Today’s Scripture Reading (June 15, 2018): Job 25 & 26
Some years ago I was asked to speak to what I
was told was a multicultural
congregation. It was early on in my speaking career, and I was more than a
little nervous at the prospect. But I agreed and appeared on the doorstep of
the church at the appropriate time. I was met
by a friendly woman, who I later discovered was the Pastor’s wife, and was vigorously
welcomed. And then I told her my name. Her reaction was memorable. She looked
at me, realized that I was the speaker of the morning service and uttered the
words “But your Wh---.” She was expecting a Black speaker. And I understand
that I have a significant disability. I am really
White.
My experiences that morning have left a mark
on me. I was told that the congregation
was multicultural, and for someone who believes in the equality of the races,
that is something that excited me. But after my experiences that morning, I
have to admit that I was left wanting. I would not have described the church as
multicultural. It was a Black church. In fact, it was a unicultural Black church; it was populated mostly with Black people
who had immigrated at some point from the Caribbean. And I have to admit that I
was disappointed.
In contrast, while the church that I normally attended was
labeled as predominately White, it also featured Caribbean Blacks, African
Blacks, people of Oriental descent, as well as Whites from some European nations. While it was labeled as a predominately White church,
its essence seemed to be more multicultural than the multicultural church that
I spoke to that morning. My experience left me wondering if a true multicultural expression was even possible.
I wanted that kind of unity more than anything, but I was becoming more unsure
how to get there.
I also discovered that we often understand
our culture through a mirror. Whenever there is a cry for change, we often need
to look into ourselves first. A cry that goes
out demanding that churches become more multicultural is often because the
church we see in the mirror is not multicultural, even though we may describe
ourselves that way. Often we seem to preach inclusion without living the
message in our lives. We look in the mirror and assume that everyone is just
like us. On that morning, many years ago, the message that was driven home was that inclusion and racial equality
is a struggle for all races, not just for Whites. The radical message is that
being excluded does not make the process of inclusion easier. After all, Archie
Bunker and George Jefferson are both bigots, just bigots from different racial,
social and economic sides of the track.
Job realizes that the criticism coming from
his friends is originating in a very dark spot. Their criticisms are revealing
their lack. They have not helped the powerless, and so they assume that Job
hasn’t helped them either. The air of superiority that they are presenting is
unearned. They are no better than Job and, therefore, Job responds with
sarcasm.
Maybe this is the basic equality that we all
need to understand. We are all weak and powerless, and we all need to be saved. We all need each other to help us up
and to achieve the things that we dream. An equal world starts, not with
recognizing the equality of our power, but rather the equality of our need and
our lack. In an equal world, we all need each other to simply stand. We are all powerless to change this world alone,
but unstoppable if we are willing to stand together as a global community,
understanding our weakness, and in the presence of a Holy God.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 27
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