelphia who were turned away from using a local swimming pool.

While I believe the incident with the professor and the police was blown out of proportion and the speculations of racism being bantered about were, for the most part, baseless accusations, it is hard to dismiss what happened to all of those children at the swimming pool as simply some error or fowl-up. But both of these recent issues, for right or wrong reasons, have brought the subjects of racism and prejudice to the surface.

It wasn't too long ago that a part of our country endured what was known as the Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow was the name given to a racial caste system that operated primarily, but not exclusively, in southern and border states between 1877 and the mid-1960's. Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-Black laws; it was a way of life for many. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status of second-class citizens. In essence, Jim Crow laws worked to legitimize anti-Black racism. At that time many Christian ministers and theologians in the area, much to our disgrace, taught that Whites were the chosen people, Blacks were a cursed race, and God supported racial segregation.

Living here in Georgia for the past two and a half years, I am constantly aware of the racial tension that exists just below the surface. It is the proverbial elephant in the room. Everyone knows it's there, but few, if anybody, wants to acknowledge it or talk about it. But as Christians we must talk about it, because the saying still holds true in a lot of churches, that Sunday morning is one of the most segregated times of the week.

I think it's important at this point to define some words. So often words get thrown about too loosely and they fall prey to misuse.
Racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capabilities and that racial differences produces an inherent superiority of a particular race.
Prejudice is an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, group, race, or their supposed characteristics. It is a preconceived judgment or opinion void of just or sufficient grounds or before sufficient knowledge.

Ecclesiastes 1:9b-10 says, "There is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, 'See this, it is new'? Already it has existed for ages."
Prejudice has been around since the beginning. Cain was hostile toward his own brother because of Abel's relationship with God. The history of mankind is the story of wars and hatred, murder and genocide, all because of some kind of racism or prejudice. It is a sin as old as history itself.

There is an interesting story told in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verses 25 to 37 that clearly illustrates prejudice and how Jesus dealt with it. It is the story of a conversation that takes place between a Jewish scribe (lawyer) and Jesus, and it all begins with a question posed by the lawyer to Jesus that was meant to test Jesus, to, if it were possible, trip Jesus up and make Him look less than who He said He was.

The question seems innocent enough; "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Well, as a lawyer of the day, this man was someone who was steeped in the law. He studied it every day. I guess you could say it was in one sense a professional student. You know the type. They study theories all their life but never seem to adequately transfer all of that head knowledge to the practical, day to day life. So Jesus, knowing this lawyer to be one who knew the law, answered his question with a question of His own; "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?"

The answer the lawyer gives would not have been the typical answer from your average scribe of the day. You see, Jesus was the one who first married these two passages of the Law together and elevated them as one (see Mark 12:31-33). One gets the feeling that if he was not the same lawyer that asked Jesus the question in Mark, then he at least was in earshot of the conversation, since his reply reiterates what Jesus said.

You would think that the conversation would end after Jesus' reply in verse 28; "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live." Simple. Done. End of conversation. No...not quite. It seems that the lawyer wanted to define the terms in a way that would justify himself. The word justify used here means to correct, to show to be righteous or right. It's a need or want to qualify oneself so as to be released from any guilt or wrong. The ironic thing about this is that the only way to truly receive this kind of justice was standing right in front of him.

So the lawyer probes further, as any good lawyer I suppose would do. "And who is my neighbor?" I think the lawyer was looking for a way to minimize his obedience in order to cover his bases, but Jesus is looking for nothing less than absolute obedience. You see, this scribe was a member of an elite, educated class. He wasn't like those "other" people. Perhaps he placed himself in a position above most other people, which put him in a place of judging others. Sounds like a case of prejudice to me, and Jesus wants to expose it for what it is.

Jesus answers his question by telling an illustrative story. The story has four prominent characters. There is the man who gets gets beat and robbed and left for dead. I think it is interesting that Jesus purposely does not identify this man by placing him in any particular class, race or status; he's simply a man on a journey. The robbers leave the man for dead along the road.

The first person in Jesus' story who encounters the man is "a certain priest." Priests were very special people. They served in the Temple and also instructed the people how they should live in keeping with the Law. They were to be living examples to the people of godliness and right living before a Holy God. He would have been a member of an elite religious class. You would think that out of loving compassion for his fellow man that the priest would have immediately stopped and attended to the needs of the man. But he does not. Instead, as Jesus tells it, "he passed by on the other side."

The lawyer would have instantly identified with the priest because he was a member of an elite religious class as well. I'm sure the lawyer was thinking that the priest had some legitimate reason for doing what he did by avoiding the man. Then Jesus introduces a Levite into the story as well. The Levites were descendants of the Levitical priests, and they worked alongside the priests of Jesus' day in a variety of capacities, making them part of a unique class of people as well. They had social status in the community. And yet the result is the same; "and saw him, passed by on the other side."

So far so good for the scribe. But now Jesus introduces another character to the story, but this time it is a person that is utterly despised by the scribes, priests, and Levites, and most Jews of the day. It's a Samaritan. Why the deep seeded hatred and prejudice toward Samaritans? Well, during the time when the northern kingdom was defeated and the people were exiled to Assyria by the Assyrians, King Sargon of Assyria repopulated the area known as Samaria with not only the captives from the northern kingdom of the Jews, but also captives from other lands as well. Consequently, the people intermarried, making the Samaritan Jews in the eyes of the other Jews to the south "defiled." They were no longer "pure" Jews. They were a tainted race.

Notice the Samaritan's response to the half-dead man in the road. he doesn't turn aside, but instead, sees the man and immediately has compassion for him and his plight. He does not judge the man based on his looks or current situation. He simply sees a fellow human being in dire need and stops to help him. And help him he does, going to great lengths to see that he is well taken care of until he is restored again. What a contrast to the ones who were so steeped in what they thought was right but failed to meet the most important part of God's Law, love. Not a simple brotherly kind of love, but a God kind of love; a compassionate love that goes beyond race, color, social status, or the accepted "norms" of the culture. it is a love that is utterly blind to the prejudices of our world.

Well, after telling the story Jesus asks the lawyer, "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?" The answer seems so obvious to us, the readers. But notice that the scribe cannot even bring himself to say the word "Samaritan." All he could say was "The one who showed mercy toward him." The lawyer had fallen prey to his own trap. Jesus nailed his prejudice on the wall for all to see.

Jesus finished his discussion with the lawyer with this admonition: "Go and do the same." We are to be just like the Samaritan, who overlooked any so-called differences and reached out with real God-like love. This is what is meant when it is said,"Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8b). The love that we have all received from God is so rich and undeserved. One of the word pictures used of His love is of someone who stoops down to us. How undeserving we are of such amazing love, yet God lavishes it upon us anyway. He calls all of us to have that same kind of love toward others. 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 speaks of the supremacy of love and Jesus' prayer for us in John 17_19-23 calls us all to be united in this amazing love.

The recent stories that hint at prejudice and racism and the prejudice that exists right below the surface (the elephant in the room) should serve as a clarion call to Christ's church to rise above it all and to show forth a love for all of God's people. It's time for the church to go forth and show the world what real love is; the kind of love that rises above the racism and prejudices of society.

Just a few final thoughts and references. James 2:8-9 calls partiality, or prejudice, what it is at it's root; sin. Romans 13:8-10 admonishes us to walk out this love of neighbor in our daily lives, and Galatians 5:14-16 tells us that the only way we are able to do this, to go against the tide of this world, is by walking in the power of God's Spirit that resides in all of His children.

I'm reminded of an older Christian song: We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord...And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. And they'll know we are Christians by our love. How about this one: Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. Selah.