Charlottesville and the Church

Charlottesville and the Church
Our nation has a scab, not a scar. A scar is a sign of a wound that has been healed. Racial injustice is NOT a scar in America, it is a scab that has been reopened again and again, and today it is a gaping expansive wound. Time won’t heal it. “Can’t we just get past this” kind of talk presupposes that time will heal festering wounds.
Time doesn’t reconcile. Repentance does. 
Time doesn’t bring atonement. Forgiveness does.

So what are we, God’s people, called to during these days?
Called to clarity. Our message can be clear because God’s message is clear! The scriptures are clear. God is not tribal, parochial, or nationalistic. From Genesis’ creation of all people in the image of God to Revelation’s consummation where God will gather up his own people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. The kingdom of God (come and coming) is the most unsegregated reality in the cosmos. When the church moves toward segregation or nationalism or favoritism, the Holy Spirit frustrates those futile plans!
There is no making peace with anything that is opposed to the agenda of God. We don’t make peace with something heinously opposed to his heart. There is no meeting half way with those who would take human life at any stage, buy and sell human beings, pervert God’s plan for sexuality, or anything else that rebels against God’s revelation. This also applies to the sinful racist demonstrations we witnessed at the end of last week. Supremacist teachings, beliefs, and actions are wholly inconsistent with the heart of God. The clear call of Jesus to all sinners in any rebellion (including racists) is, “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1.15).

Called to get real. Jeremiah warns leaders not to treat wounds lightly, or to “dress it as if it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace’ they say when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 8.11). Those of us who are white have enjoyed benefits that have not been shared by all. I suppose this is the simple definition of privilege. There are a few ways we can respond.
Denial has been one of my favorites. Then my white friends in the middle of Minnesota adopted kids that looked different than them. I can’t live in denial anymore.
Another response is paralyzing guilt. This is unproductive, and it is not God’s way to harness guilt to foster paralysis.
Another response is blame. “Why should I be held responsible for the sins of my ancestors?” Again, time will not absolve our ancestral sins.
So how do we get real? First, as painful as it might be, we embrace reality and reject denial.   To embrace reality, we must have an open stance. We must meet. We must listen. We must learn. We must weep. We must be curious. Second, we must repent. We repent of our own racist views and actions. We repent of our excuses and our silence. We repent of taking advantage of the system, even if we did it unknowingly or unintentionally. Third, we learn from Daniel and Nehemiah and we confess our own sins and the sins of our fathers and mothers. Because those ancient sin’s consequences run down and bring ruin to our day, we make a clean confession of them. Fourth, we speak up or show up. We put our money where our mouth is. Let our deeds adorn our creeds. There is a time to be silent and a time to speak (Ecclesiastes 3). The time for silence has passed when our silence speaks something we do not believe. There are far too many people in our country who believe that the church of Jesus Christ is indifferent about racial injustice (or worse). Our witness is a stake here. The time for silence is passed. We call a thing what it is. Denial, paralyzing guilt, blame, and silence are making our national wound worse. Let’s try the biblical resources of honesty, repentance, confession, and speaking up.

Called to prayer. On our own, and together, let's commit to pray for our nation, her leaders, and for a realization of her great promise, “liberty and justice for all.” We have called for a day of prayer on September 11th. It is called “Cry Out, America.” From 6 am to 6:30 pm the sanctuary will be open for prayer. There is a sign up in the breezeway on Sundays to sign up for 1/2 hour increments during those hours. At 6:30 pm everyone is invited to a prayer meeting to lift one voice to our gracious God.