Black Lives Matter
John 4:3-4
Jesus left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
Samaritans: ethnic minority. Only ½ human
Stereotyped, profiled, degraded – called lazy, thugs, dishonest
Samaritan jokes
Dangerous
Systemic laws to keep them at bay and oppressed
Walked around Samaria
Not unlike the way Black people have been viewed & treated in this country
3/5 representation
Even today – Profiled, stereotyped, regarded as dangerous
Drive around our neighborhoods
Jesus NEEDED to go THROUGH Samaria
To say, “Samaritan Lives Matter”
I believe that today Jesus would say, “Black Lives Matter”
Let me address the push back from those who say…
If Black Lives Matter, why are Blacks killing each other?
You don’t matter to each other; why should you matter to us?
90% of Blacks are killed by Blacks. 85% of Whites are killed by Whites
That’s a wrong premise
There are consequences when a Black person takes the life of another Black person
Our uproar is that there have not been consequences
when Black lives are callously taken at the hands of law enforcement
Blacks are 2½ times more likely to be shot & killed by police than Whites
The Bible is relevant and relates to this struggle
Isaiah speaks to this injustice in chapter 59
9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us.
14 Truth has fallen in the streets
This is how many people of color feel
“Truth has fallen in the streets”
just like George, Ahmaud, Eric, Walter & Michael
The system has felt like a knee on the neck of Black & Brown people
Holding us down
While ignoring our cries for help, and for equal justice under the law
We see Jesus as humble lamb
The real Jesus was radical
Jesus relates to our resistance to an injustice, self-serving system
Jesus confronted the system – that’s why they killed Him
He overturned their tables
He hung out the disenfranchised so much that
In John 8:48 they accused Him of being a Samaritan
Mt 23:23
Jesus gets in the face of religious people when they boast about their religion
He tells them that the main things are justice & mercy
At one point a lawyer asks Jesus how to inherit eternal life
Luke 10:27-29
"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'"
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus does it again – He points to a Samaritan
That Samaritan, that you have marginalized
This is a lesson that many of my White Evangelical brothers have yet to learn
People of color are not a mission’s project – we are your neighbor
Our country has a leader who seeks to divide us
He is being propped up by Evangelicals
Evangelicals who fight for the unborn (because they can’t speak for themselves),
but turn a deaf ear to the living who cry for help
They profess Jesus, but ignoring the weightier things – justice & mercy
Justice & Mercy are what the Lord requires of us
Mic 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
As believers, we should understand & exemplify mercy – Lovingkindness
How do we get justice? Legal decision
Justice happens from a position of authority
Ezek 45:9-10 KJV
The Lord God says to the princes:
remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice,
take away your exactions from my people, (stop dispossessing My people)
10 Ye shall have just balances.
We are fortunate
We pick our leaders
Our charge is to pick leaders who will act justly
Because, if we don’t vote, those leaders are picked for us
As Citizens, we must Vote
As Believers, we must Pray
Ps 72:1-4, 12-14
Give your love of justice to the king, O God, and righteousness to the king's son.
2 Help him judge your people in the right way; let the poor always be treated fairly.
3 May the mountains yield prosperity for all, and may the hills be fruitful.
4 Help him to defend the poor, to rescue the children of the needy,
and to crush their oppressors.
12 He will rescue the poor when they cry to him;
he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them.
13 He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them.
14 He will redeem them from oppression and violence,
for their lives are precious to him.
In this season, we’ve been talking about the New Normal
If we do nothing, things will return to old normal
Next time…
It could be me, or my son, or my grandson
Jesus went to Samaria to say, “Samaritan Lives Matter”
One encounter to spark the change
Samaritan woman
Jesus elevates the Samaritans
Just as He would elevate us today, and say
“Black Lives Matter!”
Is 59
18 According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
Fury to His adversaries,
Recompense to His enemies;
The coastlands He will fully repay.
16 He saw that there was no man,
And wondered that there was no intercessor;
Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;
And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
17 For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,
And was clad with zeal as a cloak.