(This sermon was preached at a Unity Workshop at the Sterling Blvd. Church of Christ in Sheffield, AL, held in September of 2000. The Sterling church is predominately African American; however, they have been moving toward becoming a more racially mixed church. Following this sermon, the leadership asked me to come to work with them as the Associate Minister. [ I am Caucasian] I began in January 2001. The work is going extremely well! Our senior minister is African American, I am Caucasian/Cherokee Indian, and our Hispanic minister is from Torreon, Mexico.)
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(Ephesians 2: 11-22 & II Corinthians 5: 14-21)
Good evening! I’d like to thank brother Ervin for asking me to be the first speaker in this Unity Workshop. It is always a privilege and a blessing to preach the Word of God - and I am especially privileged and blessed to do so tonight, in this particular forum. I’d also like to thank the good elders of this church, brothers Larry Brock, Ralph Adams, Chris Jones, Anthony Burns, and Fred Darthard, for having the foresight, and taking the initiative to host this event - an event which I believe is long overdue in our area - an event that I hope will be the first spark of a raging flame of change and progress for the cause of Christ and His kingdom.
If you have your copy of God’s Word, I encourage you, at this time, to turn with me to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the chapter is 2, verse number
11 through verse number 22.
Ephesians 2: 11-22 . . . "11* ¶ Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- 12* remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13* But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
14* ¶ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15* by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16* and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17* He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18* For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19* Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20* built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21* In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22* And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."
And so we see in our text, that Christ came to break down that middle wall of separation (represented by the wall in the temple that separated the court of Gentiles from the court of Israel.) The wall that was formed and solidified within the mind of each Jewish child from the time they were born until the day they were buried. And then we see that Christ proceeded to bring both Jew and Gentile together, creating from them ONE man, bringing them peace with God through the cross, and peace with one another - also through his blood, shed on the cross
So, he broke down that barrier put in place by the law - that for approximately 1,300 years, had separated Jew and Gentile. And by Christ’s death on the cross, he reconciled the two races, and made the two - one.
And from that moment on, Christ began to build - with the trowel of the truth, and the mortar of the mighty Holy Spirit - Christ began to build. Through the teaching of the apostles and prophets, he began to lay the human brick of all who would call on his name. Each brick purchased by blood and placed ever so carefully around that chief cornerstone as he built a holy dwelling place for God.
You see, my friends, in Jesus’ mission to seek and to save the lost of this world, he came to build a community of those saved people, and that community is called the church of Christ, the saved, the redeemed, the body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, the church of the Firstborn, and the family of God.
But before that body could be built, before that church could be constructed, the walls of separation that had stood between the Jews, and all the other races of the world, had to be broken down. The hostility had to cease, and the two had to become one. And then from that point on, a holy dwelling place would be built whose . . .
-Cornerstone is Christ.
-Foundation is the firm teaching of the apostles
and prophets.
-Structure is erected from the souls who were
saved.
So, essentially, a vital part of the mission of Christ was to bring about racial, ethnic, and cultural reconciliation. A coming together of those who for so many centuries had been separated. A unification of all of God’s creation - whether Jew or Gentile. A blending together of all who are in Christ. . . To show that in God’s eyes, all men truly are created equal and should treat each other accordingly.
And I believe that today, as ambassadors for Christ, we have a role, we have a duty, we have a responsibility, to carry on his work of reconciliation.
(II Corinthians 5: 14-21 says that explicitly). You see, the Bible teaches that we are fellow laborers, we are co-heirs, we are co-workers with Christ. And unless we work in agreement with, unless we work in accordance with, unless we have the same mind and walk the same walk (Philippians 2: 5-11, I John 2) - that Christ had . . . we will be working against, and in direct opposition to the work of Christ.
And my friends, I fear that the sad truth, in the world around us, and specifically in the church of the living God today - the sad truth is that our fathers before us, and many of us still today are perpetuating a problem that began in the earliest days of the church. With the trowel of distrust and the mortar of malice the holy dwelling place of God has been plagued with prejudice and division. With the stone of segregation and the I-beams of ignorance, God’s people have worked to rebuild those walls that Christ came to destroy. And that dwelling place of God that our text mentions has become marred, scarred, desecrated and charred by an ungodly evil called racial, ethnic, and cultural division.
It is a problem that has been perpetuated by all races cultures and ethnicity’s, certainly more strongly by one or the other at various times. It sickens me to think of what my own race has done over the last few centuries both in and out of the church. But all the blame for this division cannot be placed only upon one race or the other. All races must bear some of the blame because it really comes down to the attitude of each individual, regardless of race, culture or ethnicity. It is a problem that our society and our politicians have sought a social remedy for over the past forty years (or 140 years, or 400 years depending on how you look at it) - and there have been some successes and some victories.
But the sad truth remains that even with all the advances made in our society, the most segregated institution in America on any given Sunday morning, is still the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But I just know that somebody is thinking . . .
"Now brother Riley, it’s not that bad! We solved all those problems back in the sixties and seventies. We need to stay in our place and let them stay in their place. After all, they are happy. Why, a lot of those folks don’t want to mix either. And we certainly need to consider the possibility that if our churches mix, our children might start intermarrying."
Brothers and sisters, I believe our God sees that kind of attitude as a bleeding blight upon the Body of Christ. I believe he sees this sad situation as a seeping sore upon the upon the Bride of Christ. And I believe tonight that God is angry and I believe tonight, that he wants us to be angry with him. (Now hold on, it’s o.k. to be angry, but God doesn’t want us to sin in our our anger.)
You see, I believe tonight that our Holy and awesome God, who looks not upon the outward appearance but upon the heart, desires that we who call on his name turn our anger into action (regardless of race, culture, color or ethnicity). I believe tonight that our God wants us to take some definite, decisive, and deliberate steps to dismantle this division and destroy this disease that has plagued the body of Christ for so very long.
I believe that if we are to. . .
-Become that beautiful dwelling place that God
wishes to fill with his presence;
-Truly be joined together and become one, as the
scripture says,
-Win the world to Jesus Christ . . .
. . .we must put down our despicable tools of wall building, and pick up the tools of destruction. (Example of renovating a house) And we must begin, step by step and stone by stone, nail by nail, board by board, to tear down the walls of (racial, cultural, and ethnic) separation in the body of Christ!
You see, I believe that the time has come to quit talking about it and to start doing it. The time has come to stop talking about how wonderful it would be and to start taking steps toward being the true body of Christ, going into all the world, seeking and saving the lost, and letting Christ add them to his church.
In Ecclesiastes, the 3rd chapter, the inspired writer tells us that “there is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to up root, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build . . .” and my friends I do not believe we can build the kingdom of God in a way that is pleasing to him until we realize that now is the time to tear down, to break down, and to destroy these walls that stand between us. Because it is only after that takes place that we can build as God would have us to.
Now I know that some of you might be sitting there saying:
“Alright, fine, Brother Riley. You’re talkin’ a good talk. You’re all fired up. We’re all fired up, but how do we do it? How do we destroy the walls of racial division in the church? How do we break down the barriers? Some folks have been talking this stuff for years. What makes you any different?”
Well, I anticipated that you might ask such questions and make such remarks, so I want you to listen close to what I believe God is calling us to do.
I believe there are five tools that we must pick up and use in this remodeling project. Five tools that we must wield and use with zealous fury in an effort to tear down the walls of division
Five tools we must use for tearing down the walls. . .
1. We Must swing the hammer of hearing and heeding.
We need to hear what God has to say about these matters and heed his instructions.
"Galatians 3: 26* You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27* for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28* There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. "
Colossians 3: 8-14 . . . "8* ¶ But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. 9* Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10* and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11* Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12* ¶ Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13* Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14* And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
Brothers and sisters, God wants us all to listen to him and understand that race, culture, ethnicity, skin color, fat, skinny, rich, poor, educated, uneducated - these things don’t come into play in the body of Christ. Oh yeah, they exist, we all have our differences, but in Christ, those things fall by the wayside.
2. We Must strike the chisels of of conscience and character.
We need to honestly evaluate our personal feelings, attitudes, and beliefs in light of what God says. We need to listen to our conscience and ask ourselves some hard character questions.
Peter in Acts 10 (the sheet, Cornelius). Not that Peter’s avoidance of Gentiles was sinful under the old law.
-Am I racially prejudiced?
-Do I avoid relationships or even contact with people of other races?
-Am I willing to admit my faults concerning this problem?
-Am I willing to submit to the will of God concerning this problem?
3. We Must use the saw of schooling and sympathy.
We need to be schooled - or educated - discovering how others think and feel - and we must sympathize and more importantly Empathize with those who are not like ourselves.
1Co 9:22* "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."
Paul - all things to all men. We need to know about other cultures. I must know something about a person’s background and culture before I can effectively communicate with him. I must be willing to learn about other cultures, their history, their background, their struggles and their victories. We must become all things to all men.
4. We Must swing the axe of acquaintance and accountability.
Brothers and sisters we need to acquaint or educate others with what we’ve learned and then hold them accountable for their attitudes toward other races.
Acts 15 ( The apostles educated the people concerning this problem.) Many of Paul’s letters are educational regarding this matter. Galatians 2: 11-13 . . . Paul held Peter accountable for his sin.
"11* ¶ When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12* Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13* The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14* When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?"
5. We Must use the dynamite of discomfort and discontentment.
In other words, we need to step outside our comfort zones we need never remain content with the way things presently are.
By reaching out to our brethren of different races and enjoying the diversity of culture that God created, rather than judging one superior to the other.
By making our assemblies places where people of all races feel welcome and accepted.
By learning from our brethren of all races.
By coming together to seek and save the lost - because if we are to reach a diverse group, we must experience and embrace diversity. We must become all things to all men.
By going out of our way to support the ministry of someone who is of a different culture or race. In other words - when looking for a new preacher, associate minister, or youth minister, don’t always look for someone who looks like you.
By creating new ministries and ministry positions within your congregation that are focused on reaching all cultures other than the one that is predominant within your church family.
By announcing and attending the revivals and other events hosted by churches that don’t have the same ethnic or racial make-up at the one you attend.
By creating mergers between churches whose buildings are only a stone’s throw away from one another, but whose members don’t have the same color skin.
But where do we begin? How do we get started? Who’s going to make the first move?
Friends, I think the answer to that question is staring you in the face every morning when you brush your teeth. The answer is in the mirror. The answer is this: it begins with you, and it begins with me. Right here, right now. It starts with you, and it starts with me. We must make the first move.
(Some of the ideas and thought in this sermon were gleaned from the sermons of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Pastor J. David Hoke.)
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For more information about the multi-cultural focus of the Sterling Blvd. Church of Christ, please go to the following web-page: http://www.christianchronicle.org/0103/p06a1.html
You may call us at 256-381-5414, or email me at rileyturner@earthlink.net .
