Remember Nehemiah? He was a great man. He lived a life devoted to The Lord. He relied on God for everything. He was a man of prayer and worship. He had been born in Persia because his grand-parents, or possibly great grand-parents, had been captured and taken to Babylon when Jerusalem was destroyed many years before the events described in the Book of Nehemiah. The reason God allowed Jerusalem to be destroyed was because His people had fallen away from Him and refused to return despite many warnings. Nehemiah himself was innocent of the sins of his forefathers. All of that had taken place many years before he was born.
But pay attention to the words of his prayer as he gets ready to ask the King of Persia for permission to end the captivity of his people and return to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem:
“I confess that we have sinned against You; yes, I and my people have committed the horrible sin of not obeying the commandments You gave us through Your servant Moses.” [Nehemiah 1:6-7]
Perhaps you are wondering why the issue of racial prejudice was discussed in the sermon Sunday. [If you did not hear the sermon, please ask someone who was here.] I am sure you agree that the sin of racial prejudice has haunted our Nation, and the World, for far too long. Of course, none of us at TOCC were slave owners. And none of us have ever clamored for racial separation, right? And surely none of us have ever, or would ever, consider another human to be in any way less than us because of the color of their skin, right? All of that was done by those who came before us, and we are not like them. Great!
Except, Jesus had harsh things to say about the people of His time who said similar things. See Matthew 23:29-36 for a shocking passage that I believe may have relevance to the matter of racial issues today. Rather than confess the sin of their ancestors, and identify with them in their sin as did Nehemiah, the people Jesus confronted proclaimed their own innocence. This angered Jesus.
I wonder if proclaiming our own innocence of racism is helpful to the cause of racial reconciliation? I wonder if we are being called, like Nehemiah, to confession of the evil of racial prejudice, despite our own “innocence”? I wonder if we are being called, like Nehemiah, to identify in prayer with our sinful ancestors? I wonder if our failure to do so is hindering the cause of racial reconciliation?
Racial reconciliation has begun. But maybe we can do better. Why not here? Why not now?
~Shepherd Ambrose Ramsey
