Building Boldness- A Sermon for Anti-Racism Sunday, July 5, 2015
Acts 4:23-37
23After they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, 25it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant: ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? 26The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers have gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’ 27For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 28to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, 30while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.
************************************************************************************************************
Let me set the stage for today’s text for those of you who have not been following our series in the book of Acts. In Chapter 3, we saw Peter and John heal the man who had been lame for 40 years- from birth- and this, of course caused quite a spectacle. Once people on the temple steps recognized what had happened they gathered like bees to honey- and Peter does what any good church leader does when he sees a crowd gather- he starts to preach.
And he tells the people, “Look, do you think WE did anything to heal this man? It wasn’t through us that he was healed, but through Jesus… the one who you killed, but who death couldn’t keep locked up and was raised on the third day. So now repent, so that good times of refreshment can come to you!” (I love that… I want good times of refreshment too!) And Peter’s sermon continues until the end of Chapter 3 (he must have been Baptist), but by the beginning of chapter 4, the Sadducees, like any other people in power, don’t like having their authority challenged. Frankly, they saw in Peter and John a power that they couldn’t understand- so they arrest Peter and John and keep them behind bars for the night.
In the morning, they have sort of a hearing, and they ask, “OK- we want the truth- no tricks -how’d you make the guy walk?” And Peter says “Are we being kept in jail for healing someone?” And they told them about the healing power of Christ; and used Jewish scripture to do it… but of course as learned church folk, they don’t get it. They see Peter and John as just plain everyday guys. But the text says they saw the BOLDNESS within them- and that made them amazed- and then they recognized them as friends of Jesus.
So the leaders talk amongst themselves and they don’t know how to punish them (yet) so they warn them not to do this again, and let them go. And that’s where we pick up today’s passage.
Peter and John go back to the other disciples and they start talking- because what’s just happened is that they realize for the first time, as anyone does who has ever spoken truth to power, that this stuff could get dangerous. Sure, they had seen what happened to Jesus, their leader, but now this was personal- when we stand up for what’s right- and we seek to bring healing- people don’t often applaud our actions. The apostles were beginning to find out what it feels like to go against the systems of power, and it was scary stuff.
Now, I don’t know about you, but usually when I get scared, I do what Peter and John do in this passage- I pray. But usually my prayer sounds like this: ‘Oh my God!!! Thank you for bringing me out of that! Thank you for keeping me safe! Amen.’ And then I can go on about my business- usually involving some type of self medication including but not limited to ice cream… ‘There, I feel better.’
But Peter and John’s prayer sounded nothing like that. Instead they pray for boldness! They want to do it again! They want to build more boldness, they want to keep speaking out, they want to keep bucking the system, keep chipping away at injustice; and they want courage to withstand the punishment that is sure to come with it, because maybe this time the officials couldn’t decide how to punish them, but we know that it doesn’t take long for those who are threatened, to figure it out, amen? People in power always find a way to keep voices of freedom silenced.
Today is Freedom from Racism Sunday. It’s also the weekend when we celebrate our independence as a nation. Yesterday I was watching the HBO series, John Adams, and was intrigued as he and the authors of the Declaration of Independence argue about whether or not it should include a clause abolishing slavery. Jefferson had written it in the original version, and some people fought hard for it to stay in the text, but in the end, the Declaration of Independence… our nation’s founding document, couldn’t get accepted/passed as long as it was antiracist. And so they took the clause abolishing slavery out of the document.
I bring this up not to depress you, and truly there are beautiful and noble truths and ideas in that document, but rather to make you aware that racism in this country is as old as the country itself. And when something is imbedded that deeply into our ethos, when it’s literally written in to the founding documents, inherent in our institutions, systemic and pervasive, then it will take much more than a few of us to eradicate it. And despite new laws and policies, when we look at the world around us, and we see that racism is not only alive and well but thriving in our midst, my friends, its time for US to build some boldness!
When the count of southern black churches burned to the ground in the last few weeks has risen to 8... 8!!! My friends, we need to build some boldness. When our young people of color have to worry before leaving their homes, and some in fear for their lives, or that they will say the wrong thing to the wrong person and end up in the prison pipeline; when black children can be arrested in schools for pulling each other’s hair, my friends,, we need to build some boldness. When a man can walk into a bible study, and in the name of white supremacy, kill nine church leaders, clergy and mentors, my friends, we need to build some boldness.
Because these are not isolated incidents- even though you can put names and faces to each of the situations I’ve just named… and tragically can name many more… it’s not just the big news-making tragedy’s that I speak of here. Racism is so pervasive in our country, and so insidious that it slips in where we don’t expect it, where we don’t recognize it, where we don’t want to believe it exists. And like it or not, the responsibility to end it lies with each one of us… the responsibility for stopping inequality and injustice, lies with each one of us…. The responsibility for healing this nation lies with each of us.
The tragedy is, that the epidemic of racism is so huge and so massive, that each of us can combat it right where we are. But we need to begin to see the world through anti-racist eyes, and that begins with awareness, and acknowledgemnt of what is ours to own.
For white people, it’s our white privilege. And I know this may be difficult for some of us to hear- it was difficult for me to hear and accept the first time it was presented to me. I didn’t grow up wealthy, or on some Ivy league track for education, so I didn’t understand what that meant. I also considered myself color blind- meaning- I was under the illusion that I was looking at all people as equal, when in fact, my own racism was so deeply imbedded in me, I didn’t even recognize it. Did you know that our children in this country are racially socialized by the time they are 3? 3! That means that our children have developed their racial perceptions about themselves and others by age 3 and will carry them as baggage for the rest of their lives.
I later learned that for me, as a white person, I carry something known as Internalized Racial Superiority, or IRS. I’m white, and that brings with it advantage (privilege), even at the most basic levels. I became painfully aware of my IRS in a conversation I had with one of my seminary professors who happened to be talking about race and the feeling of being a minority. The week before I had attended the Cathedral International, a black mega church in Perth Amboy- and was, except for the keyboard player on the chancel, the only white person in attendance. I brought that up to my professor, and said (with all of my IRS intact), “I had no problem with it at all- it didn’t bother me that I was the only white person.” He said “exactly- as a white person you can go anywhere, be accepted anywhere… and you don’t have to think twice about it.”
Busted! He was so right- and I became increasingly aware after that of just what he meant. Being white means I never have to think about being white. And you know what? It’s great…. and it makes me sick to my stomach. I can go where I want, when I want, with whomever I want, and the fact that it isn’t like that for everyone makes me angry, and outraged; I hope it does you too. Shouldn’t all children grow up feeling safe- feeling protected- feeling secure that police are here to help, and that their schools will help them excel, and that they won’t be followed while shopping in a store, or be profiled learning to drive… to be free from racism? But what can we do?
As I said, it starts with awareness. It starts with coming face to face with who and what we are, like Peter tells the people in his sermon. Be aware of what we’ve done- the systems and institutions we’ve supported and condoned- the people who have been hurt- the lives that have been lost- and then as Peter says, to "repent"-turn from that- learn to start seeing the world with anti-racist eyes- and then, my friends, we need to build boldness! We need to gather ourselves, and get with others who will pray with us about it, pray for boldness and pray for courage. Pray that we can start speaking out against racism and start bringing healing and take the consequences of our actions as they come- and they will come. Just look at those who have gone before us and what has happened in history when people start speaking truth to power.
And most of the time, when we get to this point in the sermon I say to you, “It doesn’t have to be a big thing that you do- start small.”
I’m telling you today, that any step you take in the fight against racism will not be small. Because it is so deeply seeded inside of us, even something like not laughing at your friend’s racist joke will not be taken lightly. You think that’s a small thing- but it’s not- it’s big, bold beginning. And you may lose friends. And you may be labeled a socialist, or a prude, or a bleeding heart liberal. Not bad; some of the same terms are used to describe Jesus.
But let me say one more thing. Racism is not the only thing that is deeply embedded inside of us. More powerful than socialized racism is the Holy Spirit that lives in each of us. More pervasive than any racial construct or idea is the Spirit of God that lives in you and moves in you and works through you… we are created in God’s image… we have God’s DNA in our bones and blood and organs and mind and heart. Talk about awareness! No wonder racism goes against our grain-
And my beloved congregation of Christ, if you haven’t gotten this by now- this is exactly what we, as the church, as the hands and feet of Christ are supposed to be doing… this is what healing and reconciliation looks like. And yes you may lose a friend, you may lose a job, you may lose your family- maybe this is what Jesus was talking about when he said, "I came not to bring peace but a sword. I came to turn brother against father, mother against daughter…. " If racism is in our systems, then its in our family systems as well…
I know this is hard to hear… and I’m not saying any of this will happen overnight, but we need to stand on the shoulders of those who have paved the way before us in speaking the Gospel message of truth to the world- to work toward what Martin Luther King called, "The beloved community." Power doesn’t give up power without a fight. Yet Jesus showed us by his own example, to stand up and speak out- to be bold in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. Will you stand with us?
23After they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, 25it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant: ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? 26The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers have gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’ 27For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 28to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, 30while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.
************************************************************************************************************
Let me set the stage for today’s text for those of you who have not been following our series in the book of Acts. In Chapter 3, we saw Peter and John heal the man who had been lame for 40 years- from birth- and this, of course caused quite a spectacle. Once people on the temple steps recognized what had happened they gathered like bees to honey- and Peter does what any good church leader does when he sees a crowd gather- he starts to preach.
And he tells the people, “Look, do you think WE did anything to heal this man? It wasn’t through us that he was healed, but through Jesus… the one who you killed, but who death couldn’t keep locked up and was raised on the third day. So now repent, so that good times of refreshment can come to you!” (I love that… I want good times of refreshment too!) And Peter’s sermon continues until the end of Chapter 3 (he must have been Baptist), but by the beginning of chapter 4, the Sadducees, like any other people in power, don’t like having their authority challenged. Frankly, they saw in Peter and John a power that they couldn’t understand- so they arrest Peter and John and keep them behind bars for the night.
In the morning, they have sort of a hearing, and they ask, “OK- we want the truth- no tricks -how’d you make the guy walk?” And Peter says “Are we being kept in jail for healing someone?” And they told them about the healing power of Christ; and used Jewish scripture to do it… but of course as learned church folk, they don’t get it. They see Peter and John as just plain everyday guys. But the text says they saw the BOLDNESS within them- and that made them amazed- and then they recognized them as friends of Jesus.
So the leaders talk amongst themselves and they don’t know how to punish them (yet) so they warn them not to do this again, and let them go. And that’s where we pick up today’s passage.
Peter and John go back to the other disciples and they start talking- because what’s just happened is that they realize for the first time, as anyone does who has ever spoken truth to power, that this stuff could get dangerous. Sure, they had seen what happened to Jesus, their leader, but now this was personal- when we stand up for what’s right- and we seek to bring healing- people don’t often applaud our actions. The apostles were beginning to find out what it feels like to go against the systems of power, and it was scary stuff.
Now, I don’t know about you, but usually when I get scared, I do what Peter and John do in this passage- I pray. But usually my prayer sounds like this: ‘Oh my God!!! Thank you for bringing me out of that! Thank you for keeping me safe! Amen.’ And then I can go on about my business- usually involving some type of self medication including but not limited to ice cream… ‘There, I feel better.’
But Peter and John’s prayer sounded nothing like that. Instead they pray for boldness! They want to do it again! They want to build more boldness, they want to keep speaking out, they want to keep bucking the system, keep chipping away at injustice; and they want courage to withstand the punishment that is sure to come with it, because maybe this time the officials couldn’t decide how to punish them, but we know that it doesn’t take long for those who are threatened, to figure it out, amen? People in power always find a way to keep voices of freedom silenced.
Today is Freedom from Racism Sunday. It’s also the weekend when we celebrate our independence as a nation. Yesterday I was watching the HBO series, John Adams, and was intrigued as he and the authors of the Declaration of Independence argue about whether or not it should include a clause abolishing slavery. Jefferson had written it in the original version, and some people fought hard for it to stay in the text, but in the end, the Declaration of Independence… our nation’s founding document, couldn’t get accepted/passed as long as it was antiracist. And so they took the clause abolishing slavery out of the document.
I bring this up not to depress you, and truly there are beautiful and noble truths and ideas in that document, but rather to make you aware that racism in this country is as old as the country itself. And when something is imbedded that deeply into our ethos, when it’s literally written in to the founding documents, inherent in our institutions, systemic and pervasive, then it will take much more than a few of us to eradicate it. And despite new laws and policies, when we look at the world around us, and we see that racism is not only alive and well but thriving in our midst, my friends, its time for US to build some boldness!
When the count of southern black churches burned to the ground in the last few weeks has risen to 8... 8!!! My friends, we need to build some boldness. When our young people of color have to worry before leaving their homes, and some in fear for their lives, or that they will say the wrong thing to the wrong person and end up in the prison pipeline; when black children can be arrested in schools for pulling each other’s hair, my friends,, we need to build some boldness. When a man can walk into a bible study, and in the name of white supremacy, kill nine church leaders, clergy and mentors, my friends, we need to build some boldness.
Because these are not isolated incidents- even though you can put names and faces to each of the situations I’ve just named… and tragically can name many more… it’s not just the big news-making tragedy’s that I speak of here. Racism is so pervasive in our country, and so insidious that it slips in where we don’t expect it, where we don’t recognize it, where we don’t want to believe it exists. And like it or not, the responsibility to end it lies with each one of us… the responsibility for stopping inequality and injustice, lies with each one of us…. The responsibility for healing this nation lies with each of us.
The tragedy is, that the epidemic of racism is so huge and so massive, that each of us can combat it right where we are. But we need to begin to see the world through anti-racist eyes, and that begins with awareness, and acknowledgemnt of what is ours to own.
For white people, it’s our white privilege. And I know this may be difficult for some of us to hear- it was difficult for me to hear and accept the first time it was presented to me. I didn’t grow up wealthy, or on some Ivy league track for education, so I didn’t understand what that meant. I also considered myself color blind- meaning- I was under the illusion that I was looking at all people as equal, when in fact, my own racism was so deeply imbedded in me, I didn’t even recognize it. Did you know that our children in this country are racially socialized by the time they are 3? 3! That means that our children have developed their racial perceptions about themselves and others by age 3 and will carry them as baggage for the rest of their lives.
I later learned that for me, as a white person, I carry something known as Internalized Racial Superiority, or IRS. I’m white, and that brings with it advantage (privilege), even at the most basic levels. I became painfully aware of my IRS in a conversation I had with one of my seminary professors who happened to be talking about race and the feeling of being a minority. The week before I had attended the Cathedral International, a black mega church in Perth Amboy- and was, except for the keyboard player on the chancel, the only white person in attendance. I brought that up to my professor, and said (with all of my IRS intact), “I had no problem with it at all- it didn’t bother me that I was the only white person.” He said “exactly- as a white person you can go anywhere, be accepted anywhere… and you don’t have to think twice about it.”
Busted! He was so right- and I became increasingly aware after that of just what he meant. Being white means I never have to think about being white. And you know what? It’s great…. and it makes me sick to my stomach. I can go where I want, when I want, with whomever I want, and the fact that it isn’t like that for everyone makes me angry, and outraged; I hope it does you too. Shouldn’t all children grow up feeling safe- feeling protected- feeling secure that police are here to help, and that their schools will help them excel, and that they won’t be followed while shopping in a store, or be profiled learning to drive… to be free from racism? But what can we do?
As I said, it starts with awareness. It starts with coming face to face with who and what we are, like Peter tells the people in his sermon. Be aware of what we’ve done- the systems and institutions we’ve supported and condoned- the people who have been hurt- the lives that have been lost- and then as Peter says, to "repent"-turn from that- learn to start seeing the world with anti-racist eyes- and then, my friends, we need to build boldness! We need to gather ourselves, and get with others who will pray with us about it, pray for boldness and pray for courage. Pray that we can start speaking out against racism and start bringing healing and take the consequences of our actions as they come- and they will come. Just look at those who have gone before us and what has happened in history when people start speaking truth to power.
And most of the time, when we get to this point in the sermon I say to you, “It doesn’t have to be a big thing that you do- start small.”
I’m telling you today, that any step you take in the fight against racism will not be small. Because it is so deeply seeded inside of us, even something like not laughing at your friend’s racist joke will not be taken lightly. You think that’s a small thing- but it’s not- it’s big, bold beginning. And you may lose friends. And you may be labeled a socialist, or a prude, or a bleeding heart liberal. Not bad; some of the same terms are used to describe Jesus.
But let me say one more thing. Racism is not the only thing that is deeply embedded inside of us. More powerful than socialized racism is the Holy Spirit that lives in each of us. More pervasive than any racial construct or idea is the Spirit of God that lives in you and moves in you and works through you… we are created in God’s image… we have God’s DNA in our bones and blood and organs and mind and heart. Talk about awareness! No wonder racism goes against our grain-
And my beloved congregation of Christ, if you haven’t gotten this by now- this is exactly what we, as the church, as the hands and feet of Christ are supposed to be doing… this is what healing and reconciliation looks like. And yes you may lose a friend, you may lose a job, you may lose your family- maybe this is what Jesus was talking about when he said, "I came not to bring peace but a sword. I came to turn brother against father, mother against daughter…. " If racism is in our systems, then its in our family systems as well…
I know this is hard to hear… and I’m not saying any of this will happen overnight, but we need to stand on the shoulders of those who have paved the way before us in speaking the Gospel message of truth to the world- to work toward what Martin Luther King called, "The beloved community." Power doesn’t give up power without a fight. Yet Jesus showed us by his own example, to stand up and speak out- to be bold in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. Will you stand with us?
Photo from Orin Zebest
