Building Bridges Over Deep Caverns
A Christian response to racial division • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 27:43
1 rating
· 101 viewsFiles
Notes
Transcript
The verse all of us knows is John 3:16 which reads.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God - the creator of all things.
So loved - had such a great affection for
the world - all of the world, the land, the sea, the plants and animals, and all the people - good, bad, and indifferent - God loved them all.
And God invites us to do the same thing, when Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Opening Prayer:
Creator God, I read in your word where your Creation is crying out for you. Lord, your children are crying out for you; your creation groans with the cries of injustice, and pleas for help. Some march in the streets and others hide in their homes. Our emotions run hot, our tempers run short, and we cry out, “How Long, O Lord.”
How long do we need to wait for justice to roll down like mighty waters and righteousness like ever-flowing streams. Still, our hope is in you Lord. You are the Rock of Salvation for all of humankind. Speak to us now Lord, as we gather here. Speak Lord and bring about the change you desire in our hearts. Speak Lord, your servants are listening.
The news media reminds us over and over that our country is divided. Network pundits announce the chasms that divide us: Race, faith, politics, gender, economics, and more. In the past couple of weeks in our country and around the world people have risen up to shout, “ENOUGH!”
Initially, it was over the death of George Floyd, a black man, who died in the custody of a white police officer who had taken an oath to serve and protect. A senseless death that occurred while 3 other officers of various races did nothing to interfere. The cry for justice was, by all accounts, unanimous. Consequently the cry for justice and equality for our sisters and brothers of color rose throughout our country. There have been both peaceful and not so peaceful protests as people of all races stood up to take a stand against racial inequality. In some areas riots broke out, some railed against the police, and there was opportunistic looting. Sadly there has been more loss of life in the midst of all of this. Yet, the demonstrations have continued, the protests, the marching, and the speeches.
From the beginning I have been praying - how can I as a white pastor guide our white congregation in our response to all of this? What can I say to you to build you up and spur you on towards acts of love, shining Christ’s light to a hurting world? As I shared last week I was worn down by it all. I too had anger in me, and fears for our country and communities. I lived in Pasadena, during the L.A. riots of ‘92. Those experiences have been refreshed in my memories, and that was such a challenging time to minister.
As I’ve prayed, God has led me once again to the 4th chapter of John’s Gospel. I believe that the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman in this chapter gives us some direction. I’ve preached on this passage often, as there are many things happening within this encounter. I’m not going to cover the entire passage.
To set the stage here, Jesus has left Judea because the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, and so Jesus is on his way to Galilee. We pick it up then at v. 4:
And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
Okay, we need to stop there because we have a lot of divisions to talk about already.
Jews - Jesus is leaving the Pharisees - leaders in the synagogues for the Jews. They were the religious leaders of the day.
The Samaritans - the people hated by the Jews. To understand the rift between the Jews and the Samaritans we have to go back to the division of the nation of Israel back in the Old Testament.
In 1 Kings 12, we see that Israel was divided into two in the days of Rehoboam. Israel was composed of 10 tribes to the north, and Judah was composed of two tribes to the south. The animosity began almost immediately after the division.
Jeroboam became King in the north (the 10 tribes) and Rehoboam became King ofJudah to the south (the tribes of Judah and Benjamin). Jeroboam changed worship for Israel so they no longer had to go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, and set up idols in the towns of Dan and Bethel.
The Samaritans later after falling to the Assyrians began to intermarry which is why the Jews sometimes refer to them as “dogs” or “half-breeds”.
Time of Day - It’s about the 6th hour. Jesus had likely been travelling for 4 or more hours. It’s now about noon. It’s time for lunch, and it’s the heat of the day.
So that sets the context for our conversation that is about to take place.
A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)
So, we’ve seen the religious and political divide, now we see Jesus breach the gender divide. No man would publicly address a woman, especially in a foreign country and a woman would definitely not talk to a man in public that was not related to her.
As we’ve already discussed this particular woman is coming to the well in the middle of the day. Many scholars point out how unusual this was. Women would come early in the morning, in the cool of the day to draw the water for the day. So, they point that the time of day that she is coming is confirmation of this woman’s lower standing in her community.
But look what Jesus did, He starts a conversation.
A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
Could he have not acknowledged her? Yes.
Could he have not spoken to her? Yes.
And no one would have faulted him for it. In fact many would have praised him for it. To say there was enmity between the Jews and the Samaritans would be an understatement. It would be like racism on steroids. And we in our culture have difficulty recognizing the extreme act Jesus is doing in speaking publicly to a woman he was not related to.
In so doing Jesus was demonstrating there was no difference in the value of a Jew over a Samaritan, nor a man over a woman.
Throughout the conversation Jesus does not judge her, he does not put her down for her questioning, and he does not even put her down for her reputation. When he tells her to call her husband, she says I have no husband. And Jesus tells her the truth. It’s true, she has no husband, she’s had five husbands and the man she’d now with is not her husband. See verses 16-18.
It’s funny how we all tend to get theological when we have to face hard truths about ourselves. The woman is no different, she asks theological questions about worship and the differences between the Jews and the Samaritans, specifically where to worship. Note Jesus’ answer:
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
Moving through this interaction Jesus affirms that the place is not as important as How we worship.
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
It is fascinating despite the violation of all the social mores within this passage, that she is the first individual in John’s gospel going throughout her town and calling people to Jesus. See vss. 28-30, 39-42.
According to the religious rules we’ve listed she couldn’t possibly have been used by God: She’s a Samaritan, a woman, a woman whose had 5 husbands, and she’s currently living in adultery, and yet, God’s One and only Son honors her by acknowledging her, engaging her, and she in return brings more to him.
Divisiveness is not new. Paul dealt a lot with it in his letter to the Galatians:
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
He was speaking for those who are in Christ, but Jesus also commands us directly to love our neighbors, to love our enemies, and that they will know we are Christians by our love for one another. That is not just our fellow Christians, but for the way we love others.
Paul wrote to the church in Galatia:
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
I read that list, especially the last part, of it and it reminds me that so much of the division we have is not a work of the spirit, it is a work of the flesh.
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
I’ve quoted so often that whenever we compare we always lose. You either think of yourself as better which is arrogance and pride. It also makes the other less-than. Or, you see yourself as less-than which is a pity party and you’re boosting the other up as essentially an idol.
We have seen too much of these in the past week.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
To the church at Corinth he wrote:
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
So much of what Jesus called us to do was to simply love. Love our God with everything we have and love our neighbor as ourselves. But not just our neighbors, we’re called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
Building Bridges
Building Bridges
So how do we build bridges over so much deep hurt, genuine pain, in the midst of our own pain and self-defensiveness.
STOP - Take a deep breath
Claim your identity
Listen, Listen, Listen
Ask questions and listen
Be joyful - the conversation has begun
Be at peace in who you are
Be patient - trust takes time
Be kind and good
Be faithful - keep coming back.
Pray
STOP - Take a deep breath
Claim your identity
Listen, Listen, Listen
Ask questions and listen
Be joyful - the conversation has begun
Be at peace in who you are
Be patient - trust takes time
Be kind and good
Be faithful - keep coming back.
Pray
These 10 steps are some simple steps we can take. Please notice we cannot take them alone. They force us to actively engage those that are different - a different race, of a different faith, different political party, different gender…etc.
They force us to also allow others to point out faults they might see in us. We might find ourselves apologizing for our behaviors or of those like us. This is not the easy way, it takes discipline.
I’m reminded of a verse in Hebrews taken a bit out of context:
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Discipline makes us better. It draws us closer to God. We’re still on the road to becoming who we will be in glory.
As we seek to work on these 10 simple steps to bridging divides - my hope is that it will help bring us together as friends, families, communities, churches, cities, and our country. All of us are created in the image of God.
When one ethnic group shouts their race matters, we can shout back they are loved. And not just use words, lets use our actions. Engage, listen, ask questions, listen more.
That, I believe is how we build bridges.