[upbeat music]
>> Today I want to talk to you briefly
about how to change a nation,
how to change a nation.
You know we are the recipients
of this wonderful legacy
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
As we stand here on this
historic day reflecting
on his life and his death.
It's important for us to
remember what he stood for
and to understand who he was.
In my opinion, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
is the greatest moral philosopher
that this nation has ever produced.
Now sadly most of us just simply
know him as a great orator.
You really can't understand the depth
of the brilliance of the man
if you just simply listen
to his tweetable soundbites.
You have to go deeper than that.
You have to read his writings.
Now I recommend if you've
never really delved
into the writings of Dr. King,
it's very impactful and rich,
but I recommend you start
with a small book called Strength to Love.
Strength to Love on page 70 of that book,
around page 70 of that book
depending upon which edition
you have in your hands,
you will find this quote,
"What the world so desperately needs
"are tough-minded,
tenderhearted Christians.
"Men and women who can think critically
"and live compassionately.
"These are the type of people
"that God will use to change the world."
I believe these are the type of people
that Biola is producing as well.
Dr. King understood that orthodoxy,
no matter how precise, was powerless
without orthopraxy.
The guy was striving
to produce a generation
that knew how to have right belief
married to right living,
and I believe that you
and I might possibly
have the privilege of
being the first generation
to do that in America.
Now today, I think it's ironic
that we gather together to celebrate
a man that broadly is loved across,
not only this country, but the globe.
But if we were to journey back
to the year before Dr.
King was assassinated,
we would find that the
opinion concerning Dr. King
was vastly different from today.
The fact of the matter
is that the Gallup Poll
listed him as one of the most hated
and despised men in American in 1967.
63% of Americans at that time
either held an unfavorable
or highly unfavorable view
of Dr. King before he died.
Dr. King became loved, beloved,
and celebrated after his death.
Many that hated him, hated
him with pure passion.
This included whites inside
and outside of the church,
who felt that Dr. King was
an impatient troublemaker,
and unwilling to wait for progress
to take its natural course.
It also included blacks, who saw Dr. King
as an Uncle Tom and a sellout,
because he was not a champion
of the Black Power Movement,
but he was one who preached
reconciliation and integration.
The moral of the story is simply this,
men and women, boys and girls,
we don't live to be liked.
We live for what is right.
We don't live for the masses.
We live for an audience of one.
At the end of the day,
what we're hoping for
is to hear, "Well done, my
good and faithful servant."
And if we live for Jesus,
he will handle the rest.
Today as we stand here
over 90% of Americans
have a favorable view of Dr. King.
But why was Dr. King so
hated during his time?
It was because like most
prophets, he told the truth.
He spoke the truth, and what we know
from biblical history
is when you speak truth
to power, you will be hated.
He spoke the truth concerning the fact
that reconciliation was not a luxury.
That unity across ethnic
lines and class lines
was not something that was
in addition to the gospel
or opposed to the gospel, but it was
at the very heart of the gospel.
Dr. King preached this with boldness
and he held America's feet to the fire.
He held the church's feet to the fire
concerning this message.
We too must hold
America's feet to the fire
concerning the message of justice
and reconciliation.
We can't back away from that,
nor can we have the sense of comfort
that ignores the plight of those
who continue to experience
a sense of alienation.
As Dr. King said, "injustice anywhere
"is a threat to justice everywhere."
I'm here today because I believe
that there still is a massive amount
of disunity in the church.
Recently USA Today had a poll
that asked Americans how they felt
about race relations.
78% of Americans said that race relations
in their opinion, were at the lowest point
it's been in a generation.
And the reality is is that we in many ways
have the same struggle, the same battle
that Dr. King had during his day.
The question will be,
what will we do with it?
Will we simply celebrate
him from a distance,
or will we roll up our sleeves
and risk our lives as he did?
Will we too become
prophetic truth-tellers?
Here's the reality.
Is that prophetic truth-tellers understand
that when we're at our best
we comfort the afflicted
and we afflict the comfortable.
That's what we're called to do.
We are called to comfort
those who are afflicted
and to afflict those that are comfortable.
This is exactly what
got Dr. King in trouble.
In 1963, he penned a letter
that we know famously today
as the Letter from a Birmingham Jail.
Many call it an epistle,
the epistle of Dr. King,
so poetically written.
In it he responds to the criticism
of many of the Christians
in Birmingham, Alabama,
who questioned why he was there
for the Birmingham marches and boycotts.
And he said this thought,
again quoting him,
that "I'm here because injustice is here."
I'm here because injustice is here.
See we have to understand
the DNA of the church
has always been we don't
run from the difficulty.
We don't run from the problem.
We don't run from injustice.
We run into the problem.
This is what we are called to do.
We are the ones who ran into Rome
in the late fifth century
when Rome was burning.
We are the ones who went into Africa
when Ebola broke out in Africa.
We can't run from the tough cities.
We are the ones who have
to run into Detroit,
my beloved Detroit, or
the south side of Chicago,
or Watts, California.
We have to run into these places
with the gospel of love and truth.
And when we get there,
we have to be the ones
that call men and women to work together
across ethnic and racial lines
and to understand that a proper reading
of the New Testament is to understand
that racial unity, ethnic unity,
to be more precise, is a central
theme of the New Testament.
You cannot properly read the New Testament
without running up against a reality
that Jesus calls a small
band of Jerusalem brothers
to spread out, not only
in their own community,
but to go into the uttermost
parts of the earth,
where he knew, they would embrace
or have to face diversity
and cross-cultural challenges
like you and I have to
face each and every day.
But he also knew that the
power he had given them
was enough to unite them.
Folks, let us not be hypocritical
to preach to a nation a
gospel that doesn't have
the power to reconcile us.
If the gospel doesn't have the power
to reconcile us to one another,
how in the world can we convince the world
that it has the power to
reconcile them to God?
The truth of the matter is
is that a divided church
will never reach or win a divided world.
Jesus demands unity.
John 17:20-23 read as this,
"I do not pray for these only, but also
"for those who believe in
me, or who will believe in me
"through their words,
that they may all be one
"just as you, Father,
are in me and I in you
"that they may also be one in us.
"That the world may believe
that you have sent me.
"The glory that you have given me,
"I have given to them,
that they may all be one,
"even as we are one.
"I in them, you in me, that they may be
"perfectly one, so that the world may know
"that you have sent me, and loved them
"even as you have loved me."
Did you notice that four
times in three verses
his prayer is for our unity?
The last time that he prays for it
he asks for us to be perfectly one.
He knew exactly what he was praying for.
He knew exactly the global mission
of the Great Commission.
He knew that the church was called
to be this beautiful, multi-cultural
multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic
mosaic family to the world
to show the world the
power of Jesus Christ.
To show the world that the
Holy Spirit makes a difference
in the life of a man
or woman that allows us
to love those who are different than us.
But did you also notice the
reason why he prayed for unity?
He didn't pray for unity because
it was a nice, cute thing.
Jesus doesn't pray for nice, cute things.
Jesus prays for nations to be changed.
Jesus prays for people
groups to come to him.
Jesus prays for salvation for the lost,
the redemption of those who are far away.
That the unsaved might be saved.
He prays for our unity because
it is directly connected
to our evangelism.
Notice in verse 21 he says
why unity is important.
"So that the world may believe
that you have sent me."
Ponder that for a moment.
Jesus somehow is convinced that our unity
is integral to the
credibility of the gospel.
And somehow our disunity
brings discredit to the gospel.
He says I pray that they will be one
so that the strength of their evangelism
might be credible.
So that when they go and
proclaim to the world
the power of Jesus Christ, the world won't
look back at them and say, how can you say
he is powerful, when you
hate each other so much?
Recently, a friend of mine was watching
a blog, and the responses to a blog
on social media, and
he says that Christians
were kinda goin at each other.
You know how good we are
at friendly fire, right?
You know how good we are
at taking out each other.
And so they were goin at each other
and then the guy with a name, a handle,
that was an atheist
handle said simply this,
"Look at how they love each other."
And this is the reality
that the world is watching
like never before.
Social media gives 24 hour access
to our hypocrisy if we are
not mindful and careful of it.
Jesus preceding all of the 24 hour access
of our world understood yet and still
that the world was
watching, and he says this
that a watching world needs
to see a credible witness.
And a credible witness is
more than just preaching.
It is an embodied ethic.
That if we're going to proclaim
the gospel of Jesus Christ,
we need to first
internalize it which means,
Lord deliver me and transform my heart
so that I might be able to love those
who are different than me.
In verse 23 he goes on to reiterate,
whenever Jesus reiterates anything,
our ears should perk up.
He reiterates this, he says, "I pray
"that they will be perfectly one
"so that the world may
know that you have sent me,
"and have loved them even
as you have loved me."
So somehow our unity is central
to the Great Commission.
Don't you ever let someone make you think
that reconciliation and ethnic
and racial justice is a luxury item.
It is a separate item.
For far too long too many in the church
have treated social
concern and justice issues
as if they are either competitive
or outside of the gospel,
but they are central
and core to the mission of Jesus Christ.
[applause]
When we lack racial unity
we lose our credibility
within our culture, and
Christ has called us
to evangelize this culture for his glory.
He understands our unity is
central to that enterprise.
So how do we achieve this unity?
I'm glad you asked.
We are not the first
generation to experience
this type of disunity.
Don't ever believe that the Bible
is somehow obsolete, or can't speak
to 21st century, contemporary issues.
It takes a commitment to proper exegesis,
and a commitment to reading the text
until you find the
appropriate connection points
for contemporary issues
with a historic text.
But I strive and I encourage
you to strive as well,
to make sure you plumbing
the depths of the wisdom
of God's word until you
pull out those nuggets.
Acts 6:1-7, it's a passage of scripture
that I heard read growing up
at every ordination
service for new deacons.
And then finally I realized that this had
nothing to do with
deacons, it had everything
to do with ethnic and racial unity.
And it says here in verse number one,
"Now in these days, the disciples
"were increasing in number."
A lotta great things were happening.
Growth was happening
throughout the church.
But in the middle of the growth
a complaint about a Hellenist
arose against the Hebrews,
because their widows were being neglected
in the daily distribution.
I want you to understand
what's goin on here.
It's a high time in the church in Acts 6.
Growth is happening.
Members are being added.
You know no one really wants a complaint
when everything is goin well.
And yet a complaint arises from this group
that the text calls the Hellenists.
The Hellenists were either Jews
who had adopted Greek
culture as a lifestyle,
or they were biracial in many ways,
where, like Timothy, we find in Acts 16:1
had a Jewish mother and a Greek father,
so there was intermarriage goin on.
Whatever the case, they were not seen
and embraced as fully Jewish.
They were seen as an
ethnic minority group.
And in this moment there's
a complaint that arises.
And what is the complaint over?
The complaint is over economic injustice.
This perception that there are resources
that are not being distributed fairly.
If you think economic injustice
and distribution inequality
isn't a modern day problem
you have read the text well.
And so in the midst of this dispute,
they bring the concern to the apostles,
the Hebraic Jewish
leadership of the community.
And how did the apostles respond?
I love their response.
It says, "And the 12
summoned" the full number
of the disciples, "And
said, 'it is not right
"'that we should give
up preaching the word
"' of God to serve tables.'"
Now, don't see this as being dismissive.
It is them saying we
understand what our role
is in this enterprise.
"Therefore brothers,
pick out from among you
"seven men of good repute,
full of the Spirit and wisdom,
"whom we will appoint to this duty.
"But we will devote ourselves to prayer
"and to the ministry of the word."
I love that.
The apostles understood that the issues
they were facing were so complex
that it required wisdom from God
in order to solve it.
Don't you dare think that just because
you are freshly minted
with a Biola University
or a Talbot degree, that somehow
you're gonna go in and solve the problems
of the city by showing parchment paper.
No, you're gonna need
something more than that.
You're gonna need the
power of the Holy Spirit
and the wisdom of God's word.
And the apostles understood where to go.
This was an infancy church at this time.
They didn't have the legacy that we have.
They weren't 2,000 years post
the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
They were comin off of the first Easter.
They were just a few days from Pentecost.
So this moment was gonna define
whether or not they would be a church
known for truth, beauty, and justice,
or whether or not they would be known
as a church that marginalized the weak.
So how they handled this
was gonna be a turning point
in church history.
And it was, it was for the good.
As we follow the text,
they said going forward,
"and what they said pleased
the whole gathering.
"And they chose Stephen,
a man full of faith
"in the Holy Spirit, and
Philip, and Procorus,
"Nicanor, and Timon, and
Parmenas, and Nicolas
"a proselytite of Antioch.
"These they sat before the apostles,
"and they prayed and laid
their hands on them."
I am so grateful for the wisdom
that the Holy Spirit gave them,
because if they had not
had the wisdom from God
on how to navigate this
potentially devastating
and disunifying moment, then the church
would have died before it ever took off.
There's three things
they did that I believe
you and I need to bring to our communities
as we go back to minister into beautiful
but broken cities, because the same type
of ethnic tension that they
experienced in their day
we're experiencing in
cities all across America.
It was 50 years ago where
Detroit, during the summer
of 1967, July 31st to be exact,
had civil unrest that boiled over
into a week's worth of burning and rioting
and looting, and police brutality
and all of it marred our city
where 50 years later we still feel
the reverberations of what happened
in that hot summer.
You can't tell me that Satan doesn't lust
to destroy cities and communities.
And if we are gonna go back as ministers
of light and servants of reconciliation,
we better be equipped
with a strong commitment
to the centrality of Christ and all things
a deep understanding of the power
and the authority of the scriptures
prayed up and using the wisdom
that is housed in God's word
and learning from our predecessors.
Three things they did that
I think we need to do.
Number one, did you notice
that they sympathized
with those who were hurting?
Notice again the power
dynamics that are here.
The Hebraic Jewish
leadership that represented
by the 12 apostles, when they were told
about the concern coming from
the ethnic minority group,
the Hellenists, they
did not just dismiss it.
Nothing is more painful
to a group of people
or to an individual than to
have their pain dismissed.
Nothing is more painful
than to have someone
come to you and to say, I'm hurting only
to hear you say why they
should not be hurting.
The Bible tells us to
mourn with those who mourn.
It doesn't say critique and discover
whether or not they should be
mourning in the first place.
Now, notice this, that they sympathized
with their concern.
They took their concern seriously.
How do we know they took
the concern seriously?
Because the text tells us that they called
the entire assembly of disciples together.
They called a family meeting.
They said to everybody,
drop what you're doing.
There's something serious here.
An entire segment of our
community is hurting.
When an entire segment of your community
is crying out to you for help,
I'm in pain, we should
stop what we're doing
and say, how do we solve this?
How do we show solidarity?
And I love this.
It says that, "they called
the entire group together.
"And they responded by
hearing their concerns."
They weren't condescending.
They weren't paternal in their response.
In other words, when the Hellenistic Jews
tweeted out, all Grecian lives matter,
the apostles didn't tweet back,
no, all widows' lives matter.
No, they took their concerns seriously
and they did not dismiss it.
They understood that what was going on
was uniquely and disproportionately
negatively affecting the Hellenistic Jews,
and they needed to be affirmed.
Now don't ever think though
that sympathy has to be a
rubber stamp for validation.
What it does mean is that we'll hear it
and we'll investigate it.
Pray that God will give
you a sympathetic heart.
But I also wanna move
from the Hebraic Jews
to the Hellenistic Jews,
because I commend them.
I commend the Hebraic
Jews for their sympathy.
I commend the Hellenistic
Jews, the ethnic minorities
of this story, for their solidarity.
Notice that they didn't break off
from the church because they were wounded.
They didn't join some social group
that was centered around
common hurts and pains.
But they stayed connected to the church.
It was as if they were
saying that I love you,
and I refuse to leave you as my brother
and sister even when I'm wounded.
Let me speak to the ethnic minorities
in this group today.
That we have to make sure we don't play
this dangerous game of
forming social constructs
around common hurts and pains.
We hafta remember that
before any other movement
we are already a part of a movement,
and that movement is called
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We are apart of a family.
[applause]
And there are times that we may hurt,
but may we hurt together
as we love together,
and if we do, we will have a testimony
like this group had a testimony.
I love the fact that they show solidarity
and they did not run.
Their liberation, their
quest for liberation
or equality did not override
their commitment to reconciliation.
It is possible to have both liberation
and reconciliation,
both justice and unity,
and we have to be sophisticated enough
theologically and spiritually that we know
how to strive for both.
But the third thing they did arguably
is the most brilliant,
and that is shared leadership.
Did you see that in the text?
That the apostles' solution after praying,
after studying the word of God,
they got up from their place
and they said this, they said
we won't treat this paternally.
We won't go into a back office
and come out with an answer
and tell you what's
best for your community
as we pat you on the head.
No, what we'll do is we'll say
pick out from among you seven men,
but they have to be full of the Spirit
and wisdom and have a good reputation.
No compromise spiritually,
but their can be
compromise ethnically.
And so the seven names they added,
if you know the linguistics of the text
were all Grecian names.
Stephen, Procorus, Timion, Nicantor.
These were all Grecian names.
In essence, what they did is they formed
another power group, and they said
we will share leadership.
We have to learn how to
sit at tables together.
We have to learn how to share leadership.
We have to create tables big enough
and broad enough for
everyone to be invited
so that we can hear one another.
Nothing will change as it pertains
to our day until we begin to hear
one another's stories.
And so often I know the quest
when it comes to ethnic or racial unity
is to just look forward.
To say, can't we all just get along?
Can't we just simply forget the past?
But this is why days like
today are so powerful.
It reminds us that there are lessons
to be learned from the past,
and we have to hear the pain of the past
if we're gonna move forward into a new
and glorious bright day.
I love the result of all of this.
Verse number seven tells us
the result of all of this.
It says, "and the word of God continued
"to increase," because
they handled it right,
because they maintained unity
"and the number of
disciples multiplied greatly
"in Jerusalem, and a great number
"of priests became obedient to the faith."
Listen to that.
A whole lotta people got saved
because they remained
unified with one another,
and even some pastors came to Christ.
Isn't that powerful?
[laughter]
There's an old African
proverb that simply says this,
"if you wanna go fast, go alone.
"But if you wanna go far, go together."
I believe the reason why the gospel
has gone so far is because
we've done it together.
Don't ever compromise unity for speed.
Don't ever compromise
unity for church growth.
Maintain that unity no
matter how difficult it is,
and understand that Christ is giving you
the power through his Spirit to be able
to overcome the Goliath of injustice
and disunity in our day.
Disunity anywhere, is a threat
to the gospel everywhere.
If you wanna go far, go together.
[upbeat music]
>> Announcer: Biola University
prepares Christians to think
biblically about everything.
From science to business,
to education and the arts,
learn more at Biola.edu.
