No More Lies (Esther 3)

 How many of you know the story of Esther? Esther only appears once in the entire 3-year lectionary cycle, on this, the 19th Sunday after Pentecost. And what the lectionary gives us are some random verses from chapter 7 and chapter 9. If I were to just read those verses, we’d miss so much!

This is a fascinating, exciting, and entertaining story. We don’t have time to read all of it in worship. I encourage you to do so sometime on your own. Or, if you ever get invited by a Jewish friend to attend a Purim spiel, something most Jewish congregations do in late winter, do so, for it’s a fun, hilarious, and entertaining reenactment of the story of Esther that they do every year.

For today, though, I’m going to start by reading some verses from chapter 3, reading from the Common English Bible today, and then move through the story from there…

The King promoted Haman above all the officials who worked with him. All the royal workers at the King’s Gate would kneel and bow facedown to Haman because the king had so ordered. 

But Mordecai didn’t kneel or bow down. When Haman himself saw that Mordecai didn’t kneel or bow down to him, he became very angry. But he decided not to kill only Mordecai, for people had told him Mordecai’s race. Instead, he planned to wipe out all the Jews, Mordecai’s people, throughout the whole kingdom. 

Haman said to the King, “A certain group of people exist in pockets among the other peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of everyone else, and they refuse to obey the king’s laws. There’s no good reason for the king to put up with them any longer. If the king wishes, let a written order be sent out to destroy them, and I will hand over ten thousand kikkars of silver to those in charge of the king’s business. The silver can go into the king’s treasuries.”

The king said to Haman, “Both the money and the people are under your power. Do as you like with them.”

Haman hated the Jews. The scripture says that Haman became angry after Mordecai refused to bow down, but I think Haman was just looking for an excuse, a reason, to carry out his cruel intentions against the Jews.

 The Jews were different. They talked differently. They acted differently. They dressed differently. They worshiped differently. 

All that bothered Haman; all those differences made him anxious; and rather than take the time to understand those differences, Haman made up lies about the Jews, saying that they were a threat to the kingdom. 

They weren’t a threat, but Haman repeated those falsehoods to the king, and convinced the king to approve Haman’s plan of genocide.

Now, this is a tragic, dreadful way to begin a story. But if you read the whole story, you’ll see that it is tempered with humor and irony, and that the story itself is actually quite entertaining, especially when Haman’s whole plan backfires on him in hilarious fashion. 

Because, yes, the villain gets his due. Haman is defeated, and his reign of terror comes to an end.

But.. unfortunately, animosity and hatred against those who are different did not end with Haman. In every generation, people have felt threatened by those who were different… I know some of our small groups are doing a study in conjunction with our kindness campaign, and one of the lessons is about how our anxiety can lead us to feel threatened by those who are different.

And when some feel threatened or anxious by those who are different, that can lead to words of hate, and acts of violence… just like it did for Haman. 

In the 1840s and 1850s, Irish immigrants were coming to the United States in large numbers. Anxious Americans felt that they needed to save the nation from going broke to pay for “Paddy and Bridget,” who were arriving in unprecedented waves.

And they didn’t hesitate to make up stories and spread lies to turn people against the Irish immigrants. Just like Haman made up lies about the Jews, to turn people against them.

Meanwhile, in my home state of California, the gold rush brought tens of thousands of immigrants from China. According to an article on the Library of Congress website, “The Chinese immigrants endured an epidemic of violent racist attacks, a campaign of persecution and murder that today seems shocking. From Seattle to Los Angeles, from Wyoming to the small towns of California, immigrants from China were forced out of business, run out of town, beaten, tortured, lynched, and massacred, usually with little hope of help from the law. Racial hatred, an uncertain economy, and weak government in the new territories all contributed to this climate of terror and bloodshed.”

A lot of the attacks directed toward the Chinese began with made-up lies about what the Chinese immigrants were eating. In California, during Gold Rush times, people claimed that the Chinese immigrants were eating cats and dogs. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Hatred toward people who are different is seen in our own time, with hateful rhetoric and even violent crimes being committed against Muslims, Mexicans, and other immigrant groups. They are labeled “thugs,” “dangerous criminals,” even though immigrants—even undocumented immigrants—actually commit fewer crimes than U.S. citizens, according to data collected from law enforcement agencies. 

But that doesn’t stop the Hamans of our time from spreading their lies.

As I said, in the book of Esther, Haman doesn’t come out on top. In this Bible story, the villain doesn’t win.

Because it just so happened that Mordecai—the Jew Haman hated the most—had a younger cousin named Esther. (You knew there was going to be an Esther, since that’s the name of the book!)

Esther’s parents had died, so Mordecai raised Esther as his own…

…Until the day that the king decided he needed a new queen. The king chose Esther; she became his new queen.

Throughout all this, Esther kept secret the fact that she was a Jew, and she kept secret the fact that Mordecai was her cousin.

When Haman got the king’s approval to begin killing the Jews, Esther realizes it was time to reveal her truth, and intercedes with the king on behalf of the Jews.

What a difficult decision that must have been! When you read the story, Esther’s fear is obvious. She doesn’t know how the king will react. 

Her hope, of course, is that the king will stop the genocide when he realizes that the Jews are the kin of his own queen. But the king could just as easily decide that Esther should join the Jews when they are rounded up and killed.

Despite her fear, Esther approaches the king, and offers to prepare him a lavish feast. And she invites Haman to the feast. 

And during the feast, the king says, “Queen Esther, what is your request? What is it that you want to tell me?”

And Esther says, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come to another feast that I will prepare tomorrow night.”

Did she lose her nerve? Was it part of her plan? I don’t know.

But the following night, the king and Haman both return for another night of feasting. 

And again, while they are feasting, the king asks: “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request?”

And Esther says: “The lives of my people are in jeopardy. I and my people have been sentenced to be destroyed, to be killed, to be annihilated.”

And the king, startled into compassion for his Queen and her people, asks, “Who is he, who has presumed to do this?”

And Esther looks at Haman and says, “A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!”

And then the king orders that Haman be executed on the very gallows that Haman had prepared for Esther’s cousin Mordecai… and thus, the Jews are saved.

But it wouldn’t have happened without Esther’s brave decision to speak out on behalf of the Jews. 

We need some Esthers today, to speak out against the malicious lies of all the Hamans, lies intended to divide people, lies that tear us apart, lies that seek to destroy those who are different from us.

Some of these lies are obvious, but some are so deeply ingrained in us that we don’t even realize that they are lies.

I’ve mentioned before about how, when I was teaching, I’d have to question the assumptions I sometimes made about my students. Why did I react one way with one student, and another way with another student?

And I’d search within me, to see if there is some hidden lie within me, a lie that had been passed down from previous generations, prompting me to act in a certain way. If there was a lie there, I’d want to know, so I could work to replace it with truth.

Fortunately, I’ve learned to engage in this sort of self-reflection, because of the trainings and events I’ve attended that were put on with the support of our church’s pro-reconciliation, anti-racism ministry. 

Some years back, our denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), made a commitment to be a pro-reconciliation, anti-racist church. And we knew that this work needed to start within.

What lies did we as a church believe and accept, even if we were doing so unconsciously?

We knew that the demographics of our leadership didn’t match the demographics of our membership, and we were willing to ask why. Clergy of color, for example, were finding it harder to find ministry positions than white.

What lies were we living out?

And we began a process of discernment and action, to uncover the lies, to reveal the truth, and to more faithfully work towards God’s kingdom where there are no distinctions in terms of prejudice. “Neither Jew nor Greek, male or female.”

And that work continues today. It will continue as long as there are Hamans in this world, spreading their lies about people who are different.

That’s why today and next week, many Disciples congregations throughout the United States and Canada are highlighting the work of our reconciliation ministry. 

From 2003 to 2005, our Disciples General Minister was Chris Hobgood, who was a passionate promoter of our pro-reconciliation, anti-racism priority. Every other priority, he said, falls under this one. 

At the time we had a priority of establishing 1,000 new congregations by the year 2020—a goal we achieved, by the way.

Chris Hobgood said that unless we prioritize being a pro-reconciliation, anti-racist denomination while establishing those congregations, then we would end up establishing 1,000 racist congregations. 

In his brief time as leader of our denomination, he did a lot to further pro-reconciliation, anti-racism work, and our denomination is certainly a much better and more faithful part of Christ’s church because of it.

He was an Esther for our church, confronting lies with truth, holding us accountable for the ideas we have and the ideas we share about people who are different than we are.

Today, our current General Minister and President, Terri Hord Owens, continues to call us to emphasize the work of racial reconciliation. She points out that we’ve been saying, for many years now, that we are pro-reconciliation, anti-racism; so let’s be who we say we are. Let’s be the church we say we are. 

Let’s work for justice for all God’s children. Let’s confront and challenge the lies that are told about our siblings in Christ who just happen to be of another race or culture. And let’s continue this work until there are no more Hamans in our world, spreading lies, speaking words of harm. 

We will be, as the prophet says, repairers of the breach. We will be uniters, instead of dividers. Instead of harm, there will be healing. Instead of lies, there will be truth. Instead of hate, there will be love.

In Love With Justice (Esther)

 

1. Reading Esther

Most Sundays I choose, for worship, a scripture from the lectionary. The lectionary is a three-year cycle of scripture readings used in many churches throughout the world. 

In that entire three year cycle, the book of Esther only appears once: today, the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost in year B of the three-year lectionary cycle. 

Which means it doesn't get a whole lot of attention in Christian churches, which is too bad. It's such a great story! Modern Jews know how great it is, and they celebrate the story of Esther each year, in February or March, with a holiday called Purim, during which Jewish congregations will hilariously act out the story of Esther, dressing up, cheering the heroes of the story, and booing and hissing at the villains.

But we just get one reading every three years, and even that is sometimes overlooked. 

And the lectionary gives us a weird reading. It skips around. It includes some verses from chapter seven and some verses from chapter nine. And, it’s a spoiler - it tells the end of the story, without telling the beginning or the middle.

Some of you are familiar with the story of Esther, and some of you are not, so instead of hearing bits and pieces from chapters 7 and 9, I’ve changed it so that we heard, instead, bits and pieces from chapter 3. But don’t worry; I’ll get to chapters 7 and 9 before the sermon is over.

Of course, if you want to hear the full story, go home and read the book of Esther for yourself.

Chapter 3 focuses on Mordecai, who was a Jew - and Haman, who was King Ahasuerus's vizier. 

2. Haman’s Evil Plan

When Haman became vizier, it was expected that people would bow down to him when he passed by. But Mordecai would not bow down to Haman. Because he was a Jew, Mordecai believed that one should only bow down before God.

This enraged Haman. Haman was so furious that he wanted to get rid of Mordecai. In fact, Haman was so furious, he wanted to get rid of ALL the Jews. He wanted them all completely destroyed. 

In other words, he wanted genocide.

Haman hatched a plan to get rid of the Jews, and went and presented his plan to the king. He said to the king, “The Jews are not like everyone else. They talk different. They dress different. They act different. They are a threat to the kingdom.”

Well, they weren’t a threat; but they were different, and how often are people who are different seen as a threat… just because they are different? 

3. Overcoming Prejudice

I wish I could say this is something that only happened in ancient times, but sadly, we know this is not true. Every generation, there is some group of people being discriminated against, persecuted against, because they are different… because their race is different… because their religion is different… because their sexuality is different… because they don’t conform to gender norms…

...and, like Haman, there are people who are quick to spread rumors and lies about those who are different, in an attempt to get rid of them.

Next week, I’m going to start a sermon series about the apostle Paul, but I’ll tell you now that Paul had some prejudices and spread some stereotypes about gentiles. Mostly, this was a reflection of his Jewish society’s prejudices against gentiles, prejudices Paul couldn’t shake, even though he considered it his life’s purpose to serve and minister to the gentiles, letting them know that the way of Jesus is for them, too, and not just the Jews.

But it’s just so hard to overcome prejudices when those prejudices are such a part of the society one lives in.

We all have prejudices. We all hold stereotypes. We all make assumptions about other people. And those prejudices and assumptions are constantly reinforced by society, by the media. Our minds have been trained to make assumptions about "those people," and every day, those assumptions and prejudices are reinforced by the images we see and the messages we receive from society. 

This is why critical race theory is so important. The prejudices that lead to racism are a part of our society. They are embedded in society. They are in the air we breathe and the water we drink. It’s like a river current in which we live - the current pulls us along. It’s not enough to say, “I’m not racist, I’m not making the current go…” That’s not enough. We must actively work against the flow. 

So, it's a never ending yet necessary part of our life's work to become aware of our prejudices and assumptions, and work through them and dismantle them. 

Because if we don't...we become no better than Haman, whose prejudices and assumptions about the Jews led him to do terrible things. 

So Haman convinces himself that the Jews are evil because they are different, and he goes and tries to convince the king of this as well. He wants the king to agree to his plan to exterminate all the Jews. 

First, he reiterates how different the Jews are, the implication being that those differences are a threat. And to further persuade the king, Haman promises money. Lots of money. Ten thousand kikkars of silver - that's about 750,000 pounds of silver - which will go into the king’s treasury if the king does what Haman requests. 

4. In Love with Money

Well, money is persuasive. A lot of money can be overpowering in the way it grabs hold of someone. And, as it says in 1 Timothy, love of money is the root of all evil.

Needless to say, the king agreed to Haman's evil plan. He agreed to, because of his love of money.

This week, people were shot in grocery stores, schools, and a Shake Shack, but we have politicians in the U.S. who won’t act to end gun violence in schools, because they receive money from the NRA. 

This week, unprecedented fires have threatened thousand year-old sequoias and filled our air with smoke, but we have politicians who won’t act to protect our climate, because they receive so much money from fossil fuel companies. 

We have billionaires who have doubled and tripled their wealth during the pandemic while so many others have struggled, but we have politicians who won’t act to reform our tax structure - a tax structure that favors the wealthy and penalizes the poor - because they have too many millionaires and billionaires among their donors.

 And those billionaires are taking joyrides into space using wealth that isn't even taxed by the government. 

This week, a new plan put forward by the House Ways and Means committee avoids taxing the wealth of our country's billionaires. Nearly all of their wealth is shielded from taxes, and they pay far less of a percentage of their wealth into the U.S. treasury than most average Americans do.

But their wealth is power, and that power keeps politicians from insisting that they pay their fair share. 

People wonder why our taxes keep going up - why our sales tax goes up, why our fuel tax goes up - yet there doesn't seem to be anything to show for it.  It's because the wealthiest in this country use their wealth and their power to persuade politicians to treat them more favorably than everyone else. 

And the poor and the vulnerable suffer.

A more fair tax plan would provide needed services to the poor. A more fair tax plan would save lives. But because of the love of money, we have politicians who won’t enact policies that will save lives…As in the time of Haman and Mordecai, the love of money is destroying people’s lives.

And just like many of our modern politicians, King Ahasuerus agreed to do what is evil instead of what is right because of his love for money.

Martin Luther King, Jr. called out politicians on this. He said: "We need leaders not in love with money, but in love with justice."

The problem had only gotten worse since King said those words. Today, we have people of faith calling out politicians on their love of money which keeps them from doing what is right and just.

The Poor People's Campaign: a National Call for Moral Revival has been a leader in this faith- based movement. People of faith are speaking out, gathering in protest, and courageously confronting politicians who continue to love money more than justice. 

Just like Esther.

Oh, I haven't mentioned Esther yet. Esther was Mordecai's younger cousin. She grew up without a father or mother, so Mordecai raised her. Like Mordecai, Esther was a Jew. But through a series of events that you can read about yourself in the book of Esther, she ended up in the king's household and in fact became the queen.

But no one knew she was a Jew. She kept that part of her identity a secret.

You know, there is no one right way to live under oppression. Esther kept her Jewish identity hidden. Daniel, who also lived in a time when Jews were persecuted, prayed openly, and never hid who he was. 

Yet both Esther and Daniel are heroes from the Bible. It’s like people who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual - many keep their identity a secret, often for reasons of safety and security; others are able to come out and be who they are openly, even defiantly. Ideally, every person could live out their identity openly, freely, but for some, it’s just not possible, or safe, to do so.

Esther kept her identity a secret; but when Haman’s plan became known, Mordecai told Esther that now, it was time. She needed to tell the king who she was, and she needed to ask the king to stop Haman’s evil plan from being put into action.

5. In Love With Justice

Which brings us to chapter 7. It took great courage - tremendous courage - for her to go to the king and tell him that she was a Jew, and to ask him to please not go along with Haman's evil plan. She didn't want to do it. She didn't want to speak out, because of the risk that involved.

And it took her several tries. Her courage failed her the first time, so she had to try again, which reminds me of people who have come out to me, revealed their true identities to me, and how it took them several tries to feel safe enough and brave enough to do so.

But finally, she was able to tell the king what she needed to tell him: that she was a Jew, and that it was her own people who would suffer and die if Haman’s plan was put in place. 

And then, holding her breath, she waited for the king’s reaction. Would he side with her, and stop the evil plan? Or would he side with Haman, his vizier, and destroy the Jews - including Esther, now that he knew she was one of them?

It turns out that Haman already had some gallows constructed to begin carrying out his evil plan - and the first person he planned to hang on those gallows was Mordecai. The king decided that those gallows should instead be used to hang Haman. And the evil plan was cast aside.

Now, what about the money Haman had promised the king? Did the king already receive it? 

I don’t know.

If Haman had not yet given the king the money, would the king still have decided to side with Esther?

I don’t know.

Because the power of money to persuade one to side with evil is hard to resist. 

It doesn’t mean that money itself is evil. Money itself can do a lot of good. 1 Timothy doesn’t say that money is the root of all evil; it says that the love of money is the root of all evil. 

When you love money more than you love justice, you can’t help but do what is evil.

I pray that our politicians learn this lesson.

I pray that we learn this lesson.

So that our money can be used for good, to help bring justice to the world, to help create a world of wholeness, a world where racism and prejudice and homophobia are overcome, a world where no one has to hide their identity in the closet out of fear.

Because a world like that is God’s kingdom come, on earth, as in heaven.

Maybe You're the One (Esther 3)

It was one of those times when the Jews were not in charge of their own nation, but were under the rule of foreign powers.

It was the Persians who were in charge. When the Persians looked at the Jews, they saw people who were very different. They had strange customs. They wore strange clothes. They worshiped God in a strange language. They observed different holidays.

Haman, the grand vizier to King Ahasuerus, was convinced that the Jews did not belong in Persia. He believed that their ways were inconsistent with everything the kingdom stood for.

This sounds familiar. In recent weeks, presidential candidates have said basically the same thing, except instead of Jews in Persia, their comments were about Muslims in America. The way of Muslims, they said, are inconsistent with our nation and the constitution on which its governance is based.

After all, to many Americans, Muslims have strange customs. They wear strange clothes. They worship God in a strange language. They observe different holidays.

This is what Haman said to King Ahasuerus about the Jews. He said, “If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued for their destruction; do this, and I’ll pay big money into the king’s treasuries.”

Big money swaying the government is also something that sounds familiar. Why don’t we have better environmental protections in this country? Why is the tax code so unfair to poor and working class families? Why is junk food subsidized but healthy, organic food isn’t? It’s all about how the influence of big money in the government.

Read between the lines, and you’ll discover that this little book of Esther – which doesn’t even mention God – has some harsh, challenging, prophetic words to people in our own time.

So far, it’s been easy to read Esther and point all this out. After all, the blame seems to lie elsewhere. So far, the book of Esther doesn’t seem to be calling me out personally, challenging me to change my behavior… I don’t have big money, I don’t have any animosity for Jews or Muslims or anyone else… but perhaps it’s only a matter of time until Esther speaks an equally prophetic and challenging word to me.

Many of you are familiar with the story of Esther. If you aren’t, I encourage you to read it. It’s not very long. I actually haven’t mentioned the title character yet, so let me tell you a little about her.

King Ahasuerus, who I’ve already mentioned, had a beautiful queen named Vashti. One day, the king threw a party, and he ordered Queen Vashti to present herself so he could show off to all his guests just how beautiful his queen was.

But Queen Vashti refused to come.

So King Ahasuerus got rid of her. He searched the land for a new queen, and that new queen was Esther.

What the king didn’t know is that Esther had a secret: Esther was a Jew. Before she became queen, she had lived with her cousin Mordecai who was also a Jew.

When Haman got the king’s approval to destroy all the Jews, Mordecai sent word to his cousin Esther, telling her that she needed to say something to the king about Haman’s plan, to convince the king to stop their impending destruction.

Esther was reluctant. “Who am I?” she thought. “I’m just a woman, and look at how this king treats women! He dumped his first queen, kicked her out into the street, because she refused to put her body on display to his friends. Then he chose me as his new queen not because of love, but because he liked the way I looked in a beauty lineup. I may be the queen, but if I do something that displeases the king or angers him, that’s the end of me. Certainly it’s safer for me if I just keep quiet.”

But Mordecai said to her, “When Haman destroys the Jews, don’t think you’ll be safe from that just because you live in the palace. Besides, who else is there to speak out against this injustice, this oppression, this attack on our people? Who knows? Perhaps you’re the one! Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”

Ah! There it is. The prophetic, challenging word to me. “Perhaps you’re the one! Perhaps you are where you are for just such a time as this.”

This challenge directly addresses my ongoing desire to discern what exactly is my call from God. What has God put me here to do?

There are some things I cannot change… and there are some things I can change. I doubt I can change the opinions of presidential candidates who speak judgmental, hateful, bigoted things in an effort to gain publicity and improved poll ratings. Not everything is in my control. King Ahasuerus wanted to control Queen Vashti, but couldn’t, and I cannot control many who I might, at times, wish I could control.

But I can speak out. I can preach and proclaim and share what my faith says, that hatred and prejudice is not a part of the biblical witness.

At this point, those of you who know your Bible well might squirm in your seat a little, because you know that stories of hatred and prejudice – and even genocide – do exist in the Bible; and if someone wants to use the Bible to justify their own hatred and animosity toward others, there are verses they can quote.

 But never do these stories appear as the final word. There is an arc, a progression, through scripture, a movement toward acceptance and affirmation of all people. As I’ve shared with you before, different voices within scripture engage in a debate that spans the centuries, arguing with each other over who is and who is not a part of God’s kingdom.

Some voices in scripture say certain people, certain ethnicities, certain nations, should be excluded; but other voices in scripture argue back, saying that all are welcome in the kingdom of God, that God’s spirit is poured out on all flesh, young and old, male and female, slave and free… people from all nations and all cultures [Joel 2:28-29; Isaiah 56:7 Galatians 3:28].

So even though there are stories in the Bible of cultural exclusivity and even ethnic cleansing, it is clear that the movement in scripture, the pushing of God’s spirit, is away from that, and toward acceptance and affirmation.

I remember as high school student in the 1980s, reading about World War II and the atrocities carried out against the Jews in Europe, and wondering how people could possibly have that much hatred toward someone just because of their race or religion. I could understand how one man could feel that way – there are always a few deranged persons in a society – but how could enough people feel that way to allow that one man to have the power that he had?

But, because it was history, and because all the photos were in black and white, it seemed like such a distant thing, as if that sort of thing could never happen in my time.

Now I know, it can happen. It is happening. An entire religion of one billion peaceful people is being blamed for the actions of small groups of terrorists.

A growing number of Americans agree that a Muslim – simply because of his or her religion – is unfit to be president. A growing number of Americans have negative attitudes toward Muslims, despite the fact that they have never so much as had a conversation with a Muslim in their community. That’s the very definition of prejudice: judging people without even knowing them.

Who is going to speak out about this? Who will challenge the rising tide of fear, animosity, and hatred?

Today, Oct. 10, 2015, anti-Muslim rallies have been planned to take place on the streets outside of mosques at various locations throughout the country. In states where it is legal, those protestors say they will be armed. In response, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has urged mosques to take extra security measures this weekend.

What does this have to do with you and me?

Bixby Knolls Christian Church is a multicultural, multiracial, open & affirming congregation. We are Christians who see and understand God through Jesus Christ, but at the same time many of us do have friends or even family members of other religions.

We have a partnership with the South Coast Interfaith Council, and some of us have even provided leadership to that organization. We have met people very different from us, yet very much the same as us when it comes to seeking and working for peace among all people, creating a beloved community – or, as the New Testament calls it, the kingdom of God.

Perhaps we, Bixby Knolls Christian Church, are the ones this world is waiting for. Perhaps we are where we are and who we are for just such a time as this.

Perhaps YOU are where you are for just such a time as this.

All this has me thinking of Bree Newsome. On June 27, she climbed a 30-foot flagpole at the South Carolina state capitol and took down the Confederate battle flag. What prompted her to do that? She could have left that symbolic action to someone else, but who?

She was promptly arrested, and the flag was raised back up. Two weeks later, though, the South Carolina government voted that the flag should no longer fly over the state capitol.

Every day, I become more and more convinced that we here at Bixby Knolls Christian Church are called to play a similar role in society, to be the ones who will speak out against hatred, whether that hatred is based on racial or religious prejudice, or prejudice against people of different sexual orientations or gender identities. This, I believe, is our calling.

As pastor, I feel it is my duty to continually present that calling before the congregation… It is also my duty to keep improving my own awareness and understanding of these issues. I say this, because I know I still have a lot to learn.

Fortunately we in the church have our reconciliation ministry. A few weeks ago Lisa Tunstall and I attended an excellent two-day training on confronting the powers of racism. I have attended other similar events in the past; and now our region has a leadership program for youth which is focused on overcoming the sin of racism, a program that Tristan is a part of. He and his fellow participants in that program will be among those participating in next week’s Regional Gathering.

I feel that God is calling Bixby Knolls Christian Church to be a leader in the pro-reconciliation, anti-racism movement of our church. When you think about it, who else but us is in such a position for this?

The reconciliation offering that we take today… that money doesn’t go to BKCC. It’s an offering that we take in addition to our offering in support of our congregation. It goes to support the pro-reconciliation, anti-racism work of our region and our general church.

But we are called to be a part of that. Financially. Prayerfully. And by taking advantage of every opportunity to learn more and to witness to the God who shows no partiality among people, who loves all and welcomes all into his kingdom.

This is our message to the world. This is what we are here for.