Rev. David Holwick B First Baptist Church Ledgewood, New Jersey January 15, 2017 Acts 6:1-5 CAN IT CHANGE? I. What runs in your family? A. Two generations ago... 1) Our small family. a) Both of my parents were only children. b) My mother was estranged from her father so we only had contact with my dad's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Holwick. 2) Photos of Grandpa Holwick. a) He grew up in southern Illinois. 1> The 1920s and 30s were a different time. 2> Going through a photo album with him, I saw a photo of him in blackface at a minstrel show. 3> "You can't do that anymore," he told me with disgust. b) Grandpa worked for the Illinois Central Railroad. 1> It ran from Chicago to New Orleans. A> Famous 1972 Arlo Guthrie song, "The City of New Orleans," is about an ICR train. B> Some of the lyrics go: "All along the southbound odyssey - the train pulls out of Kankakee And rolls along past houses, farms, and fields Passing trains that have no name, and freight yards full of old black men." [1] 2> Grandpa didn't have a problem with black porters on trains - as long as they knew their place. A> Blacks could serve, but they couldn't lead. B> Any time they got "uppity" he would be enraged. 3) Outburst at a restaurant. a) It was an event that stood out in my young mind. b) A black man was having a good time and smoking a cigar. b) Grandpa looked like he wanted to throw him out of the restaurant. Grandma hustled grandpa out of there before he could cause a scene. 4) Grandpa attended Chicago's First Presbyterian Church. a) The church voted to accept black members in 1953. b) Grandpa Holwick never returned. [2] B. One generation ago... 1) My father, William Bruce Holwick, was very accepting of other races. a) He taught us to judge people by their character. b) When we watched news reports on racial riots and protests, he told us about both sides of the issue. 2) He had black subordinates he treated with respect. 3) He served under one of the first black generals, and spoke highly of him. 4) Dad loved his father very much, but was very critical of grandpa's attitudes on race. C. We live in a time of racial turmoil. 1) Of course, in America this has been true for 300 years. a) We have had a very brutal form of slavery, and we have also had a black President. b) We have great disparity between races in income, education, incarceration, but we also have opportunities available for all people. 2) It is not a one-sided debate. a) Every side has valid issues and shortcomings. 1> Black Lives Matter - have some blacks been treated unfairly by police? Absolutely. 2> Has attacking policeman made the situation better? Absolutely not. A> Chicago now has more murders than Los Angeles and New York combined. B> Most of the victims have been young black men. b) Consider the hit movie "Straight Outta Compton." In one scene members of a black rap group are thrown down on the sidewalk by harassing policemen. The young men are indignant, and so is their white manager. Several scenes later, they are carousing in a hotel room with drugs, women and automatic weapons. A man comes looking for his girlfriend and they all pull their guns on him. Would they have been indignant if the police had showed up then? c) The issue is not just black/white. 1> Our world is divided in many ways - by race, religion, class. D. Christians have a big stake in this issue. 1) The good news of Jesus strikes to the heart of it. 2) I would like to share some thoughts, borrowing from Rev. Rick Warren. II. Race is God's idea. A. The Bible says God divided people into groups. 1) Some were larger than others, and some had more power. 2) Abuse between groups is nothing new. In the Bible alone: a) Jews limited Canaanites to being servants. b) Jews in the south fought Jews in the north, and identified them by their accents. c) In Jesus' day, Samaritans wouldn't have dealings with Jews. d) Among the early Christians, Hebrew-speaking believers looked down on Greek-speaking Christians and treated them unfairly. B. The Bible also says God's ultimate goal is unity. 1) God wants to bring all people together. 2) Abraham's mandate - Genesis 12:3: "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you." 3) Jesus's mandate - Ephesians 2:14: Speaking of the division of Jews and Gentiles, Paul says: "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility." III. There are seven different attitudes towards racism. #65506 A. Racists. 1) Racists are the worst of all. 2) They hate another race or bully another race or discriminate against another race. 3) God doesn't tolerate this. B. Bigots. 1) Bigots are just slightly better than the racists because they don't actively bully or hurt people. 2) However, racists believe stereotypes about a particular race, and belittle other people. a) I am torn as to whether my grandfather was a racist or a bigot. Probably he was in-between. C. Avoiders. 1) Avoiders don't hate, but they are uncomfortable around people who aren't like them. 2) Avoiders just hide in their own group. D. Insensitives. 1) They don't actively hurt others, but are insensitive to what is hurting others. 2) They may have friends of other races, but they are blind to what may be hurting their friends. a) It is not up to us to decide what hurts others, they determine that for themselves. E. Apathetics. 1) They are people who just don't care about racism. 2) But a follower of Jesus Christ has to care. F. The sensitive. 1) This is a positive approach. 2) They are kind and inclusive of other races and religions. 3) This is a good attitude but not the best. G. Reconcilers. 1) God wants us to be reconcilers. a) Reconcilers are active bridge builders. b) They reflect biblical values in how they treat others. 2) All Christians are given this ministry. a) Matthew 5:9 - "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." b) 2 Corinthians 5:18 - "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." 3) Not harming is not enough -- make a positive difference. IV. The fascinating case of Acts 6. A. The environment. 1) The church was centered in Jerusalem but expanding rapidly. a) Different ethnic groups were coming in. b) All were Jewish, but some had grown up in Israel and others came from other countries. 1> It's like native-born New Jerseyans vs. transplants. 2> How many of you are which? 2) New Christians brought in old prejudices. a) The Hebrew-speaking believers probably saw themselves as superior. B. The issue. 1) The Christians had a special heart to care for the needy. a) They inherited this from Judaism -- widows are a special category of need in the Old Testament. b) The early Christians had a food program for them. 1> It was probably much like our Meals-On-Wheels. 2) The Greek-background believers felt slighted. a) Notice that it is not just the widows complaining, but the others in their group. b) "We are being treated differently, and worse!" C. The resolution. 1) They did not ignore the complaints, but came up with a positive way to resolve it. 2) A new distribution system was set up, and the group that felt slighted was put in charge. a) Note that all the deacons have Greek names. b) I think it is important to see that reconciliation is not just a personal action but a group action. 1> People with hearts changed by Jesus can still be part of a bad system. 2> Change your heart, and the system. V. How do you deal with your own racism? A. We must see people as God does. 1) 1 Samuel 16:7, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 2) As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, we should look at the "content of their character." B. We must change the way we listen. 1) We have to listen to everyone with respect. 2) Prejudice is a result of our failure to listen to people. 3) And it is not just one side that needs to listen. We all do. C. We must love everybody the way Jesus does. 1) John 15:12 -- Jesus says, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." 2) How well are you loving? a) Recognize your prejudices. b) Contemplate what your attitudes and actions should be if you are a genuine Christian. c) Do something about it. The ringing phone woke Johnny Lee Clary in the middle of the night. A voice on the other end threatened, "I want you to know I am in town and I'm going to murder you. You will die before the end of this weekend. I'm giving you a couple of days notice, because you are never going to see it coming. I want you to sweat and be afraid and wonder when the bullet is coming. But rest assured, it is coming." Clary laughed at the man, which made the caller mad. Clary told him, "If you were going to rob a bank, would you call 20 minutes before and tell them what you were going to do? Now you know I'm going to be ready for you." The caller repeated that Clary should be afraid. "I'm not afraid because God has not given me the spirit of fear, but the power of love and a sound mind. You think you're going to scare me by sending me to heaven? That is one of the most stupid things I've heard, because if you put a bullet in me, I get to walk the streets of glory, but you get to burn in hell for eternity where there will be fire, brimstone, weeping and gnashing of teeth." With that, the caller hung up. It helps to understand that Johnny Lee Clary is a former Imperial Wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. But he repudiated the Klan, rededicated his life to God and is now a leader in speaking out against racism, The Klan calls him a race traitor and continually sends him death threats. Some of Clary's opponents even show up at his meetings, usually sitting in the back trying to stare him down. During one of Clary's meetings in England, three neo-Nazis came in the back door, clicked their heels together and put their hands up in the Hitler salute. Immediately the ushers started toward the men and the Nazis went into a fighting stance. Clary told the ushers to leave the three alone and he invited the Nazis to stay if they behaved themselves. As they stood there with folded arms, Clary continued sharing, and when he gave the invitation, all three of them came to the altar. Everyone was concerned about what they were going to do, but they took their caps off, bowed their heads, said a prayer and gave their lives to Christ. Johnny Lee Clary used to preach hate. Now he travels around the world to promote racial reconciliation. That is what God can do to a person. #12543
========================================================================= SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON: 1. “The City of New Orleans,” written by Steve Goodman, 1971. It was recorded by Arlo Guthrie in 1972. 2. My father shared this with me the year before he died. He may have remembered the name of the church incorrectly, but First Presbyterian is on Chicago’s South Shore, where my grandparents lived. #12543 “A Racist Becomes A Messenger of Reconciliation,” by Dana Williamson, Baptist Press, February 7, 2003; <http://www.baptistpress.org>. #65506 “Rick Warren: Seven Different Attitudes On Racism,” Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post contributor, June 24, 2016; <link>. Sections II and III are largely derived from his message. These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html ========================================================================= |
