his book, Jesus and Social Redemption, John W. Shackford contends, “The religion of Jesus cannot live in a vacuum or in a cloister. There is something in its very nature that is re-creative and that turns the world upside down and eventually right side up. Those who have the vision and passion of Jesus cannot retire into their sanctuaries to enjoy religion. They cannot leave the issues of life where hope and destiny are being wrought out and history is being shaped to be forever determined by the forces of evil.” This suggests, then, that faith must have as an outcome not only the correction and re-creation of one’s self, but also of one’s society. The church must facilitate a faith that concerns itself with the salvation of lost souls and left-behind schools; the renewal of broken hearts and the restoration of broken homes; the regeneration of old natures and the renovation of old neighborhoods. As the apostle James declares, “faith without works is dead.” Faith, then, must make a difference!
This brings us back to the preacher’s responsibility in helping the believer grasp the application of the ancient text and its relevance to the world as it exists. A faith that is informed by the gospel of Jesus Christ is a faith that makes a difference in people’s lives, a difference in how the world operates, a difference in how people are treated in the workforce, a difference in how people are paid in order to stay above the poverty line, a difference in how people are hired, a difference in how children are educated, a difference in how laws are interpreted and enforced, a difference in how people are housed and whether they have access to quality healthcare, a difference in people’s ability to afford medication and childcare and not have to choose between the two, and even a difference in bank lending practices. Faith ought to have an impact upon how the world operates and how humanity relates to itself. I contend that a faith that has not produced anything, changed anything, affected anything, has not corrected, challenged, moved, improved, or made a positive difference in anything, is, then, an incomplete, insufficient, and perhaps an incapacitated faith. Dead.
The pulpit of the black church has long been a prophetic institution held in high esteem as a sacred place where skilled, scholarly men of the scriptures have endeavored to juxtapose faith against cultural and social ills. From the sacred desks of the black church, the causes that people of faith were called to engage have historically been clearly articulated by great preachers and pastors. The sermons of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Samuel Dewitt Proctor, Gardner Taylor, Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jeremiah Wright stand as model examples of how to examine current social issues through the lens of the ancient scriptures, bringing both relevance and application to the preaching moment so that people will see themselves, their issues, the church’s cause and God’s truth.
This collection of sermons speaks to current social issues that African-Americans face. While some of them provide answers through a scriptural prescription of sorts, others simply raise the right questions and invite the reader to think more deeply about what faith ought to and must mean in a fallen world. Also note that these are written as Sunday morning sermons, rich with cadence, alliteration, assonance, and other literary tools and idiomatic expressions characteristic of the black church experience. They have been only lightly edited in an effort to retain the voice and remain as true to the actual sermon’s delivery as possible. As you scan the QR codes to listen to the sermon’s delivery, you will likely notice variations from the manuscript. I chose to keep the manuscript as originally written that you might compare the two. Though primarily a manuscript preacher, I am thankful that the Holy Spirit provides periodic flourishes of in the moment inspirations and edits! My prayer is that these sermons will inspire believers to embrace a full faith and help preachers to preach a full gospel that grapples with complex issues knowing that there is still a cause to which we must respond faithfully.
Resisting the Temptation of Open Carry
Micah 4:1-4
1In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it, 2 and many nations shall come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 3 He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; 4 but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.”
This past week I had the great privilege of taking a journey to the Alex Haley Farm in Clinton, TN to take part in the Samuel DeWitt Proctor conference. It was my first time ever at the Alex Haley Farm, but Lord willing it won’t be my last. Tremendously inspired by the depth of exegetical presentations by the likes of Otis Moss Jr. and Otis Moss III, Dr. James Cone and Rev. James Lawson, and then challenged by the words and the commitments to action given by Children’s Defense Fund president Mariam Wright-Edelman, this was a special time in a sacred space of renewal and restoration. There on those rustic and rural grounds I was being sharpened for the ministry that lays before us; my perspective was being stretched; my hopes were being renewed and my passion was being rekindled for a deeper and more thoughtful approach to ministry that matters; ministry that moves; and ministry that makes a difference.
It was in that pastoral, worry-free safe and serene setting that I got the call on Tuesday night from a dear friend who through his tears said to me, “That was my aunt.” He didn’t know that I was out of town and figured that I was plugged in to the city happenings. So when I told him that I wasn’t in Jackson and that I didn’t know what was going on, he went on to tell me about the tragic murder in the Bel-Air neighborhood. He described to me all that they knew at that time of the investigation and I could hear both the hurt and the heat of his emotions. He said to me again, “Man, that was my aunt.”
Not long after that through social media I was able to follow the developments of the investigation and read the outrage of Jackson residents about this murder, the handling of the 911 call, and about the still to be found perpetrator of the crime. And let me confess to you that even in that peaceful setting, at that moment I was disturbed and distressed. This kind of senseless murder makes even preachers mad. It makes people of faith angry; it unsettles us; it unnerves us; and it causes many of us to conclude that with society being what it is demands that we take action to protect ourselves from the threat of such violence. It makes Godly people resort to extreme measures to protect our homes and our love ones. It makes church people decide that it’s better to get them before they get us. It pushes even people of faith to take a by all means necessary approach to life and survival.
And given that on July 1, the Open Carry Law went into effect in Mississippi, giving qualified persons the right to openly carry a weapon with or without a permit, the temptation for a lot of people is and will be to do what you have to do before it’s done to you. Believe me, I understand. I struggle with it myself. To think that some knucklehead could change my whole life trajectory or that of my family’s in a matter of seconds just to take something that I’ve got. That bothers me. But before you get locked and loaded; before you get strapped up; before you put that piece on your hip in disgust deciding to take out any and everybody who look suspicious, I want you to remember that just because it’s legal doesn’t make it moral. Just because it’s the law doesn’t mean it’s right.
It was once the law to keep blacks and whites separated in public spaces, but Jim Crow laws weren’t right.
It was once legal to hold slaves as personal property in this country, but just because it was legal didn’t mean it was moral.
And just because it’s legal now to walk city streets and enter many public places armed and dangerous doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. And let me be clear – I’m not an advocate against guns. I believe in the 2nd amendment and our right to bear arms. But I don’t believe that we are a safer society by giving people the legal right to carry a firearm with or without a permit. Open Carry is another way of saying that it’s Open Season. Open Season on people who frighten you; people who scare you;