Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.” – Matthew 13:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 3, 2017) Matthew 13

At the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos both raised their fists to the sky as they stood on the podium to receive their medals after placing first and third in the 200m race. In a recent interview, John Carlos remembered the moment saying that the decision had nothing to do with disrespecting the United States and the American Flag. The raised fists were an admission that the country that they represented could do better on the civil rights front. As patriots of the United States, the two athletes wanted to remind sports fans around the world that we are all brothers and sisters – no matter the color of our skin. We are equal in the sight of God, and so we must be equal in the sight of each other.

To me, what is distressing is that fifty years later we still seem to be struggling with that message. American Football season has arrived, and the Colin Kaepernick wave of knee taking, which is really just an extension of the Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised fists in 1968, continues in the National Football League, only now it is starting to spill over into other leagues – and into other countries. Even Canadian Football Players stood linked arm in arm in solidarity with their American counterparts over the past couple of weeks. Their message is not one of disrespect for the flags of their nations, no matter if that is the message that their critics want to place on their actions, but respect for the human race. Their message is filled with love for their mothers and their sons and daughters. And at this moment when they have the power to say something, they refuse to stay silent. This is the seed that they feel they need to sow.

And for politicians who seem only to want to play to their base, this could be a problem. The reality is that the professional sports player have a much wider base in which to send their message. They have fans in Red States and Blue States. Their message has a spillover effect on other countries. And most of us fans, I believe, would rather see our sports heroes taking a knee during the national anthem in support of civil rights than arguing over how much money they should be getting paid in the next collective bargaining agreement. More importantly, players taking a knee in support of racial equality is something that we want our children and grandchildren to see.

This is the message; this is the seed. How it is received, we will have to wait a little longer to find out. I wish we had listened closer to Tommie Smith and John Carlos in 1968 so that we could have figured this whole racial equality thing out by now. But apparently, we didn’t. So, on Sunday I will, at least in spirit, kneel with players who kneel during the National Anthem. I will stay in the locker room with teams in silent protest for racial equality. I will be there standing and linking arms with players in a multiracial unity that says that we are all equal, all family. Their cause is just, and their message has found fertile ground in me. What kind of ground has their seed found in you?  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Mark 4