Sunday sermons

This sermon was preached by Pastor Keith Cardwell at Swift Presbyterian Church.

Settlers
Genesis 37:1
July 10, 2016

I ’M STRUCK BY THIS SINGLE VERSE in Genesis:

“Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.”

I want to read it again from the NRSV translation:

“Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived….”

I noticed this verse a few weeks ago. I was flipping through my Bible for some other purpose and noticed a handwritten — my handwriting — note in the margins. The note was “Are our children settling in the land we give them? If so, what land is that?”

My original idea from reading that note was to talk today about settling for less than be best in our lives. Settling for mediocrity instead of God’s best for us.

Too often we lack the vision, the drive, the desire to reach such fullness. We cling to what we know. We can’t see what we don’t know. We can’t see possibilities. We can’t envision the possibilities of life above, beyond, better than, more complete than where we are.

We are where we are. That’s life. So we settle for less than God’s best.

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BUT THEN, THIS WEEK HAPPENED. The events of this week have really disturbed me. It’s not the first time.

I’m disturbed, frustrated, angry whenever people are killed, especially when that killing is replayed and rehashed over and again on TV and social media. I am saddened that two men were killed by police this week. I am heartbroken that a peaceful demonstration was ruined by a crazed gunman who wanted retribution.

I’m troubled when politicians fan the flames with their rhetoric.

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IS THIS THE LAND in which we want to settle? I don’t think so. Is this the land where we want our children, the church’s children, all the community’s children, the country’s children to settle in?

We need to be talking again to our children about the evil of violence. Helping them to understand hatred and why it’s wrong. To explain without malice why “Black Lives Matter” and “Police Lives Matter.”

Is this the land we want to leave as an inheritance for our children? I know we don’t. Where police families live in fear as their loved one leaves for duty. Where black families drill their sons, husbands on how to “comply, comply, comply” (words of Philando’s mother) when pulled over. Is this the land in which we want to settle?

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I AM BIASED ABOUT RACE. I perpetuate racial prejudice. I try not to. I really do. I know we are all created equal and we are endowed by our Creator with the unalienable right to life.

I know, as I mentioned in the Galatians sermon — in Christ there is neither male, female, slave, free, Jew, Gentile. In our culture we should add — in Christ there is neither black, white, Asian, Hispanic.

No matter what I might think or say, God does not favor one group of people over another. In my head I know that.

In my life, I only notice my own prejudice a tiny fraction of the time. I am uncomfortable around people of other races sometimes to the point that I say or do awkward things. I can go all day and have no interaction with someone of another skin tone or ancestry that’s not European.

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I ASSUME A LOT OF THINGS that people of color cannot assume: that I will not be shot if pulled over in my car with a broken tail light, that I belong in the fancy department store, that I am smart, that I can live in any neighborhood I can afford, that I can walk down the street, any street, without being harassed.

Newt Gingrich said a few days ago, “It took me a long time, and a number of people talking to me through the years to get a sense of this…. If you are a normal white American, the truth is you don’t understand being black in America.”

White Americans “instinctively underestimate the level of discrimination and the level of additional risk,” he added. [http://www.usatoday.com/…/newt-gingrich-african-a…/86868322/]

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IF WE ARE SERIOUS about the vows we made at baptism or confirmation, we cannot settle in/for this land, this environment, this culture of evil, mistrust, hate, division.

First question: Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world? | I do.

We have witnessed evil and its power in the world this week. Much of that evil has been race-based. We are afraid. We are angry. Or worse: we are indifferent. We go about our vacations or our cook-outs or our business without once pondering what we have done to contribute to/perpetuate racial prejudice in our families, in our churches, in our neighborhoods, in our country. What can we do besides “think and pray”?

Last baptismal vow: Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his Word and showing his love? | I will, with God’s help.

● Correct people — out loud — when they say something racist.
● Talk about race in your family.
● Listen to the stories of your racial friends. If you don’t have any, question why.
● Stop. Stop sharing memes, emails, social media that fuel anger. Stop speculating. Stop blaming. Stop justifying acts of violence.
● Do show Christ’s love — to everyone.
[Ideas from: https://achurchforstarvingartists.wordpress.com/…/my-name-…/]

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THANKS TO THE CHOIR for their song today. The question of Jesus to us is this:

“Will you use the faith you’ve found / To reshape the world around?”

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I FOR ONE AM FOCUSING on this. Maybe, just maybe, when we each use our faith in Christ to reshape our little corner of the world, the time will quickly come when we all, Americans of every race and background, can celebrate the land in which we settle.

Let us pray:

God of ages, in your sight nations rise and fall, and pass through times of peril. Now when our land is troubled, be near to judge and save. May leaders be led by your wisdom; may they search your will and see it clearly. If we have turned from your way, help us to reverse our ways and repent. Give us your light and your truth to guide us.

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that the barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease, and that, with our divisions healed, we might live in justice and peace.

O Lord, our creator, by your holy prophet you taught your ancient people to seek the welfare of the cities in which they lived. We commend our neighborhoods to your care, that they might be kept free from social strife and decay. Give us strength of purpose and concern for others, that we may create a community of justice and peace where your will may be done. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. (From the Book of Common Worship)

— Keith Cardwell