Heaven’s Complexion
Tony Khalil
Midland SDA Church
November 27, 2021
I am 51 years old. Younger than some of you, but older than many. And when I examine the span of my life, its hard for me to believe that racism is still a primary social issue today. On July 23, 1967 (predating me by three years) in the city of my birth, something happened that has gone down in history as one of the most violent urban revolts of the twentieth century, the Detroit Race Riots. I’m going to share a brief description of this event as told by Tabitha Wang.
On Sunday evening, July 23, the Detroit Police Vice Squad officers raided an after hours “blind pig,” an unlicensed bar on the corner of 12th Street and Clairmount Avenue in the center of the city’s oldest and poorest black neighborhood. A party at the bar was in progress to celebrate the return of two black servicemen from Vietnam. Although officers had expected a few patrons would be inside they found and arrested all 82 people attending the party. As they were being transported from the scene by police, a crowd of about 200 people gathered outside agitated by rumors that police used excessive force during the 12th Street bar raid. Shortly after 5:00 a.m., an empty bottle was thrown into the rear window of a police car, and then a waste basket was thrown through a storefront window.
At 5:20 a.m. additional police officers were sent to 12th Street to stop the growing violence. By mid-morning looting and window-smashing spread out along 12th Street. As the violence escalated into the afternoon, Detroit Congressman John Conyers climbed atop a car in the middle of 12th Street to address the crowd. As he was speaking, the police informed him that they could not guarantee his safety as he was pelted with bricks and bottles.
Around 1:00 p.m. police officers began to report injuries from stones, bottles, and other objects that were thrown at them. When firemen responded to fire alarms, they too were struck with thrown objects. Mayor Jerome Cavanaugh met with city and state leaders at police headquarters and agreed that additional force was needed in order to stop the violence. By 3:00 p.m. 360 police officers began to assemble at the Detroit Armory as the rioting spread from 12th Street to other areas of the city. The fires started during the riot spread rapidly in the afternoon heat as 25 mile per hour winds began to blow. Even as businesses and homes went up in flames, firemen were increasingly subject to attack by the rioters.
At 5:30 p.m., twelve hours into the riot, Mayor Cavanaugh requested that the National Guard be brought into Detroit to stop the violence. Meanwhile firefighters abandoned an area roughly 100 square blocks in size around 12th Street as the fires raged out of control. The first troops arrived in the city at 7:00 p.m. and 45 minutes later the Mayor instituted a curfew between 9:00 pm and 5:00 a.m. Seven minutes into the curfew a 16-year-old African American boy was the first gunshot victim.
At 11:00 p.m. a 45-year-old white man was seen looting a store and was shot by the store owner. Before dawn, four other store looters were shot, one while struggling with the police. As the night wore on, there were reports of deaths by snipers and complaints of sniper fire. Many of these reports were from policemen who were unable to determine the origins of the gunfire.
At 2:00 a.m. Monday morning, 800 State Police Officers and 8,000 National Guardsmen were ordered to the city by Michigan Governor George Romney. They were later augmented by 4,700 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division ordered in by President Lyndon Johnson. With their arrival the looting and arson began to end but there were continuous reports of sniper fire. The sniper attacks stopped only with the end of the violence on Thursday, July 27th. The Mayor lifted the curfew on Tuesday, August 1 and the National Guardsmen left the city.
In the five days and nights of violence 33 blacks and 10 whites were killed, 1,189 were injured and over 7,200 people were arrested. Approximately 2,500 stores were looted and the total property damage was estimated at about $32 million.
Unfortunately, this sounds all too familiar, like something that could have happened this year. Does it not?
Growing up in the Detroit metropolitan area in the 1970’s, racism was a fact of life. Although born in the city of Detroit, I was raised in an affluent suburb. It wasn’t by pedigree that we lived there, but rather the hard work and dedication of my parents. My father was a Lebanese American and we identified as such. By design there was little diversity in our community, I do remember an Asian family or two, but with few exceptions everyone was of European descent.
In those days it was not uncommon for people to use racial slurs. The “N” word was commonplace. The kids at school used it, as learned from their parents. And to call someone or something Jewish was the ultimate insult at my high school. It was also no secret that black people could not drive into our neighborhood without being pulled over by the police, and many of our streets dead ended as they approached the perimeter, to keep out those that did not belong.
Racism was offensive to some, including my mother, and we were taught that it wasn’t right, but we still locked our car doors when driving through black neighborhoods. It was no joke, they were dangerous places. My dad had been held at gunpoint and robbed multiple times in these neighborhoods.
As time progressed though, things began to change. Racism became more distasteful. Neighborhoods and people became more integrated, and stereotypes were broken down. It wasn’t completely irradicated, but racism seemed, at least from my vantage point, to have been dealt a death blow. I’m not saying there weren’t still inequalities, but as a society we seemed to be overwhelmingly headed in the right direction.
Fast forward to today with stories of police brutality against minority populations, violent protests, looting, and riots in the streets, and elevated racial tensions permeating the news. What happened to the trajectory we were on? And more importantly, how can we get back on course?
As with all the problems of life, I believe the word of God holds the solution. Racism is not an invention of the twentieth century it existed all throughout history, even tarnishing God’s people through the stream of time. We are going to look briefly at Ten ways God’s word speaks to the issue of racism.
All one
First off, we are all one race, the human race. Turn with me to the book of beginnings,
Genesis 1: 26-27
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over [a]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
For the Christian, the creation account is the most compelling argument against racism. God did not create subsets of humanity, with some more favored that others. Mankind was created as one species in the image of the godhead. Regardless of skin tone, culture, language, or features, in our diversity we reflect the image of God. Within the doctrine of creation lies the antidote to bigotry. In contrast, the theory of evolution has served to promote racism as some people groups have been viewed as more primitive than others when examined under the framework of an evolutionary model. The evolutionary lie has led to genocide and other great atrocities, perpetuating division and rivalry, rather than unity and solidarity.
Acts 17: 26 is another verse that speaks to this point that we are all one. It reads…
26 And He has made from one [a]blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
“From one blood”, harkening back to creation and our first parents. Every nation, that includes all people groups. Today, there are four recognized divisions of the human race. Caucasian hailing from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East; Negroid, originating from the African continent; Mongoloid, including peoples from Korea, India, Japan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Alaska, and Pakistan; and Australoid originating from different parts of Asia and Oceania. We can create as many divisions as we want, and call them whatever we like, but it does not change the fact that we are from one blood and all one.
If you are interested in more evidence, other texts that support this truth are Galatians 3: 28-29; 1 Corinthians 12: 13; Romans 10: 12; Acts 15: 8-9; Romans 3: 21-22; and Colossians 3:11
Love one another
A second way that the Bible speaks to the issue of racism is through its foundational teaching of love for your fellow man.
In John 13: 34 Jesus says…
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
It may have been a new commandment, but most certainly not a new concept. The teaching of loving your neighbor permeates Old and New Testament.
James 2: 8 says it this way…
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well;
Racism is a hate-based philosophy bent on superiority and is diametrically opposed to the Love-centric teachings of Christ, steeped in self-sacrifice. Other supporting scriptures can be found in 1 John 2: 8-9; and Mark 12:31
No Favoritism
The next way we find God’s word addressing the topic of racism goes contrary to what many people today advocate as an answer to racism. It’s the admonition to show no favoritism.
James 2: 8-9 puts it like this…
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you [a]show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
It is a popular opinion today that since there have been inequities and injustices toward minority peoples in the past, as well as present, the way to remedy that is to give these same people groups preferential treatment going forward. There is a degree of logic to this position. “You have been repressed, that was wrong, to make up for it, we will give you a favored status in the present and into the future.” The problem is, Favoritism is Prejudice. This human solution to right racism simply shifts prejudice from one people group to another. Sure, it might balance things out a bit, but its still racism and it’s not biblical and in the end will likely create more animosity.
Turn with me, if you will, to Acts 10: 34-35. In the Story of Peter and Cornelius God speaks to Peter, through a vision of a sheet full of unclean animals and a command to eat them, a powerful anti-racism message. And when it finally dawns on Peter, what God is trying to tell him this is what he says…
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
With God as our example, we should treat everyone, regardless of our differences, with love and acceptance, showing no partiality. Some other references you might find adding credence to this reality are found in 1 Timothy 5: 21; Romans 2:11; Colossians 3:25; Proverbs 24:23; and Ephesians 6:9.
Judging by Appearance
The next admonition God gives us that relates directly to the sin of racism, is not to judge someone by appearance. God is leading Samuel to select a king for Israel, we find this in 1 Samuel 16: 7…
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have [a]refused him. For[b] the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
When we hold prejudices against another because of the color of their skin, their accent, or their culture, we are judging by their outward appearance, lumping them together with everyone who looks like them without getting to know who they really are.
When I was still in college, I worked at an architectural firm in the Detroit area with a civil engineer named Clovis who happened to be Lebanese. We were in the midst of the first Golf War, some of you remember, Iraq attacked Kuwait, and we came to their defense, “Operation Desert Storm”. One day someone wrote the racial slur “Camel Jockey” on Clovis’ car and slashed his tires. I can remember him saying in disbelief “The only time I have even seen a camel was at the Detroit Zoo”. It didn’t matter that he was Lebanese, not Iraqi. It didn’t matter that he was Christian, not Muslim. It didn’t matter that he had less familiarity with camels than the average American. He was lumped in with everyone that looked like him and judged by his appearance. John 7:24 tells us…
24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
Righteousness is placed here juxtaposed to judging by appearance, and is in essence equating this type of judgement with wickedness. James 2: 1-4 says it even more clearly
My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in [a]fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in [b]filthy clothes, 3 and you [c]pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not [d]shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
Gospel for all
Perhaps the most compelling biblical denunciation of racism is the inclusivity of the Gospel. The good news of salvation was for all mankind. Paul says it like this in Romans 10: 12-13…
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
We read it right in the gospel commission directly from Jesus lips in Matt 28:19…
19 Go [a]therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
He did not say to make disciples of just those who look like you, or to make disciple of just those within your culture. No, the commission is international and interracial. Some more references to this point can be found in Revelation 14: 6, Romans 1: 16 and 1 John 2: 2
All Races in Heaven
What about Heaven? If the gospel is to be taken to every nation kindred tongue and people, will they not respond to it? Revelation gives us a peak into the complexion of heaven. Turn with me to Revelation 7: 9-10.
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
The robes may be white but the people wearing them are diverse, all the variety he put within our genetic code will be represented among the redeemed. See Revelation 5:9 and John 3:16 for more confirmation of this.
Treatment of Foreigners
Throughout scripture we find limitless counsel on how to treat our fellow man, but there is also specific instruction on the treatment of the foreigner. Let’s consider a few together. One of my favorites is Leviticus 19: 33-34. It reads…
33 ‘And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. 34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as [a]one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
I like this one because it does not implore us to just tolerate or treat fairly the stranger among us, but rather to love him as one of our own. In Matthew 25: 37-40 Christ unites himself with the stranger by accepting his treatment as his own. It reads…
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
Other references can be found in Acts 10: 28; Deuteronomy 10: 17-19; Matthew 7:12; Exodus 22:21; Philippians 2: 3-4; and Ephesians 4:32
Jesus Action Toward Foreigners
In my experience, it is always worthwhile to look at Jesus’ example when considering Bible teachings. Do we have any examples of Jesus interacting with foreigners? In fact, we do. Let’s look at Mark 7: 25-30 together.
25 For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. 26 The woman was a [a]Greek, a [b]Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept [c]asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”
28 And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”
30 And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.
A casual reading of this passage gives the impression that Jesus himself is racist, even to the point of using a common racial slur by referring to the Gentiles as dogs. But a closer examination will show he is using this encounter as a teaching moment for his disciples. Often Jesus teaches using common or familiar illustrations to make an entirely different application than expected often with deep spiritual significance.
In this illustration the Children are the Israelites, the Bread is God’s provision, and the Dogs are the Gentiles. This was common vernacular and was not lost on anyone, especially not the Canaanite woman as she replies “even the little dogs under the table eat from the Children’s crumbs.” Jesus is not saying he came for the Jews only, quite the contrary. He is saying that there is an order to his ministry, first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. He must prepare His chosen people before the gospel can extend to the entire world. Catching Jesus implication that He came for the Jews first, but not only, she makes the point that if he plans to reach the Gentiles eventually, he can make an exception and save her daughter now, and He does. Jesus’ love and compassion for this Gentile woman supersedes everything else and he heals her daughter, thus demonstrating in action how to treat the foreigner.
Another interesting example of Jesus action toward foreigners can be found in John 4: 7-10
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
An entire sermon could be preached on this passage and undoubtedly has, but we don’t have time for that today, I just wasn’t to point out two takeaways from this encounter.
· First, almost everything Jesus does here flies in the face of the societal norms with a deliberate motive of breaking down prejudice.
· Secondly, Jesus loves the sinner regardless of their bloodline and offers her the same salvation he offers all.
The Plight of the Racist
In Christ we are all brothers and sisters, with God as the father, and Jesus our older brother. But like everything else promulgated by Him, we can chose whether or not to obey. 1 John 2: 9-11 tells us where the hate of Racism will lead. It reads…
9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Forgiveness
Finally, it would be irresponsible to study the topic of racism without an appeal for forgiveness. I’m sure there are some present here today or watching on our livestream that have been victims to some degree of racism. You may still feel the pain of that experience, carry the burden of anger, or wear the calluses of protection. God beseeches you to allow forgiveness to bring you healing. Colossians 3:13 challenges us…
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
Wrap up
Three years ago, I came across this article on facebook. It tells the story of something that happened one year after the Detroit Race Riots of 1967 and I would like to share it with you.
“On July 31, 1968, a young, black man was reading the newspaper when he saw something that he had never seen before. With tears in his eyes, he started running and screaming throughout the house, calling for his mom. He would show his mom, and, she would gasp, seeing something she thought she would never see in her lifetime. Throughout the nation, there were similar reactions.
What they saw was Franklin Armstrong's first appearance on the iconic comic strip "Peanuts."
Franklin was "born" after a school teacher, Harriet Glickman, had written a letter to creator Charles M. Schulz after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot to death outside his Memphis hotel room.
Glickman, who had kids of her own and having worked with kids, was especially aware of the power of comics among the young. “And my feeling at the time was that I realized that black kids and white kids never saw themselves [depicted] together in the classroom,” she would say.
She would write, “Since the death of Martin Luther King, 'I’ve been asking myself what I can do to help change those conditions in our society which led to the assassination and which contribute to the vast sea of misunderstanding, hate, fear and violence.'”
Glickman asked Schulz if he could consider adding a black character to his popular comic strip, which she hoped would bring the country together and show people of color that they are not excluded from American society.
She had written to others as well, but the others feared it was too soon, that it may be costly to their careers, that the syndicate would drop them if they dared do something like that.
Charles Schulz did not have to respond to her letter, he could have just completely ignored it, and everyone would have forgotten about it. But, Schulz did take the time to respond, saying he was intrigued with the idea, but wasn't sure whether it would be right, coming from him, he didn't want to make matters worse, he felt that it may sound condescending to people of color.
Glickman did not give up, and continued communicating with Schulz, with Schulz surprisingly responding each time. She would even have black friends write to Schulz and explain to him what it would mean to them and gave him some suggestions on how to introduce such a character without offending anyone. This conversation would continue until one day, Schulz would tell Glickman to check her newspaper on July 31, 1968.
On that date, the cartoon, as created by Schulz, shows Charlie Brown meeting a new character, named Franklin. Other than his color, Franklin was just an ordinary kid who befriends and helps Charlie Brown. Franklin also mentions that his father was "over at Vietnam." At the end of the series, which lasted three strips, Charlie invites Franklin to spend the night one day so they can continue their friendship.
There was no big announcement, there was no big deal, it was just a natural conversation between two kids, whose obvious differences did not matter to them. And, the fact that Franklin's father was fighting for this country was also a very strong statement by Schulz.
Although Schulz never made a big deal over the inclusion of Franklin, there were many fans, especially in the South, who were very upset by it and that made national news. One Southern editor even said, “I don’t mind you having a black character, but please don’t show them in school together.”
It would eventually lead to a conversation between Schulz and the president of the comic's distribution company, who was concerned about the introduction of Franklin and how it might affect Schulz' popularity. Many newspapers during that time had threatened to cut the strip.
Schulz' response: "I remember telling Larry at the time about Franklin -- he wanted me to change it, and we talked about it for a long while on the phone, and I finally sighed and said, "Well, Larry, let's put it this way: Either you print it just the way I draw it or I quit. How's that?"
Eventually, Franklin became a regular character in the comic strips, and, despite complaints, Franklin would be shown sitting in front of Peppermint Patty at school and playing center field on her baseball team.
…he courageously decided to make a statement because of one brave school teacher who decided to ask a simple question.
Glickman would explain later that her parents were "concerned about others, and the values that they instilled in us about caring for and appreciating everyone of all colors and backgrounds — this is what we knew when we were growing up, that you cared about other people . . . And so, during the years, we were very aware of the issues of racism and civil rights in this country [when] black people had to sit at the back of the bus, black people couldn’t sit in the same seats in the restaurants that you could sit . . . Every day I would see, or read, about black children trying to get into school and seeing crowds of white people standing around spitting at them or yelling at them . . . and the beatings and the dogs and the hosings and the courage of so many people in that time."
This leads me to the call of this message. You may be thinking, “Why a sermon on racism, we’re Seventh-day Adventist Christians, part of a world-wide church. We’re not racist.” And for most of us, that is probably true.” But I speak to you on this subject today to say, not being racist isn’t good enough. Racism is nauseating to our God, and simply not participating in the sin is only a good start. We must also be part of the solution. Am I saying we need to take to the streets in protest? No, in fact from what I have seen, protests invariably morph into something the Christian should have no part in, so I don’t advise it. Then what can we do?
As you consider the action of Harriet Glickman, persistently writing letters, encouraging someone she believed had a platform to reach the nation with a message of unity. I encourage you to introspectively ask yourself that same question “What can I do?” We cannot afford to be spectators. God has called us to actively represent his character to the world around us. We have a duty to take a stand against injustice, which cannot be accomplished in secret.
What will you do the next time you read of an egregious act committed toward someone out of bigotry? Think about how will you respond the next time someone around you makes a prejudiced statement. Yes, it still happens. It wasn’t long ago I was talking with someone about Mackinaw Island and they proceeded to tell me, in words incompatible with a Christian vocabulary, that they no longer visit there due to all the Jamaican’s working in the hotels and restaurants. If you don’t think about how you will respond ahead of time, you will find yourself thinking about it in regret afterward, wishing you had said more.
The beauty of being part an Adventist in North America is that each one of us has the ability to affect the way we are viewed as a whole. It’s likely that you may be the only Adventist in your circle of acquaintances. Earlier this month, Brenda and I met a gentleman at the Chocolate Affair, an annual fundraiser Delta College holds for disadvantaged students. Upon finding out we were Adventists, he proceeded to tell me that I would not be drinking alcohol or eating certain foods at the dinner that evening. That was his takeaway from whatever previous interaction he had with Adventists. How much better would it have been to have heard, “You are the ones who love all people and unapologetically denounce racism.” Believe me, your actions have the ability to shape the way we are viewed as a people, but more importantly they can give insight into the character of the God we worship. I implore you to accept my challenge today to stand for right, in whatever creative way the spirit may lead you, and be a glimpse of your God to those who are watching.