Sunday,
July 14th, I stood up to preach.
I was wearing the traditional robe and stole of an ordained elder in the
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Butas
the choir sang “Blessed assurance. Jesus
is mine….” I took off the robe, laid it aside, and pulled on a dark hooded
sweatshirt, better known as ---- a hoodie.
You
see, on July 13th a Florida jury had acquitted George Zimmerman of
all charges in the murder of an unarmed 17 year old named Trayvon Martin. Mr. Zimmerman
admitted shooting and killing Trayvon .
The police
verified it. Mr. Martin and all of the authorities acknowledged that Travon was alone, unarmed, not trespassing,
not committing any crime, walking home on a public street. Everyone involved agreed that George Zimmerman had a loaded pistol when he
disobeyed instructions from the 911 dispatcher he’d called about the
“suspicious” person in his neighborhood.
Zimmerman followed Trayvon in his car, got out, fought with him, and
shot the child in the chest at point blank range.
The
law called it self defense. The Bible calls it murder.
There
is a theological term for times when the law of the land reaches a conclusion
the is opposite to the law of God.
It’s
called INJUSTICE.
So,
I preached in khakis and a hoodie---- the same “suspicious” outfit that Trayvon
wore the day he died.
I
preached a message called JUSTICE IN AN UNJUST LAND?
And
some people think I was wrong. That I
shouldn’t have brought such a controversial topic into the church. That I shouldn’t have used the sacred
platform to take sides. That I should have
just let it go. That I should have encouraged
my congregation to accept the decision of the jury and then moved on to
appropriately “spiritual” things.
I
think what Job thought.
As God lives, who has taken away
my justice,
And the Almighty, who has made
my soul bitter,
As long as my breath is in me,
And the breath of God in my nostrils,
My lips will not speak wickedness,
Nor my tongue utter deceit.
FAR BE IT FROM ME
THAT I SHOULD SAY THAT YOU ARE RIGHT;
Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. (Job 27: 2-6)
In
the aftermath of young Brother Trayvon’s death and the acquittal of the man who
killed him, there were and are a lot of questions. The questions in my circle of ministry
condense into 4 queries:
1.
Why did he
kill that boy?
2.
Why did
they let him get away with it?
3.
What are
we supposed to do now?
4.
Where was
God in all of this?
The
Word of God has answers to all of them all.
Today,
we’ll answer the 1st question:
WHY DID HE KILL THAT BOY?
The answer is SIN.
It
was sin.
Trayvon Martin looked “suspicous” because he
was a stranger. Mr. Zimmerman called
himself the neighborhood watch captain, the protector of THEIR community.
Zimmerman
saw Trayvon Martin in THEIR neighborhood and it made him angry. He wasn’t angry because Trayvon was
trespassing. He wasn’t angry because
Trayvon was disturbing the piece. He
wasn’t angry because Trayvon had done or said anything wrong. He was angry because Trayvon was there.
“So
what?” you may say. “That’s not a crime,
is it?”
No. It isn’t a crime. But is is sin.
And
no, that’s not just my opinion. It’s
Jesus’ opinion.
Jesus said, “You
have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and
whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to
you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger
of the judgment.” (Matthew 5: 21-22)
In
Zimmerman’s eyes, Trayvon was guilty for existing. Trayvon’s identity marked him as someone who
didn’t belong to that neighborhood. He
wasn’t one of them. He was a stranger.
“So
what?” you say. “Kids who look like that and dress like that commit crimes all
the time. It’s not a crime to be
suspicious when ‘people like that’ do suspicious things?”
No. It’s not a crime. But it is sin.
You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him,
for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
(Exodus 22: 21)
Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the
heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 23: 9)
The
Bible condemns the sin of hating strangers without cause. We have a word for the sin of hating
strangers without cause. We call it
RACISM.
Why’d
he kill that boy?
Sin.
Now,
let’s be clear. The sin of racism is not
exclusive to majority cultures. In the Exodus
context, Israel was a minority ethnicity with no geographical homeland. They were the gypsies of the ancient
world. And God told THEM not to be
racist.
When
you get mad, really mad because the staff in the Chinese restaurant speak to
each other in Cantonese instead of English------ for what cause are you
angry?
If
you were in a fancy French restaurant would you be mad that the staff spoke
French, or would you think that the other language made the place seem “classy”?
Yeah,
think about that.
When
you walk into a convenience store and the people behind the counter look “foreign”
does it upset you? Do you hate them because they came over here
trying to take over? (By the way, when
was the last time you tried to buy a convenience store?)
Whether
you’re Caucasian or a minority, the moment you feel angry at your not-like-you
brother or sister just for being there, just for being one of “those people”
-------- no it isn’t a crime.
But
it is racism.
And
racism is sin.
James
1 says that an unchecked sin takes root in your heart and grows into something
worse.
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own
desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. (James 1: 14-15)
Unchecked
the sin of greed grows into the sin of theft.
Unchecked lust evolves into adultery and depravity.
And
unchecked racism in the heart of a neighborhood watch captain grew into murder.
Was
it murder under the law? Clearly not.
But
it was sin.
Churches
may not agree about the legal arguments or the social assumptions of this
case. But the church can agree that sin
is wrong. The church can have a
conversation within itself about hating our brothers and sisters without
cause. The church can have a
Bible-centered discussion about how God says we are to respond to strangers.
And
that may save some other boy's life.
---Anderson T. Graves
II is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry,
and rural leadership development.
Rev.
Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church
in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth
Networking Organization (SAYNO)
and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for
Human Development (NIHD).
If
this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry. Send a
donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
Still
to come: Why did they let him get away with it?
