The sermon series at CLC the month of November is “No longer”. It will take a close look at those things that have been used to divide us; race, social class and economic status. I’m looking forward to honest discussions about those things which God uses to unite rather than divide us. I have shared some of these experiences before but I think they bear repeating.
Having lived through the civil rights movement of the 50s, 60s and 70s; I have a different perspective about race relations than some younger folks. As a young Christian, I watched the opposition Billy Graham overcame when he demanded that his crusade meetings be fully integrated in 1954. In 1957, he held nightly crusade meetings all summer long in New York City and every one of them was integrated. I cherish the television memory of Billy Graham and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. standing side by side on the platform at Madison Square Garden and proclaiming there is but one race – the human race. I will never forget the beautiful sight of people with every shade of skin coming forward together to accept Christ as their Savior. Jesus unites us when others try to separate us.
As a young airman training in Biloxi, Mississippi, I experience fear of racial violence, not from those in the black neighborhoods, but from police enforcing segregation. I developed a personal relationship across racial lines on Okinawa with Ernest Lawrence, Jr. of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As we worked together and got to know each other, we found very little that separated us. I got a taste of the prejudice he faced when I was called names and threatened by some “good old boys” from the south that couldn’t even bear to see us talking over breakfast.
Many years later, as the trainer for a pest control company, I saw young black men and women enter my classroom and immediately become defensive when they saw me and detected a slight southern accent. It was always gratifying to see those defenses drop within just a day or two when they realized that I wanted them to succeed and they would be treated fairly like anyone else I trained. The owner of the company was truly an equal opportunity employer long before that term became popular. I trained people from Mexico, South America and even one Polish immigrant. I am still in contact with many of them on a very friendly basis. We learned to overcome our superficial differences in order to get them started in a new career.
When my wife passed away, I found CLC and held her memorial service there. Entering the sanctuary on Sundays was like returning to those integrated Crusade meetings where people of all races are welcome to worship together and receive the unadulterated Word of God. I have developed so many deep and lasting relationships with my brothers and sisters in Christ, not for a lifetime, but for eternity. We are united in our love of the Lord and our love for each other.
God appreciates and celebrates the variety of skin color, hair color, eye color, size and shape of His human creations and so should we. We are each uniquely made, but united by our common Creator.