Note: You can watch this teaching on CrossWalk’s YouTube channel.

Today I finish out the Colorful series which tapped into biblical history and US history to guide our thoughts regarding how we think about others in our community – particularly African Americans.  I revealed some pieces of my personal history regarding family racism and prejudice, we took a look at an example of Jesus’ prejudice which was formed by his upbringing (racism is both caught and taught), we examined a sermon Jesus gave which championed inclusion (he was nearly killed for suggesting it), and last week we reminded ourselves of how far the early church shifted given Paul’s instruction that in Christ there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female (and whatever other binaries we might come up with).  We close today by examining four stories.  The first simply because it provides deep backstory for Jewish people, especially on this day which celebrates the Jewish holiday, Purim, honoring Queen Esther’s courageous role in saving her people from the pogrom of Haman.  The three other stories are from the early days of Christianity.  I link you to the text below – I hope you’ll read the stories for yourself.  I also offer some thoughts and questions related to each component.

            Esther.  Antisemitism has been with humanity a very, very long time.  This particular story hails from the mid-300’s BCE.  It is meant to be read like a novella.  Grab a lovely beverage and enjoy it!  Then ask some questions...

1.     What prompted Esther to put her life on the line? 

2.     What would prompt us to stick our necks out?  

3.     What do you imagine went through her mind as she considered what was happening and what she could do?  

4.     Try and place yourself in her story and imagine her emotional roller coaster, the reaction of others, the fear of risking everything, and the joy of seeing her hopes realized.

Philip (Acts 8:26-40). This short scene from Philip’s life is quite provocative because it involves big-time inclusion of an African!  And, given his life story, it is also an early nod to intersectionality given the different category of inclusion that the Church is deeply divided over today: our LGBTQ neighbors.  What I love about Philip is that he just goes with what he senses God asking him to do: get on the road to Gaza, go walk near that official dude in the fancy carriage and see what happens...  Then the guy chooses to embrace the Good News of Jesus!  Then requests baptism!  And Philip just does it!  For a guy that would have been denied access to the Temple!

5.     Have you ever moved forward with such simple faith?

6.     What do you imagine that would have been like for Philip?

7.     What fears did he have to overcome?

8.     What do you think he thought about when the baptism request came?

9.     What else are you wondering about here?

Saul’s Transformation (Acts 9).  I love this story for so many reasons.  Here is a devout guy who is extremely confident in his view of these Jesus-following Jews – they are wrong and need to be stopped before they direct more people down the “wrong” path.  He was zealous for their demise.  On his way to Damascus to round up some of these apostates, he was stopped in his tracks by a mystical experience – a blinding light from the heavens identifying as Jesus!  The experience blinded Saul – or was he blind before but now he knew it?  He was led to Damascus where he was eventually cared for by Ananias – one of the folks Saul was going to arrest!  Now he had to trust him with his life!  God healed Saul’s blindness through the prayerful work of Ananias and immediately joined the ranks of Jesus followers, eventually changing his name to Paul to appeal to the Gentile people.

10.  What do you imagine shaped Saul’s prejudice?

11.  What do you suppose went through Saul’s mind when he had his mystical experience?

12.  What do you suppose Saul made of his blindness?

13.  What do you think went through his mind when we learned that Ananias was his caregiver?

14.  What do you think Ananias went through in this process?

Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10).  Here we find hungry (and hangry?) Peter, given a vision about food which was really about what was clean and unclean according to God’s covenant with Israel.  Peter knew the answers, yet God was making it plain that the rules had now changed.  God also made it clear that it wasn’t just about food – it was about creating a table big enough for all people.  Peter follows along, his prejudice in full view every step of the way.  By the end of the story, Peter finds himself welcoming these Gentiles into the Christian community with baptism!

15.  What do you think Peter was feeling when he was told by God that the tradition he had honored his entire life was no longer valid? What would this imply about the nature of God?  What about the nature of faith?  Have you ever been in a similar crisis of faith when you sensed God was doing something new even though it was counter to former ways of understanding things?

16.  What sort of attitude do you imagine Peter had when he went into a home full of people he couldn’t stand?

17.  What did it take for Peter to loosen up and welcome these people into the faith?  What does this suggest about why prejudice is so hard to shake for human beings?

18.  How are you like Peter when it comes to the prejudices you hold?

 

Colorful You and Me.  It appears to me that there are some patterns we can learn from in these stories.  In each there is a certain level of discomfort, even if it is to simply hit the road for reasons yet unknown.  Most people don’t change or shift unless their level of discontent is greater than their comfort.  Few are proactive.  That’s not great news for those who want to see the world change by end of day tomorrow! 

This series has been heavy for a number of people.  For some it has been really annoying, and they are really glad it’s nearly over.  Why the discomfort?  Where is it coming from?  In light of what we’ve been working through, which of the four characters do you resemble in this season of your life?  Perhaps there are bits and pieces of each of them that resonate with you?

Remember, Jesus struggled with this stuff – that means we should expect to struggle as well, even if we don’t want to admit it even to ourselves (why is that?).  Remember, too, that Jesus sensed that the Spirit of God that anointed him was leading toward greater and greater inclusivity and mutual respect which is sometimes difficult to pull off.  If you call yourself a Jesus follower, it means that we strive to follow Jesus even if we don’t like parts of the journey.  The salvation he brought is a package deal – you don’t become more wholly well, more filled with shalom by picking only the parts of the Jesus buffet you know you like.  Guess what?  Dealing with existing inequality and inequity by recognizing it, calling it out, and doing what we can to remedy it is on the menu for good.

So, we can either embrace it and decide to milk it for all it’s worth, allowing it to grow us in ways we didn’t know we needed and thus becoming more wonderfully whole and well, or we can drag our feet, get grumpy, throw fits, stomp our feet, and basically become worse than roadblocks to the redemptive work God is always doing.  When we choose this, we are worse than an anchor slowing progress; we misrepresent the Jesus we claim to follow and serve to cause others to question whether or not we really need to follow Jesus fully.  Even worse, for those who know little about the Way of Jesus, we leave them with the impression that Jesus must not give a rip about really significant issues that tear humanity apart – he’s only relevant for the afterlife.  When we choose this path (even if by apathy), we become complicit with all the forces that keep our world from being the beautiful creation it can be for all people.  Please don’t do that.

Be colorful instead.  Choose to stretch your mind, wear out your knees in service, humbly pursue justice while loving mercy and extending grace.  Stay connected to God using all the spiritual practices that make sense for your evolving seasons of life.  Don’t be suckered by the American Lone Ranger lie that life is mostly an individual pursuit for happiness.  Instead, choose to love each other and all your neighbors well.  Jesus assured us that when we follow the Way that it will lead to an abundance of life.  Our choosing the Way by giving ourselves to it does not drain our resources but rather ties us into the living water which never runs out.

The world needs Jesus followers who actually, joyfully follow Jesus.  This is a daily choice that leads to life.  Will you choose to follow Jesus fully?

 

Don’t have a clue what to do?  Check out this article that will probably offer something.