The Church and Racism - Acts 10:27-36 - Skip Heitzig

Well, hello.

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Hey, would you turn in your Bibles to the Book of Acts, chapter 10, and get ready with me to go through a little section of this? You know, a couple weeks ago, it seemed like nothing would have been able to remove the coronavirus from being the most covered, number one item in the news cycle. But it's amazing what happens over a few weeks. A recent incident with George Floyd has dominated the reporting and the reactions to what happened with this young man, all the way from peaceful protests to violent reactions, including vandalism and looting and burning, and even murder.

Our nation is in chaos at this moment. And it was one thing to have a worldwide pandemic that affected people all over the globe and in our own country, and not only with the disease, but with fear. It's not only enough to have the economic freefall that accompanied that, but now our country is forced to come to terms with the long-standing issue of racism and injustice.

It has, in effect, torn the scab off of an old wound in this country. It is a wound that hasn't really healed. And that's what I want to talk about this weekend. I thought I would take the opportunity, like I have on a number of occasions when the times demand us to depart, and since we haven't started our series on 2020-- we're going to do that next week-- I thought this would be a good opportunity to address the issue.

Racism. What is it? Racism is the belief that one is superior to another based upon skin color. It is the antagonism directed toward another person based upon the idea that one's own race is superior. It could be something that is vocalized or joked about, but oftentimes, it is something that is not voiced, but it is fought, and it comes out in activities.

To say that this nation is divided would be a gross understatement. And I think the proof of that is just some of the feedback I've gotten on social media when I announced that I was going to do this. And I imagine that, right now, as I give this message, that I'm being judged by both sides, who some would fall on racism issue is always something that should be talked about, others who don't think it's a big deal and we should be talking about law enforcement issues and a number of other things. I feel like I'm in a lose-lose situation dealing with this topic at this time. But I am not going to take sides politically. I am going to take sides morally and spiritually and biblically. That's the side I'm going to take.

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Because the bottom line is it is wrong to take a life, brutally and without mercy, to kneel on the neck of a man for nine minutes until he dies. That is wrong. And it's also wrong to loot and kill and attack and riot, and to use that as an excuse of exacting justice, as the only way to get our message out. So I'm going to raise the conversation to a different level, to a higher level, to a biblical level, because the issue, as I see it, is not a skin issue as much as it's a sin issue. We're dealing with wrongs that have been done.

I'll be the first to admit, I do not have all the answers on this. I am a lone voice. I understand the issue is very complex. And that's why I asked somebody to help me this week understand it. So I got on a Zoom call with a friend of ours who is a pastor. He is a leader. He was a Marine, and served this country. He is a black leader in Virginia, Newport News, Virginia. He has spoken here before, Tony Clark. I did a few minutes with him, and I want to show you that conversation.

Let me just set it up in saying I'm on with Pastor Tony Clark. Tony, you're on the east coast. I sure appreciate you joining us. I think that you can speak to what's happening around the world, around the country, especially with George Floyd, in a way that nobody else can from the pastoral community, and you can educate myself and us as a church. So there's frustration that is mounting around the country.

Yeah.

And let me ask you this. What are you seeing in your own congregation? Because you serve a multi-ethnic, multicultural congregation in the east coast. Tell us.

Yeah. There's a lot of anger, a lot of frustration. And it is boiling over not only in the congregation, but it's boiling over in our city and all around. People have just lost it. My job is to bring them back to a biblical mindset and to understand both sides, that yes, I happen to be black, but I'm also a Christian and then I'm also a pastor. So I can bring a very unique perspective.

Do you find the issues that we're dealing with now unique to the black community, or does it spill over into brown-colored and other ethnic groups?

Well, it has always been in the black community. And the problem is that it's never stopped. You know, it's been going on from the beginning of when we were brought over here on slave ships to the present day. But the reason why it is heightened so much is because everyone has a phone now. Everyone has a camera. So now it is bringing out that which was once in the dark, or it is my word against your word, or is my word, the police officer, against your word, the criminal. But now, everyone has a phone.

Help frame this for us. Tell us what it's like, with that in mind, the history of our country, the history of the black man in our country, and help us understand what it's like to be you in different places that you have been in in our United States over your lifetime.

Well, you know, it's funny because I told a story not that long ago of my son. Tony Junior, he had to go to court. He was getting full custody of his daughter. He's a single dad, and he was getting full custody. And so my wife and I and my youngest son, we were waiting in the room, this room for the verdict. And so all of a sudden, Tony Junior's lawyer, who is white, he peeked out the door, and he went back and told Tony Junior, he said, oh, boy, we've got to watch ourselves. He said, there are some mean-looking thug black guys out there. They've got tattoos and they're thuggish.

And so Tony Junior peeked out the door, and he looked and said, I don't see any mean-looking thug guys with tattoos and stuff. He said, no, right there, right there. He said, sir, that's my dad and my brother. And so he didn't say, oh, I'm so sorry. No, he didn't say a word. He just went on. And sure, he was embarrassed, yes, but to him, we were big, thug-looking tough guys with mean looks on our face. And my youngest son does have tattoos, but that's how he saw us.

So a friend of mine said, he said, when I am in a car and a police officer comes up behind me, he said, I feel like he is on my side. I said, that's not how we feel in the black community. There are many of them that, when they see lights in their rearview mirror, they are terrified.

And so let me just explain this, Pastor Skip. Let me explain this. Many people, they have a misunderstanding of what Black Lives Matter is all about. Yes, it's been distorted in so many ways, but this is what it's all about. It's that when there is a black guy who is either handcuffed or shot or he's killed or the gun is unloaded on him in some kind of way, and then when you have that white kid who shot up the church in South Carolina, and they took him quietly in the car and took him by McDonald's and got him a Happy Meal to eat. And so he just finished shooting up and killing nine people in the church, but he gets a Happy Meal. A black guy gets stopped, and 9 out of 10, he might get killed. And so they were saying, don't our lives matter, too? That was the whole point of the Black Lives Matter. Our lives matter, too.

So let me drill down on that a little bit, because this whole slogan has become a bone of contention. And somebody will say Black Lives Matter, and then somebody will say all lives matter sort of to counteract that. And you're saying, no, but you're not really hearing what we're saying. It's more than that, right? And so drill down on what people are missing when they immediately go to the slogan all lives matter.

Yes, I'm so glad you said that, because that was a point that I definitely wanted to make sure that was talked about. When people-- people are saying that even now, all lives matter, the best way I heard it put is if you go to a breast cancer rally, and you go there yelling all cancer matters, that's the equivalent of black people being killed and you saying, well, all lives matter.

Well, you would never go to a breast cancer rally, saying, well, all cancer matters. Y'all just focusing on breast cancer. No, all-- that would be dumb. That would be a silly thing to say. And that's what's happening, because when you say all lives matter, you're discounting, number one-- there's two things-- number one, you're discounting what we're going through, you're not trying to understand, and number two-- here's the big one-- if all lives matter, then why aren't you out there protesting with the black people?

Yeah. If there's a house in my neighborhood burning down, and I go out there and say, all houses matter, that really isn't helping the issue of the burning house.

Oh, can I steal that? Because that is really good.

I stole that.

I like that, because that's exactly what it is for you to go by that house that's burning and say, well, all these homes matter. Well, but this one is on fire.

Right.

And so my son told me, he told me something as I was driving over here. I mean, it really rocked me because I had never heard anyone make the connection. You know, I definitely don't approve of the looting and the stealing and killing and craziness that's going on out there. I don't approve of any of that. But my son told me this. He said, look here. He said people are against black people protesting. He said, but no one is talking about how Jesus protested by overturning tables in the temple because they had turned his father's house into a house of merchandise instead of it being a house of prayer.

I don't hear no one talking about how Jesus protested what they were doing to his father's house when he overturned the tables in the temple. I said, Eric, I had never heard anyone make that connection. I had never heard that. I said, surely you're going to have people, oh, you know Jesus said it wasn't a sin what he did. What these people are doing out there is sinful. Well, yeah. The looting, we already admitted the looting, the killing, and all of that is definitely not right.

One thing that made Ezekiel such a wonderful prophet was that, in Ezekiel 3 verse 15, it said that Ezekiel sat where they sat. He was able to be in the midst of the captives, he understood being in captivity because he sat where they sat. And I think that there are a lot of white people that needs to follow what James 1:19 says, that every man be swift to hear, slow to speak.

And I think that there needs to be a slowness in speaking, and just try to sit where we sit and try to understand. Just like you said, I just want to talk so we can understand. And because of the wonderful platform God has you on, there are a lot of people who may see this who will begin to get it and say, I've never seen it that way. And this is the message that we are hoping that people will understand from our perspective. Try to put yourself in our shoes, which is hard, but try to put yourself in our shoes.

And no matter what, who I am, I will still get profiled based upon the look, the color of my skin. And I keep telling folks, they're making it about skin when it's really about sin. And that's the part that we keep missing. They keep focusing on skin when it's sin. And this is what we've got to get people to see. But before we can get people to see that, we've got to just allow them to understand where we are coming from.

So Tony, speak as a pastor to a pastor. Speak as a congregational leader, and one from the black community speaking to a white evangelical pastor. Now, our church has a wonderful blend of Hispanic and Native American, and there are just so many wonderful, beautiful people. And white. But speak to white evangelical pastors about how, in churches, we can create spaces for black and brown voices to be heard in a loving atmosphere, in a concerned atmosphere.

I think that, number one, doing what you're doing right now is definitely the first step. There are a lot of people of your ilk that has a platform where hundreds and thousands of people know who you are. And when you begin to say, hey, let's hear what they have to say, let's try to understand, that will go a long way because of the platform God has graciously allowed for you to have. And then begin to be proactive and say, OK, we're going to set up some small groups, and just with different people. And let's just try to hear each other and try to understand.

And whether people believe it or not, there is a such thing as white privilege. There are certain things that the white community has been afforded to be able to have and afford themselves to that a lot of blacks and other people around, even in the Hispanic community, have not had that sort of privilege. And so when you begin to voice and just say, hey, let's try to understand.

Look, what's going on with the black community is not right. And when you begin to use that powerful voice and platform that you have in order to speak against the injustice that a group of people in America has been going through, that will go a long way. But when people like you begin to say, well, all lives matter and all of that, then there are black people that say, OK, I already know that that's not a church I can ever go to.

So then take it a step further. How can we change?

Well, I think that one of the things that change can occur is by doing, like I said, what Ezekiel did. Ezekiel sat where they sat. And I will begin to surround myself with people that's from a different sort of ethnic background, and just have some candid conversations and say, hey, I've always felt this way, or I've never known that. Tell me a little bit about how you feel about that. And having those honest conversations. And now, you're sitting where they are sitting, and you begin to get a perspective that's not from the background you came from, but you get a perspective from people you have surrounded yourself with.

Good. So listen, I want to follow that up with a question in the prophet Micah 6:8, where he says love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. That's a biblical command. Opposed to that, it seems like, you have white people, even white Christian people, who want to get woke but not be biblical. You know, it's almost like the thing to do, rather than to have a real core change of value biblically. So speak to them.

I really think that you're right, that people want to become like the saying woke and all that sort of stuff. It's one thing to be woke. But then again, now that you're woke, now you need to now have the mind of Christ. And how would Christ deal with this situation? How would Christ handle this situation? And that's why I began to tell our church and say, hey, the Bible says that be angry and sin not. You know, don't let the sun go down on your anger, nor give place to the devil.

And then I began to tell them, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Just understand, nothing righteous is coming out of the explosion of your anger, which is what wrath is. And so now, it's our job to begin to guide them to have a biblical mindset, and also having sympathy and empathy for those who are trying to live out this Christianity and their skin maybe a little bit darker than yours.

And so my job and what I did was I tried to tell the folks, say look, my job is when you come here, I'm going to give you the mind of Christ through the word of God. It's just like Asaph said in Psalm 73. He said, "my foot almost slipped when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." He said, "but when I went into the sanctuary, that's why I saw therein." It's in the sanctuary that we see things from God's perspective and from a biblical perspective. So when they come into the sanctuary here, I'm going to give them thus saith the Lord.

Would you say that the evangelical church at this moment has a unique opportunity that, if we don't seize it, we could lose credibility?

You are 100% right. This can be our defining moment here because I think, if we don't handle this situation properly, I think even when the quote unquote church opens back up, there'll be a lot of people we'll lose, because now, what I've seen is a whole lot of white people that are protesting with blacks and saying, you know what, this is a new day. You know, my dad and my parents and my grandparents, they were racist, but I'm not this way. I'm kneeling with you. I'm protesting with you.

Is there a danger of the church remaining silent during the season of racial tension like we're in?

Yes. Yes, it is. You know, yes, it is, big-time. And because we used to say years ago, out in California, to be undecided is to be decided. And when people are silent, they are farming. And he said, no, I'm not a farmer, I'm just not decided. Well, to be undecided is to decide.

Tony, finally, last question. If you have an opportunity to speak to an individual believer who just is wondering what their next step should be-- OK, I want to listen, I want to sit in their place, but then what? Because this has been a divide for years. This is an issue that sort of we cycle through, and then we leave it and something else takes its place, and then we're reminded of it again, and then something else. So leave us with a last nugget of something that's more permanent.

Well, as I was saying that this is the church's finest moment, because see, racism is a sin. It's a sin in the heart. No amount of laws and no amount of protesting and looting and killing is going to ever bring back any of those people who died.

It's because it's a sin in the heart. You can't legislate righteousness, no matter how much-- even Josiah tried to. You can't legislate righteousness. It's a sin of the heart. And this is the church's finest moment, and the only thing that can change the heart is the gospel.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can change a person's heart. Jesus said that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And when Christ is in your heart, he changes your perspective. And so there are a lot of people who named the name of Christ and they did ungodly things. And so we're not going to give Christianity a black eye because ungodly people did ungodly things.

So it's the same way today. Man's hearts are evil, and they need the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we as Christians need to begin to live and love our fellow man, because he who hates his brother has not seen the light, First John tells us. So we need to share it and share the light of Jesus Christ and show empathy and sympathy towards those who are constantly being oppressed and suppressed.

Tony, you are a gifted pastor. You're a good friend. I love you dearly. You have sewn into our church on so many occasions such great Bible lessons. And I thank you for your partnership over the years. God bless you.

Amen.

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The name Clarence Herbert Woolston is not a name I suspect most of you know, but you know the song that he wrote at the late 1800s. He wrote a little song that has become famous. "Jesus loves the little children, all the little children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world."

Unfortunately, all the little children of the world don't feel equally loved. Some of them feel marginalized, sidelined, unheard. Well, I've asked you to turn to Acts chapter 10, and I want to look at a little text with you in our minutes remaining. Acts chapter 10 is essentially a story of racism that is overcome.

And it's about a man who was from a group that felt superior to other people. And I'm talking about a man named Peter-- that Peter. The one we know about in the Bible-- the apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter, the man who was overconfident. Peter, the man who denied Jesus-- who acted like he was a Power Ranger in the Garden of Gethsemane. Wanted to chop a guy's head off-- missed and got his ear. That Peter-- Mr. Impulsive.

Most of us would have fired Peter the first week. But what I love about God is how gracious and merciful he was to Peter in helping him along. Even at this point in the 10th chapter of the book of Acts Peter needs to have a conversion take place in his life. I think you'll see what I mean as we look at our text together. Look at Acts chapter 10, verse 24.

"And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, 'Stand up. I myself am also a man.'

And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. And he said to them, 'You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?'

So Cornelius said, 'Four days ago I was fasting until this hour. And at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you.'

So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God.' Then Peter opened his mouth and said, 'In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ-- He is Lord of all."

Using this text, I'd like to share with you four steps in dealing with racism-- four steps. And the first step is acknowledging the problem-- admitting and acknowledging that there is a problem. Notice Peter's own admission. In verse 28, he said to them, "You know how unlawful. It is for a Jewish man--" that is him-- "to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean."

That's quite an admission. It's like, you guys know that I shouldn't even be here, right? You guys know that as a Jewish man, I've always thought I'm better than you, right? I can't even hang with you. You know that. He's admitting it.

The Message translation is even clearer. It translates verse 28 this way. "You know, I'm sure that this is highly irregular. Jews just don't do this-- visit and relax with people of another race."

So Peter admits that he is a racist by his own religious tradition-- the Jewish tradition. Some of you probably know that by the time of the New Testament, Judaism had become very discriminatory. Prejudice dominated the mindset of the average Jewish person at the time of the New Testament. Basically, the Jews at this time divided the whole world into two groups-- them and us. Jews and non-Jews, Jews and Gentiles.

And there were all sorts of sayings-- rabbinical statements that are even written down and preserved of what the Jews thought about the Gentiles. One of them is that God created Gentiles to kindle the fires of hell. In other words, God wants to heat hell up even hotter to deal with bad people. So to do that, he created Gentiles to throw them in to make the flames hotter. That's the purpose they were made. So they looked down upon non-Jews.

Jewish people would not visit the home of a Gentile. Jewish people would not allow Gentiles to visit their homes. Strict rabbis-- Pharisees would hold their robes close to their bodies walking down the street, lest they brush up against a non-Jew and they'd get the cooties-- they'd get the COVID of the Gentile.

So they were very, very discriminatory. And they even believed that if they left Jewish territory and came back to Israel, that the dust was unhealthy and defiled in Gentile territory. And they said, we have to shake the dust off our feet so we don't defile our land.

If a Gentile milked a cow, a Jewish person could not consume, because it was touched-- the vessel touched by a Gentile. They had all sorts of sayings and ideas about this. So Peter, being Jewish, is getting a crash course in grace by God himself.

He had just had a vision-- we won't go through it, we don't have the time-- of a sheet let down from heaven previous to this. He is in Joppa. He sees the sheet. All sorts of four-footed animals-- non-kosher animals are on it. And God says, Peter, rise. Kill and eat.

And Peter being very compliant and docile, like he always is, said no way. Not so, Lord. I'd never touch anything common or unclean. God says, what I've cleansed, don't you call common or unclean. Now, this happened three times. And the Bible says, Peter wondered what the vision meant.

Now he is being shown what the vision meant. God is trying to destroy racial barriers that have been in the heart of Peter for a long time. People have been separated by this. The veil was torn in the temple when Jesus died on the cross, but the veil still in people's hearts was intact. And so it was with Peter. God is dealing with Peter right on this issue.

Having said that, I think it's time to acknowledge that some people in our country often feel unsafe-- often feel unheard. I think that we need to acknowledge this as part of our own history in our country. The enslavement of human beings, first of all on plantations early on. You say, well, that was so long ago. But let me help frame it for you.

By the year 1860, there were nearly four million slaves in these United States. What that means is one out of every seven Americans belonged to another-- was the property of another. One out of seven. And we also have to acknowledge, and I will as a church leader, that many churches at that time claimed God was on their side when they said slavery was OK.

In fact, three of the nation's leading Protestant denominations-- the Presbyterian Church, the Methodists, and the Baptists-- at that time were all divided over the issue of race and slavery. And that's because slavery, in many churches at the time, was not regarded as a sin. In fact, scriptures were quoted to support and justify slavery. Sermons were preached to justify slavery.

And the abolition movement-- the movement to put away slavery, to make all men equal-- the Emancipation Proclamation. Abolitionists weren't listened to by church leaders, because church leaders said abolition is a threat to our economy and to our culture as Americans. One abolitionist wrote this, and I quote. "There is no place where slavery finds a more secure abode than under the shadow of the sanctuary." In other words, the church is protecting the slave owner.

Now, listen. That was only 150 years ago. In terms of world history, that's very, very recent. And the struggle has continued. It did not end then.

Just back in 1968, the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, appointed by the President of the United States at the time, Lyndon Johnson-- it was called the Kerner Report-- concluded by saying, and I quote, "Our nation is moving towards two societies, one black, one white-- separate and unequal." "Segregation and poverty have created in the racial ghetto a destructive environment totally unknown to most white Americans."

Now, listen. Before you blame it on the South-- say, well, that was the Civil War and all those Southerners-- what you need to know is that before 1830, many of the strongest voices in the antislavery movement-- most of the leaders in the antislavery movement were from the South. So it's not just a local issue in that regard.

So acknowledging the problem is the first step. The second step is accepting redirection. Notice in the text in verse 28-- "Then he said to them, 'You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me--" please notice those words. "But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean."

You know we did a series a while back called, "But God." We didn't include this text. Perhaps we should have. But we'll do it now. "But God has shown me--" let's let God show us. Let's let God redirect us. Let's let God and his word change our thinking and reveal to us the place of every single person. You know what that place is? The image of God.

Genesis chapter 1, verse 26, "Let us make man in our image." That's what we were created to be-- image bearers. And to the extent that we do that is to the extent that we succeed or fail at our creative purpose. As we bear the image of God, as we show the true image of God, we are fulfilling our creative purpose-- or not.

Now, I'll grant you. Sin has marred that image. Sin through Adam and Eve has entered the universe, spread to all mankind-- it's certainly affected our outcome. And I've often used the analogy of a placid lake up in the mountains where you can see the reflection of the mountains and the trees and yourself. And it's calm, but if you throw one stone across that surface of the water, there's a ripple effect of distortion.

One sin caused a ripple effect so that the image of God is distorted in us. But though it is distorted, it is not completely absent. It's still there. It's not destroyed. Moreover, salvation should restore the image of God in us so that it's clearer, brighter, and undistorted.

So shouldn't a saved person be the closest thing to the image of God anywhere on the Earth? Does that make sense? A safe person, by the fact of redemption, should be so clear and so close to the original as God intended, than anywhere else on Earth.

And shouldn't that also follow by saying, the church should be known for loving the weakest, the most hated, the most marginalized of people? And isn't the value of coming to church to be redirected by God? Shouldn't we come in one way and say, but today, God has shown me this. Therefore, things change. That's the value-- accepting redirection.

Now, I know Martin Luther King had a dream, right? He said, "I have a dream." And you know that speech. Well, let's have a dream here. Let's imagine what it would be like if we lived in a world where everybody believed we are all created in the image of God. What if we understood that?

Would an employer ever take advantage of an employee again? Never. Would a man ever again abuse a woman? Would parents ever abuse a child? Would anyone ever be sold as a sex slave? Would anyone ever make a racist comment again-- an off-colored comment? Would anyone ever get on social media and spew out hate again, if we all believed we were in the image of God?

None of us would do that. Because if every human being is God's idea, and God didn't have any bad ideas, and every time God made something, including mankind, he said, it is good, then who are we to say it's bad? Because we're in the image of God.

Now, listen. If you're somebody who has felt the brunt of being marginalized and not heard and not understood, I want you to know, according to scripture, you have value just because you are created in God's image. You are not an accident. You are not a mass of protoplasm floating around in a universe for no reason. You are not a fortuitous occurrence of accidental circumstance.

You have a life that is planned by God. You are planned for a purpose. And whether you were conceived by a loving father and mother in that kind of a home, or you were conceived by a single mother, you are wanted by God.

[APPLAUSE]

Max Lucado said, "You were conceived by God before you were ever conceived by your parents. You were loved in heaven before you were loved on earth." Your value does not come from your race. Your value does not come from your income or your parentage. Your worth is not a result of your nationality or your education or your body weight.

Your significance is not because of your fashion or your hair color or your car or your neighborhood. Your importance is not derived from the number of followers on Instagram or Facebook or whatever social media platform. Your value, your worth, your significance come from your God.

Amen.

Amen.

[APPLAUSE]

So there's two steps in dealing with racism-- acknowledging the problem and accepting redirection. There's a third. It happened to Peter. Inviting a conversation. This struck me. And by the way, all these points come from the text. I didn't insert them. They emerged. That's expository preaching. You find what the text says.

Look at verse 29. Peter is talking. "Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent me?" Please notice that Peter does not launch into a monologue, but he opens up a dialogue.

He could have said, you know I'm Peter. I hung out with Jesus. You didn't. You don't know nothing. I know everything. Here it is. He said, why am I here? What is it exactly you are looking for? Why did you send for me? And he asked the question and he gets an answer, and then he continues and helps out.

I'll quote what you heard Tony Clark quote a minute ago-- what James said in his little epistle. "Everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to become angry." Now is not the time for irritation. Now is not the time for consternation. Now is the time for a conversation to find out what other people think like and are feeling.

And that's not easy for us, because we're used to giving out answers. We're not really good at asking questions. Because in this whole issue of racism, you've got some of us standing around wondering, I don't even get this. What's all the fuss about? I'm not a racist. What's the deal?

And then you've got others trying to change the subject, because you bring up racism and they go, yeah, but what about that issue? And then there's this issue and that and that. It's like, yeah, there's a lot of issues. But can we deal with one for just a minute? And highlight that? Is that wrong?

I understand this is a complex, not a one-sided issue, so it demands that people talk about it. Rather than formulating the answer before they finish the sentence, before you are thinking about your talking point, before they even put a period on the sentence, just listen. Just let it come out.

Just let them say what they need to say, and ask more questions. And then once you find out what the issue is, there will come a time that you and I need to act on it. We're always called to act on helping those who are oppressed or sidelined or marginalized.

You know Jesus gave a parable. We know the parable well. It's called the Parable of the Good Samaritan. And it ticked a lot of people off when he gave it, because he was talking about a Samaritan-- a man of a despised race, according to New Testament Jews.

And this Samaritan helped somebody who was violently attacked and abused, while nice religious folks walked on by and did absolutely nothing. And one of the grand points of that parable is that God's people-- Jesus's people, Jesus's followers, church people-- ought to help alleviate the cause of the oppressed. Jesus quoted the scripture, and he says, "I have come to heal, to bind up the brokenhearted-- to proclaim freedom, liberty to the captives. To set at liberty those who are oppressed."

That's what churches do in a society. That's not all that we do. Of course, we preach the gospel. But we show the gospel in our lives, as well as what we preach.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon said this. "A church which does not exist to do good in the slums and dens and kennels of the city is a church that has no reason to justify its longer existing. A church that does not exist to reclaim heathenism, to fight with evil, to destroy error, to put down falsehood, a church that does not exist to take the side of the poor, to denounce injustice and to hold up righteousness, is a church that has no right to be." End quote.

Jesus said to us, "You are the salt of the earth." That's a pretty lofty aspiration. "You are the salt of the earth." You are the ones I will put in a society to keep it from losing it-- from being totally corrupt. You will help preserve it. But, he said, "If the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?" We have a responsibility. And part of fixing that is to invite a conversation.

So three steps in dealing with racism-- acknowledge that there is a problem, accept redirection, and to invite a conversation. Fourth and finally, it's to do what Peter does here-- to renounce discrimination. Go down to verse 34.

"Then Peter opened his mouth--" this is one time he opened his mouth and it was good. "Peter opened his mouth and said, 'In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.'" Peter, you got an A on this test. You passed the exam. God shows no partiality. In other words, God has no favorites.

Peter's saying, you know, I just sort of figured this out. Think of that. In truth, I perceive that God didn't have any favorites. Duh. Dude, you just figured that out?

You were with Jesus when he said-- John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him--" whoever. Yeah, I'm just now figuring that out, because I just figured out that God has no favorites. He's not partial to anyone.

In the church, we understand something. We are, first and foremost, citizens of God's kingdom. Then, we are members of our race and of our neighborhood, our state, our family-- whatever it might be. But first and foremost, we are kingdom representatives. Which means, because of that higher level, there is absolutely no place for prejudice or bigotry in the life of a Christian.

And listen. I'm not naive. I know that there are many factors in this case-- the George Floyd case, including drug abuse, including previous crimes, including counterfeiting. I know that those are issues. I know that other groups with political agendas are trying to co-opt this issue.

I know that police officers are needed on the streets, and most police officers are honorable and just and fair and good. I know that not only is racial discrimination a sin-- so as rioting. So is looting. So is defacing property. So is killing others to get their attention.

And yes, I know that every single life matters. But I also know-- I also know we could care more. We could care more. You know who--

[APPLAUSE]

You know Mahatma Gandhi is, right? You know Gandhi, right? Mahatma Gandhi. So he was a lawyer practicing in South Africa. He's from the subcontinent of India. But he writes in his autobiography that as a young student, he was interested in the Bible. He read the Bible-- read the New Testament especially.

He was deeply touched by what he read, especially the Sermon on the Mount. And he was seriously considering converting to Christianity. He said he thought Christianity offered the real solution to the problem in India of the caste system-- the divisions within that system.

And so one Sunday, he decided, I'm going to go to church this Sunday. And I'm going to talk to the minister about converting to Christ and about other doctrinal issues. So he went to a church. But when he tried to enter the sanctuary-- when he tried to enter the sanctuary, ushers refused to seat him and suggested that he go and worship with his own people.

Now, imagine that. I'm going to church. I'm going to find out about Jesus. I'm going to convert to Christianity. You're not welcome here. Go and worship with your own kind. So he left, and he never went back to a church, ever again. And he wrote in his autobiography these words. "If Christians have caste differences, then I might as well remain a Hindu." And he remained a Hindu.

Several years ago, when segregation in the '60s was at a fervor pitch, a first grader on her first day of school-- her mom was all nervous about this. She went to school. Came back after school and said-- the mom said, well, how did it go today, honey?

And the little girl said, oh, Mother. You know what? A little black girl sat next to me. And mother got all nervous-- said, oh. What happened then? And the little girl said, well, we were both so scared that we held hands all day.

[LAUGHTER]

We need a little more of that. The world's a scary place. We need each other. "Jesus loves the little children of the world, red and yellow, black and white. They are precious in his sight. Jesus loves all the children of the world."

Yes, I know that only believers in Christ are true children of God. But by creation, we're all in the image of God. And we need to have the conversation of what it means as a believer and follower of Christ to care for people who are feeling unsafe and unheard and unwanted.

But I want to kind of flip the coin as we close. And if you'd allow me to, I want to pray for this issue and pray for us. But I also want to pray for police officers. Because you know what? They need our support and they need our prayers during this time.

[APPLAUSE]

And we can't just say, you know, all the-- they're all bad. We've got to get rid of them. No, we don't. We need to pray for them for wisdom and love and grace and mercy-- and more pay, frankly, because they're doing a-- it's a tough world out there.

So Father, as we close, we thank you that as a church, we can deal with an issue that everybody is dealing with. And the Bible does speak clearly in so many places on this issue. We're not here to justify one behavior over another or bring up a variety of issues all in one message.

We can't do that, but we can say what we saw here. We can acknowledge there is a problem. And we can ask you to reveal to us your truth that would just redirect-- reorient the way we think and talk and act and listen.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Speaking of that, we can talk to people and hear what they're saying-- what they're really saying, what they mean, what they feel. And even though we are believers who have the ultimate answers in Christ alone, we need to ask questions and hear their questions, like Peter did. But then at the end of the day, say no to prejudice, racism, and discrimination.

Father, finally I pray for our law enforcement personnel-- those people who have chosen to wear the uniform, to protect our cities, and they put their life on the line every day-- most of whom are good and wonderful and just and fair. We're all human beings. We all have short-sightedness or problems. But Father, we just pray your protection upon them.

And we pray you give them grace and wisdom during this time to, by their actions, quell rioting on the streets-- to put an end and not allow people who are angry, but frankly, selfish by the way they exercise their anger in defaming property and hurting other people as a response. Give us love and grace. Fill us, Lord, with a sense of compassion. And protect our officers on the streets.

In Jesus's name we pray. Amen. Let's all stand.

[APPLAUSE]