Anti-Racism (Acts 6:1-7) & The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander (Series: As some of your own poets have said . . . )

 

 

 

¹ Now in these days, when the disciples were growing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews against the native Hebraic Jews, because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. ² So the twelve called the whole group of the disciples together and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables. ³ But carefully select from among you, brothers, seven men who are well-attested, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this necessary task. ⁴ But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” ⁵ The proposal pleased the entire group, so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch. ⁶ They stood these men before the apostles, who prayed and placed their hands on them. ⁷ The word of God continued to spread, the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith. ~ Acts 6:1-7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greek Lives Matter – “Now in those days, when the disciples were growing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews against the native Hebraic Jews, because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. . .”

A brave story of an “imperfect union” for “these days  - The complaint happened because a brave ethnic minority group in the Christian community were willing to share a painful reality to other Christians who were mistreating them. Likewise for us, in these days there is a legitimate and courageous critique from brothers and sisters of color that is often unfortunately met within the church with a certain defensiveness and deflection, a refusal to acknowledge or repent. Can we be a place, particularly on the subject of racism and anti-racism, where we courageous questions, raise audacious challenges, point out things that aren’t working, among ourselves? Can we be brave? There’s no posturing, no justifying on the part of leadership or recounting of why the neglect happened in an attempt to explain it away. And it was “neglect” which means intentionally looking the other way. Neglect is a refusal to see. So complaining about injustice is perhaps a courageous part of what Jesus imagined when he spoke about the church being a light? Light is an equal opportunity revealer. It illuminates the good and the bad. It helps see what has destructively lain in the dark. And Kwame Alexander reminds us that justice is often carried by courageous and audacious ones who tell the truth “for the world to see.” The earliest church reminds us that we are to boldly be our most ardent critics, a fellowship of complaining; a way of belonging whereby people without power are capable of expressing their honest and heart-felt needs or neglect and know that they can be heard without being labeled as disloyal. We have the built in ability to acknowledge our own “imperfect union” through confession, repentance, and reconciliation. Complaint and repentance are critical for our spiritual health and remain a fundamental element of the churches story. And the complaint was serious.

Ethnic tensions threatened the church – Kwame Alexander’s poem reveals the painfully damaging reality of a “double consciousness” for African-Americans, “who survived America by any means necessary . . . scored with chains on one hand and faith in the other” and who fought “to save an imperfect union.” It’s the awful recognition of belonging without the experience of longing. The writer W.E.B. Du Bois defines the experience of “double consciousness” as the ever feeling of “twoness, an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength along keeps it from being torn asunder.” Far less than anything African slaves experienced in the United States, we nevertheless discover the seeds of racial animosity at work in the early church. The Hellenists, the ones who are being neglected are often referred to as “Greek-speaking Jews” but it was more than a matter of language spoken; it involved a degree of Greek culture – thought, customs, and lifestyle, as well. And while in no way equal to the racial disparity brought on by years soul and bone crushing enslavement, this group shares the cognitive dissonance of having the name Christian and yet being othered, separated and harmed because of ethnic differneces. So the phrase “Black Lives Matter,” repeated by Kwame Alexander, becomes a perfect vehicle for a description of this early conflict in which the actions of one ethnic groups denied equal access to material resources to another ethnic group and damaged the theological identity of God’s children. The church needed to hear, “Greek lives matter! Just as we must hear the same of black and brown and Asian!

Social justice is “necessary” work – “So the twelve called the whole group of the disciples together and said, ‘It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables. ³ But carefully select from among you, brothers, seven men who are well-attested, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this necessary task. ⁴ But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” ⁵

The response of the church included action steps without the minimizing of responsibility. Once the complaint was raised the disciples called everyone together and assessed the institutional structure and program in an open and transparent way. They demonstrated their maturity in Christ by their response. Instead of being defensive, denying the problem, or trying to cover it up, the disciples conducted a sober assessment because they believed the marginal voices of a brave but victimized minority. Friends, if we are going to emulate the church in Acts and honor our brothers and sisters of color which “opens a word of possible” we must believe the unbelievable and take up the three-fold charge of Kwame Alexander to speak the unspeakable. We will never be able to be the holy community we are called to be if we refuse to believe the complaint of certain members and refuse to speak and act on their behalf. I meet too many white Christians who wish to form opinions about race without ever having actual conversations with Christians of color.

Now, the seriousness of the concern and the swift and decisive dismantling of an oppressive system can seemingly be undermined by the Apostles claim that they must not “neglect the word of God to wait on tables.” It’s easy to hear that sounding dismissive and to imagine that a hierarchy is seemingly being put in place between evangelism and social justice. However, that view is challenged when these same Apostles detail the qualifications necessary for those needed to help and the recognition that “waiting on tables” is “necessary work.”

Listening to Jesus, we must always remember that the love of God and love of neighbor are intertwined and incapable of being separated. We must never fall prey to an either/or mentality of God’s work in our midst. We must not neglect our neighbor nor the Word of God. In fact, by neglecting Christian brothers and sisters, the church was revealing that they had forgotten the words and actions of Jesus who had included Gentiles, even praising the faith of an enemy combatant for having faith “greater than anyone in Israel” (Matt. 8:10).

Such necessary work is not “less than work” but demands people “full of the Spirit and of wisdom.” It requires people knowledgeable of Scripture and its command to care for widows at least 10 times: Deut. 10:18; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12-13; 27:19; Isa 1:17-23; Jer 7:6; Mal 3:5. It’s an acknowledgement that one person or one group of people can’t do all the work. The sense of the Apostles’ point is not to infer that the work of material justice doesn’t matter or even beneath them, but rather that both are Gospel necessities in joining God’s kingdom work. This is the reality seen in Galatians 2:11-21, in which Peter will unjustly draw back from eating with Gentile Christians and be opposed by Paul “to his face.” More than a question of being nice, however, Paul claimed that Peter’s actions were not “in line with the truth of the gospel.” It’s the reminder that those of us who are white must take Kwame Alexander’s charge and learn from our brothers and sisters of color to be unafraid and audacious, standing for what’s right, like Paul to Peter, if we ever hope to be an evangelistic witness.

When the church is a “for us” community, people will convert. – “The proposal pleased the entire group, so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch. ⁶ They stood these men before the apostles, who prayed and placed their hands on them. ⁷ The word of God continued to spread,  the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.”

I love the use of “for” in Kwame’s poem. Peppered throughout the poem, in a rhythmic sing-songy fashion, is the repeated refrain, “This is for . . .” It’s how the poem begins and it’s how the poem ends but with a subtle and powerful shift. ending of “for us” in Kwame’s poem. Initially, the phrase is meant to have us recognize and celebrate the power, ingenuity, and resiliency of African-Americans in the face of brutalized separation. But the end feels like a widening of the circle to include all of us. It’s the recognition that the inclusion of the separated makes us all whole. In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

So what does a community “for us” look like?

A community that is “for us” can acknowledge failure and address conflict in ways that are healing for everyone. Remember, a portion of the people who are pleased were also roundly criticized and willing to repent. We do so because such repentance seeks to take that which has lain destructively in the dark and bring it to the light.

A community that is “for us” will always seek to address wrongs through transparent and empowering ways.  The Twelve’s solution to this new dilemma was an interesting one. Rather than trying to solve the problem themselves they asked the whole congregation to “select from among yourselves” wise, Spirit-filled people. This move itself was already astounding. In the ancient world, much like our own, those with political power generally repressed complaining minorities: while here the Apostles hand the whole system over to the offended minority.  When we look at their list of candidates, the people who are called to address the issue directly all have Greek speaking names. They are themselves Hellenists. Likewise, Kwame Alexander wants us to know about brave brothers and sisters of color who did the same. I’m reminded of the Black Lives Matter movement’s chant: say their names, referring to victims, but perhaps we should also “say the names” of those who are also making a difference. By the way, how many of these names do you know? In other words, the group who makes the complaint becomes the group given authority and empowered to serve in leadership roles. It makes sense that the people who see the need are some of the best to meet it. It also makes sense that when the church is empowered, the clergy, Acts 6 tells us, will convert.

A community that is “for us” understands that the Gospel is a loving and liberating message of forgiveness from God through the death and resurrection of Jesus that results in concrete, self-critiquing, practical ways of helping others – a family in which everyone eats! Such a community will not separate the spiritual and material needs of people. It will not sever the connection between the Great Commission and Greatest Commandment. We invite you to receive the message of the Gospel that Jesus died and rose again for the forgiveness of sins and wishes to bring you into fellowship – a living relationship. We invite you to receive a message of the Gospel that Jesus announced which asks of you to follow his way and love your neighbor, your enemy, in concrete, life-changing ways. Which area do you need to attend to?

A community that is “for us” is one that announces and enacts the goodness of God. The goodness of God is the social recognition of the worth of all human beings as belonging to one another. The goodness of God dismantles things that degrade, denounce, and are denied people of color because “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The goodness of God cares about your mental health, your spiritual knowledge, your relationship to God, and your ability to eat. Kwame Alexander says it best, “This is for you. And you. And you. This is for us.”