Race, Cross, and the Christian
Series: Bloodlines
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 9th August 2015
Passages:
00:00:00 --> 00:00:19 It was November 2005, and I was in Alice Springs on the invitation of the Bible Society speaking event
00:00:19 --> 00:00:25 to raise awareness for its ministry to remote areas of Australia
00:00:25 --> 00:00:30 and the importance of all people having the Bible, the Word of God, in their own language.
00:00:31 --> 00:00:36 And so I was to speak at this event on the Friday night in an aircraft hangar
00:00:36 --> 00:00:43 with a Bible Society plane behind me and then at a local church on the Sunday morning.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 And so a friend of mine came along for the trip.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:53 We'd spent the Saturday after the Friday night exploring different parts around Alice Springs.
00:00:53 --> 00:01:03 And in the evening, we walked down from a hotel into town and then had some dinner or whatever,
00:01:03 --> 00:01:04 and then decided to walk back.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:10 And it was dark as we were walking back, and they were walking along this pathway
00:01:10 --> 00:01:18 on the edge of a dry riverbank, which most of them are, I assume, around there.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:24 And to our left, as we were walking along in the moonlight, we could make out there was a group of Aboriginals
00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 sitting in the riverbank drinking.
00:01:28 --> 00:01:35 And up ahead of us, along the path to the right, we could hear in this sort of slummy kind of area
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 a lot of yelling and stuff going on up there.
00:01:38 --> 00:01:43 Let me just pause there for a moment in terms of that picture.
00:01:44 --> 00:01:49 I think it's fair to say that we were kind of nervous at that point.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 We were in an area that we'd never been in before.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 We weren't sure exactly where we were walking.
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 We knew where the hotel was, and we knew we were heading towards the hotel,
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 but we didn't know what was here between here and there.
00:01:59 --> 00:02:06 And I suspect we would have been nervous regardless of who was there,
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 and if it was a bunch of teenagers or something like that,
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 drinking in there, a big group of them and a big group over there.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:21 But as I said last week, I grew up with a fair amount of prejudice towards Aboriginals.
00:02:23 --> 00:02:28 It came from the rhetoric of my white, rural Australian culture.
00:02:28 --> 00:02:33 It came from my own experiences in both school and at work.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:39 You could say that my friend's experience, the guy who was with me, was more acute than mine.
00:02:39 --> 00:02:47 He spent a good part of his childhood years in Walgett, a fairly troubled place in terms of race relationships.
00:02:49 --> 00:02:53 And so in this moment, on that Saturday night in Alice Springs,
00:02:53 --> 00:03:00 both of our prejudices, which were lying down fairly deep, I suspect, came to the surface.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 We'd both been in similar situations in the past.
00:03:06 --> 00:03:09 And so as we walked on this pathway, I said quietly to him,
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 do you see the group down there on the left of the riverbank?
00:03:13 --> 00:03:14 He said he did.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:20 And at that moment, over to the right where the noise was coming from,
00:03:21 --> 00:03:25 a group of about 20 Aboriginals came out from that area
00:03:25 --> 00:03:29 and it would appear that they were heading straight towards the group
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 that were down there in the riverbank.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:37 And he said to me, do you see the group up there to the right?
00:03:38 --> 00:03:38 I said I do.
00:03:38 --> 00:03:45 And it was becoming obvious to us that our trajectory would mean
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 that we were going to basically run straight into this group
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 as it walked over to the group down here in the riverbank.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:56 We were both silent as we walked.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 You could say our hearts were racing with nerves
00:04:01 --> 00:04:05 and our minds were thinking about an escape plan.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 In fact, we talked about an escape plan.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 If something goes wrong, what are we going to do?
00:04:10 --> 00:04:11 Which way are we going to go?
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 And where are we going to head?
00:04:14 --> 00:04:19 We were hoping not to run into this middle of these 20 Aboriginals
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 heading across on this dark path.
00:04:22 --> 00:04:26 And we were hoping that they weren't going to notice the two white guys,
00:04:26 --> 00:04:30 the only two white guys around walking down this pathway.
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 And it was probably about that moment that our fears were in fact realized.
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 They in fact did notice us.
00:04:39 --> 00:04:46 And as we approached and literally as we thought we were going to have to stop
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 as the Aboriginal group came across in front of us,
00:04:49 --> 00:04:55 the leader of that group of Aboriginals, an elderly lady,
00:04:55 --> 00:04:59 put her hands up like this as she got to the edge of the path.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 And I wasn't sure what she was doing,
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 but what I realized what she was doing at that moment
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 was she was stopping the group from walking over the top of us.
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 And they all obliged.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:11 They all stopped.
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 And as we walked past,
00:05:17 --> 00:05:17 she said,
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 good evening, gentlemen.
00:05:23 --> 00:05:27 We turned and said good evening and kept walking.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 And we kept walking in silence
00:05:30 --> 00:05:34 for another 20, 30 paces or something like that.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:35 And my friend said to me,
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 how bad do I feel?
00:05:38 --> 00:05:39 And I said, yep.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:43 Let me tell you a really simple moment.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 Back in 2005,
00:05:47 --> 00:05:52 God used that moment to expose something of the sinner racial prejudice
00:05:52 --> 00:05:53 that was in my heart.
00:05:55 --> 00:05:57 It didn't escape me at all
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 that I was speaking about the necessity of the Word of God
00:06:00 --> 00:06:03 going to all people, even to remote Aboriginal communities.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 That's why they flew me there in the first place.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:08 And I had a prejudice in my heart towards the people
00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 that were meant to be receiving that ministry.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:15 There was a disconnect between what I knew to be right and good
00:06:15 --> 00:06:18 and part of God's purposes and my heart.
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 I was treated in that moment,
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 in the darkness, on that path,
00:06:23 --> 00:06:24 with more dignity
00:06:24 --> 00:06:28 than I treated them with my head and my heart.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:32 It should not have been.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:38 There was an article in the Australian newspaper on Friday
00:06:38 --> 00:06:42 that blames current racism in Australia
00:06:42 --> 00:06:45 on our former Prime Minister, John Howard.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:47 Apart from that,
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 the article did say some interesting things about our culture.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:51 It says,
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 the situation with Indigenous Australians is a particular one
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 because they were here long before the rest of us.
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 Many countries, including some Asian neighbours,
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 have similar dynamics at play with Indigenous minorities.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 A mixture of guilt,
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 impatience at an apparent unwillingness to assimilate,
00:07:09 --> 00:07:09 and prejudice.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 But we occupy the extreme end in Australia.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:18 All those gaping statistical discrepancies in health outcomes,
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 life expectancy, suicide, incarceration rates,
00:07:22 --> 00:07:23 general indicators of misery,
00:07:24 --> 00:07:26 and corresponding mainstream attitudes.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 It's more complex,
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 a lot more complex,
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 than simply believing that if mainstream Australia
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 would stop being racist,
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 then everything would be fine.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:38 But,
00:07:39 --> 00:07:45 there is a lot of racism embedded in the Australian psyche.
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 Racism lurks in communities around the planet,
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 but it's true what the visitors say.
00:07:54 --> 00:07:59 Australia is relatively comfortable expressing it.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 Visitors of this country sometimes report
00:08:03 --> 00:08:08 a jarring preponderance of casual, everyday racism.
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 For instance, British American comedian John Oliver
00:08:12 --> 00:08:16 found Australia a sensational place,
00:08:16 --> 00:08:22 albeit one of the most comfortably racist places I've ever been to.
00:08:23 --> 00:08:27 They've really settled into their intolerance
00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 like an old resentful slipper.
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 And so,
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 my point in this series
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 is that the Christian faith
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 has got something very significant to contribute
00:08:41 --> 00:08:42 to
00:08:42 --> 00:08:47 seeing the end of racism
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 and ethnocentricity in our culture.
00:08:53 --> 00:08:54 Although,
00:08:55 --> 00:08:56 as I said last week,
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 because of the failure
00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 of the institutional church in the past,
00:09:00 --> 00:09:01 we may not be heard.
00:09:02 --> 00:09:03 That's one thing.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:05 The other reason
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 that this series is for us
00:09:07 --> 00:09:08 is because this church
00:09:08 --> 00:09:10 is a diverse church.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:15 And racism,
00:09:16 --> 00:09:17 while it might not be explicit,
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 would most certainly be implicit.
00:09:22 --> 00:09:23 I think we're bought into
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 some of the culture
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 that we have been marinating in.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:29 In Australia.
00:09:31 --> 00:09:32 But I do believe
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 that because of the gospel,
00:09:34 --> 00:09:35 that we could be an example
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 and pace setter
00:09:37 --> 00:09:38 for our community.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:40 Now,
00:09:40 --> 00:09:41 the significant contribution
00:09:41 --> 00:09:42 of the Christian faith
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 begins with what I started with last week,
00:09:44 --> 00:09:45 Genesis 1.27.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:47 God created man in his own image.
00:09:47 --> 00:09:48 In the image of God,
00:09:48 --> 00:09:49 he created them.
00:09:49 --> 00:09:50 Male and female,
00:09:51 --> 00:09:51 he created them.
00:09:52 --> 00:09:53 And the point is,
00:09:54 --> 00:09:55 as I said last week,
00:09:55 --> 00:09:56 all human beings
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 are of one origin
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 by divine design.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:02 And the implication
00:10:02 --> 00:10:03 is the extreme dignity
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 of your human beings.
00:10:06 --> 00:10:07 We are one blood.
00:10:07 --> 00:10:08 And it's interesting,
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 genetics agrees with that.
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 Genetics says that
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 it doesn't matter
00:10:15 --> 00:10:16 where you come from
00:10:16 --> 00:10:16 in the world,
00:10:16 --> 00:10:17 in terms of the human race,
00:10:17 --> 00:10:17 even with all,
00:10:17 --> 00:10:18 you know,
00:10:18 --> 00:10:18 we might look different,
00:10:18 --> 00:10:19 sound different,
00:10:19 --> 00:10:19 all that sort of stuff.
00:10:20 --> 00:10:21 Genetically,
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 we are almost identical.
00:10:23 --> 00:10:24 There's a few differences,
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 but the differences are so minor.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:27 Which is why,
00:10:27 --> 00:10:28 if I ever need
00:10:28 --> 00:10:29 a new kidney or a liver,
00:10:30 --> 00:10:31 I could just get one
00:10:31 --> 00:10:32 from my family,
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 or I could get one
00:10:34 --> 00:10:35 from the other side of the world.
00:10:35 --> 00:10:35 I could get one
00:10:35 --> 00:10:36 from out of Mongolia,
00:10:36 --> 00:10:37 get one from Africa.
00:10:37 --> 00:10:38 I mean,
00:10:38 --> 00:10:39 there's any number of places.
00:10:39 --> 00:10:39 I mean,
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 one of you could give me one.
00:10:42 --> 00:10:43 So if I ever need one,
00:10:43 --> 00:10:43 I'll,
00:10:44 --> 00:10:44 you know,
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 line up
00:10:46 --> 00:10:46 and we'll see
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 whose kidney I'll grab,
00:10:48 --> 00:10:49 you know.
00:10:49 --> 00:10:54 The Christian view of creation
00:10:54 --> 00:10:54 does,
00:10:54 --> 00:10:55 however,
00:10:55 --> 00:10:56 stand in contrast
00:10:56 --> 00:10:58 to the atheistic evolutionary theory
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 that is broadly accepted
00:11:00 --> 00:11:01 as fact
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 in our secular society.
00:11:04 --> 00:11:05 Charles Darwin's
00:11:05 --> 00:11:06 origin of species
00:11:06 --> 00:11:07 gave rise
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 to the separation
00:11:09 --> 00:11:10 and classification
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 of plant and animal species.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:13 Really helpful stuff,
00:11:13 --> 00:11:14 classifying plant
00:11:14 --> 00:11:15 and animal species.
00:11:15 --> 00:11:16 So great contribution.
00:11:17 --> 00:11:17 However,
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 this flowed over
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 into the categorizing
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 of the human race
00:11:22 --> 00:11:23 into a hierarchy
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 arranged according
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 to evolutionary advancement.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 That's where it became unhelpful.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 Stephen Jay Gould,
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 who died in 2002,
00:11:36 --> 00:11:37 he was no friend
00:11:37 --> 00:11:38 of Christianity whatsoever.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:39 In fact,
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 as an evolutionary biologist himself,
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 he significantly opposed creationism
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 in a very popular way.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:48 And so it's really interesting
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 that he himself wrote
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 biologically,
00:11:52 --> 00:11:52 sorry,
00:11:52 --> 00:11:53 biological arguments
00:11:53 --> 00:11:54 for racism
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 may have been common
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 before 1850.
00:11:58 --> 00:11:59 Note that.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:00 He's saying
00:12:00 --> 00:12:01 that,
00:12:01 --> 00:12:01 you know,
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 they probably existed,
00:12:03 --> 00:12:03 a biological argument
00:12:03 --> 00:12:04 existed
00:12:04 --> 00:12:05 before Darwin
00:12:05 --> 00:12:06 wrote his
00:12:06 --> 00:12:07 origin of species,
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 but they increased
00:12:10 --> 00:12:11 by orders
00:12:11 --> 00:12:12 of magnitude
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 following the acceptance
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 of evolutionary theory.
00:12:19 --> 00:12:20 He's saying
00:12:20 --> 00:12:21 evolutionary theory
00:12:21 --> 00:12:22 has made a significant
00:12:22 --> 00:12:23 contribution
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 to racism.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:25 racism.
00:12:27 --> 00:12:28 And that's where
00:12:28 --> 00:12:29 I think the problem is.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:30 It's difficult
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 to deliver
00:12:32 --> 00:12:33 on an equality
00:12:33 --> 00:12:34 of all people
00:12:34 --> 00:12:35 such as the secular society
00:12:35 --> 00:12:36 wants
00:12:36 --> 00:12:37 when
00:12:37 --> 00:12:38 you explain
00:12:38 --> 00:12:39 the difference
00:12:39 --> 00:12:40 in terms of,
00:12:40 --> 00:12:41 well, that group there
00:12:41 --> 00:12:41 is just not as
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 advanced
00:12:43 --> 00:12:44 as that other group
00:12:44 --> 00:12:44 over there.
00:12:45 --> 00:12:45 They're just not
00:12:45 --> 00:12:46 evolved yet.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:49 Now,
00:12:49 --> 00:12:50 the Bible knows
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 nothing of a
00:12:52 --> 00:12:52 hierarchy
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 of races
00:12:54 --> 00:12:55 as evolutionary
00:12:55 --> 00:12:56 theory does.
00:12:57 --> 00:12:58 And yet,
00:12:58 --> 00:12:59 having said that,
00:12:59 --> 00:13:00 the institutional church,
00:13:00 --> 00:13:00 which is meant
00:13:00 --> 00:13:01 to be built
00:13:01 --> 00:13:02 on the Bible,
00:13:02 --> 00:13:03 has a terrible
00:13:03 --> 00:13:04 track record
00:13:04 --> 00:13:05 of racism
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 in such a way
00:13:07 --> 00:13:07 that you wouldn't
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 think that Christianity
00:13:08 --> 00:13:09 has got an answer
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 or a contribution
00:13:11 --> 00:13:11 to make
00:13:11 --> 00:13:12 to this issue.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:14 The prominent
00:13:14 --> 00:13:15 atheist
00:13:15 --> 00:13:16 and evolutionary
00:13:16 --> 00:13:17 biologist
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 Richard Dawkins
00:13:19 --> 00:13:20 writes in his book
00:13:20 --> 00:13:21 in The God Delusion,
00:13:21 --> 00:13:23 The God of the Old Testament
00:13:23 --> 00:13:24 is arguably
00:13:24 --> 00:13:25 the most unpleasant
00:13:25 --> 00:13:26 character in all
00:13:26 --> 00:13:27 of fiction,
00:13:27 --> 00:13:28 jealous and proud
00:13:28 --> 00:13:28 of it,
00:13:28 --> 00:13:29 a petty,
00:13:29 --> 00:13:30 unjust,
00:13:30 --> 00:13:31 unforgiving control freak,
00:13:31 --> 00:13:32 a vindictive,
00:13:32 --> 00:13:33 bloodthirsty,
00:13:33 --> 00:13:34 ethnic cleanser,
00:13:34 --> 00:13:34 a misogynist,
00:13:35 --> 00:13:35 homophobic,
00:13:35 --> 00:13:36 racist,
00:13:36 --> 00:13:37 genocidal,
00:13:37 --> 00:13:37 pestilential,
00:13:37 --> 00:13:38 capriciously malevolent
00:13:38 --> 00:13:39 bully.
00:13:41 --> 00:13:41 Now,
00:13:42 --> 00:13:42 the interesting thing is
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 Dawkins doesn't
00:13:44 --> 00:13:45 believe in that God.
00:13:45 --> 00:13:46 He's got no problem.
00:13:46 --> 00:13:47 He doesn't care.
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 He doesn't believe
00:13:48 --> 00:13:48 in that God.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:49 His problem
00:13:49 --> 00:13:50 is people like you
00:13:50 --> 00:13:50 and me
00:13:50 --> 00:13:51 who say
00:13:51 --> 00:13:52 that we believe
00:13:52 --> 00:13:52 in the God
00:13:52 --> 00:13:53 of this Bible.
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 And he says
00:13:58 --> 00:13:59 that there have been
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 awful atrocities
00:14:01 --> 00:14:01 committed
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 by those
00:14:03 --> 00:14:04 who believe
00:14:04 --> 00:14:04 in the God
00:14:04 --> 00:14:04 of this Bible
00:14:04 --> 00:14:05 and so therefore
00:14:05 --> 00:14:06 reject the whole thing.
00:14:07 --> 00:14:08 Now,
00:14:08 --> 00:14:09 I want to say
00:14:09 --> 00:14:10 he's right
00:14:10 --> 00:14:11 on one level.
00:14:11 --> 00:14:12 There have been
00:14:12 --> 00:14:13 awful atrocities
00:14:13 --> 00:14:13 committed
00:14:13 --> 00:14:14 by people
00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 who say
00:14:15 --> 00:14:16 that they believe
00:14:16 --> 00:14:16 in the God
00:14:16 --> 00:14:16 of this Bible.
00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 There's some
00:14:19 --> 00:14:20 terrible racism
00:14:20 --> 00:14:20 that's occurred
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 because some people
00:14:22 --> 00:14:23 over history
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 have thought
00:14:25 --> 00:14:26 that the Bible
00:14:26 --> 00:14:27 endorses it.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 And one of the most
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 serious and damaging
00:14:31 --> 00:14:31 interpretations
00:14:31 --> 00:14:32 of the Bible
00:14:32 --> 00:14:33 in this whole issue
00:14:33 --> 00:14:33 of race
00:14:33 --> 00:14:35 is in Genesis 9.
00:14:36 --> 00:14:37 It's verses 18
00:14:37 --> 00:14:37 to 27.
00:14:37 --> 00:14:38 It's the end
00:14:38 --> 00:14:39 of Genesis 9.
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 Noah and his family
00:14:41 --> 00:14:42 have settled down
00:14:42 --> 00:14:43 after the flood.
00:14:43 --> 00:14:44 Noah plants
00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 a vineyard,
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 discovers wine,
00:14:47 --> 00:14:47 drinks too much
00:14:47 --> 00:14:48 of it,
00:14:48 --> 00:14:48 and ends up
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 lying naked
00:14:49 --> 00:14:50 in his tent
00:14:50 --> 00:14:51 after a big
00:14:51 --> 00:14:52 night on the booze.
00:14:52 --> 00:14:52 Something like
00:14:52 --> 00:14:53 a university
00:14:53 --> 00:14:54 border kind of
00:14:54 --> 00:14:55 Friday night out
00:14:55 --> 00:14:55 kind of thing.
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 And his son
00:14:58 --> 00:14:59 Ham
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 sees his father's
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 nakedness,
00:15:02 --> 00:15:02 goes,
00:15:03 --> 00:15:03 runs off
00:15:03 --> 00:15:04 to his two brothers,
00:15:04 --> 00:15:05 tells them,
00:15:06 --> 00:15:06 you know,
00:15:06 --> 00:15:07 makes his father
00:15:07 --> 00:15:08 look like an idiot.
00:15:09 --> 00:15:10 The two brothers
00:15:10 --> 00:15:10 instead
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 grab a cloth,
00:15:12 --> 00:15:13 they walk
00:15:13 --> 00:15:13 backwards into
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 the tent
00:15:14 --> 00:15:14 and they lay it
00:15:14 --> 00:15:15 over their dad
00:15:15 --> 00:15:16 without even
00:15:16 --> 00:15:16 looking at him.
00:15:17 --> 00:15:18 And when Noah
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 wakes up
00:15:20 --> 00:15:21 and finds
00:15:21 --> 00:15:22 what his
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23 youngest son
00:15:23 --> 00:15:23 has done,
00:15:23 --> 00:15:24 he pronounces
00:15:24 --> 00:15:25 a curse
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 on Canaan
00:15:27 --> 00:15:27 who was
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 Ham's
00:15:28 --> 00:15:29 youngest son.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:30 Genesis 9.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:32 Cursed be Canaan,
00:15:32 --> 00:15:33 the lowest of slaves
00:15:33 --> 00:15:33 will he be
00:15:33 --> 00:15:34 to his brothers.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:35 He also said,
00:15:36 --> 00:15:36 blessed be the Lord,
00:15:36 --> 00:15:37 the God of Shem.
00:15:38 --> 00:15:38 May Canaan
00:15:38 --> 00:15:39 be the slave
00:15:39 --> 00:15:40 of Shem.
00:15:40 --> 00:15:41 May God
00:15:41 --> 00:15:42 extend the territory
00:15:42 --> 00:15:42 of Japheth.
00:15:42 --> 00:15:43 May Japheth
00:15:43 --> 00:15:44 live in the
00:15:44 --> 00:15:45 tents of Shem
00:15:45 --> 00:15:46 and may Canaan
00:15:46 --> 00:15:47 be his slave.
00:15:48 --> 00:15:49 Now,
00:15:49 --> 00:15:50 throughout the last
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 20 centuries
00:15:52 --> 00:15:53 or so,
00:15:53 --> 00:15:54 numerous
00:15:54 --> 00:15:55 Christian
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57 and Jewish
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 and Muslim
00:15:58 --> 00:15:58 writers
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 have connected
00:16:00 --> 00:16:02 that passage,
00:16:02 --> 00:16:02 the curse
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 of Ham,
00:16:03 --> 00:16:04 with black
00:16:04 --> 00:16:05 Africans.
00:16:05 --> 00:16:08 the text
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 became
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 the standard
00:16:11 --> 00:16:11 text
00:16:11 --> 00:16:12 in defense
00:16:12 --> 00:16:12 of slavery
00:16:12 --> 00:16:13 in England,
00:16:14 --> 00:16:14 in the southern
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 states of America
00:16:16 --> 00:16:18 and for apartheid
00:16:18 --> 00:16:19 in South Africa.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:21 That is,
00:16:22 --> 00:16:23 what they did
00:16:23 --> 00:16:23 was they
00:16:23 --> 00:16:24 translated
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 through a bit
00:16:26 --> 00:16:26 of dodgy footwork
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 that Ham
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 means
00:16:29 --> 00:16:30 black
00:16:30 --> 00:16:31 or burnt.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 and therefore,
00:16:33 --> 00:16:34 they made the
00:16:34 --> 00:16:35 conclusion that
00:16:35 --> 00:16:36 this curse
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 was applicable
00:16:38 --> 00:16:39 for all black
00:16:39 --> 00:16:39 people
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 and especially
00:16:41 --> 00:16:42 black Africans
00:16:42 --> 00:16:45 because there's some
00:16:45 --> 00:16:46 connection there,
00:16:47 --> 00:16:47 lineage,
00:16:48 --> 00:16:48 line.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:49 they also
00:16:49 --> 00:16:50 concluded that
00:16:50 --> 00:16:51 Japheth
00:16:51 --> 00:16:52 represented
00:16:52 --> 00:16:53 because somehow
00:16:53 --> 00:16:54 he kind of went
00:16:54 --> 00:16:55 elsewhere,
00:16:56 --> 00:16:56 like probably
00:16:56 --> 00:16:57 closer to Europe
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 and he represented
00:16:59 --> 00:16:59 white people
00:16:59 --> 00:17:00 and therefore,
00:17:00 --> 00:17:01 God commands
00:17:01 --> 00:17:01 the slavery
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 of black people
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 by white people
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 and that explains
00:17:06 --> 00:17:07 nearly 20
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 centuries of history
00:17:09 --> 00:17:10 of that.
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12 Now,
00:17:12 --> 00:17:12 I'm not going to go
00:17:12 --> 00:17:13 into the details
00:17:13 --> 00:17:13 except to say
00:17:13 --> 00:17:14 you've got to do
00:17:14 --> 00:17:15 some pretty
00:17:15 --> 00:17:16 fancy footwork
00:17:16 --> 00:17:17 with the text
00:17:17 --> 00:17:18 to come
00:17:18 --> 00:17:18 to that
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 conclusion
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 but I want
00:17:21 --> 00:17:22 to humbly say
00:17:22 --> 00:17:23 some really
00:17:23 --> 00:17:24 good people
00:17:24 --> 00:17:25 have come
00:17:25 --> 00:17:25 to that
00:17:25 --> 00:17:26 conclusion.
00:17:27 --> 00:17:28 Generally,
00:17:28 --> 00:17:28 not for the
00:17:28 --> 00:17:29 last 50 or 60
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 years.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:33 I want to
00:17:33 --> 00:17:33 suggest
00:17:33 --> 00:17:34 it's wrong.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:36 There's all sorts
00:17:36 --> 00:17:36 of articles
00:17:36 --> 00:17:37 you can read
00:17:37 --> 00:17:37 about it
00:17:37 --> 00:17:37 but I want to
00:17:37 --> 00:17:38 suggest it's
00:17:38 --> 00:17:38 wrong.
00:17:38 --> 00:17:39 I'm glad
00:17:39 --> 00:17:39 in the end
00:17:39 --> 00:17:39 that we've
00:17:39 --> 00:17:40 got the Bible,
00:17:41 --> 00:17:41 we've got
00:17:41 --> 00:17:42 God's perspective
00:17:42 --> 00:17:43 on the history
00:17:43 --> 00:17:44 of humanity.
00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 The Bible
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 does not
00:17:47 --> 00:17:47 relate all
00:17:47 --> 00:17:48 of our
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 racial and
00:17:49 --> 00:17:50 ethnic
00:17:50 --> 00:17:50 differences
00:17:50 --> 00:17:51 in terms
00:17:51 --> 00:17:51 of lower
00:17:51 --> 00:17:52 life forms.
00:17:53 --> 00:17:53 It doesn't
00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 blame the
00:17:54 --> 00:17:55 fact that
00:17:55 --> 00:17:55 God has
00:17:55 --> 00:17:56 got personal
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57 favourites.
00:17:58 --> 00:17:58 He's a God
00:17:58 --> 00:17:59 of favouritism.
00:18:00 --> 00:18:00 It doesn't
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 blame racism
00:18:02 --> 00:18:02 on John
00:18:02 --> 00:18:03 Howard.
00:18:05 --> 00:18:06 It puts
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07 it squarely
00:18:07 --> 00:18:08 in sin.
00:18:10 --> 00:18:11 That's our
00:18:11 --> 00:18:11 rejection of
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 God is where
00:18:13 --> 00:18:13 the Bible
00:18:13 --> 00:18:13 puts it.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:14 So on that
00:18:14 --> 00:18:15 night in Alice
00:18:15 --> 00:18:15 Springs in
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 2005 when
00:18:17 --> 00:18:17 John Howard
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 actually happened
00:18:18 --> 00:18:18 to be our
00:18:18 --> 00:18:19 Prime Minister
00:18:19 --> 00:18:19 at that
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 time,
00:18:21 --> 00:18:22 he was
00:18:22 --> 00:18:23 not the
00:18:23 --> 00:18:24 reason that
00:18:24 --> 00:18:24 I acted
00:18:24 --> 00:18:25 the way I
00:18:25 --> 00:18:25 did or
00:18:25 --> 00:18:26 thought the
00:18:26 --> 00:18:26 way I
00:18:26 --> 00:18:26 did.
00:18:27 --> 00:18:28 My
00:18:28 --> 00:18:28 prejudice,
00:18:29 --> 00:18:30 my sinful
00:18:30 --> 00:18:30 heart was
00:18:30 --> 00:18:31 the problem.
00:18:32 --> 00:18:32 My proud
00:18:32 --> 00:18:33 sinful heart
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 was the
00:18:34 --> 00:18:34 problem.
00:18:36 --> 00:18:37 But the
00:18:37 --> 00:18:37 Bible doesn't
00:18:37 --> 00:18:38 just identify
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 sin as the
00:18:39 --> 00:18:39 core problem,
00:18:39 --> 00:18:40 the great
00:18:40 --> 00:18:40 thing is that
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 it also
00:18:42 --> 00:18:42 reveals the
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43 solution to
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 racial pride
00:18:44 --> 00:18:44 and
00:18:44 --> 00:18:45 ethnocentrism.
00:18:46 --> 00:18:46 So the
00:18:46 --> 00:18:47 Bible sees
00:18:47 --> 00:18:47 the fracturing
00:18:47 --> 00:18:48 of all
00:18:48 --> 00:18:48 relationships
00:18:48 --> 00:18:49 due to
00:18:49 --> 00:18:49 the rejection
00:18:49 --> 00:18:49 of God
00:18:49 --> 00:18:50 in Genesis
00:18:50 --> 00:18:50 3.
00:18:51 --> 00:18:51 Adam and
00:18:51 --> 00:18:52 Eve are
00:18:52 --> 00:18:52 creating God's
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 image to
00:18:53 --> 00:18:53 display his
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 majesty and
00:18:55 --> 00:18:55 when they
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 reject God
00:18:56 --> 00:18:57 all relationships
00:18:57 --> 00:18:57 are smashed.
00:18:57 --> 00:18:58 We see that
00:18:58 --> 00:18:59 right from there
00:18:59 --> 00:18:59 in Genesis
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 3.
00:19:00 --> 00:19:00 Relationship
00:19:00 --> 00:19:01 with God
00:19:01 --> 00:19:01 is smashed,
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02 between man
00:19:02 --> 00:19:02 and woman
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 is smashed,
00:19:03 --> 00:19:04 between people
00:19:04 --> 00:19:05 and the rest
00:19:05 --> 00:19:05 of the
00:19:05 --> 00:19:05 created order
00:19:05 --> 00:19:06 is smashed,
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 everything
00:19:07 --> 00:19:07 is inverted.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 And before
00:19:09 --> 00:19:09 sin,
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 Adam and
00:19:11 --> 00:19:11 Eve were
00:19:11 --> 00:19:11 naked,
00:19:12 --> 00:19:12 they felt
00:19:12 --> 00:19:13 no shame,
00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 there was
00:19:14 --> 00:19:14 intimacy,
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 there was
00:19:15 --> 00:19:15 acceptance,
00:19:15 --> 00:19:15 there was
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 no barrier
00:19:17 --> 00:19:17 between them
00:19:17 --> 00:19:17 at all.
00:19:18 --> 00:19:18 As soon as
00:19:18 --> 00:19:19 they reject
00:19:19 --> 00:19:19 God,
00:19:20 --> 00:19:20 they had to
00:19:20 --> 00:19:21 be clothed,
00:19:21 --> 00:19:22 a barrier
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23 went up.
00:19:26 --> 00:19:27 For the
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 moment they
00:19:28 --> 00:19:29 rejected God,
00:19:29 --> 00:19:30 the unity
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 of the human
00:19:31 --> 00:19:32 race in the
00:19:32 --> 00:19:33 image of God
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 became mirrored
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 by the unity
00:19:36 --> 00:19:36 of the human
00:19:36 --> 00:19:37 race,
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 in sin.
00:19:40 --> 00:19:41 Romans 1
00:19:41 --> 00:19:42 is Paul's
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 version of
00:19:43 --> 00:19:43 the fall of
00:19:43 --> 00:19:44 humanity
00:19:44 --> 00:19:45 and he
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 makes it
00:19:46 --> 00:19:46 clear there
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 that the
00:19:47 --> 00:19:47 whole of
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 humankind,
00:19:49 --> 00:19:49 every one
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 of us,
00:19:50 --> 00:19:50 is contaminated
00:19:50 --> 00:19:51 by sin.
00:19:52 --> 00:19:52 And it's an
00:19:52 --> 00:19:53 ugly picture
00:19:53 --> 00:19:54 of sinful
00:19:54 --> 00:19:54 behavior.
00:19:56 --> 00:19:56 They became
00:19:56 --> 00:19:57 filled with,
00:19:57 --> 00:19:57 this is all
00:19:57 --> 00:19:57 of us,
00:19:57 --> 00:19:58 they became
00:19:58 --> 00:19:58 filled with
00:19:58 --> 00:19:59 every kind
00:19:59 --> 00:20:00 of wickedness
00:20:00 --> 00:20:00 and evil
00:20:00 --> 00:20:00 and greed
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 and depravity.
00:20:01 --> 00:20:01 They are
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 full of envy
00:20:02 --> 00:20:02 and murder
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 and strife
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 and deceit
00:20:04 --> 00:20:04 and malice.
00:20:05 --> 00:20:05 They are
00:20:05 --> 00:20:05 gossips
00:20:05 --> 00:20:06 and slanderers
00:20:06 --> 00:20:06 and God
00:20:06 --> 00:20:07 haters and
00:20:07 --> 00:20:07 insular
00:20:07 --> 00:20:08 and arrogant
00:20:08 --> 00:20:08 and boastful.
00:20:08 --> 00:20:09 They invent
00:20:09 --> 00:20:10 ways of doing
00:20:10 --> 00:20:10 evil.
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 They disobey
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 their parents.
00:20:12 --> 00:20:12 They are
00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 senseless and
00:20:13 --> 00:20:13 faithless and
00:20:13 --> 00:20:14 heartless and
00:20:14 --> 00:20:14 ruthless.
00:20:14 --> 00:20:15 Although they
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 know God's
00:20:16 --> 00:20:17 righteous decrees
00:20:17 --> 00:20:17 that those
00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 who do such
00:20:18 --> 00:20:18 things deserve
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 death,
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 they not only
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 continue to do
00:20:21 --> 00:20:21 those very
00:20:21 --> 00:20:22 things,
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 but also
00:20:23 --> 00:20:23 approve of
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 those who
00:20:24 --> 00:20:24 practice them.
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 sin.
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 And our
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 unity in
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 sin is
00:20:28 --> 00:20:29 explicit in
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 Romans 3.23,
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 all have
00:20:31 --> 00:20:32 sinned and
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 fall short
00:20:33 --> 00:20:33 of the
00:20:33 --> 00:20:33 glory of
00:20:33 --> 00:20:34 God.
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 So we're
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 made for
00:20:38 --> 00:20:38 the majesty
00:20:38 --> 00:20:39 of God
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 and yet
00:20:40 --> 00:20:40 because of
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 sin we
00:20:41 --> 00:20:41 all fall
00:20:41 --> 00:20:43 short of
00:20:43 --> 00:20:43 the majesty
00:20:43 --> 00:20:44 of God.
00:20:46 --> 00:20:46 Now some
00:20:46 --> 00:20:47 of us might
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 lean towards
00:20:48 --> 00:20:48 thinking that
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 we become a
00:20:50 --> 00:20:50 sinner when
00:20:50 --> 00:20:51 we first
00:20:51 --> 00:20:51 sin.
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 But the
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 Bible's
00:20:53 --> 00:20:54 picture is
00:20:54 --> 00:20:54 that we
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 first sin
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 because we
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57 are already
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 sinners.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:00 One of the
00:21:00 --> 00:21:00 Bible's most
00:21:00 --> 00:21:01 important passages
00:21:01 --> 00:21:02 on this issue
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 is Romans 5
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06 verses 12
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07 to 19.
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 It explains
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 there that
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 Adam's sin
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 right at the
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 beginning brought
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 the entire
00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 human race that
00:21:15 --> 00:21:16 flows from him
00:21:16 --> 00:21:18 both sinful
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 natures and
00:21:19 --> 00:21:20 God's judgment
00:21:20 --> 00:21:21 and condemnation.
00:21:21 --> 00:21:23 everyone who
00:21:23 --> 00:21:24 comes from
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 Adam is
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 connected to
00:21:26 --> 00:21:27 his sin.
00:21:29 --> 00:21:30 We are born
00:21:30 --> 00:21:30 into this
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 world with
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 sinful natures
00:21:32 --> 00:21:33 that are traced
00:21:33 --> 00:21:35 right back to
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 Adam's sin.
00:21:36 --> 00:21:36 And so Romans
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 5 verse 12
00:21:37 --> 00:21:39 sin came into
00:21:39 --> 00:21:39 the world through
00:21:39 --> 00:21:41 one man and
00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 death through
00:21:42 --> 00:21:43 sin and so
00:21:43 --> 00:21:44 death spread to
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 all men because
00:21:45 --> 00:21:46 all sin.
00:21:46 --> 00:21:46 sin.
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49 So we are
00:21:49 --> 00:21:51 born with
00:21:51 --> 00:21:53 inner lives
00:21:53 --> 00:21:53 that are
00:21:53 --> 00:21:54 directed towards
00:21:54 --> 00:21:56 ourselves and
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 what we want
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 and not
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 directed towards
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 God and
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 certainly not
00:22:01 --> 00:22:02 directed towards
00:22:02 --> 00:22:02 anyone else.
00:22:02 --> 00:22:03 sin.
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 Because we have
00:22:05 --> 00:22:05 inner lives
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 bent away from
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 God in sin
00:22:08 --> 00:22:10 when we are
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 old enough and
00:22:11 --> 00:22:11 we know the
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 difference between
00:22:12 --> 00:22:13 right and wrong
00:22:13 --> 00:22:16 we act in
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 sinful ways.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 sin.
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 We sin because
00:22:20 --> 00:22:20 we are already
00:22:20 --> 00:22:20 sinners.
00:22:21 --> 00:22:21 Now possibly
00:22:21 --> 00:22:22 and I say
00:22:22 --> 00:22:23 possibly a
00:22:23 --> 00:22:25 helpful way to
00:22:25 --> 00:22:25 look at it
00:22:25 --> 00:22:26 might be to
00:22:26 --> 00:22:27 ask the
00:22:27 --> 00:22:28 question of
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 whether a
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 tree produces
00:22:30 --> 00:22:31 apples because
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 it is an apple
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 tree or does
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 the tree become
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 an apple tree when
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37 it first produces
00:22:37 --> 00:22:37 an apple?
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 Given the look
00:22:41 --> 00:22:42 on your face I am
00:22:42 --> 00:22:42 not sure that is
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43 particularly helpful.
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 You see the
00:22:46 --> 00:22:47 reality is an
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 apple tree can
00:22:48 --> 00:22:48 grow for many
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 many years
00:22:49 --> 00:22:52 before it
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 produces any
00:22:53 --> 00:22:53 fruit at all
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 and when it
00:22:55 --> 00:22:56 does finally
00:22:56 --> 00:22:57 produce an
00:22:57 --> 00:22:58 apple you
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 would say that
00:22:59 --> 00:23:00 it is producing
00:23:00 --> 00:23:00 fruit in
00:23:00 --> 00:23:01 accordance to
00:23:01 --> 00:23:01 its nature
00:23:01 --> 00:23:03 and if the
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 apple tree that
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 you bought
00:23:05 --> 00:23:07 when it finally
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 produced a
00:23:08 --> 00:23:10 lemon you
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 would say
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 I have got a
00:23:13 --> 00:23:13 lemon tree.
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 I bought an
00:23:15 --> 00:23:16 apple tree but
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 I have been
00:23:17 --> 00:23:17 sold a
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 lemon tree.
00:23:21 --> 00:23:21 That is what
00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 you would say.
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 It is producing
00:23:23 --> 00:23:23 fruit in
00:23:23 --> 00:23:24 accordance to
00:23:24 --> 00:23:24 its nature.
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 Psalm 51
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 verse 5 says
00:23:27 --> 00:23:28 surely I was
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 sinful at birth
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 sinful from the
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 time my mother
00:23:31 --> 00:23:31 conceived me.
00:23:32 --> 00:23:33 We are sinners
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 by nature who
00:23:34 --> 00:23:35 show themselves to
00:23:35 --> 00:23:37 be sinners by
00:23:37 --> 00:23:37 choice.
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 Everyone who is
00:23:40 --> 00:23:41 a parent knows
00:23:41 --> 00:23:42 this to be true
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 by experience as
00:23:43 --> 00:23:43 well.
00:23:45 --> 00:23:46 I do not
00:23:46 --> 00:23:48 I have never
00:23:48 --> 00:23:49 had to teach
00:23:49 --> 00:23:49 my children
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 bad behaviour.
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 Never had to
00:23:52 --> 00:23:52 do that.
00:23:55 --> 00:23:56 I didn't teach
00:23:56 --> 00:23:56 my children to
00:23:56 --> 00:23:57 say no.
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 I didn't teach
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 them to disobey
00:23:59 --> 00:23:59 me.
00:23:59 --> 00:24:00 I didn't teach
00:24:00 --> 00:24:00 them to throw
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 their food on
00:24:01 --> 00:24:01 the floor.
00:24:01 --> 00:24:01 I didn't teach
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 them to pinch
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 one another or
00:24:03 --> 00:24:03 to poke one
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04 another or to
00:24:04 --> 00:24:04 take their tongue
00:24:04 --> 00:24:04 out of one
00:24:04 --> 00:24:05 another or spit
00:24:05 --> 00:24:05 at one another.
00:24:06 --> 00:24:06 I didn't teach
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 them to throw
00:24:07 --> 00:24:08 themselves on
00:24:08 --> 00:24:09 the floor and
00:24:09 --> 00:24:10 scream and kick
00:24:10 --> 00:24:11 in a supermarket.
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 No parent
00:24:12 --> 00:24:12 teaches their
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 child to do
00:24:13 --> 00:24:13 that.
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 Never wants to
00:24:14 --> 00:24:14 teach their
00:24:14 --> 00:24:15 child to do
00:24:15 --> 00:24:15 that.
00:24:16 --> 00:24:17 I didn't teach
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 them those
00:24:18 --> 00:24:18 things.
00:24:20 --> 00:24:21 But they got
00:24:21 --> 00:24:22 it from me.
00:24:24 --> 00:24:25 In the same
00:24:25 --> 00:24:27 way I got
00:24:27 --> 00:24:27 those things
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 from my
00:24:28 --> 00:24:28 parents.
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 I like my
00:24:33 --> 00:24:34 parents before
00:24:34 --> 00:24:34 me have spent
00:24:34 --> 00:24:35 my time trying
00:24:35 --> 00:24:36 to correct
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 those things
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 which come
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 naturally.
00:24:41 --> 00:24:42 There is
00:24:42 --> 00:24:43 solidarity in
00:24:43 --> 00:24:43 being created
00:24:43 --> 00:24:44 in the image
00:24:44 --> 00:24:44 of God for
00:24:44 --> 00:24:45 the glory of
00:24:45 --> 00:24:46 God and
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 solidarity in
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 all of us who
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 fall short of
00:24:49 --> 00:24:49 God's glory
00:24:49 --> 00:24:51 through sin.
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53 And we see
00:24:53 --> 00:24:53 this solidarity
00:24:53 --> 00:24:55 in sin and
00:24:55 --> 00:24:55 its consequences
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 played out in
00:24:56 --> 00:24:57 racial terms in
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 Genesis 10 and
00:24:58 --> 00:24:58 11.
00:24:59 --> 00:25:00 So if you've
00:25:00 --> 00:25:00 got your
00:25:00 --> 00:25:01 Bibles go to
00:25:01 --> 00:25:02 there.
00:25:02 --> 00:25:02 Genesis 10
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 11.
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 The so-called
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 table of
00:25:06 --> 00:25:07 nations in
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 Genesis 10
00:25:08 --> 00:25:10 reveals one
00:25:10 --> 00:25:11 central point.
00:25:13 --> 00:25:13 It stresses
00:25:13 --> 00:25:15 the common
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 origins of
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 all people.
00:25:19 --> 00:25:19 That's its
00:25:19 --> 00:25:20 main point.
00:25:21 --> 00:25:21 Common origins
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 of all people.
00:25:23 --> 00:25:23 And the
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 relationship
00:25:24 --> 00:25:25 between Genesis
00:25:25 --> 00:25:25 10 and
00:25:25 --> 00:25:26 11 is also
00:25:26 --> 00:25:27 quite significant.
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 The generational
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30 account which
00:25:30 --> 00:25:30 begins at
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 chapter 10
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 verse 1
00:25:32 --> 00:25:34 continues right
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 through until
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 chapter 11
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 verse 9.
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39 which means
00:25:39 --> 00:25:41 the Tower of
00:25:41 --> 00:25:42 Babel account
00:25:42 --> 00:25:43 in 11 and
00:25:43 --> 00:25:43 the Table of
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 Nations in
00:25:44 --> 00:25:44 chapter 10
00:25:44 --> 00:25:45 go together as
00:25:45 --> 00:25:46 one unit.
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 The Tower of
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49 Babel story
00:25:49 --> 00:25:50 explains how
00:25:50 --> 00:25:51 and why
00:25:51 --> 00:25:52 people have
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 been spread
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 out and
00:25:54 --> 00:25:54 filled the
00:25:54 --> 00:25:55 earth with
00:25:55 --> 00:25:55 different
00:25:55 --> 00:25:56 languages.
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 It reveals
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 that the
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 division into
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00 different groups,
00:26:00 --> 00:26:00 different people
00:26:00 --> 00:26:01 groups,
00:26:01 --> 00:26:01 different languages
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 is a
00:26:02 --> 00:26:04 consequence of
00:26:04 --> 00:26:06 human sin.
00:26:08 --> 00:26:10 verse 4
00:26:10 --> 00:26:10 says,
00:26:11 --> 00:26:11 come,
00:26:12 --> 00:26:12 let us
00:26:12 --> 00:26:12 build
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 ourselves
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 a city
00:26:14 --> 00:26:14 with a
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 tower that
00:26:15 --> 00:26:15 reaches to
00:26:15 --> 00:26:16 the heavens.
00:26:17 --> 00:26:17 That's where
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 God is,
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 reaches to
00:26:19 --> 00:26:19 the heavens,
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 so that
00:26:20 --> 00:26:22 we may
00:26:22 --> 00:26:22 make a
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23 name for
00:26:23 --> 00:26:23 ourselves
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 and not
00:26:24 --> 00:26:25 be scattered
00:26:25 --> 00:26:25 over the
00:26:25 --> 00:26:26 whole face
00:26:26 --> 00:26:26 of the
00:26:26 --> 00:26:26 earth.
00:26:28 --> 00:26:28 So
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 humanity
00:26:29 --> 00:26:30 comes
00:26:30 --> 00:26:30 together
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 to try
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 and overturn
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 God's
00:26:34 --> 00:26:34 judgment
00:26:34 --> 00:26:35 in
00:26:35 --> 00:26:35 Genesis
00:26:35 --> 00:26:37 3,
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 try to
00:26:38 --> 00:26:38 overturn
00:26:38 --> 00:26:39 God's
00:26:39 --> 00:26:39 decision
00:26:39 --> 00:26:39 at that
00:26:39 --> 00:26:40 point.
00:26:41 --> 00:26:41 They
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 work here
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 to try
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 and depose
00:26:44 --> 00:26:44 God
00:26:44 --> 00:26:46 and God's
00:26:46 --> 00:26:46 judgment on
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 them was
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 to forever
00:26:48 --> 00:26:49 hinder
00:26:49 --> 00:26:50 them working
00:26:50 --> 00:26:51 together.
00:26:53 --> 00:26:53 He
00:26:53 --> 00:26:54 scatters
00:26:54 --> 00:26:54 them and
00:26:54 --> 00:26:55 confuses
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 their language
00:26:56 --> 00:26:57 as an
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 act of
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 judgment.
00:27:02 --> 00:27:02 And so
00:27:02 --> 00:27:03 taken together,
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 Genesis 10-11
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 reveals both
00:27:05 --> 00:27:06 our unity
00:27:06 --> 00:27:07 as one
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 blood under
00:27:08 --> 00:27:09 God's
00:27:09 --> 00:27:09 blessing,
00:27:10 --> 00:27:10 but also
00:27:10 --> 00:27:12 our diversity
00:27:12 --> 00:27:14 into many
00:27:14 --> 00:27:14 languages of
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 groups under
00:27:15 --> 00:27:15 God's
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 judgment.
00:27:18 --> 00:27:19 The problem
00:27:19 --> 00:27:20 is the
00:27:20 --> 00:27:21 human heart
00:27:21 --> 00:27:21 that wants
00:27:21 --> 00:27:22 to reject
00:27:22 --> 00:27:22 God.
00:27:22 --> 00:27:22 And it
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 seems that
00:27:23 --> 00:27:23 we won't
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 work together
00:27:24 --> 00:27:25 on anything
00:27:25 --> 00:27:27 unless it
00:27:27 --> 00:27:27 is to
00:27:27 --> 00:27:28 reject God.
00:27:28 --> 00:27:30 God's
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 sin.
00:27:31 --> 00:27:32 The good
00:27:32 --> 00:27:32 news is
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 that God
00:27:33 --> 00:27:33 comes up
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34 with a
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 remedy for
00:27:35 --> 00:27:35 our sin
00:27:35 --> 00:27:36 and our
00:27:36 --> 00:27:37 division
00:27:37 --> 00:27:37 and our
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 confusion.
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 The Bible
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 doesn't just
00:27:40 --> 00:27:40 tell us
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 why we
00:27:41 --> 00:27:43 have racism
00:27:43 --> 00:27:43 and ethnic
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44 pride,
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 it gives us
00:27:45 --> 00:27:45 the solution
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 to it as
00:27:46 --> 00:27:46 well.
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48 Genesis 10
00:27:48 --> 00:27:48 and 11
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 sets the
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 stage for
00:27:50 --> 00:27:51 Genesis 12.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 And this
00:27:52 --> 00:27:52 is the
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 turning point
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 in the
00:27:54 --> 00:27:54 whole Bible.
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 Genesis 12
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 is the
00:27:56 --> 00:27:56 hinge,
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 it's a
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 turning point.
00:27:58 --> 00:27:58 This is
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 where the
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 good news
00:28:00 --> 00:28:00 comes.
00:28:01 --> 00:28:01 The promise
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 to Abraham.
00:28:03 --> 00:28:03 The Lord
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 said to
00:28:04 --> 00:28:04 Abraham,
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 this is
00:28:05 --> 00:28:05 verse 1,
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 leave your
00:28:06 --> 00:28:06 country,
00:28:06 --> 00:28:06 your people
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 and your
00:28:07 --> 00:28:07 father's
00:28:07 --> 00:28:08 household
00:28:08 --> 00:28:09 and go
00:28:09 --> 00:28:09 to the
00:28:09 --> 00:28:09 land I
00:28:09 --> 00:28:10 will show
00:28:10 --> 00:28:10 you.
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 I will
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 make you
00:28:12 --> 00:28:12 into a
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 great nation
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 and I
00:28:14 --> 00:28:14 will bless
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15 you and
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 I will
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 make your
00:28:17 --> 00:28:18 name great
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 and you
00:28:20 --> 00:28:20 will be a
00:28:20 --> 00:28:20 blessing.
00:28:21 --> 00:28:21 I will
00:28:21 --> 00:28:22 bless those
00:28:22 --> 00:28:22 who bless
00:28:22 --> 00:28:22 you and
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 whoever curses
00:28:23 --> 00:28:23 you I
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24 will curse
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 and all
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 peoples
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 on earth
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 will be
00:28:28 --> 00:28:28 blessed
00:28:28 --> 00:28:29 through
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 you.
00:28:31 --> 00:28:31 So God
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 judges
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33 in chapter
00:28:33 --> 00:28:34 11,
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 scatters,
00:28:35 --> 00:28:35 confuses
00:28:35 --> 00:28:38 and then
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 in chapter
00:28:39 --> 00:28:39 12,
00:28:40 --> 00:28:41 the beginning
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 of the plan
00:28:42 --> 00:28:42 of redemption.
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 God's
00:28:48 --> 00:28:48 call to
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 Abraham here
00:28:49 --> 00:28:49 in chapter
00:28:49 --> 00:28:50 12 is a
00:28:50 --> 00:28:51 direct response
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 to the
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 disastrous
00:28:53 --> 00:28:54 situation we
00:28:54 --> 00:28:55 have of
00:28:55 --> 00:28:55 human beings
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 in Genesis
00:28:56 --> 00:28:56 3 to
00:28:56 --> 00:28:57 11.
00:28:58 --> 00:28:58 This is
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 the
00:28:59 --> 00:28:59 introduction
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 to God's
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 spectacular
00:29:01 --> 00:29:01 redemptive
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 plan,
00:29:02 --> 00:29:02 a plan
00:29:02 --> 00:29:03 that ultimately
00:29:03 --> 00:29:04 culminates
00:29:04 --> 00:29:04 in the
00:29:04 --> 00:29:05 person of
00:29:05 --> 00:29:05 Jesus.
00:29:06 --> 00:29:07 It starts
00:29:07 --> 00:29:07 with Abraham,
00:29:08 --> 00:29:08 it culminates
00:29:08 --> 00:29:09 in Jesus
00:29:09 --> 00:29:10 and God
00:29:10 --> 00:29:10 focuses on
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 Abraham
00:29:11 --> 00:29:12 here not
00:29:12 --> 00:29:12 to be
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 exclusive,
00:29:13 --> 00:29:13 it's not
00:29:13 --> 00:29:13 because he's
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 kind of
00:29:14 --> 00:29:14 thought,
00:29:14 --> 00:29:14 well,
00:29:14 --> 00:29:14 you know,
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 Abraham's
00:29:15 --> 00:29:15 the best
00:29:15 --> 00:29:15 of the
00:29:15 --> 00:29:16 bad bunch,
00:29:16 --> 00:29:16 I'll pick
00:29:16 --> 00:29:17 Abraham and
00:29:17 --> 00:29:17 I'll just
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 shower
00:29:18 --> 00:29:18 favoritism
00:29:18 --> 00:29:19 upon him.
00:29:19 --> 00:29:21 but he
00:29:21 --> 00:29:21 wants to
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 use this
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 individual
00:29:23 --> 00:29:23 and his
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 descendants
00:29:24 --> 00:29:25 to bless
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 and to
00:29:26 --> 00:29:26 deliver
00:29:26 --> 00:29:27 and to
00:29:27 --> 00:29:27 redeem
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 the entire
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 world.
00:29:30 --> 00:29:31 That means
00:29:31 --> 00:29:32 God's solution
00:29:32 --> 00:29:32 to our
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 sin
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34 reaches
00:29:34 --> 00:29:35 its goal
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 only,
00:29:36 --> 00:29:38 only
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 when it
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 includes
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 all the
00:29:41 --> 00:29:41 families
00:29:41 --> 00:29:42 of the
00:29:42 --> 00:29:42 earth.
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 That in
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 itself
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 is a
00:29:47 --> 00:29:47 reason for
00:29:47 --> 00:29:47 mission.
00:29:47 --> 00:29:50 the
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51 purpose of
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51 God
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 choosing
00:29:52 --> 00:29:53 Israel
00:29:53 --> 00:29:53 was to
00:29:53 --> 00:29:54 witness to
00:29:54 --> 00:29:54 the
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 universal
00:29:55 --> 00:29:55 power and
00:29:55 --> 00:29:56 love of
00:29:56 --> 00:29:56 God for
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57 all people.
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 And that's
00:29:58 --> 00:29:58 against
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 Richard Dawkins'
00:29:59 --> 00:30:00 view that
00:30:00 --> 00:30:01 the God
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 of the
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 Old Testament
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04 is racist.
00:30:06 --> 00:30:06 You see,
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 even in the
00:30:07 --> 00:30:07 Old Testament,
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 God's plan
00:30:08 --> 00:30:08 was for
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 all the
00:30:09 --> 00:30:09 nations.
00:30:11 --> 00:30:12 Psalm 67,
00:30:12 --> 00:30:12 the nations
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 will benefit
00:30:13 --> 00:30:14 from the
00:30:14 --> 00:30:14 Abrahamic
00:30:14 --> 00:30:15 blessing
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16 to Israel.
00:30:16 --> 00:30:18 the nations
00:30:18 --> 00:30:18 will come
00:30:18 --> 00:30:19 to worship
00:30:19 --> 00:30:19 the living
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 God.
00:30:20 --> 00:30:20 In Psalm
00:30:20 --> 00:30:20 22,
00:30:21 --> 00:30:21 86,
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 102,
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 138,
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 145,
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 Isaiah 2,
00:30:25 --> 00:30:25 12,
00:30:25 --> 00:30:25 42,
00:30:25 --> 00:30:26 45,
00:30:26 --> 00:30:27 the nations
00:30:27 --> 00:30:27 will be
00:30:27 --> 00:30:28 included
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29 within
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 Israel
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 as the
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 extended
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 people of
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 God.
00:30:33 --> 00:30:33 And as
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 such,
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 they'll be
00:30:35 --> 00:30:35 registered
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 in God's
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 city in
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 Psalm 86.
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 They'll be
00:30:39 --> 00:30:39 blessed with
00:30:39 --> 00:30:39 God's
00:30:39 --> 00:30:40 salvation in
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 Isaiah 19.
00:30:42 --> 00:30:42 They'll be
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 accepted into
00:30:43 --> 00:30:43 God's house
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 in Isaiah 56.
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 They'll be
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 called by
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 God's name
00:30:47 --> 00:30:48 in Amos 9.
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 And they'll be
00:30:49 --> 00:30:49 joined with
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 God's people
00:30:50 --> 00:30:51 in Zechariah 2.
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 And a heap
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 of other
00:30:52 --> 00:30:53 passages
00:30:53 --> 00:30:54 smattered
00:30:54 --> 00:30:54 right through.
00:30:54 --> 00:30:55 The God
00:30:55 --> 00:30:55 of the Old
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 Testament is
00:30:56 --> 00:30:56 not a
00:30:56 --> 00:30:57 racist.
00:30:59 --> 00:30:59 He doesn't
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00 have his
00:31:00 --> 00:31:00 favorites.
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 The choosing
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 of Israel
00:31:03 --> 00:31:04 was not
00:31:04 --> 00:31:05 for
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 ethnocentric
00:31:06 --> 00:31:06 purposes,
00:31:07 --> 00:31:07 but for
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 universal
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 redemption.
00:31:09 --> 00:31:13 But
00:31:13 --> 00:31:17 Israel
00:31:17 --> 00:31:19 grabbed
00:31:19 --> 00:31:19 hold of
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 it and
00:31:20 --> 00:31:20 thought,
00:31:20 --> 00:31:20 we'll just
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 hang on to
00:31:21 --> 00:31:21 that for
00:31:21 --> 00:31:21 ourselves.
00:31:23 --> 00:31:24 They
00:31:24 --> 00:31:25 failed
00:31:25 --> 00:31:25 consistently
00:31:25 --> 00:31:26 for living
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 out God's
00:31:27 --> 00:31:27 purpose in
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 calling them.
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 They took
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31 the role of
00:31:31 --> 00:31:31 being racially
00:31:31 --> 00:31:32 and morally
00:31:32 --> 00:31:34 superior to
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 the nations
00:31:35 --> 00:31:35 about.
00:31:35 --> 00:31:36 They
00:31:36 --> 00:31:36 consistently
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 forgot the
00:31:37 --> 00:31:37 reason why
00:31:37 --> 00:31:38 God chose
00:31:38 --> 00:31:39 them, and
00:31:39 --> 00:31:39 it was the
00:31:39 --> 00:31:40 case right
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 through until
00:31:41 --> 00:31:41 Jesus'
00:31:42 --> 00:31:42 time.
00:31:43 --> 00:31:43 But with
00:31:43 --> 00:31:45 the coming
00:31:45 --> 00:31:45 of Jesus,
00:31:46 --> 00:31:47 a radically
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48 new way of
00:31:48 --> 00:31:49 defining the
00:31:49 --> 00:31:50 people of
00:31:50 --> 00:31:51 God arrived,
00:31:52 --> 00:31:53 namely,
00:31:54 --> 00:31:54 by faith
00:31:54 --> 00:31:55 in him.
00:31:56 --> 00:31:56 You see,
00:31:56 --> 00:31:57 faith in
00:31:57 --> 00:31:58 Jesus
00:31:58 --> 00:32:00 trumps
00:32:00 --> 00:32:02 ethnocentricity,
00:32:03 --> 00:32:04 which is
00:32:04 --> 00:32:05 why, as a
00:32:05 --> 00:32:06 church, our
00:32:06 --> 00:32:06 mission statement
00:32:06 --> 00:32:07 is to treasure
00:32:07 --> 00:32:08 Jesus.
00:32:08 --> 00:32:09 above
00:32:09 --> 00:32:09 everything
00:32:09 --> 00:32:09 else.
00:32:11 --> 00:32:11 Jesus,
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 faith in
00:32:13 --> 00:32:14 Jesus trumps
00:32:14 --> 00:32:15 ethnocentricity.
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 Over and
00:32:16 --> 00:32:16 over again in
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17 the gospel,
00:32:17 --> 00:32:17 you see this
00:32:17 --> 00:32:18 happening.
00:32:18 --> 00:32:19 The story of
00:32:19 --> 00:32:19 the Good
00:32:19 --> 00:32:19 Samaritan,
00:32:20 --> 00:32:20 the foreigner
00:32:20 --> 00:32:22 is the
00:32:22 --> 00:32:23 hero of
00:32:23 --> 00:32:23 faith.
00:32:24 --> 00:32:25 He's the
00:32:25 --> 00:32:25 hero of
00:32:25 --> 00:32:26 compassion.
00:32:27 --> 00:32:28 The healing
00:32:28 --> 00:32:28 of the ten
00:32:28 --> 00:32:29 lepers, and
00:32:29 --> 00:32:30 only one of
00:32:30 --> 00:32:30 the lepers
00:32:30 --> 00:32:31 returns in
00:32:31 --> 00:32:32 Luke 17,
00:32:32 --> 00:32:33 and what is
00:32:33 --> 00:32:33 he?
00:32:33 --> 00:32:34 He's a
00:32:34 --> 00:32:34 Samaritan.
00:32:35 --> 00:32:36 The foreigner
00:32:36 --> 00:32:37 shines with
00:32:37 --> 00:32:37 humble gratitude.
00:32:38 --> 00:32:39 The healing
00:32:39 --> 00:32:39 of the
00:32:39 --> 00:32:40 Syrophoenician
00:32:40 --> 00:32:41 daughter in
00:32:41 --> 00:32:41 Mark 7.
00:32:42 --> 00:32:42 The worshipping
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 of the wise
00:32:43 --> 00:32:43 men for the
00:32:43 --> 00:32:44 east at the
00:32:44 --> 00:32:45 birth of
00:32:45 --> 00:32:45 Jesus, most
00:32:45 --> 00:32:46 likely from
00:32:46 --> 00:32:47 Persia or
00:32:47 --> 00:32:48 Arabia or
00:32:48 --> 00:32:48 something like
00:32:48 --> 00:32:49 that in
00:32:49 --> 00:32:49 Matthew 2.
00:32:50 --> 00:32:50 And finally,
00:32:51 --> 00:32:51 in Luke 4,
00:32:51 --> 00:32:52 there's a heap of
00:32:52 --> 00:32:52 other passages you
00:32:52 --> 00:32:53 go to, but
00:32:53 --> 00:32:54 Luke 4, in
00:32:54 --> 00:32:55 this passage,
00:32:55 --> 00:32:56 Jesus tells
00:32:56 --> 00:32:58 the story,
00:32:59 --> 00:32:59 two stories.
00:33:00 --> 00:33:00 One story is
00:33:00 --> 00:33:01 taken from
00:33:01 --> 00:33:02 1 Kings 17.
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 Now, remember
00:33:03 --> 00:33:04 the reading, as
00:33:04 --> 00:33:05 Jimmy read it out
00:33:05 --> 00:33:05 to us a moment
00:33:05 --> 00:33:06 ago.
00:33:06 --> 00:33:07 Jesus stands up
00:33:07 --> 00:33:08 in the temple.
00:33:08 --> 00:33:09 He reads out a
00:33:09 --> 00:33:10 text from the
00:33:10 --> 00:33:11 scroll of Isaiah
00:33:11 --> 00:33:12 61 and says to
00:33:12 --> 00:33:13 the crowd that's
00:33:13 --> 00:33:13 gathered there in
00:33:13 --> 00:33:14 the temple,
00:33:14 --> 00:33:15 guys, this is
00:33:15 --> 00:33:16 fulfilled in your
00:33:16 --> 00:33:17 hearing.
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 So Jesus, in that
00:33:18 --> 00:33:19 moment, declares,
00:33:20 --> 00:33:21 I am the long
00:33:21 --> 00:33:21 awaited Messiah.
00:33:22 --> 00:33:23 Newsline,
00:33:23 --> 00:33:24 headline, local
00:33:24 --> 00:33:25 boy, declares
00:33:25 --> 00:33:25 himself to
00:33:25 --> 00:33:26 Messiah.
00:33:26 --> 00:33:26 Woohoo!
00:33:27 --> 00:33:29 And that is
00:33:29 --> 00:33:30 blasphemous.
00:33:31 --> 00:33:31 And the whole
00:33:31 --> 00:33:32 crowd in the
00:33:32 --> 00:33:33 temple are going,
00:33:33 --> 00:33:34 he's a good
00:33:34 --> 00:33:34 guy.
00:33:34 --> 00:33:35 He's a great
00:33:35 --> 00:33:35 speaker.
00:33:36 --> 00:33:36 Great, he's
00:33:36 --> 00:33:37 popped in.
00:33:37 --> 00:33:38 Yeah, local
00:33:38 --> 00:33:38 boy, we're quite
00:33:38 --> 00:33:39 proud of him.
00:33:39 --> 00:33:40 And they all
00:33:40 --> 00:33:41 spoke well of
00:33:41 --> 00:33:41 him.
00:33:42 --> 00:33:42 And Jesus
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 comes back and
00:33:43 --> 00:33:43 said, yeah, but
00:33:43 --> 00:33:44 prophets have no
00:33:44 --> 00:33:45 honor in their
00:33:45 --> 00:33:45 hometown.
00:33:45 --> 00:33:46 They're like,
00:33:46 --> 00:33:47 this one does.
00:33:48 --> 00:33:49 Well, I just
00:33:49 --> 00:33:49 want to tell you
00:33:49 --> 00:33:50 two more stories.
00:33:51 --> 00:33:52 He tells a story
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 taken from 1
00:33:52 --> 00:33:53 Kings 17.
00:33:53 --> 00:33:54 It's a story
00:33:54 --> 00:33:54 about God
00:33:54 --> 00:33:56 passing over the
00:33:56 --> 00:33:56 ethnic
00:33:56 --> 00:33:57 Jews to
00:33:57 --> 00:33:58 bring a
00:33:58 --> 00:33:58 miraculous
00:33:58 --> 00:33:59 blessing to
00:33:59 --> 00:34:00 a foreign
00:34:00 --> 00:34:01 Gentiles from
00:34:01 --> 00:34:02 the land of
00:34:02 --> 00:34:02 Phoenicia.
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 And the
00:34:04 --> 00:34:04 second story
00:34:04 --> 00:34:05 is for 2
00:34:05 --> 00:34:06 Kings 5.
00:34:06 --> 00:34:07 Again, the
00:34:07 --> 00:34:08 point is, of
00:34:08 --> 00:34:09 all the
00:34:09 --> 00:34:10 people that
00:34:10 --> 00:34:11 God might
00:34:11 --> 00:34:12 have chosen to
00:34:12 --> 00:34:12 heal of
00:34:12 --> 00:34:13 leprosy, he
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14 chooses a
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15 foreign king
00:34:15 --> 00:34:16 from Syria.
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 And then
00:34:23 --> 00:34:24 they didn't
00:34:24 --> 00:34:24 speak so
00:34:24 --> 00:34:24 well of
00:34:24 --> 00:34:25 Jesus.
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27 It was
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28 at that
00:34:28 --> 00:34:29 point, it
00:34:29 --> 00:34:30 says, that
00:34:30 --> 00:34:31 they were
00:34:31 --> 00:34:33 furious with
00:34:33 --> 00:34:34 him.
00:34:35 --> 00:34:36 And they
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 attempted to
00:34:37 --> 00:34:37 kill him.
00:34:39 --> 00:34:40 Ethnic pride
00:34:40 --> 00:34:42 runs deep.
00:34:43 --> 00:34:44 And the
00:34:44 --> 00:34:44 point that
00:34:44 --> 00:34:44 Jesus was
00:34:44 --> 00:34:45 making is
00:34:45 --> 00:34:45 that the
00:34:45 --> 00:34:46 kingdom that
00:34:46 --> 00:34:47 he's bringing
00:34:47 --> 00:34:48 is ethnically
00:34:48 --> 00:34:49 different than
00:34:49 --> 00:34:50 what they were
00:34:50 --> 00:34:51 thinking.
00:34:51 --> 00:34:53 Jesus is
00:34:53 --> 00:34:54 the end of
00:34:54 --> 00:34:55 ethnocentrism
00:34:55 --> 00:34:56 and racial
00:34:56 --> 00:34:56 pride.
00:34:57 --> 00:34:57 He says he
00:34:57 --> 00:34:58 has come to
00:34:58 --> 00:34:58 redeem a
00:34:58 --> 00:34:59 people from
00:34:59 --> 00:34:59 every ethnic
00:34:59 --> 00:35:00 group, not
00:35:00 --> 00:35:01 just from
00:35:01 --> 00:35:02 one or a
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 few.
00:35:03 --> 00:35:03 God's plan of
00:35:03 --> 00:35:04 redemption, which
00:35:04 --> 00:35:04 started with a
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 promise to
00:35:05 --> 00:35:06 Abraham, finds
00:35:06 --> 00:35:07 its fulfillment
00:35:07 --> 00:35:07 in the person
00:35:07 --> 00:35:08 of Jesus and
00:35:08 --> 00:35:09 especially in
00:35:09 --> 00:35:10 the death of
00:35:10 --> 00:35:10 Jesus.
00:35:11 --> 00:35:11 Galatians 3
00:35:11 --> 00:35:12 says this,
00:35:12 --> 00:35:13 Christ redeemed
00:35:13 --> 00:35:14 us from the
00:35:14 --> 00:35:15 curse of the
00:35:15 --> 00:35:15 law by
00:35:15 --> 00:35:16 becoming a
00:35:16 --> 00:35:17 curse for
00:35:17 --> 00:35:17 us.
00:35:18 --> 00:35:18 For it is
00:35:18 --> 00:35:18 written,
00:35:19 --> 00:35:19 cursed is
00:35:19 --> 00:35:20 everyone who
00:35:20 --> 00:35:21 is hung on
00:35:21 --> 00:35:22 a tree.
00:35:22 --> 00:35:23 That is, he
00:35:23 --> 00:35:24 redeemed us
00:35:24 --> 00:35:25 by his
00:35:25 --> 00:35:26 death on the
00:35:26 --> 00:35:26 cross.
00:35:27 --> 00:35:28 And then it
00:35:28 --> 00:35:29 says, he
00:35:29 --> 00:35:30 redeemed us
00:35:30 --> 00:35:31 in order that
00:35:31 --> 00:35:32 the blessing
00:35:32 --> 00:35:33 given to
00:35:33 --> 00:35:34 Abraham
00:35:34 --> 00:35:37 might come
00:35:37 --> 00:35:37 to the
00:35:37 --> 00:35:38 Gentiles
00:35:38 --> 00:35:39 through Christ
00:35:39 --> 00:35:39 Jesus.
00:35:39 --> 00:35:42 with
00:35:42 --> 00:35:43 Abraham, God
00:35:43 --> 00:35:44 set in
00:35:44 --> 00:35:44 motion a
00:35:44 --> 00:35:45 plan of
00:35:45 --> 00:35:45 redemption
00:35:45 --> 00:35:47 that overturns
00:35:47 --> 00:35:48 every curse
00:35:48 --> 00:35:49 for everyone
00:35:49 --> 00:35:50 who receives
00:35:50 --> 00:35:50 the blessing
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 of Abraham.
00:35:51 --> 00:35:52 And that
00:35:52 --> 00:35:52 blessing,
00:35:52 --> 00:35:53 according to
00:35:53 --> 00:35:54 Galatians 3,
00:35:54 --> 00:35:54 is the
00:35:54 --> 00:35:55 forgiveness of
00:35:55 --> 00:35:56 sins and
00:35:56 --> 00:35:57 acceptance of
00:35:57 --> 00:35:58 God that
00:35:58 --> 00:35:58 comes through
00:35:58 --> 00:35:59 Jesus Christ,
00:35:59 --> 00:36:00 the descendant
00:36:00 --> 00:36:01 of Abraham.
00:36:02 --> 00:36:03 You see,
00:36:03 --> 00:36:03 God's
00:36:03 --> 00:36:03 redemptive
00:36:03 --> 00:36:04 plan has
00:36:04 --> 00:36:06 always been
00:36:06 --> 00:36:07 to save and
00:36:07 --> 00:36:07 bless people
00:36:07 --> 00:36:08 from all the
00:36:08 --> 00:36:09 peoples of
00:36:09 --> 00:36:10 the earth.
00:36:11 --> 00:36:12 All of us
00:36:12 --> 00:36:12 who are
00:36:12 --> 00:36:14 united in
00:36:14 --> 00:36:15 sin might
00:36:15 --> 00:36:16 be united
00:36:16 --> 00:36:17 in Christ
00:36:17 --> 00:36:18 as his
00:36:18 --> 00:36:19 people.
00:36:21 --> 00:36:22 So,
00:36:22 --> 00:36:22 friends,
00:36:22 --> 00:36:23 racial prejudice
00:36:23 --> 00:36:24 runs deep in
00:36:24 --> 00:36:24 a sinful
00:36:24 --> 00:36:25 heart.
00:36:26 --> 00:36:26 And I
00:36:26 --> 00:36:27 discovered that
00:36:27 --> 00:36:28 night in Alice
00:36:28 --> 00:36:30 Springs that
00:36:30 --> 00:36:31 I was just
00:36:31 --> 00:36:32 like the
00:36:32 --> 00:36:32 residents of
00:36:32 --> 00:36:33 Nazareth.
00:36:33 --> 00:36:35 God's
00:36:35 --> 00:36:36 love.
00:36:36 --> 00:36:37 My
00:36:37 --> 00:36:38 chosen
00:36:38 --> 00:36:39 place as
00:36:39 --> 00:36:39 a child
00:36:39 --> 00:36:40 of God
00:36:40 --> 00:36:41 by grace
00:36:41 --> 00:36:42 had not
00:36:42 --> 00:36:43 produced
00:36:43 --> 00:36:43 humility
00:36:43 --> 00:36:45 and compassion
00:36:45 --> 00:36:46 for all
00:36:46 --> 00:36:46 people.
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48 And
00:36:48 --> 00:36:48 ironically,
00:36:49 --> 00:36:49 it meant
00:36:49 --> 00:36:50 that I
00:36:50 --> 00:36:50 was not
00:36:50 --> 00:36:51 aligned with
00:36:51 --> 00:36:52 God's
00:36:52 --> 00:36:52 purpose
00:36:52 --> 00:36:54 for all
00:36:54 --> 00:36:54 people,
00:36:55 --> 00:36:56 even
00:36:56 --> 00:36:57 though that's
00:36:57 --> 00:36:58 what I was
00:36:58 --> 00:36:58 there to
00:36:58 --> 00:36:59 preach about.
00:36:59 --> 00:37:03 I
00:37:03 --> 00:37:03 needed Jesus
00:37:03 --> 00:37:04 to change
00:37:04 --> 00:37:05 my heart.
00:37:06 --> 00:37:06 You see,
00:37:06 --> 00:37:06 my problem
00:37:06 --> 00:37:07 is not
00:37:07 --> 00:37:07 biology,
00:37:07 --> 00:37:08 my problem
00:37:08 --> 00:37:08 is not
00:37:08 --> 00:37:09 evolution,
00:37:09 --> 00:37:10 it's not
00:37:10 --> 00:37:11 other people's
00:37:11 --> 00:37:11 interpretation of
00:37:11 --> 00:37:12 the Bible,
00:37:12 --> 00:37:12 and it's
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13 certainly not
00:37:13 --> 00:37:14 John Howard.
00:37:14 --> 00:37:16 it is the
00:37:16 --> 00:37:17 sin and
00:37:17 --> 00:37:17 the prejudice
00:37:17 --> 00:37:19 in my
00:37:19 --> 00:37:19 heart.
00:37:19 --> 00:37:20 That's the
00:37:20 --> 00:37:20 problem.
00:37:22 --> 00:37:23 I need a
00:37:23 --> 00:37:23 new heart
00:37:23 --> 00:37:24 to see all
00:37:24 --> 00:37:25 people made
00:37:25 --> 00:37:25 in the image
00:37:25 --> 00:37:26 of God,
00:37:27 --> 00:37:28 all people
00:37:28 --> 00:37:29 united in
00:37:29 --> 00:37:29 sin,
00:37:30 --> 00:37:31 and all
00:37:31 --> 00:37:31 people in
00:37:31 --> 00:37:32 need of
00:37:32 --> 00:37:33 God's great
00:37:33 --> 00:37:33 plan of
00:37:33 --> 00:37:34 redemption
00:37:34 --> 00:37:34 through Jesus
00:37:34 --> 00:37:35 Christ.
00:37:38 --> 00:37:38 That was
00:37:38 --> 00:37:39 the Saturday
00:37:39 --> 00:37:39 night.
00:37:42 --> 00:37:43 Significant
00:37:43 --> 00:37:44 steps went
00:37:44 --> 00:37:44 forward the
00:37:44 --> 00:37:45 next morning
00:37:45 --> 00:37:46 when I
00:37:46 --> 00:37:47 preached at
00:37:47 --> 00:37:47 a local
00:37:47 --> 00:37:48 church in
00:37:48 --> 00:37:48 Alice.
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 As I
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 stood in
00:37:50 --> 00:37:50 the pulpit,
00:37:51 --> 00:37:52 I saw
00:37:52 --> 00:37:54 something that
00:37:54 --> 00:37:55 I had never
00:37:55 --> 00:37:56 noticed in a
00:37:56 --> 00:37:56 church before.
00:37:56 --> 00:37:57 It's not
00:37:57 --> 00:37:57 because it
00:37:57 --> 00:37:58 wasn't evident
00:37:58 --> 00:37:58 in any other
00:37:58 --> 00:37:59 church,
00:37:59 --> 00:38:00 it's because
00:38:00 --> 00:38:01 my own
00:38:01 --> 00:38:03 prejudice was
00:38:03 --> 00:38:04 just so
00:38:04 --> 00:38:04 clear and
00:38:04 --> 00:38:05 focused in
00:38:05 --> 00:38:05 my mind.
00:38:06 --> 00:38:07 I saw
00:38:07 --> 00:38:08 all the
00:38:08 --> 00:38:08 white people
00:38:08 --> 00:38:09 sitting in
00:38:09 --> 00:38:09 the front.
00:38:10 --> 00:38:11 I saw
00:38:11 --> 00:38:11 all the
00:38:11 --> 00:38:12 white people
00:38:12 --> 00:38:12 taking the
00:38:12 --> 00:38:13 rolls up
00:38:13 --> 00:38:14 the front.
00:38:14 --> 00:38:16 I saw
00:38:16 --> 00:38:16 the
00:38:16 --> 00:38:16 aboriginal
00:38:16 --> 00:38:17 people
00:38:17 --> 00:38:18 sitting at
00:38:18 --> 00:38:18 the back
00:38:18 --> 00:38:19 scattered on
00:38:19 --> 00:38:19 the floor
00:38:19 --> 00:38:19 and on a
00:38:19 --> 00:38:20 few chairs
00:38:20 --> 00:38:20 at the
00:38:20 --> 00:38:20 back.
00:38:21 --> 00:38:22 I noticed
00:38:22 --> 00:38:22 for the
00:38:22 --> 00:38:23 first time
00:38:23 --> 00:38:23 that the
00:38:23 --> 00:38:24 greeting and
00:38:24 --> 00:38:24 the passing
00:38:24 --> 00:38:24 of the
00:38:24 --> 00:38:25 peace and
00:38:25 --> 00:38:25 meeting as
00:38:25 --> 00:38:26 we did
00:38:26 --> 00:38:26 just a
00:38:26 --> 00:38:27 moment ago,
00:38:28 --> 00:38:28 you could
00:38:28 --> 00:38:29 virtually divide
00:38:29 --> 00:38:30 the room in
00:38:30 --> 00:38:30 two.
00:38:32 --> 00:38:32 There was a
00:38:32 --> 00:38:33 little bit of
00:38:33 --> 00:38:33 crossover but
00:38:33 --> 00:38:33 you could
00:38:33 --> 00:38:35 virtually divide
00:38:35 --> 00:38:36 the room in
00:38:36 --> 00:38:36 two.
00:38:37 --> 00:38:38 And as the
00:38:38 --> 00:38:39 white clergyman,
00:38:39 --> 00:38:40 I had a bunch
00:38:40 --> 00:38:41 of white people
00:38:41 --> 00:38:41 who wanted to
00:38:41 --> 00:38:41 come and speak
00:38:41 --> 00:38:42 to me and
00:38:42 --> 00:38:43 I literally
00:38:43 --> 00:38:44 had to push
00:38:44 --> 00:38:44 my way past
00:38:44 --> 00:38:45 them.
00:38:46 --> 00:38:46 And let me
00:38:46 --> 00:38:47 tell you,
00:38:48 --> 00:38:49 it broke my
00:38:49 --> 00:38:50 heart when I
00:38:50 --> 00:38:51 approached an
00:38:51 --> 00:38:51 elderly
00:38:51 --> 00:38:53 aboriginal man.
00:38:54 --> 00:38:55 As I
00:38:55 --> 00:38:55 approached him,
00:38:56 --> 00:38:57 he bowed his
00:38:57 --> 00:38:59 head, he put
00:38:59 --> 00:39:00 out his hand
00:39:00 --> 00:39:00 because he knew
00:39:00 --> 00:39:01 that's what I was
00:39:01 --> 00:39:01 going to do, I was
00:39:01 --> 00:39:01 going to shake
00:39:01 --> 00:39:02 his hand, he
00:39:02 --> 00:39:02 put out his
00:39:02 --> 00:39:03 hand and he
00:39:03 --> 00:39:03 wouldn't even
00:39:03 --> 00:39:04 look me in the
00:39:04 --> 00:39:05 eye.
00:39:05 --> 00:39:07 I was told
00:39:07 --> 00:39:08 later that's
00:39:08 --> 00:39:09 because he saw
00:39:09 --> 00:39:10 me as
00:39:10 --> 00:39:10 superior.
00:39:11 --> 00:39:12 Not just
00:39:12 --> 00:39:13 because I was
00:39:13 --> 00:39:13 clergy, it was
00:39:13 --> 00:39:14 partly due to
00:39:14 --> 00:39:15 that, but
00:39:15 --> 00:39:15 because I was
00:39:15 --> 00:39:16 white.
00:39:16 --> 00:39:17 He has learned
00:39:17 --> 00:39:18 all of his
00:39:18 --> 00:39:19 life that I
00:39:19 --> 00:39:20 am better
00:39:20 --> 00:39:21 than he is.
00:39:26 --> 00:39:26 Let me tell
00:39:26 --> 00:39:27 you that racial
00:39:27 --> 00:39:29 division in
00:39:29 --> 00:39:30 the church
00:39:30 --> 00:39:32 frustrates God's
00:39:32 --> 00:39:33 plan of redemption
00:39:33 --> 00:39:34 for all people.
00:39:35 --> 00:39:37 racial segregation
00:39:37 --> 00:39:37 amongst the
00:39:37 --> 00:39:38 people of God
00:39:38 --> 00:39:39 is a movement
00:39:39 --> 00:39:41 away from the
00:39:41 --> 00:39:42 following God's
00:39:42 --> 00:39:43 redemptive plan.
00:39:44 --> 00:39:45 And so I want
00:39:45 --> 00:39:46 to encourage you
00:39:46 --> 00:39:47 to use this
00:39:47 --> 00:39:48 series to check
00:39:48 --> 00:39:48 your heart.
00:39:49 --> 00:39:50 You know, I
00:39:50 --> 00:39:50 had a couple of
00:39:50 --> 00:39:50 people speak to
00:39:50 --> 00:39:52 me this morning
00:39:52 --> 00:39:54 and said, I
00:39:54 --> 00:39:54 don't have your
00:39:54 --> 00:39:55 problem.
00:39:56 --> 00:39:57 I don't have
00:39:57 --> 00:39:58 racism towards
00:39:58 --> 00:40:00 aboriginal people.
00:40:02 --> 00:40:03 That's great.
00:40:05 --> 00:40:05 Who is it
00:40:05 --> 00:40:06 though?
00:40:07 --> 00:40:08 Who is your
00:40:08 --> 00:40:09 problem?
00:40:13 --> 00:40:13 Does your
00:40:13 --> 00:40:14 heart beat
00:40:14 --> 00:40:15 with the
00:40:15 --> 00:40:15 heart, the
00:40:15 --> 00:40:16 Jesus heart
00:40:16 --> 00:40:17 beats for all
00:40:17 --> 00:40:17 people?
00:40:18 --> 00:40:19 And if we're
00:40:19 --> 00:40:19 going to be a
00:40:19 --> 00:40:20 church that is
00:40:20 --> 00:40:20 aligned with
00:40:20 --> 00:40:21 Jesus' mission,
00:40:22 --> 00:40:23 then racial
00:40:23 --> 00:40:24 pride and
00:40:24 --> 00:40:25 ethnocentricity
00:40:25 --> 00:40:27 has to end.
00:40:27 --> 00:40:27 It's got to
00:40:27 --> 00:40:28 end.
00:40:28 --> 00:40:28 It's got to
00:40:28 --> 00:40:28 end in this
00:40:28 --> 00:40:29 congregation.
00:40:29 --> 00:40:30 It's got to
00:40:30 --> 00:40:30 end in our
00:40:30 --> 00:40:31 Chinese
00:40:31 --> 00:40:31 congregation.
00:40:31 --> 00:40:32 930
00:40:32 --> 00:40:33 congregation.
00:40:35 --> 00:40:36 Jesus and
00:40:36 --> 00:40:37 the gospel is
00:40:37 --> 00:40:38 the end of
00:40:38 --> 00:40:39 racial pride and
00:40:39 --> 00:40:41 ethnocentricity.
00:40:41 --> 00:40:42 And that's why
00:40:42 --> 00:40:42 we as a
00:40:42 --> 00:40:44 church seek to
00:40:44 --> 00:40:45 treasure Jesus
00:40:45 --> 00:40:46 above everything
00:40:46 --> 00:40:48 and to seek to
00:40:48 --> 00:40:49 treasure him
00:40:49 --> 00:40:51 together above
00:40:51 --> 00:40:51 everything.
00:40:51 --> 00:40:51 Thank you.
00:40:51 --> 00:40:51 Thank you.
00:41:01 --> 00:41:02 Thank you.