Repairers of the Breach: Is it We or Me?

In this sermon Rob Surratt, reflects on racial healing, humility, and the importance of collective identity versus individualism, using the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector from Luke 18:9-14. Rob, encourages self-examination among white individuals regarding their privilege and the tendency to distance themselves from others, particularly in the context of systemic racism.

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Transcript

So we've been going through a series about repairs of the breach, and we've been
focusing on racial healing, political change, structural repair, systemic issues.
And a couple of weeks back, Pastor Nathan talked about the Hellenistic Jews.
And the thing that he said that really stuck out to me, which I thought was
really, really powerful, is this aspect of the way in which the elders decided who
got to decide. It's not that they made the decisions or anything of that, but
instead there was an empowerment. And so when I think about power, it sets us up
well for what I'm about to preach today. But as I said before, two weeks ago, I
was supposed to preach. That didn't play out. And Sharika was actually supposed to
preach today. Graciously, my I preached last week so I can preach this week 'cause
we were out of town. But I can say that as I listened to what she had to say
and what God was saying through her, I know that the Lord wanted her to go first
before I said what I had to say. That reality of being uncomfortable that she
talked about, as I sat waiting to preach two weeks ago, I felt extremely
uncomfortable. Not that I'm uncomfortable actually talking about race or racism, but
because the message that I had for us as a congregation was really uncomfortable for
me. But as Abigail told Sharika, you gotta fight. So me too,
I must speak what the Lord has given me. And so with that, let's get into our
scripture for today. If you're able, please stand for the reading of God's word.
We will be reading Luke chapter 18 verses 9 through 14 and I'll be reading from
the English standard version
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous
and treated others with contempt Two men went up into the temple to pray one a
Pharisee and the other attacks collector. The Pharisees standing by himself prayed
thus, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week.
I give ties of all that I get, but the tax collector standing far off would not
even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying God be merciful to me
a sinner. I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the
other for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled but the one who humbles
himself will be exalted. The word of God for the people of God. You may be seated.
So I think for some of us we've actually heard this verse before you might have
heard this passage of scripture and You might have heard folks talk about it And
they would have told you in some type of summary that this was about humility Or
they might have said this is about forgiveness in the way that folks can actually
gain Forgiveness or are given forgiveness or the way that God might forgive and
those are true Jesus was talking to various groups and the way that he was talking
to them was everything from about how you might welcome children to how a persistent
widow will go after something. And so when I look at the overall scriptural text
right in this chapter, this is one of those sections that I got to be honest, felt
a little bit odd in the way that it was placed within the text.
And When we think about what Jesus is saying, Jesus oftentimes uses parables.
The reason being that I think Jesus used parables is because parables are a way
that bystanders can listen to a story, not feel like the message is directed at
them, but as they walk away later and the Holy Spirit convicts, all of a sudden
start thinking, "You know what? I actually think I might be that one person story.
And so we enter our parable for today. There is a Pharisee and a tax collector.
And there's this reality in which you have a tax collector who's standing far off
and he's confessing. And yet there is a Pharisee who's self -righteous. He doesn't
have humility and he does not have collectivism or the lack thereof.
And so let's look at the text itself because I want to unpack that before we get
to the big idea of what I believe is happening here.
In the text, Jesus says that the Pharisee treated others with contempt. Now the
Greek there is a word that's exeuthanotos or exeuthanio.
And so according to two Greek scholars, their names are Cleon Rogers, the second and
the third. It's a father and son duo. Another way to actually say this word of
contempt in the Greek into English is that it is to despise something or someone on
the basis that it is worthless. And so when we think about the Pharisee entering
the temple and his sentiment towards the tax collector, the reality is it's not just
he sees him in contempt. He actually values that individual is worthless. And so the
Pharisee enters into the temple. He actually says all the right things. A tithe, a
pray, a fast. I do everything that you've asked me to do, God.
The audience would have agreed. If the audience was Jewish, they would have heard
what Jesus said at the first part of the parable, and I don't think that they
would have bulked at all. They wouldn't have said, wait a second, this doesn't sound
right to me. No, actually, I think they would have listened and said, "Yeah, that
sounds about right. That's what we should be doing. That's what we would exhort
before God, and that's what we should be doing as far as following the law." But
the reality is the Pharisee comes from a place of self -absolvation. And then we see
the tax collector, and he enters from a far off. And I think it's important to
talk about what that far off means. Now, we're sitting in our church today in the
Robinson, and we might think the far off kind of sounds like the back over there.
Actually, I think far off's a little bit further than that. When the tax collector
enters, he enters into an area that would probably not have been where most of the
Jews were congregating. As theologian Diane Chan says, the tax collector, due to his
uncleanness, was probably relegate to the court of the Gentiles, even though he was
a Jew. And so when we hear far off, it's not even likely or possible,
potentially, that the Pharisee knew that the tax collector was there, given the space
between the two.
The importance of the chasm between both is an important reality. And then at the
end, Jesus gives a summary, just in case, like I said, as Jews agreed, "Yep,
the Pharisee did the right thing to remove any confusion. Tax collector is absolved,
Pharisee is the person who is self -righteous."
Now, as I think about these verses, it could be right for everyone, as I said,
to be reflected on humility. That's true. There is humility within there. And you
could also reflect and say it's also about forgiveness. In that part, I would agree,
that is true. But before I get into two terms I wanna talk about, I wanna tell
you a little story, that's actually true. So when I went to seminary, I went to a
seminary in Boston, Massachusetts. The seminary was actually in the neighborhood in
Boston called Roxbury, and it was founded initially in a church called 12th Street
Baptist. But some folks might know that name or might know the name Dr. Reverend
Michael Haynes, who's one of the founders of CUME, or the Center for Urban
Ministerial Education. But 12th Street Baptist is one of the oldest descendants of
the African Baptist Church in America, and it was founded in 1840. Going to the
seminary had a huge impact on my life in more ways than one. But the One thing
that I think stuck out the most was the way in which my classmates and I, when we
would talk about Scripture, had different views and perspectives about what that
passage was actually saying. Because I had classmates who came from different
cultures, races and ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and so the ways in which
we looked at the text was oftentimes different, much like what's going on in this
verse today.
When I think about the differences happening within this text, yes, I see humility.
Yes, I see forgiveness But I would actually argue that what really is happening
within this text is the lack of collectivism Before I get into why we need to
unpack what collectivism is and individualism is There's research by by a group of
folks, and I'm sorry if I mispronounce your names, researchers, but the three
individuals are Jing Jing Zhao, Jun Zhao, and Hang Ye, and the National Health
Institute for the United States, and so what they state in their article is that in
a collectivistic culture, the self is interdependent on members of the group, and
collectivists place group concerns, an example, group harmony and cohesion about
personal concerns, an example, self enhancement. In contrast,
the self and an individualist culture is autonomous and independent of the group, and
individualists place individual concerns above those of the group.
Both individuals in this text come from a collectivist culture, and I know I'm
looking around the room and I bet people are starting to want to rob. We're talking
about repairs of the breach. When are you gonna get there? Don't worry, I'll get
there.
But these individuals, the Pharisee and the tax collector, came from a collectivist
culture. What does that mean? It means that the Pharisee shouldn't have disassociated
himself with the tax collector irrespective of who the tax collector was.
The Pharisee decides actually instead to puff himself up, who he is, what he's done.
It's the same way in which when we read from the good Samaritan a couple of months
back, it's just like the Pharisee and the teacher of the law passing the Samaritan
by. Actually the reality is if there was anybody who was tasked with the ability to
go and forgive or talk about sin or offers or take up sin offerings the Pharisees
would have been the ones to do it and so in his very act he's not acting as a
collective no in reality the Pharisee is actually acting as an individual the
Pharisee is concerned more about the self than it is about the collective we.
And so my friends, we sit in a country called the United States.
And the United States, in my humble opinion, was founded on self -interest. And I'm
talking about the country that was founded in the 1700s, not the countries that
existed far beyond there was a written history of this nation.
And so when I think of the self -interest in those who came here, the colonial
expansionists, white Europeans coming over to settle this land, they settled for self.
They didn't think about the other. When the Constitution was written, the Constitution
was written for white men of power, not for anybody else within the country.
The reality of this found is that it negated the lands and the people groups who
already lived here and illegally brought folks who lived in vast and dynamic empires
and states throughout the continent of Africa.
And so white folks in the US, the reality is it is easy for us to disassociate
with others. More importantly, it is easy for us as white folks to disassociate
ourselves from other white folks. We might be puffed up in the ways and things that
we do. We fight for racial justice. We look for social good. We live among our
black and Latinx and Asian friends, Middle Eastern friends. Look at how great we
are.
The problem with that statement and those realities though for my white friends in
the room and I am speaking to us just in case to be clear, the problem with that
is that when we do that we do not own the other side of the spectrum. We do not
own whiteness and we don't own the toxicity of white supremacy and white privilege.
Associating with the self for white people is so easy to do. It is the core of
being white in our country
Collectivism of other races though in the United States do not have the same
privilege when slander is made about a people group Haitians in particular or When
slander is made about folks who are coming to the border and what their pursuits
might be and their backgrounds might actually have happened. The reality is for folks
who are not white in this country, you do not have the same privilege as we as
white folks do to disassociate. And just to give a real time example, when Dylan
Roof walked into a group of people who wanted to welcome him, care for him, and
then brutally kill them. White folks could take our time, walk away and say that
was a lone wolf, as opposed to associating ourselves with him.
Whereas on the flip side, you have a driver who just so happens to be Haitian that
hits a bus. And now it's the entire Haitian community that somehow is associated
with all of these vile things that an individual, a former president of the country,
that's right, I made a political statement, something that he says, and everybody
gets home bored with it. Now my friends, it's easy for me to sit up here and talk
outside. I'm able to talk to others, but the reality is when I went through this
first and I thought about myself, It was brutal because the reality is I started
asking myself who do I associate with? Who do I seek out?
Relationships with the reality is I distance myself from whiteness,
and I have for years I
Feel more comfortable when I'm not hanging out with white folks. I feel more
comfortable when I'm away from the reality of whiteness.
I prefer to be with friends of mine who are friends of color than to be with
white friends. But the reality is this is privilege in and of itself.
It is the privilege that existed within this story. It is the privilege that
permeates today. And this reality struck me even harder. As I said, I wasn't
supposed to preach two weeks ago because as I sat watching my son play football
yesterday he plays for the Highland Springs youth football team. He's the only white
kid on the team and so as I sat among the other parents I could feel in myself
the gratitude of being there among them but yet I could also feel within myself the
disdain as I look to other white folks on the field.
In this text, the Pharisee didn't want to associate with the tax collector
because he didn't want to have to own his own sin.
Church, the reality is we serve a God who came and associated with all of us.
And he took our sins and he bore them on a cross and he had a brutal,
brutal death that he still associates with us today, even in the midst of what
we're doing.
And so as I thought about this verse, as I prepared for this sermon today,
What I realized was is that I, we, folks here who are white, need to own the
reality of whiteness. We need to own the reality of white folks who sit on other
sides of the city, send their kids to different schools, have different political
opinions than ourselves.
White supremacy and a privilege are a sickness and a sin that has permeated for
centuries. And to my white friends in the room, we must own it,
we must confess it, and we must engage with those who believe it.
You know, Pastor Nathan was at a CCDA conference a couple of weeks ago, and within
CCDA, there is this reality of incarnational ministry. And so what is national
ministry it means to walk in the midst of as Jesus did and so if we're gonna
reflect Jesus we must walk in the midst of things like white privilege or white
supremacy and
like I said I would say that I'm like the Pharisee and I was the most brutal part
about reading the story. Not because I wasn't doing right or good things, those are
good. But because I was taking the privilege of separating myself from others.
When years ago Barack Obama won his first term, I remember voting for him and I
was super excited and I posted a picture picture, myself wearing an Obama t -shirt
that my co -worker bought for me. And it didn't take long. I posted on social media
just in case folks are wondering where that actually got posted. It didn't take long
for me to get comments from white folks that I had associations with, specifically a
good friend of my brothers. And he responded, "Are you serious? Are you joking?" I
said, "No, I'm not joking, and I would vote for him again if I had the chance and
opportunity. But when I read through this text and what I have done in my own
privilege is that I actually pushed away tons of relationships,
tons of relationships, instead of being incarnational With folks around me
actually I thought about this sitting back there, and I was like Lord I don't want
to say this cuz I'm not trying to get all emotional in the same I'm trying to be
in a somewhere. I'm not emotional But there's one friend in particular
Who we who we have different views. I've known him since I was eight years old
and yet because of this reality of white privilege, white supremacy, political
affiliation, we don't really talk anymore.
And I could be incarnational. I could reach out. I could actually walk with him,
but instead I've chose the privilege of whiteness and I haven't talked to him in a
while.
And so my friends,
the cultural subversion within the United States is to be the Pharisee and to
separate and say, "That's not me. That's not my stuff, that has nothing to do with
me. I don't even act like that. When God is encouraging us to reflect Jesus and to
collectively say, I will walk in the midst of that.
And again, sorry, but for the white folks in the room, specifically my challenge to
myself and us is that we would own that, that we would walk in those spaces and
places, that God and who Jesus is as a great reconciler,
that we might walk that in midst of all those things, and that folks might come
home, that prodigals might come home. Now, this is not to put folks into emotional,
mental, or physical harm,
but we must challenge ourselves, especially if we are right in this room.
I would ask that the band come up as I bring us to our final part.
My friends the Pharisee Came to amplify himself the
tax collector came to repent and the collective of both was missed
Jesus and his ministry and who he is literally his name is Emmanuel God with us
and if we are to reflect that we must be God with them and reality is we must be
God with us
When we are God with us in the same way that the moon reflects the light of the
Sun Only when we are standing outside of the obstacles like the earth and other
things Can we ever truly reflect the light of the Sun? And if We reflect that sign
very well. Even the trees that stand in our way will have their shadows cast down.
And so my question is, who are we in the story?
And who will we associate with? Will we be the we or will we be the me?
It is only through Jesus that we shall overcome. Amen.