History In The Making: Race & Reconciliation

History In The Making: Racism & Reconciliation

May 31st, 2020/Nevei Kodesh Broadcast

Passage: Proverbs 31:8-9 MSG

“Speak up for the people who have no voice,

for the rights of all the down-and-outers.

Speak out for justice!

Stand up for the poor and destitute!”

Pray:

Story: My wife giving birth

I’m a proud dad to 5 little world changers. 14 months ago my youngest son was born at my home here in Boulder. I had the privilege of being present during the entire laboring process. During the aches and pains of my wife giving labor, it was important to me that I leaned in and stayed present and aware of her needs. I would often ask “is there anything you need?” or “is there anything I can do?” Granted, it didn’t seem like I did much, but my voice and presence in the moment made all the difference for her. There was one scary moment as I was catching baby Zion when his umbilical cord broke. I vividly remember becoming so afraid and looking at the midwives saying “OKAY, THIS IS YOUR TIME! THIS IS YOUR MOMENT!” Nothing meant more to my wife and I in that moment than the people that were on site, that we were paying to be there, examine the situation, use their skills, knowledge, and expertise to correct the situation. A life was on the line. What if they would have stood by and said “You’re overreacting.” or “Let’s just give it time and see what happens.” I would have lost my mind! Thankfully, we had an awesome team around us and they were able to solve the problem and baby Z didn’t have any negative effects as a result of the situation.

Connection: Can you imagine if during labor I decided to check out. Just decided that I had other more important priorities to attend to. Let’s imagine for a moment that I wasn’t really even sure she was in that much pain… “I’ll just wait till it’s over and then I’ll check back to see if it was really as bad as she said.” This is the unfortunate reality of our current climate in the world today. You see, I may not be able to physically experience the pain of childbirth, but I can hold her hand in the process and say “Is there anything you need? Is there anything I can do?” “I’m here for you.” Too many people right now are missing their moment to empathize with our black brothers and sisters that are hurting, broken, and angry! You may never understand… but it doesn’t mean you can’t get in close, listen, lend a hand, and say “Is there anything I can do.”

I’m not looking to bring the solution for every problem. I’m not saying that I have all the answers. I’m learning and striving towards growth as I hope you are as well, but what I do hope to do in our brief time together is create a conversation. If there’s something I say that is offensive, then I want you to ask yourself “Why am I so offended?” If I say something that sparks action then ask yourself “What is my role to play?” And let’s lean in to this conversation together.

Title: I Can’t Breathe

Big Idea:

Walk in The Way and be Agents Of Change

Main Points: Practical Steps To Becoming Agents Of Change

1. Start in the heart
   1. Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way. - Psalm 139:23-24 CSB
   2. “Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from my sight. Stop doing evil. 17 Learn to do what is good. Pursue justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.” - Isaiah 1:16-17 CSB
   3. “and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” - 2 Chronicles 7:14 CSB

   4. God first said that to Israel. The principle still stands: you cannot have reconciliation apart from repentance. Repentance is a prerequisite if we want to experience true and lasting reconciliation.

      1. “I’ve sinned. I’ve made a mistake. I’ve been in the wrong.”
      2. Question: What in your life right now do you need to repent of, so that you can experience reconciliation with our black brothers and sisters?
      3. “I’m sorry God for my silence.” “I’m sorry for taking the easy path.” “I recognize that I have allowed racism to creep into my thoughts.”

      4. Choosing to confess and repent is not taking the easy way out, it is confronting what is wrong on the inside so that you can effectively be an agent of change in the world around you!

         5. Repentance is not an apology, it is a change in direction

      5. If you want to change the world, change your direction. Change your thinking. Change your perspective. Change your attitude. Change your mindset. Change your heart!

      6. I’m not talking about a change that you are even capable of, I’m talking about a change that only God can do in and through you!

      7. When God starts to do a work in you then you start to see the world as He sees the world. Dignity for all people begins to grow in your heart, compassion for the voiceless swells up, equality for all nations, tribes, and tongues spring forth!

         6. Repentance brings an awareness of God’s grace on your life

      8. Where there was hate, now there is love. Where there was darkness, now there is light. Where there was exclusion, now there is acceptance. Where there was indifference, now there is compassion.

      9. God’s unconditional love and unmerited favor over your life brings about a new creation that sees different, acts different, and loves different. He then reveals The Way and makes you an agent of change!
      10. “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” - Romans 12:1-2 CSB

      11. Teach in the Home & House

          1. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31 The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself.” - Mark 12:30-31
          2. Home (The people under your roof)

      12. You are to teach your children that they are not objects of their environments or subject of tradition, but they are agents of change in a world that desperately needs their voice.

      13. Illust: On the way to school I always encourage my kids to look for the kids that are hurting and to have compassion on them. Look up! Don’t get stuck with your friend group, don’t shy away from standing up to bullies, don’t neglect the voiceless. Be the world changer God has called you to be! Stand up and show love!
      14. “Speak up for the people who have no voice, for the rights of all the down-and-outers. Speak out for justice! Stand up for the poor and destitute!”
      15. I would rather raise children that get in trouble for standing up for the broken, than children that are idle in the face of injustice!

      16. Next, you have to lead by example! Be what you want to see in your children. Demonstrate for them what it looks like to stand up and be loud in the midst of the brokenness around you! If you’re silent, they will be silent. If you roar, they will roar!

          3. House (The people in your church)

      17. Two words, dignity and equality

      18. I am unashamed in saying that it has been a prayer of mine and Jess since before moving to Boulder that Pinewood would be a multi-ethnic and multi-generational church. We don’t want a church of only one color! We want Pinewood to feel like Heaven, every nation, tribe, people and language (Revelation 7:9). We want the ultimate collab.
      19. I’ll also go on record to say that we not only want to be multi-ethnic, we NEED to be multi-ethnic. I need Gospel and soul up in this house!!! I want to clap on the 2 & 4 if you know what I’m saying!!
      20. As far back as I can remember as a child I’ve had a pull toward black gospel and hip hop. I grew up in North Carolina with Michael Jordan as a childhood idol.

      21. At Pinewood we see and celebrate color! We are not colorblind and neither is God. We celebrate the beauty in diversity. We don’t want to just see color, we want to create color in our worship, fellowship, preaching, and atmosphere.

          4. Question: How are you fostering dignity, diversity, and equality in your home and house?

      22. Invite people that are a different color than you into your home

      23. Call people that are a different color than you and learn
      24. Research different cultures and heritages than your own
      25. Study God’s Word and teach what God’s Word has to say about His love for the world

      26. Reconcile with the hurting

          1. I want to pause for a minute and draw a line in the sand. I believe that many people would agree with the first two points. Yes Pastor, I need to search my heart. Yes Pastor, I’m going to teach in my home and house. But then it stops there. WE THINK IT IS ENOUGH TO JUST NOT BE RACIST.

      27. “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” - Dr. King

      28. Revolution starts from the bottom. Reconciliation starts from the top.
          2. “Provide justice for the needy and the fatherless; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.” - Psalm 82:3
          3. “15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” - Romans 12:15
          4. Advocate for the voiceless
      29. Illust: Ryan getting bullied in the bike path
      30. Pastor, that’s not a fair illustration, that’s your son. Of course you would do that for your son. What then should we do for our brothers and sisters?
      31. I’ll say this, while I do not condone looting, rioting, or violence in any forms, I also can’t stand here and say that I fully understand how they feel or what they are going through.
      32. “A riot is the language of the unheard.” - Dr. MLK. If that is true, then what are we doing to make sure that those that feel unheard are heard loud and clear! If you’re going to be LOUD against looting, then let’s be found to be even LOUDER against all forms of racism!
      33. The same person that said the quote above also said “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” He got that from the Bible. “Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters… Do not repay anyone evil for evil.” - Romans 12:10 & 17
          5. Pursue justice
      34. Don’t stand on the sidelines, speak out, stand up, and get in the fight.
      35. “Speak up for the people who have no voice, for the rights of all the down-and-outers. Speak out for justice! Stand up for the poor and destitute!”
      36. Question: What is one way that you can pursue justice and be the generation that eradicates racism in our nation?

      37. Illust: We are not as far away removed as you might think…

          1. Great great grandfather - alive when the emancipation proclamation was signed in 1863
          2. Great grandfather - lived through the Jim Crow years
          3. Grandfather - was an adult in the civil rights movement (1954-1968)
          4. Father - born in 1955 at the beginning of the civil rights movement, when Jim Crow laws still kept most Black Southerners from voting.
          5. Me. We are one generation removed from horrific injustice! You’re telling me that you don’t view our current reality from a different lens?!
             6. Pray for peace

      38. God we need your wisdom

      39. God we need your courage
      40. God we need your grace
      41. God we need your guidance
      42. God we need your patience
      43. God we need your hope
      44. God we need your peace

Invitation:

• Jesus, I acknowledge that I need you
• I confess that I have sinned against you
• I believe that God raised you from the dead
• And right now, by faith, I say “Jesus is Lord”
• Thank you for forgiving me
• By your grace I am saved
• And by your power I am set free