Sojourners & Foreigners
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 13th February 2022
Passages:
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 I'd be grateful if you grab your Bibles.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 Also, if you've got the St. Paul's app,
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 that would be particularly useful for you this morning.
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 I've got lots of things to run through.
00:00:12 --> 00:00:13 And if you don't have the St. Paul's app,
00:00:15 --> 00:00:16 pen and paper will also do.
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 You just might want to just write down
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 heaps of different references as I go through.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:24 Let me pray.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:25 Gracious God,
00:00:25 --> 00:00:32 Lord, every one of us are dealing with the issue of the fall
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 from Genesis 3,
00:00:34 --> 00:00:39 where we have rejected your glory, your majesty,
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 your purpose for our lives and chosen it for ourselves.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:46 One of the enormous consequences of that has been
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 throughout the history of your world from that moment,
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 prejudice in the heart towards other people.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:57 Lord, we pray that that might be your conviction upon us this morning
00:00:57 --> 00:01:03 as we look forward and towards in the coming weeks
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 of Christ being the solution to that.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:10 So, Lord, give us tender hearts to ourselves, we pray.
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 In Jesus' name. Amen.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:18 It was November 2005.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 I was in Alice Springs,
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 the centre of our country here,
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 on the invitation of the Bible Society
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 to be the main speaker at event.
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 It was an event to raise awareness
00:01:32 --> 00:01:36 for their ministry to remote areas of Australia
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 and in particular to Aboriginal communities
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 and the necessity for the word of God
00:01:42 --> 00:01:47 to be translated into various languages
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 for those Aboriginal communities
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 that might have God's word in their own hand.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:56 The plan was I would speak at an event
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 in an aircraft hangar
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 with the Bible Society plane behind me
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 on the Friday night.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 Saturday was a free day to explore
00:02:06 --> 00:02:11 and then Sunday I was to preach in a local church.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 A friend of mine came along with me for the trip.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 We, in fact, spent the Saturday
00:02:18 --> 00:02:22 exploring many parts of the outback,
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 which in those days had no speed limits
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 and I didn't realise you could get a Corolla
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 up to 190 kilometres an hour,
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 but it turns out you can.
00:02:31 --> 00:02:37 Then we came back, dropped off the hire car
00:02:37 --> 00:02:41 and we spent the evening in the main part of Alice Springs
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 and then we walked back to our hotel.
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 It was pitch black along this pathway
00:02:48 --> 00:02:52 which wove its way along the riverbank,
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 dry riverbank in Alice Springs.
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 We noticed as we were heading back to our hotel,
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 we were the only white guys around,
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 in fact, we were the only people around,
00:03:01 --> 00:03:08 until we noticed a group of about 20 Indigenous Australians,
00:03:09 --> 00:03:10 Aboriginals in the riverbank
00:03:10 --> 00:03:16 drinking what it appeared to be drinking alcohol
00:03:16 --> 00:03:20 and then we walked up, we noticed that
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 and the upper cross on the right-hand side
00:03:23 --> 00:03:27 was more of a slummy area of Alice Springs
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 and we were noticing quite a lot of commotion,
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 a lot of yelling going on in that area.
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 And let me just pause there for a moment.
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 I think it's fair to say that in that moment,
00:03:41 --> 00:03:45 both of us were a little bit nervous.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:50 We were fully aware of our whiteness at that point,
00:03:50 --> 00:03:50 if you like,
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 that this was a moment that both of us
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 had experienced previously.
00:03:55 --> 00:03:59 It is fair to say that I grew up
00:03:59 --> 00:04:05 marinating in a culture of prejudice towards Aboriginals,
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 even as I said last week,
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 that I still had friends who were Aboriginals.
00:04:13 --> 00:04:18 It came, that prejudice came from the rhetoric of the culture,
00:04:18 --> 00:04:22 but also my own negative experiences
00:04:22 --> 00:04:26 at both school and in the workforce.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:31 You could say my friend's experience was even more acute than mine.
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 He spent a good part of his childhood
00:04:34 --> 00:04:38 growing up in a town in New South Wales called Walgett
00:04:38 --> 00:04:42 and it's a very troubled place in terms of race relations.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 So in this moment,
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 on this Saturday evening in 2005,
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 both of our prejudices came to the surface.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:54 And as we walked along the path,
00:04:55 --> 00:04:55 I said to him quietly,
00:04:56 --> 00:04:57 do you see the group down on the left?
00:04:57 --> 00:04:58 He said, yeah, I see them.
00:04:58 --> 00:05:02 And then he said,
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 what about the one on the right
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 that's now coming out of the slum?
00:05:07 --> 00:05:11 It's about 20 Aboriginals of all sorts of generations
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 coming out of the slum area.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:15 And in that moment,
00:05:15 --> 00:05:19 both of us came up with what we would call an escape plan.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 What are we going to do if things deteriorate?
00:05:21 --> 00:05:26 As both of us had personally experienced in the past.
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 We both experienced it.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 We noticed that as we walked along the riverbank
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 that this group that was coming from the right
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 was going to intersect us on the pathway
00:05:38 --> 00:05:42 unless we either started walking slower
00:05:42 --> 00:05:43 or we started speeding up.
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 And we were sort of hoping on one level
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 that they would notice the two white guys.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 Walking along in the pitch back in an area
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 that you don't see any of the white guys in Alice Springs.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:03 And then they did see us.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 And as it was very obvious,
00:06:06 --> 00:06:07 as we approached,
00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 this group was going to come to the,
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 almost hit us on the pathway.
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 And as we almost hit, as we crossed,
00:06:17 --> 00:06:22 the lead elderly Aboriginal lady
00:06:22 --> 00:06:26 put her arms out like that.
00:06:28 --> 00:06:29 And she stopped the group.
00:06:29 --> 00:06:30 And they all stopped,
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 all pulled up
00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 and allowed us to walk through.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 And as we walked through,
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 she said,
00:06:39 --> 00:06:40 good evening, gentlemen.
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 We turned and said good evening
00:06:45 --> 00:06:46 to her, to the group,
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 and walked on in silence
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 for about another 20 metres.
00:06:52 --> 00:06:53 And my friend said to me,
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 how bad do I feel?
00:06:56 --> 00:07:01 I went, yep, absolutely.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 God used that moment
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 to expose something of the sin
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 of racial prejudice
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 that lurked in my heart.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 And it did not escape my moment,
00:07:15 --> 00:07:16 my attention,
00:07:16 --> 00:07:17 even that night,
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 that the night before,
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 I was speaking at an aircraft carrier
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 with the Bible open,
00:07:25 --> 00:07:26 imploring the people there
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 to put their resources and finances
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 behind gospel ministry
00:07:31 --> 00:07:34 to remote communities in this country,
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 and prejudice lurked in my heart.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:43 There was a disconnection
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 between what I knew
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 to be right and good
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 and part of God's purposes
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 and what still was lurking in my heart.
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 I was treated with more dignity
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 than what I afforded them in my mind
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 and in my heart in that moment.
00:08:02 --> 00:08:08 And it was a long way
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 from my starting point last week
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 where I said all people
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 have one origins
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 by divine design.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 And the implication of that last week
00:08:22 --> 00:08:23 is the dignity,
00:08:23 --> 00:08:24 the extreme dignity
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 of all human beings.
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 The creation doctrine,
00:08:29 --> 00:08:30 the view of creation,
00:08:30 --> 00:08:31 the Christian view of creation
00:08:31 --> 00:08:35 does in contrast
00:08:35 --> 00:08:38 with every other philosophical system
00:08:38 --> 00:08:39 in our world,
00:08:40 --> 00:08:41 in that sense.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:42 And particularly,
00:08:42 --> 00:08:46 the underlying system
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 that's operating in our society
00:08:48 --> 00:08:48 at the moment
00:08:48 --> 00:08:52 of atheistic evolutionary theory
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 that's broadly accepted as fact
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 in our secular society.
00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 Charles Darwin's Origin of Species
00:09:00 --> 00:09:04 gave rise to the separation
00:09:04 --> 00:09:04 and the classification
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 of plant and animal species.
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 Enormously helpful in so many ways.
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 A breakthrough in so many ways.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:13 Unfortunately,
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 it flowed over
00:09:15 --> 00:09:17 into categorising humans
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 into a hierarchy
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 which arranged them
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 according to evolutionary advancement.
00:09:24 --> 00:09:28 Now, that's not to say
00:09:28 --> 00:09:29 racism didn't exist
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 before Charles Darwin's Origin of Species.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:33 I'm not saying that.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 But I do agree
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 with what Stephen Jay Gould
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 wrote on this issue
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 between the connection,
00:09:43 --> 00:09:44 the connection between racism
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 and evolutionary theory.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:51 Now, Gould was an evolutionary biologist himself
00:09:51 --> 00:09:56 who significantly opposed creationism
00:09:56 --> 00:09:59 and he hated Christianity.
00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 Hated Christianity.
00:10:02 --> 00:10:03 And he wrote,
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 biological arguments for racism
00:10:07 --> 00:10:11 may have been common before 1850.
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 That is, before Darwin's Origin of Species.
00:10:15 --> 00:10:19 But they increased by orders of magnitude
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 following the acceptance
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 of evolutionary theory
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 which he himself did.
00:10:27 --> 00:10:31 And that's where I think the problem is.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:32 As I said last week,
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 it is difficult to deliver
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 as our secular culture wants to do
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 on the equality of all people
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 when at the same time
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 you explain the differences
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 in terms of some people groups
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 being less evolved than others.
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 And as we saw last week,
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 the Bible knows nothing
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 of the hierarchy of races
00:10:56 --> 00:10:58 as evolutionary theory does.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 In fact, the biblical view is
00:11:01 --> 00:11:02 there is one race.
00:11:04 --> 00:11:05 One race.
00:11:06 --> 00:11:07 The human race made in the image of God.
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 And yet, as I said last week,
00:11:13 --> 00:11:14 while the Christian faith
00:11:14 --> 00:11:15 has got enormous to contribute,
00:11:16 --> 00:11:17 there's blockages here
00:11:17 --> 00:11:18 for people accepting it
00:11:18 --> 00:11:21 because of the failures
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 of the institutional church
00:11:22 --> 00:11:23 over the years.
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 And one of the most serious
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 and damaging interpretations
00:11:28 --> 00:11:28 of the Bible
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 on this whole issue of race
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 is in Genesis chapter 9.
00:11:33 --> 00:11:34 So if you've got Genesis chapter 9,
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 go there quickly with me.
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 Genesis 9 verses 18 to 27.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 It's at the end of Genesis 9.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:45 As I said, Noah and his family
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 settling down into life
00:11:48 --> 00:11:49 after the flood.
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 Noah plants a vineyard,
00:11:52 --> 00:11:53 drinks a little bit too much
00:11:53 --> 00:11:53 of the vino,
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 and ends up lying naked
00:11:56 --> 00:11:57 in his tent.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:00 His son Ham,
00:12:01 --> 00:12:02 right, Ham,
00:12:03 --> 00:12:05 sees his father's nakedness,
00:12:06 --> 00:12:07 thinks it's a joke,
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 goes and tells his brothers
00:12:09 --> 00:12:09 about it.
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 And when Noah finds out
00:12:13 --> 00:12:16 what his youngest son has done,
00:12:16 --> 00:12:19 he pronounces a curse
00:12:19 --> 00:12:20 on Canaan,
00:12:21 --> 00:12:25 who is Ham's youngest son.
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 So Genesis 9, 25.
00:12:29 --> 00:12:30 Cursed be Canaan,
00:12:31 --> 00:12:32 the lowest of slaves
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 he will be to his brothers.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:36 He also said,
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 Blessed be the Lord,
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 the God of Shem.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:44 May God extend the territory
00:12:44 --> 00:12:45 of Japheth.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:47 May Japheth live
00:12:47 --> 00:12:48 in the tents of Shem
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 and may Canaan be his slave.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 Now throughout the last 20 centuries,
00:12:57 --> 00:12:58 numerous Christians,
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 Jewish and Muslim writers
00:13:02 --> 00:13:06 have connected the curse of Ham,
00:13:06 --> 00:13:08 their curse of Canaan,
00:13:08 --> 00:13:12 to black Africans in particular.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:16 This text became the standard text
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 in defence of slavery in England,
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 the southern states of America
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 and apartheid in South Africa.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:24 That is,
00:13:24 --> 00:13:28 because they translated the name Ham
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 as black or burnt,
00:13:32 --> 00:13:33 the curse was applicable
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 in their view for all black people.
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 They also concluded
00:13:39 --> 00:13:40 that Ham's brother,
00:13:40 --> 00:13:40 Japheth,
00:13:41 --> 00:13:42 represented white people
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 and therefore God commands
00:13:44 --> 00:13:45 the slavery
00:13:45 --> 00:13:48 or the subjugation,
00:13:48 --> 00:13:49 if you like,
00:13:49 --> 00:13:50 of black people
00:13:50 --> 00:13:53 by white people.
00:13:54 --> 00:13:54 Now,
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 I won't go into all the details.
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 There's extensive details around this,
00:13:59 --> 00:14:00 but simply to say,
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 you've got to do some fancy,
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 I mean some really fancy
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 dance work
00:14:09 --> 00:14:10 with the text
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 to come to that kind of a conclusion.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 I mean some really,
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 really fancy work.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 But some people have done it
00:14:21 --> 00:14:24 because I believe in the end
00:14:24 --> 00:14:27 it has supported
00:14:27 --> 00:14:28 a particular prejudice.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 Now,
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 I'm glad we've got the Bible
00:14:31 --> 00:14:32 and God's perspective
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 on the history of humanity
00:14:34 --> 00:14:36 and the Bible does not relate
00:14:36 --> 00:14:37 to our racial
00:14:37 --> 00:14:38 or ethnic differences
00:14:38 --> 00:14:41 in terms of lower life forms
00:14:41 --> 00:14:42 or in terms of God
00:14:42 --> 00:14:43 having favorites,
00:14:44 --> 00:14:46 but in terms of sin.
00:14:47 --> 00:14:48 As we read there
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 in Genesis 5,
00:14:51 --> 00:14:52 our rejection of God.
00:14:52 --> 00:14:52 You see,
00:14:52 --> 00:14:53 on that night
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 in Alice Springs
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 in 2005,
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 my prejudice,
00:14:59 --> 00:15:00 my sinful heart
00:15:00 --> 00:15:01 was the problem.
00:15:02 --> 00:15:03 Not the government,
00:15:03 --> 00:15:04 not institutions.
00:15:05 --> 00:15:06 My prejudice,
00:15:07 --> 00:15:07 my sinful heart
00:15:07 --> 00:15:08 was the problem.
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 But it doesn't just identify
00:15:14 --> 00:15:16 sin as the core problem
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 of racial prejudice
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 and ethnocentricity.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:20 Like in terms of the Bible
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 it doesn't just identify that,
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23 but it also reveals
00:15:23 --> 00:15:24 a solution for us
00:15:24 --> 00:15:25 as we will pick up
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 in the next couple of weeks
00:15:27 --> 00:15:27 as well.
00:15:28 --> 00:15:29 You see,
00:15:29 --> 00:15:30 the Bible sees the fracturing
00:15:30 --> 00:15:31 of all relationships
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 due to the rejection
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 of God in Genesis 3.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:36 I think it was fantastic
00:15:36 --> 00:15:37 what Zoran said
00:15:37 --> 00:15:38 when he got up here
00:15:38 --> 00:15:39 and talks about his role
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 supporting God's work
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 of reordering
00:15:43 --> 00:15:44 a disordered creation.
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 God did create order
00:15:47 --> 00:15:48 out of chaos
00:15:48 --> 00:15:49 and sin
00:15:49 --> 00:15:50 in Genesis 3
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 made everything
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 back into chaos again.
00:15:55 --> 00:15:56 That's the consequence
00:15:56 --> 00:15:57 of sin.
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 A disordered
00:15:58 --> 00:15:59 creator,
00:15:59 --> 00:16:00 a creation.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:01 Adam and Eve
00:16:01 --> 00:16:02 were created
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 in God's image
00:16:03 --> 00:16:04 to display
00:16:04 --> 00:16:05 his majesty
00:16:05 --> 00:16:06 and when they
00:16:06 --> 00:16:06 rejected God
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 and his purpose
00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 and wanted to make it
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 all about them,
00:16:11 --> 00:16:12 everything broke.
00:16:14 --> 00:16:15 And consequences
00:16:15 --> 00:16:17 was that all relationships
00:16:17 --> 00:16:17 were smashed.
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 Before sin,
00:16:20 --> 00:16:21 they were both
00:16:21 --> 00:16:22 naked
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 and felt
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 no shame.
00:16:27 --> 00:16:28 No shame.
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 Naked
00:16:29 --> 00:16:30 and no shame.
00:16:34 --> 00:16:35 There was intimacy
00:16:35 --> 00:16:36 and acceptance.
00:16:39 --> 00:16:40 And neither of them,
00:16:40 --> 00:16:41 I'm assuming,
00:16:41 --> 00:16:41 were supermodels
00:16:41 --> 00:16:42 or anything like that.
00:16:44 --> 00:16:46 They felt no shame
00:16:46 --> 00:16:46 for the other.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 And as soon
00:16:50 --> 00:16:51 as they rejected God,
00:16:52 --> 00:16:55 they ran for clothes.
00:16:56 --> 00:16:57 They hid
00:16:57 --> 00:16:58 from God's presence.
00:16:58 --> 00:16:58 A barrier
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 immediately went up
00:17:00 --> 00:17:00 between Adam
00:17:00 --> 00:17:01 and Eve.
00:17:02 --> 00:17:02 Judgmentalism
00:17:02 --> 00:17:03 came in
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 for the very first time.
00:17:05 --> 00:17:05 Assessment
00:17:05 --> 00:17:06 came in
00:17:06 --> 00:17:07 for the very first time.
00:17:08 --> 00:17:09 Shame
00:17:09 --> 00:17:10 and self-preservation
00:17:10 --> 00:17:10 kicked in.
00:17:11 --> 00:17:11 From the moment
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12 they reject God,
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 the unity of humans
00:17:14 --> 00:17:15 in the image of God
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 became mirrored
00:17:17 --> 00:17:17 by the unity
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 of sin.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:23 Romans 1
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 is the Apostle Paul's
00:17:25 --> 00:17:25 version of the fall
00:17:25 --> 00:17:26 of humanity,
00:17:27 --> 00:17:27 making clear
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 that all
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 of humanity
00:17:30 --> 00:17:31 is contaminated
00:17:31 --> 00:17:32 by sin.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:33 It's an ugly picture
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 of sinful behavior.
00:17:36 --> 00:17:37 Read it when you go home.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 It's an ugly picture.
00:17:41 --> 00:17:41 And then
00:17:41 --> 00:17:42 he says
00:17:42 --> 00:17:43 our unity
00:17:43 --> 00:17:44 in this
00:17:44 --> 00:17:45 is explicit
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 in Romans 3
00:17:47 --> 00:17:47 23
00:17:47 --> 00:17:48 all
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 have sinned
00:17:50 --> 00:17:51 and fallen short
00:17:51 --> 00:17:52 of the glory
00:17:52 --> 00:17:52 of God.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:55 You see
00:17:55 --> 00:17:56 the Bible's picture
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57 here is
00:17:57 --> 00:17:58 that
00:17:58 --> 00:17:59 the unity
00:17:59 --> 00:18:00 that we have
00:18:00 --> 00:18:01 as sinful
00:18:01 --> 00:18:02 people
00:18:02 --> 00:18:03 rejecting God
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 is not
00:18:04 --> 00:18:05 because we
00:18:05 --> 00:18:06 sin
00:18:06 --> 00:18:06 but because
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07 we're already
00:18:07 --> 00:18:07 sinners
00:18:07 --> 00:18:09 by nature.
00:18:09 --> 00:18:10 One of the most
00:18:10 --> 00:18:11 I think the Bible's
00:18:11 --> 00:18:12 most important
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 passage on this issue
00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 is Romans 5
00:18:14 --> 00:18:15 verses 12
00:18:15 --> 00:18:16 to 19.
00:18:16 --> 00:18:17 Write that one down.
00:18:17 --> 00:18:19 It explains
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 right there
00:18:21 --> 00:18:22 that Adam's
00:18:22 --> 00:18:22 sin
00:18:22 --> 00:18:23 right at the
00:18:23 --> 00:18:24 beginning
00:18:24 --> 00:18:25 brought to
00:18:25 --> 00:18:26 the entire
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 human race
00:18:28 --> 00:18:31 that flows
00:18:31 --> 00:18:32 from him
00:18:32 --> 00:18:32 which is all
00:18:32 --> 00:18:33 of us
00:18:33 --> 00:18:35 both
00:18:35 --> 00:18:35 sinful
00:18:35 --> 00:18:36 natures
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 and
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 God's
00:18:39 --> 00:18:39 judgment
00:18:39 --> 00:18:39 and
00:18:39 --> 00:18:40 condemnation
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 for it.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:42 Every
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43 single
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 human
00:18:44 --> 00:18:44 being
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 from
00:18:46 --> 00:18:46 Adam
00:18:46 --> 00:18:47 is
00:18:47 --> 00:18:47 connected
00:18:47 --> 00:18:48 to his
00:18:48 --> 00:18:48 sin
00:18:48 --> 00:18:49 by nature.
00:18:50 --> 00:18:51 We are
00:18:51 --> 00:18:51 born
00:18:51 --> 00:18:52 into this
00:18:52 --> 00:18:52 world
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 with sinful
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54 natures
00:18:54 --> 00:18:54 that trace
00:18:54 --> 00:18:55 back to
00:18:55 --> 00:18:55 Adam's
00:18:55 --> 00:18:55 sin.
00:18:56 --> 00:18:56 So
00:18:56 --> 00:18:57 Romans 5
00:18:57 --> 00:18:57 12
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 sin
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 came into
00:19:00 --> 00:19:00 the world
00:19:00 --> 00:19:01 through one
00:19:01 --> 00:19:01 man
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02 and death
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 through sin
00:19:03 --> 00:19:04 and so
00:19:04 --> 00:19:05 death
00:19:05 --> 00:19:06 spread to
00:19:06 --> 00:19:06 all
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 people
00:19:07 --> 00:19:08 because
00:19:08 --> 00:19:08 all
00:19:08 --> 00:19:09 sinned.
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 We are
00:19:11 --> 00:19:11 born
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 with inner
00:19:13 --> 00:19:13 lives
00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 that are
00:19:14 --> 00:19:14 directed
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 towards
00:19:15 --> 00:19:15 ourselves
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 and what
00:19:17 --> 00:19:17 we want
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 and not
00:19:19 --> 00:19:19 directed
00:19:19 --> 00:19:20 towards God
00:19:20 --> 00:19:20 and what
00:19:20 --> 00:19:21 he wants.
00:19:21 --> 00:19:22 and because
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23 we have
00:19:23 --> 00:19:23 inner
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 lives
00:19:24 --> 00:19:24 bent
00:19:24 --> 00:19:24 away
00:19:24 --> 00:19:25 from
00:19:25 --> 00:19:25 God
00:19:25 --> 00:19:25 and as
00:19:25 --> 00:19:26 the
00:19:26 --> 00:19:27 great
00:19:27 --> 00:19:27 church
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 reformer
00:19:28 --> 00:19:29 Martin
00:19:29 --> 00:19:29 Luther
00:19:29 --> 00:19:30 said
00:19:30 --> 00:19:30 a German
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 theologian
00:19:31 --> 00:19:31 said
00:19:31 --> 00:19:32 we are
00:19:32 --> 00:19:33 curvedly
00:19:33 --> 00:19:33 into
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 ourselves.
00:19:35 --> 00:19:36 Our
00:19:36 --> 00:19:36 sinful
00:19:36 --> 00:19:36 nature
00:19:36 --> 00:19:37 means we
00:19:37 --> 00:19:38 are curved
00:19:38 --> 00:19:38 in
00:19:38 --> 00:19:39 towards
00:19:39 --> 00:19:39 ourselves
00:19:39 --> 00:19:44 and
00:19:44 --> 00:19:45 because
00:19:45 --> 00:19:45 we are
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 curved in
00:19:46 --> 00:19:46 towards
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 ourselves
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 right from
00:19:48 --> 00:19:49 the moment
00:19:49 --> 00:19:49 of conception
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 when we
00:19:51 --> 00:19:51 are old
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 enough to
00:19:52 --> 00:19:52 know right
00:19:52 --> 00:19:53 from wrong
00:19:53 --> 00:19:54 we act
00:19:54 --> 00:19:54 in sinful
00:19:54 --> 00:19:55 ways.
00:19:56 --> 00:19:56 We sin
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 because we
00:19:58 --> 00:19:58 are already
00:19:58 --> 00:19:59 sinners.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 Perhaps a
00:20:01 --> 00:20:01 helpful way
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 to think
00:20:02 --> 00:20:02 about that
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 would be
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 an apple
00:20:04 --> 00:20:05 tree,
00:20:05 --> 00:20:06 not specifically
00:20:06 --> 00:20:06 an apple
00:20:06 --> 00:20:06 tree,
00:20:06 --> 00:20:06 pick on
00:20:06 --> 00:20:07 any fruit
00:20:07 --> 00:20:07 tree if
00:20:07 --> 00:20:08 you like.
00:20:10 --> 00:20:10 Ask yourself
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 the question
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 whether a
00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 tree
00:20:13 --> 00:20:13 produces,
00:20:14 --> 00:20:14 an apple
00:20:14 --> 00:20:14 tree produces
00:20:14 --> 00:20:15 apples because
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 it's an
00:20:16 --> 00:20:17 apple tree
00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 or does
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 the tree
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 become an
00:20:20 --> 00:20:20 apple tree
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 when it
00:20:21 --> 00:20:21 first produces
00:20:21 --> 00:20:22 an apple?
00:20:27 --> 00:20:27 That's not
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 a chicken
00:20:28 --> 00:20:28 and egg
00:20:28 --> 00:20:28 thing,
00:20:28 --> 00:20:29 all right?
00:20:30 --> 00:20:30 Talking about
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 its very
00:20:31 --> 00:20:31 nature.
00:20:32 --> 00:20:32 The reality
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 is an
00:20:33 --> 00:20:33 apple tree
00:20:33 --> 00:20:33 can grow
00:20:33 --> 00:20:34 for many
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 many years
00:20:35 --> 00:20:35 before it
00:20:35 --> 00:20:35 produces
00:20:35 --> 00:20:36 its first
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 fruit and
00:20:37 --> 00:20:37 when it
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 does finally
00:20:38 --> 00:20:39 produce apples
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 we'd say
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 that tree
00:20:41 --> 00:20:42 is producing
00:20:42 --> 00:20:42 fruit in
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 accordance
00:20:43 --> 00:20:43 with its
00:20:43 --> 00:20:44 nature.
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 Psalm 51
00:20:48 --> 00:20:49 5,
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 surely I
00:20:50 --> 00:20:50 was sinful
00:20:50 --> 00:20:51 at birth,
00:20:51 --> 00:20:51 sinful from
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 the time
00:20:52 --> 00:20:52 my mother
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 conceived
00:20:53 --> 00:20:53 me.
00:20:54 --> 00:20:54 We are
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 sinners by
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 nature who
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57 show themselves
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 to be
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 sinners by
00:20:59 --> 00:21:00 choice.
00:21:02 --> 00:21:02 Now,
00:21:03 --> 00:21:03 everyone who
00:21:03 --> 00:21:03 is a
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 parent knows
00:21:05 --> 00:21:05 this to be
00:21:05 --> 00:21:07 true from
00:21:07 --> 00:21:07 experience.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 I didn't
00:21:10 --> 00:21:10 have to teach
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 my children,
00:21:12 --> 00:21:12 I've not had
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13 to teach one
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 of them to
00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 say no,
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 to disobey my
00:21:17 --> 00:21:17 directives,
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 to throw
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 food on
00:21:19 --> 00:21:19 the floor,
00:21:20 --> 00:21:20 to pinch,
00:21:21 --> 00:21:21 to poke
00:21:21 --> 00:21:22 out the
00:21:22 --> 00:21:22 tongue,
00:21:22 --> 00:21:23 to throw
00:21:23 --> 00:21:23 themselves on
00:21:23 --> 00:21:23 the floor
00:21:23 --> 00:21:24 to kick
00:21:24 --> 00:21:24 and scream.
00:21:25 --> 00:21:25 Didn't have
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 to teach
00:21:26 --> 00:21:26 any of
00:21:26 --> 00:21:27 them,
00:21:27 --> 00:21:27 although
00:21:27 --> 00:21:28 there have
00:21:28 --> 00:21:28 been times
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 when I've
00:21:29 --> 00:21:29 joined them
00:21:29 --> 00:21:30 in the
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 throwing
00:21:31 --> 00:21:31 myself on
00:21:31 --> 00:21:31 the floor
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 kicking and
00:21:32 --> 00:21:32 screaming
00:21:32 --> 00:21:32 thing.
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 Didn't teach
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 them any
00:21:36 --> 00:21:36 of those
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 things,
00:21:38 --> 00:21:38 and if
00:21:38 --> 00:21:38 those of you
00:21:38 --> 00:21:39 are prejudiced,
00:21:39 --> 00:21:40 neither did
00:21:40 --> 00:21:40 that,
00:21:40 --> 00:21:41 so it didn't
00:21:41 --> 00:21:41 come from
00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 her either.
00:21:42 --> 00:21:45 they did
00:21:45 --> 00:21:45 get it
00:21:45 --> 00:21:46 from me,
00:21:46 --> 00:21:48 but didn't
00:21:48 --> 00:21:48 teach it.
00:21:51 --> 00:21:52 Same as
00:21:52 --> 00:21:52 my parents
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53 didn't teach
00:21:53 --> 00:21:53 me any of
00:21:53 --> 00:21:54 those things,
00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 but I did
00:21:55 --> 00:21:55 get it
00:21:55 --> 00:21:55 from them.
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 I, like
00:21:58 --> 00:21:58 my parents
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 before me,
00:21:59 --> 00:21:59 have spent
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 my time
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 trying to
00:22:01 --> 00:22:02 correct that
00:22:02 --> 00:22:03 which comes
00:22:03 --> 00:22:04 by nature.
00:22:04 --> 00:22:05 There is a
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 solidarity in
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 being created
00:22:07 --> 00:22:09 in the image
00:22:09 --> 00:22:09 of God
00:22:09 --> 00:22:10 for the glory
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 of God,
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 and solidarity
00:22:12 --> 00:22:13 in all of
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 us falling
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 short of
00:22:15 --> 00:22:15 God's glory
00:22:15 --> 00:22:16 because of
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 our sin.
00:22:18 --> 00:22:18 And we
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 see this
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 solidarity
00:22:20 --> 00:22:22 in sin
00:22:22 --> 00:22:23 and its
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 consequences
00:22:24 --> 00:22:25 being played
00:22:25 --> 00:22:26 out in
00:22:26 --> 00:22:27 this racial
00:22:27 --> 00:22:29 ethnocentricity
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 terms in
00:22:30 --> 00:22:31 Genesis chapter
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 10 and
00:22:32 --> 00:22:32 11.
00:22:32 --> 00:22:33 So if you've
00:22:33 --> 00:22:33 got your
00:22:33 --> 00:22:33 Bibles,
00:22:34 --> 00:22:34 flick there
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 fairly quick.
00:22:37 --> 00:22:38 Genesis chapter
00:22:38 --> 00:22:40 10 is
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 the so-called
00:22:41 --> 00:22:42 table of
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43 nations.
00:22:44 --> 00:22:44 And Genesis
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 chapter 10,
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 the one point
00:22:46 --> 00:22:47 that Genesis
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 chapter 10
00:22:48 --> 00:22:48 makes,
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 or the one
00:22:49 --> 00:22:49 point I can
00:22:49 --> 00:22:49 find in
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 any way
00:22:50 --> 00:22:50 that it
00:22:50 --> 00:22:50 makes,
00:22:51 --> 00:22:51 is that it
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52 stresses
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 the common
00:22:53 --> 00:22:54 origins of
00:22:54 --> 00:22:55 all people.
00:22:56 --> 00:22:56 That's what
00:22:56 --> 00:22:57 Genesis 10
00:22:57 --> 00:22:57 does,
00:22:57 --> 00:22:58 the common
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 origins of
00:22:59 --> 00:22:59 all people.
00:23:00 --> 00:23:00 And the
00:23:00 --> 00:23:01 relationship
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 between Genesis
00:23:02 --> 00:23:03 10 and
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 11 is
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 also very
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 significant
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 because the
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 generational
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 account of
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 the common
00:23:10 --> 00:23:10 origins of
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 all people
00:23:11 --> 00:23:12 in the
00:23:12 --> 00:23:13 original language
00:23:13 --> 00:23:15 begins at
00:23:15 --> 00:23:15 chapter 10
00:23:15 --> 00:23:16 verse 1
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 and it
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 ends at
00:23:19 --> 00:23:20 chapter 11
00:23:20 --> 00:23:21 verse 9.
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 That is,
00:23:23 --> 00:23:24 the Tower of
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25 Babel account
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 in chapter 11
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 explains how
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 and why people
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 spread out
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 and fill the
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 earth with
00:23:32 --> 00:23:32 all their
00:23:32 --> 00:23:33 different languages.
00:23:33 --> 00:23:35 even though
00:23:35 --> 00:23:36 we have a
00:23:36 --> 00:23:37 common origin.
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41 It reveals
00:23:41 --> 00:23:41 that the
00:23:41 --> 00:23:41 division
00:23:41 --> 00:23:42 into
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 different
00:23:43 --> 00:23:43 people
00:23:43 --> 00:23:44 groups
00:23:44 --> 00:23:44 with
00:23:44 --> 00:23:44 different
00:23:44 --> 00:23:45 languages
00:23:45 --> 00:23:46 was a
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47 consequence
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 of sin.
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 Verse 4,
00:23:53 --> 00:23:53 come,
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 let us
00:23:55 --> 00:23:56 build,
00:23:57 --> 00:23:57 let us
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 build a
00:23:58 --> 00:23:58 city,
00:23:59 --> 00:24:00 build
00:24:00 --> 00:24:00 ourselves
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 a city
00:24:01 --> 00:24:01 with a
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 tower that
00:24:02 --> 00:24:02 reaches to
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 the heavens
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 purpose,
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 so that
00:24:07 --> 00:24:08 we may
00:24:08 --> 00:24:08 make a
00:24:08 --> 00:24:09 name for
00:24:09 --> 00:24:10 ourselves
00:24:10 --> 00:24:11 and not
00:24:11 --> 00:24:11 be scattered
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 over the
00:24:12 --> 00:24:12 whole face
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 of the
00:24:13 --> 00:24:13 earth.
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 The
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 Tower of
00:24:19 --> 00:24:19 Babel
00:24:19 --> 00:24:21 is a
00:24:21 --> 00:24:22 collective
00:24:22 --> 00:24:23 attempt by
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 humanity
00:24:24 --> 00:24:26 to do
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27 what Adam
00:24:27 --> 00:24:27 and Eve
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 attempted to
00:24:28 --> 00:24:28 do in
00:24:28 --> 00:24:29 the Garden
00:24:29 --> 00:24:29 of Eden
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 in Genesis
00:24:30 --> 00:24:31 3.
00:24:31 --> 00:24:32 God
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 and
00:24:33 --> 00:24:36 make a
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 name for
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 ourselves.
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 Let's do
00:24:40 --> 00:24:40 it together.
00:24:40 --> 00:24:40 We've got
00:24:40 --> 00:24:41 numbers now.
00:24:41 --> 00:24:41 Let's do
00:24:41 --> 00:24:42 it together.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:45 And God's
00:24:45 --> 00:24:46 judgment on
00:24:46 --> 00:24:46 them was to
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 forever hinder
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 their working
00:24:48 --> 00:24:48 together.
00:24:49 --> 00:24:50 He scatters
00:24:50 --> 00:24:50 them,
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 confuses their
00:24:51 --> 00:24:52 language as
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53 an act of
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 judgment.
00:24:54 --> 00:24:54 judgment.
00:24:55 --> 00:24:55 And so
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 taken together,
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 Genesis 10
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 reveals our
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 unity as
00:25:01 --> 00:25:02 one blood
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 together under
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 God's
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 blessing.
00:25:06 --> 00:25:08 And Genesis
00:25:08 --> 00:25:09 11, our
00:25:09 --> 00:25:10 diversity into
00:25:10 --> 00:25:11 many languages
00:25:11 --> 00:25:12 and groups
00:25:12 --> 00:25:13 under God's
00:25:13 --> 00:25:14 judgment.
00:25:14 --> 00:25:14 judgment.
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 And the
00:25:16 --> 00:25:16 foundational
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 problem here
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18 is the
00:25:18 --> 00:25:19 human heart
00:25:19 --> 00:25:20 that wants
00:25:20 --> 00:25:20 to reject
00:25:20 --> 00:25:21 God.
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 The Bible
00:25:24 --> 00:25:25 doesn't just
00:25:25 --> 00:25:26 tell us
00:25:26 --> 00:25:27 why we have
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 racism and
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 ethnic pride,
00:25:29 --> 00:25:31 it also gives
00:25:31 --> 00:25:31 us a solution
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 to it too.
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 Genesis
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 10 and
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 11
00:25:37 --> 00:25:40 sets the
00:25:40 --> 00:25:40 stage
00:25:40 --> 00:25:42 for the
00:25:42 --> 00:25:42 great
00:25:42 --> 00:25:46 plan of
00:25:46 --> 00:25:46 redemption
00:25:46 --> 00:25:47 that begins
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 in Genesis
00:25:48 --> 00:25:48 12.
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49 It's the
00:25:49 --> 00:25:50 hinge of
00:25:50 --> 00:25:51 the Bible
00:25:51 --> 00:25:51 that holds
00:25:51 --> 00:25:52 the Bible
00:25:52 --> 00:25:52 again.
00:25:52 --> 00:25:52 In Genesis
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 12, it's
00:25:53 --> 00:25:53 the promise
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 to Abraham.
00:25:55 --> 00:25:55 The Lord
00:25:55 --> 00:25:56 said to
00:25:56 --> 00:25:56 Abraham,
00:25:57 --> 00:25:57 leave your
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 country,
00:25:59 --> 00:25:59 your people,
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00 your father's
00:26:00 --> 00:26:00 house,
00:26:00 --> 00:26:01 or to go to
00:26:01 --> 00:26:01 the land,
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 I will show
00:26:02 --> 00:26:02 you, I
00:26:02 --> 00:26:02 will make
00:26:02 --> 00:26:03 you into a
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 great nation
00:26:04 --> 00:26:04 and I will
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 bless you,
00:26:05 --> 00:26:05 I will make
00:26:05 --> 00:26:06 your name
00:26:06 --> 00:26:07 great and
00:26:07 --> 00:26:07 you will be
00:26:07 --> 00:26:08 a blessing.
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 I will
00:26:09 --> 00:26:10 bless those
00:26:10 --> 00:26:10 who bless
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 you and
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 whoever curses
00:26:12 --> 00:26:12 you I will
00:26:12 --> 00:26:12 curse,
00:26:12 --> 00:26:14 and all
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 peoples on
00:26:15 --> 00:26:16 earth will
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 be blessed
00:26:17 --> 00:26:19 through you.
00:26:22 --> 00:26:22 Tower of
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23 Babel, let's
00:26:23 --> 00:26:23 make a great
00:26:23 --> 00:26:23 name for
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 ourselves.
00:26:25 --> 00:26:26 Let's
00:26:26 --> 00:26:26 storm depose
00:26:26 --> 00:26:27 God.
00:26:28 --> 00:26:28 Genesis
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 12, God
00:26:29 --> 00:26:29 says, no
00:26:29 --> 00:26:30 Abraham, I'll
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 make a great
00:26:31 --> 00:26:31 name out of
00:26:31 --> 00:26:33 you and
00:26:33 --> 00:26:34 through you
00:26:34 --> 00:26:34 and your
00:26:34 --> 00:26:35 great name,
00:26:35 --> 00:26:35 all nations
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 of the world
00:26:36 --> 00:26:36 will be
00:26:36 --> 00:26:37 blessed.
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 God's
00:26:38 --> 00:26:38 call on
00:26:38 --> 00:26:38 Abraham here
00:26:38 --> 00:26:39 is a
00:26:39 --> 00:26:40 direct
00:26:40 --> 00:26:41 response to
00:26:41 --> 00:26:41 the disastrous
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 situation
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 described in
00:26:43 --> 00:26:43 Genesis 3
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 to 11.
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45 This is the
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 turning point
00:26:46 --> 00:26:46 of the
00:26:46 --> 00:26:46 Bible that
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 drives the
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 rest of the
00:26:48 --> 00:26:48 biblical
00:26:48 --> 00:26:49 narrative.
00:26:49 --> 00:26:49 This is the
00:26:49 --> 00:26:50 introduction to
00:26:50 --> 00:26:51 God's
00:26:51 --> 00:26:53 spectacular plan
00:26:53 --> 00:26:53 of redemption
00:26:53 --> 00:26:54 for all
00:26:54 --> 00:26:55 people, a
00:26:55 --> 00:26:55 plan that
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 culminates in
00:26:56 --> 00:26:56 Jesus.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:01 God's focus
00:27:01 --> 00:27:02 on Abraham in
00:27:02 --> 00:27:02 this moment is
00:27:02 --> 00:27:03 not exclusive,
00:27:03 --> 00:27:07 but to use
00:27:07 --> 00:27:07 this one
00:27:07 --> 00:27:10 individual and
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 his descendants
00:27:11 --> 00:27:13 to bless the
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 entire world.
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 The purpose of
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 God in
00:27:16 --> 00:27:17 choosing Israel
00:27:17 --> 00:27:18 was to
00:27:18 --> 00:27:19 witness to
00:27:19 --> 00:27:20 the universal
00:27:20 --> 00:27:21 power and
00:27:21 --> 00:27:22 love of God
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 for all
00:27:23 --> 00:27:23 people.
00:27:25 --> 00:27:26 Even in the
00:27:26 --> 00:27:26 Old Testament
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27 you see that
00:27:27 --> 00:27:29 again and
00:27:29 --> 00:27:29 again and
00:27:29 --> 00:27:31 again, God's
00:27:31 --> 00:27:32 plans for all
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 the nations is
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34 amazing in its
00:27:34 --> 00:27:34 scope and its
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 vision.
00:27:36 --> 00:27:37 This God, the
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 God of the
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 Bible, is not a
00:27:39 --> 00:27:41 racist in any
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 sense.
00:27:43 --> 00:27:43 He does not
00:27:43 --> 00:27:45 have favorites in
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 any sense.
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48 The choosing of
00:27:48 --> 00:27:50 Israel was not
00:27:50 --> 00:27:51 for ethnocentric
00:27:51 --> 00:27:53 purposes, but for
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 universal redemption.
00:27:54 --> 00:27:58 But Israel,
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 oh,
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 curvedly in on
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 itself with its
00:28:02 --> 00:28:02 heart,
00:28:03 --> 00:28:05 failed consistently
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 in living for that
00:28:06 --> 00:28:06 purpose.
00:28:07 --> 00:28:07 They took the
00:28:07 --> 00:28:08 role,
00:28:09 --> 00:28:10 ultimately,
00:28:10 --> 00:28:10 of being
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 racially,
00:28:12 --> 00:28:12 morally
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 superior.
00:28:15 --> 00:28:15 They
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 consistently
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 forgot the
00:28:17 --> 00:28:17 reason God
00:28:17 --> 00:28:18 chose them.
00:28:19 --> 00:28:19 And it was
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20 still the case
00:28:20 --> 00:28:21 when Jesus
00:28:21 --> 00:28:22 enters the
00:28:22 --> 00:28:22 scene in the
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 New Testament.
00:28:24 --> 00:28:28 But with
00:28:28 --> 00:28:28 his coming,
00:28:30 --> 00:28:30 the coming
00:28:30 --> 00:28:31 of God
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 himself in
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33 human flesh,
00:28:34 --> 00:28:36 with him
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 coming, a
00:28:37 --> 00:28:38 radically new
00:28:38 --> 00:28:38 way of
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 defining what
00:28:39 --> 00:28:39 the people of
00:28:39 --> 00:28:40 God is,
00:28:41 --> 00:28:43 arrives, namely
00:28:43 --> 00:28:44 faith in
00:28:44 --> 00:28:45 him.
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 Faith in
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 Jesus trumps
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 ethnicity and
00:28:49 --> 00:28:49 heritage.
00:28:50 --> 00:28:51 And over and
00:28:51 --> 00:28:51 over again, you
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 see this in the
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 Gospels.
00:28:53 --> 00:28:54 story of the
00:28:54 --> 00:28:55 good Samaritan,
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 Luke 10,
00:28:57 --> 00:28:57 the healing of
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 the ten lepers,
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 and only the
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 foreigner is the
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 one who comes
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 back with humble
00:29:02 --> 00:29:03 gratitude in Luke
00:29:03 --> 00:29:03 17.
00:29:04 --> 00:29:05 The healing of the
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 Syriaphonician's
00:29:06 --> 00:29:07 daughter in Mark
00:29:07 --> 00:29:09 7, the worshipping
00:29:09 --> 00:29:09 of the wise men
00:29:09 --> 00:29:10 from the east in
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12 Matthew 2, and in
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 Luke 4, as we just
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 had read out to us
00:29:14 --> 00:29:16 by Flora, Jesus
00:29:16 --> 00:29:18 tells a story taken
00:29:18 --> 00:29:20 from 1 Kings 17 in
00:29:20 --> 00:29:21 the Old Testament.
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 It's a story about
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 God's passing over
00:29:23 --> 00:29:25 all the ethnic
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 Jews to bring a
00:29:26 --> 00:29:27 miraculous blessing
00:29:27 --> 00:29:29 to a foreign
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 Gentile from the
00:29:30 --> 00:29:31 land of Phoenicia.
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 And the second
00:29:33 --> 00:29:35 story from 2 Kings 5,
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 again, the point
00:29:36 --> 00:29:38 is, of all the
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 people in the
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 world that God
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 might have chosen
00:29:41 --> 00:29:43 to heal of
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 leprosy, he
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 chooses a foreign
00:29:45 --> 00:29:47 king, a Syrian,
00:29:47 --> 00:29:48 not a Jew.
00:29:53 --> 00:29:54 And so when they
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 heard Jesus tell
00:29:55 --> 00:29:58 that story, what
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 did they do to
00:29:59 --> 00:29:59 him?
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 In that very
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04 moment, they
00:30:04 --> 00:30:04 attempted to kill
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05 him.
00:30:08 --> 00:30:10 Ethnic pride ran
00:30:10 --> 00:30:10 deep.
00:30:10 --> 00:30:13 And the point
00:30:13 --> 00:30:14 that Jesus was
00:30:14 --> 00:30:16 making is that
00:30:16 --> 00:30:17 he is the
00:30:17 --> 00:30:17 end of
00:30:17 --> 00:30:18 ethnocentricity
00:30:18 --> 00:30:19 and racial
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 pride.
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 He says that
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 he has come
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 to redeem
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 people from
00:30:24 --> 00:30:24 every ethnic
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 group, not
00:30:25 --> 00:30:26 just one
00:30:26 --> 00:30:27 or a few.
00:30:29 --> 00:30:29 God's plan
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 of redemption,
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 which starts
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 with the
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 promise of
00:30:31 --> 00:30:33 Abraham, finds
00:30:33 --> 00:30:33 his fulfillment
00:30:33 --> 00:30:35 in the life,
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 the ministry,
00:30:36 --> 00:30:36 the death,
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 the resurrection
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 of Jesus
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 Christ.
00:30:40 --> 00:30:40 And we're
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 going to talk
00:30:41 --> 00:30:41 more about
00:30:41 --> 00:30:42 on that next
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 week.
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 But for now,
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 let me give you
00:30:45 --> 00:30:45 a taster.
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 Galatians 3
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 verses 13
00:30:47 --> 00:30:48 and 14.
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 Christ redeemed
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 us from the
00:30:50 --> 00:30:50 curse of the
00:30:50 --> 00:30:51 law by
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 becoming a
00:30:52 --> 00:30:54 curse for
00:30:54 --> 00:30:54 us.
00:30:55 --> 00:30:55 For it is
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 written,
00:30:56 --> 00:30:57 cursed is
00:30:57 --> 00:30:58 everyone who
00:30:58 --> 00:30:58 is hung on
00:30:58 --> 00:30:58 a tree.
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00 That is,
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01 he redeemed
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 us by his
00:31:02 --> 00:31:02 death on the
00:31:02 --> 00:31:02 cross.
00:31:03 --> 00:31:03 And then it
00:31:03 --> 00:31:04 continues on.
00:31:04 --> 00:31:05 He redeemed
00:31:05 --> 00:31:07 us in order
00:31:07 --> 00:31:07 that the
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 blessing given
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 to Abraham
00:31:09 --> 00:31:11 might come
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 to the
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 Gentiles
00:31:13 --> 00:31:14 through Christ
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 Jesus.
00:31:16 --> 00:31:18 The plan
00:31:18 --> 00:31:18 of Abraham
00:31:18 --> 00:31:19 gets worked
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 out in
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 Christ and
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 his death
00:31:22 --> 00:31:22 on the
00:31:22 --> 00:31:22 cross.
00:31:23 --> 00:31:23 With
00:31:23 --> 00:31:24 Abraham,
00:31:24 --> 00:31:24 God set
00:31:24 --> 00:31:25 in motion
00:31:25 --> 00:31:26 a plan
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 of redemption
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 that overturns
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 every curse
00:31:29 --> 00:31:31 for everyone
00:31:31 --> 00:31:33 who receives
00:31:33 --> 00:31:33 the blessing
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 of Abraham.
00:31:35 --> 00:31:36 And that
00:31:36 --> 00:31:36 blessing
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 is the
00:31:37 --> 00:31:38 forgiveness
00:31:38 --> 00:31:39 of sin,
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 forgiveness
00:31:41 --> 00:31:41 for our
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 rejection of
00:31:42 --> 00:31:42 God,
00:31:43 --> 00:31:43 the acceptance
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44 of God,
00:31:45 --> 00:31:45 the adoption
00:31:45 --> 00:31:46 into his
00:31:46 --> 00:31:47 eternal family,
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48 whatever your
00:31:48 --> 00:31:50 racial,
00:31:50 --> 00:31:51 ethnic group
00:31:51 --> 00:31:52 is.
00:31:53 --> 00:31:54 And it all
00:31:54 --> 00:31:54 comes through
00:31:54 --> 00:31:55 Jesus Christ,
00:31:55 --> 00:31:56 the descendant
00:31:56 --> 00:31:57 of Abraham.
00:31:58 --> 00:31:58 As Matthew
00:31:58 --> 00:31:59 1-1 tells us,
00:31:59 --> 00:32:00 Jesus Christ,
00:32:01 --> 00:32:02 the son of
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 Abraham.
00:32:03 --> 00:32:06 God's
00:32:06 --> 00:32:06 redemptive
00:32:06 --> 00:32:07 plan
00:32:07 --> 00:32:09 has always
00:32:09 --> 00:32:09 been to
00:32:09 --> 00:32:10 save and
00:32:10 --> 00:32:11 bless people
00:32:11 --> 00:32:11 from all
00:32:11 --> 00:32:12 peoples of
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 the earth
00:32:13 --> 00:32:14 and to
00:32:14 --> 00:32:14 unite them
00:32:14 --> 00:32:15 together
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 with him
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17 as his
00:32:17 --> 00:32:18 people
00:32:18 --> 00:32:19 through his
00:32:19 --> 00:32:20 son Jesus.
00:32:22 --> 00:32:23 And it's
00:32:23 --> 00:32:24 remarkable,
00:32:24 --> 00:32:24 in fact,
00:32:24 --> 00:32:29 that 2
00:32:29 --> 00:32:30 years later,
00:32:30 --> 00:32:32 the geographical
00:32:32 --> 00:32:33 spread of the
00:32:33 --> 00:32:34 Christian faith,
00:32:34 --> 00:32:34 as I've said
00:32:34 --> 00:32:35 before,
00:32:35 --> 00:32:36 is virtually
00:32:36 --> 00:32:38 identical on
00:32:38 --> 00:32:39 every inhabitable
00:32:39 --> 00:32:41 continent in the
00:32:41 --> 00:32:41 world.
00:32:41 --> 00:32:41 world.
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 That is
00:32:43 --> 00:32:44 very
00:32:44 --> 00:32:45 unusual.
00:32:46 --> 00:32:47 That is,
00:32:47 --> 00:32:47 the point
00:32:47 --> 00:32:48 is,
00:32:49 --> 00:32:50 Christianity
00:32:50 --> 00:32:51 hasn't appealed
00:32:51 --> 00:32:52 just to one
00:32:52 --> 00:32:52 or two
00:32:52 --> 00:32:54 racial groups,
00:32:54 --> 00:32:55 ethnic groups,
00:32:55 --> 00:32:56 cultural groups.
00:32:57 --> 00:32:58 It has equal
00:32:58 --> 00:32:59 appeal across
00:32:59 --> 00:32:59 the board.
00:33:01 --> 00:33:02 And the main
00:33:02 --> 00:33:02 point of today
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 has been to
00:33:03 --> 00:33:04 show us
00:33:04 --> 00:33:05 that the
00:33:05 --> 00:33:06 source of
00:33:06 --> 00:33:06 racism,
00:33:07 --> 00:33:08 ethnic
00:33:08 --> 00:33:08 pride,
00:33:08 --> 00:33:09 is a
00:33:09 --> 00:33:10 sinful
00:33:10 --> 00:33:11 human
00:33:11 --> 00:33:11 heart.
00:33:13 --> 00:33:14 Racial
00:33:14 --> 00:33:14 prejudice
00:33:14 --> 00:33:15 runs deep
00:33:15 --> 00:33:17 in every
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 single
00:33:18 --> 00:33:19 human
00:33:19 --> 00:33:20 heart.
00:33:20 --> 00:33:21 That's my
00:33:21 --> 00:33:21 point.
00:33:22 --> 00:33:23 We are all
00:33:23 --> 00:33:24 unified in
00:33:24 --> 00:33:24 it.
00:33:25 --> 00:33:26 Our problem
00:33:26 --> 00:33:27 is not
00:33:27 --> 00:33:27 primarily
00:33:27 --> 00:33:28 biological,
00:33:29 --> 00:33:30 it's not
00:33:30 --> 00:33:31 evolution,
00:33:31 --> 00:33:32 it's not
00:33:32 --> 00:33:33 people's
00:33:33 --> 00:33:33 interpretation
00:33:33 --> 00:33:34 of the
00:33:34 --> 00:33:34 Bible,
00:33:35 --> 00:33:35 it's not
00:33:35 --> 00:33:36 politics,
00:33:36 --> 00:33:36 it's not
00:33:36 --> 00:33:37 institutions,
00:33:37 --> 00:33:37 it's not
00:33:37 --> 00:33:38 governments,
00:33:38 --> 00:33:39 it's the
00:33:39 --> 00:33:39 heart.
00:33:40 --> 00:33:40 Your
00:33:40 --> 00:33:41 heart,
00:33:41 --> 00:33:41 my
00:33:41 --> 00:33:41 heart,
00:33:42 --> 00:33:42 that's
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 the
00:33:43 --> 00:33:43 problem.
00:33:47 --> 00:33:48 It's the
00:33:48 --> 00:33:48 sin and
00:33:48 --> 00:33:48 the
00:33:48 --> 00:33:49 prejudice
00:33:49 --> 00:33:49 in the
00:33:49 --> 00:33:50 heart.
00:33:51 --> 00:33:53 I need
00:33:53 --> 00:33:53 a new
00:33:53 --> 00:33:54 heart
00:33:54 --> 00:33:56 in order
00:33:56 --> 00:33:56 to see
00:33:56 --> 00:33:57 all people
00:33:57 --> 00:33:57 made in
00:33:57 --> 00:33:58 the image
00:33:58 --> 00:33:58 of God
00:33:58 --> 00:34:01 and in
00:34:01 --> 00:34:02 just as
00:34:02 --> 00:34:02 much of a
00:34:02 --> 00:34:03 need of
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 God's
00:34:04 --> 00:34:05 great plan
00:34:05 --> 00:34:05 of redemption
00:34:05 --> 00:34:06 through Jesus
00:34:06 --> 00:34:07 as I
00:34:07 --> 00:34:07 am.
00:34:07 --> 00:34:08 racism.
00:34:11 --> 00:34:12 So as
00:34:12 --> 00:34:13 we tackle
00:34:13 --> 00:34:13 this issue
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14 of racism
00:34:14 --> 00:34:14 and
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15 ethnocentricity,
00:34:15 --> 00:34:16 I think
00:34:16 --> 00:34:17 it's so
00:34:17 --> 00:34:18 much more
00:34:18 --> 00:34:18 essential for
00:34:18 --> 00:34:19 us to go
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20 deeper than
00:34:20 --> 00:34:20 just the
00:34:20 --> 00:34:21 attitudes and
00:34:21 --> 00:34:22 the behaviours
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 of racism.
00:34:24 --> 00:34:24 Much of
00:34:24 --> 00:34:25 the talk
00:34:25 --> 00:34:26 about racism
00:34:26 --> 00:34:26 and
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27 ethnocentricity
00:34:27 --> 00:34:27 in our
00:34:27 --> 00:34:27 world at
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28 the moment
00:34:28 --> 00:34:28 has to
00:34:28 --> 00:34:29 do with
00:34:29 --> 00:34:29 the
00:34:29 --> 00:34:30 behaviours
00:34:30 --> 00:34:30 and the
00:34:30 --> 00:34:31 attitudes,
00:34:32 --> 00:34:32 but not
00:34:32 --> 00:34:33 the root
00:34:33 --> 00:34:33 cause.
00:34:33 --> 00:34:36 if we
00:34:36 --> 00:34:36 don't go
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 deeper into
00:34:37 --> 00:34:38 the reason
00:34:38 --> 00:34:39 why people
00:34:39 --> 00:34:39 are racist
00:34:39 --> 00:34:42 and why
00:34:42 --> 00:34:43 you and
00:34:43 --> 00:34:44 I are
00:34:44 --> 00:34:44 therefore,
00:34:45 --> 00:34:46 then the
00:34:46 --> 00:34:48 impact of
00:34:48 --> 00:34:48 that will
00:34:48 --> 00:34:50 be quite
00:34:50 --> 00:34:50 simply
00:34:50 --> 00:34:53 an increase
00:34:53 --> 00:34:54 in racism,
00:34:55 --> 00:34:56 an increasing
00:34:56 --> 00:34:58 prejudice
00:34:58 --> 00:34:59 and pride.
00:34:59 --> 00:35:00 it will
00:35:00 --> 00:35:01 be too
00:35:01 --> 00:35:02 easy,
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 as many
00:35:02 --> 00:35:04 do in
00:35:04 --> 00:35:04 the secular
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 world,
00:35:05 --> 00:35:06 to conclude
00:35:06 --> 00:35:07 that racists
00:35:07 --> 00:35:08 or those
00:35:08 --> 00:35:08 who are
00:35:08 --> 00:35:08 indifferent to
00:35:08 --> 00:35:09 racism are
00:35:09 --> 00:35:10 just morally
00:35:10 --> 00:35:11 inferior.
00:35:12 --> 00:35:13 There we
00:35:13 --> 00:35:13 go.
00:35:14 --> 00:35:15 That's
00:35:15 --> 00:35:15 making an
00:35:15 --> 00:35:17 assessment of
00:35:17 --> 00:35:17 someone else's
00:35:17 --> 00:35:18 heart.
00:35:20 --> 00:35:20 And
00:35:20 --> 00:35:21 therefore,
00:35:21 --> 00:35:21 if they're
00:35:21 --> 00:35:22 morally
00:35:22 --> 00:35:22 inferior,
00:35:23 --> 00:35:24 they are
00:35:24 --> 00:35:24 worthy of
00:35:24 --> 00:35:26 being judged.
00:35:27 --> 00:35:27 They're
00:35:27 --> 00:35:27 worthy of
00:35:27 --> 00:35:28 my prejudice.
00:35:29 --> 00:35:30 And that
00:35:30 --> 00:35:31 is incredibly
00:35:31 --> 00:35:32 dangerous.
00:35:33 --> 00:35:34 Those who
00:35:34 --> 00:35:34 denounce
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35 racism can
00:35:35 --> 00:35:35 feel morally
00:35:35 --> 00:35:37 superior and
00:35:37 --> 00:35:38 lose the
00:35:38 --> 00:35:39 sense of
00:35:39 --> 00:35:40 the common
00:35:40 --> 00:35:41 fall of
00:35:41 --> 00:35:41 sinfulness.
00:35:43 --> 00:35:44 The only
00:35:44 --> 00:35:46 way to
00:35:46 --> 00:35:47 deal with
00:35:47 --> 00:35:48 racism and
00:35:48 --> 00:35:48 prejudice and
00:35:48 --> 00:35:50 ethnocentricity
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 is to see
00:35:51 --> 00:35:52 all of us as
00:35:52 --> 00:35:53 complicit in
00:35:53 --> 00:35:53 it.
00:35:55 --> 00:35:56 I was
00:35:56 --> 00:35:57 watching the
00:35:57 --> 00:35:57 Winter Olympics
00:35:57 --> 00:35:58 last night.
00:35:59 --> 00:36:00 Not much
00:36:00 --> 00:36:00 else on at
00:36:00 --> 00:36:00 the moment.
00:36:01 --> 00:36:03 And there
00:36:03 --> 00:36:04 was one
00:36:04 --> 00:36:04 event that I
00:36:04 --> 00:36:05 was watching
00:36:05 --> 00:36:05 where four
00:36:05 --> 00:36:06 snowboarders
00:36:06 --> 00:36:08 race down
00:36:08 --> 00:36:09 this circuit
00:36:09 --> 00:36:09 together and
00:36:09 --> 00:36:10 jump and
00:36:10 --> 00:36:11 crash and
00:36:11 --> 00:36:11 all other
00:36:11 --> 00:36:12 things.
00:36:12 --> 00:36:12 Really, it was
00:36:12 --> 00:36:13 very exciting.
00:36:13 --> 00:36:14 And at the
00:36:14 --> 00:36:15 start, they're
00:36:15 --> 00:36:15 lined up behind
00:36:15 --> 00:36:16 these gates and
00:36:16 --> 00:36:17 they launch
00:36:17 --> 00:36:18 themselves off as
00:36:18 --> 00:36:18 soon as the
00:36:18 --> 00:36:19 gate falls.
00:36:21 --> 00:36:22 And immediately
00:36:22 --> 00:36:22 that happens.
00:36:22 --> 00:36:23 Up on the
00:36:23 --> 00:36:24 screen, they've
00:36:24 --> 00:36:25 got all the
00:36:25 --> 00:36:25 competitors there.
00:36:25 --> 00:36:26 up on the
00:36:26 --> 00:36:27 screen comes
00:36:27 --> 00:36:28 reaction time.
00:36:28 --> 00:36:29 How fast they
00:36:29 --> 00:36:30 reacted to the
00:36:30 --> 00:36:31 gate dropping.
00:36:33 --> 00:36:33 Some are
00:36:33 --> 00:36:34 faster than
00:36:34 --> 00:36:34 others.
00:36:35 --> 00:36:36 But they all
00:36:36 --> 00:36:37 have a reaction
00:36:37 --> 00:36:37 time.
00:36:38 --> 00:36:40 They all have a
00:36:40 --> 00:36:40 reaction time.
00:36:41 --> 00:36:41 No one's
00:36:41 --> 00:36:42 standing there
00:36:42 --> 00:36:43 going, oh,
00:36:43 --> 00:36:43 gate's gone.
00:36:43 --> 00:36:44 There we go.
00:36:46 --> 00:36:47 No one's doing
00:36:47 --> 00:36:47 that.
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48 They all have a
00:36:48 --> 00:36:49 reaction time.
00:36:49 --> 00:36:50 Some are faster
00:36:50 --> 00:36:50 than others.
00:36:51 --> 00:36:51 All of us have a
00:36:51 --> 00:36:52 prejudice in their
00:36:52 --> 00:36:53 heart.
00:36:53 --> 00:36:54 It takes just
00:36:54 --> 00:36:55 seconds for the
00:36:55 --> 00:36:56 most part for
00:36:56 --> 00:36:57 that sin to
00:36:57 --> 00:36:58 rise itself as
00:36:58 --> 00:37:00 we externally
00:37:00 --> 00:37:01 assess another
00:37:01 --> 00:37:02 individual as
00:37:02 --> 00:37:02 they cross the
00:37:02 --> 00:37:03 road in front of
00:37:03 --> 00:37:03 us.
00:37:04 --> 00:37:05 And we've
00:37:05 --> 00:37:05 categorized them
00:37:05 --> 00:37:06 already.
00:37:08 --> 00:37:09 We see
00:37:09 --> 00:37:09 something on
00:37:09 --> 00:37:10 television.
00:37:11 --> 00:37:11 We see an
00:37:11 --> 00:37:12 interaction and
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13 we categorize it
00:37:13 --> 00:37:15 already of what
00:37:15 --> 00:37:15 it is.
00:37:17 --> 00:37:18 Racism is
00:37:18 --> 00:37:19 just one of
00:37:19 --> 00:37:20 the poisonous,
00:37:20 --> 00:37:21 destructive
00:37:21 --> 00:37:22 manifestations of
00:37:22 --> 00:37:23 something that
00:37:23 --> 00:37:24 absolutely every
00:37:24 --> 00:37:25 single person is
00:37:25 --> 00:37:26 doing in their
00:37:26 --> 00:37:26 heart.
00:37:27 --> 00:37:28 All of us have a
00:37:28 --> 00:37:28 prejudice heart.
00:37:29 --> 00:37:30 It takes just
00:37:30 --> 00:37:31 seconds.
00:37:34 --> 00:37:35 It's so strange
00:37:35 --> 00:37:36 how we can call
00:37:36 --> 00:37:37 out structural
00:37:37 --> 00:37:38 racism but be
00:37:38 --> 00:37:40 okay with a
00:37:40 --> 00:37:40 prejudice and a
00:37:40 --> 00:37:41 resentment that
00:37:41 --> 00:37:42 lingers in the
00:37:42 --> 00:37:42 heart towards
00:37:42 --> 00:37:43 others.
00:37:43 --> 00:37:47 God's
00:37:47 --> 00:37:48 God's
00:37:48 --> 00:37:48 love.
00:37:48 --> 00:37:48 It's so strange
00:37:48 --> 00:37:49 that we can call it
00:37:49 --> 00:37:51 in the first four or
00:37:51 --> 00:37:54 five of our sermons in
00:37:54 --> 00:37:55 this is to lay out a
00:37:55 --> 00:37:55 world view.
00:37:55 --> 00:37:59 eternity according to the
00:37:59 --> 00:38:02 Bible coming from the
00:38:02 --> 00:38:03 creator God.
00:38:03 --> 00:38:04 It begins with the
00:38:04 --> 00:38:05 creation of all things by
00:38:05 --> 00:38:07 a merciful God including
00:38:07 --> 00:38:08 making people in his
00:38:08 --> 00:38:08 image.
00:38:09 --> 00:38:10 We have sinned against
00:38:10 --> 00:38:11 him and we have
00:38:11 --> 00:38:13 marred that image and
00:38:13 --> 00:38:13 we will see in the
00:38:13 --> 00:38:16 coming weeks that this
00:38:16 --> 00:38:19 worldview, the God
00:38:19 --> 00:38:21 himself comes into his
00:38:21 --> 00:38:22 world in the person of
00:38:22 --> 00:38:24 Jesus Christ to restore
00:38:24 --> 00:38:26 that image, to bring us
00:38:26 --> 00:38:29 back into the fold of
00:38:29 --> 00:38:30 God's people and we
00:38:30 --> 00:38:31 will see that God's
00:38:31 --> 00:38:32 final goal is the
00:38:32 --> 00:38:35 unity of all kinds of
00:38:35 --> 00:38:37 people from all nations
00:38:37 --> 00:38:37 and people and
00:38:37 --> 00:38:38 languages and ethnic
00:38:38 --> 00:38:40 groups in perfect love
00:38:40 --> 00:38:41 with one another and
00:38:41 --> 00:38:42 their God.
00:38:43 --> 00:38:44 Naked.
00:38:45 --> 00:38:47 I think we're in heaven
00:38:47 --> 00:38:47 going to be naked.
00:38:48 --> 00:38:50 Naked and no shame,
00:38:51 --> 00:38:52 no judgment, no
00:38:52 --> 00:38:55 assessment and joy for
00:38:55 --> 00:38:56 all eternity.
00:39:02 --> 00:39:03 And so many times we
00:39:03 --> 00:39:04 lose sight of that as
00:39:04 --> 00:39:06 Christians and therefore
00:39:06 --> 00:39:07 our prejudice lingers on.
00:39:08 --> 00:39:09 But there's another big
00:39:09 --> 00:39:11 story running around in
00:39:11 --> 00:39:11 our culture that
00:39:11 --> 00:39:13 significantly influences
00:39:13 --> 00:39:14 this issue on racism and
00:39:14 --> 00:39:15 I think you've got to hear
00:39:15 --> 00:39:16 about it.
00:39:17 --> 00:39:18 It too is a world view,
00:39:18 --> 00:39:19 make no mistake.
00:39:20 --> 00:39:21 It wants you, it gives
00:39:21 --> 00:39:22 you a way to read the
00:39:22 --> 00:39:23 world, to understand the
00:39:23 --> 00:39:24 world.
00:39:24 --> 00:39:25 It tells you how to live
00:39:25 --> 00:39:26 and how to treat people.
00:39:27 --> 00:39:28 It's a world view.
00:39:28 --> 00:39:29 And this particular
00:39:29 --> 00:39:31 world view, the main
00:39:31 --> 00:39:33 foundation of it is it
00:39:33 --> 00:39:35 runs from oppression to
00:39:35 --> 00:39:35 liberation.
00:39:36 --> 00:39:39 And it divides the world
00:39:39 --> 00:39:40 into two main categories.
00:39:41 --> 00:39:43 All people are either in
00:39:43 --> 00:39:44 the dominant group that
00:39:44 --> 00:39:46 oppresses or the
00:39:46 --> 00:39:48 marginalized group of the
00:39:48 --> 00:39:48 oppressed.
00:39:50 --> 00:39:51 Breaks the world up like
00:39:51 --> 00:39:51 that.
00:39:51 --> 00:39:52 And as such,
00:39:54 --> 00:39:56 its goal is that we
00:39:56 --> 00:39:57 either need to divest
00:39:57 --> 00:39:59 ourselves of power to
00:39:59 --> 00:40:00 seek the liberation of
00:40:00 --> 00:40:03 others or we need to
00:40:03 --> 00:40:05 acquire power personally
00:40:05 --> 00:40:07 and liberate ourselves
00:40:07 --> 00:40:10 and to do that primarily
00:40:10 --> 00:40:13 by dismantling all social
00:40:13 --> 00:40:15 structures and institutions
00:40:15 --> 00:40:17 that we think oppress.
00:40:20 --> 00:40:22 Others, scholars in the
00:40:22 --> 00:40:23 Western world have called
00:40:23 --> 00:40:24 it cultural Marxism,
00:40:24 --> 00:40:25 another version of it.
00:40:27 --> 00:40:28 Where we wipe out any
00:40:28 --> 00:40:30 other alternative view.
00:40:32 --> 00:40:34 It's called critical
00:40:34 --> 00:40:38 theory and its subset in the
00:40:38 --> 00:40:39 issue of race is critical
00:40:39 --> 00:40:40 race theory.
00:40:40 --> 00:40:43 And we are exposed to it in
00:40:43 --> 00:40:45 a secular world like ours
00:40:45 --> 00:40:47 even if we don't know the
00:40:47 --> 00:40:48 titles and the names
00:40:48 --> 00:40:49 associated with it.
00:40:49 --> 00:40:52 It separates the world
00:40:52 --> 00:40:53 into those who should be
00:40:53 --> 00:40:55 ashamed of their race and
00:40:55 --> 00:40:57 culture even if you're not
00:40:57 --> 00:40:58 complicit in directly doing
00:40:58 --> 00:40:59 involved in it.
00:40:59 --> 00:41:01 You should be ashamed of
00:41:01 --> 00:41:02 yourself just purely because
00:41:02 --> 00:41:02 you're white.
00:41:03 --> 00:41:05 That in itself is racism.
00:41:07 --> 00:41:09 And those, on the other hand,
00:41:09 --> 00:41:11 who are therefore justified
00:41:11 --> 00:41:12 in their racism and
00:41:12 --> 00:41:14 ethnocentricity as they seek
00:41:14 --> 00:41:16 personal liberation and the
00:41:16 --> 00:41:18 liberation of their group.
00:41:21 --> 00:41:24 That view, critical race
00:41:24 --> 00:41:25 theory, is becoming dominant
00:41:25 --> 00:41:27 in the Western world.
00:41:27 --> 00:41:28 And it's connected to all
00:41:28 --> 00:41:30 sorts of issues to do with
00:41:30 --> 00:41:33 sexual ethics and gender and
00:41:33 --> 00:41:34 other things like that.
00:41:36 --> 00:41:38 And I have to ask the
00:41:38 --> 00:41:40 question because I see it on
00:41:40 --> 00:41:41 Facebook.
00:41:43 --> 00:41:44 Incredibly, those who are
00:41:44 --> 00:41:45 committed to critical race
00:41:45 --> 00:41:47 theory, how
00:41:47 --> 00:41:49 prejudiced they are
00:41:49 --> 00:41:51 towards anyone who does not
00:41:51 --> 00:41:51 agree to them.
00:41:54 --> 00:41:56 How on earth does that bring
00:41:56 --> 00:41:58 an end to racism when
00:41:58 --> 00:42:00 prejudice against another
00:42:00 --> 00:42:03 individual is okay if I've
00:42:03 --> 00:42:05 categorised them as part of a
00:42:05 --> 00:42:05 majority group?
00:42:10 --> 00:42:11 Now, this series is not about
00:42:11 --> 00:42:12 politics.
00:42:14 --> 00:42:16 This series is about checking
00:42:16 --> 00:42:19 your sinful prejudice
00:42:19 --> 00:42:20 heart.
00:42:22 --> 00:42:23 If we're going to be a church
00:42:23 --> 00:42:25 that is aligned with God's
00:42:25 --> 00:42:29 mission, his vision, his goal
00:42:29 --> 00:42:32 to bring all people into his
00:42:32 --> 00:42:34 kingdom forever in joy, united
00:42:34 --> 00:42:38 in Christ, then racial pride and
00:42:38 --> 00:42:40 ethnocentricity must end.
00:42:40 --> 00:42:44 And it ends when the gospel
00:42:44 --> 00:42:47 breaks my heart.
00:42:47 --> 00:42:47 Thank you.
00:42:47 --> 00:42:47 Thank you.