Given By Rev. Madison Shockley September 17, 2017
Due to technical difficulties, we lost the first five minutes of the sermon.
Current events inspire the theme for today’s sermon. We look to the past, specifically Nelson Mandela’s actions in South Africa, to find a solution. Mandela knew that in order to move forward, they needed to seek the truth, offer forgiveness, and create reparations. Does the U.S. need a truth and reconciliation commission today? With recent police shootings of black drivers, we may need to hear this truth. They were shot because of fear. Apartheid was the modern version of the U.S. practice of Jim Crow and black codes. After the Civil War, there was a brief period of reparations and reconstruction in the United States. Southern whites quickly reasserted their power and ended those reparations. These conditions lasted until the 1960’s. Our reading today talks about the Israelites asking for gold, silver, clothing, and jewelry from the Egyptians during the exodus. These were their reparations to start their new life. Blacks never got that. White supremacy provided a rational for slavery. By calling them “creatures” and not men, it would call into question our ability to called ourselves Christians. It played on the fears of whites. This fear still prevents us from having a relationship. We must allay this fear so we can begin to build a relationship. Then we can become a nation of diversity and social justice.