Go a little deeper
The message opens with a parable within a series called "The Elephant in the Room," retelling the story of six blind men describing different parts of an elephant; Pastor Keith uses it to argue that each of us claims truth from a limited perspective shaped by when and where we were born, how we were raised, our skin color, and our socioeconomic status. With that framing, Pastor Keith names racism as the elephant for the day: a real problem that exists, has existed a long time, and involves genuine injustice. Because racism is treated as a sin, Pastor Keith locates the solution not in government but in the Savior.
Pastor Keith openly acknowledges being a white male addressing racism and says he cannot fully do the message justice from that vantage point, choosing to speak as a preacher pointing to the truth rather than as one who has experienced racism. He says he has heard stories of racism in the local community, and recounts what a pastor named Alex from Uganda told him about an incident at a coffee shop in Sisters. From there the message turns to Acts: the Spirit's arrival at Pentecost produced a diverse, unified church, and Pastor Keith argues that racial reconciliation was among the first things Jesus did in the church.
The second half traces how even Peter, the bold Pentecost preacher, later withdrew from Gentile table fellowship and was confronted by Paul in Galatians 2. Pastor Keith reads that as an early example of racism inside the church and insists Scripture is honest about such failures. He closes with five applications — seeing equality in all people, treating people with dignity, caring about those who experience injustice, doing something rather than nothing, and looking at life through another's perspective — then prays, invites a response to Jesus, and transitions to a closing song.
Take this with you
Racism named as sin, with God as the solution
Pastor Keith roots racism in the human condition described in Genesis 3, where the first humans chose their own way over God's, and applies Paul's statement that all have sinned. Because he treats racism as sin, he argues the solution is not government but the Savior. He also cites Psalm 106 on observing justice and doing righteousness at all times as the blessing God intends for his people.
Pentecost produced a multilingual, multi-nation church
In Pastor Keith's reading of Acts 1–2, Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the promised Spirit; they pray, and at Pentecost the Spirit enables Galileans to be heard in the languages of peoples from Africa, Asia, and Europe. He concludes that diversity and unity came together at the church's birth, and that racial reconciliation was among the first things Jesus did in his church.
Even Peter had to be corrected
Pastor Keith turns from Pentecost to Peter's later withdrawal from Gentile meals and Paul's public opposition in Galatians 2, treating it as an early case of racism inside the church. He notes Peter's vision in Acts 10 as God reshaping Peter's view of people, and presents Peter as a work in progress who kept needing correction.
Do something, however small
The five closing applications move from belief to action: see equality in all people, treat people with dignity, care about those who experience injustice, do something rather than nothing, and look at life through another's perspective. Pastor Keith admits full reconciliation may not come in our generation, yet cites James on the wrong of knowing the right thing and failing to do it.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
amen you may have a seat Well friends we're in a series called say it with me the elephant in the room now when there's an elephant in the room depending where you are there's a unique perspective of what you see if you're in front of the elephant one person might say I see a head now if you're behind the elephant you might say I don't see a head there's a story story of six Blind Men Who were arguing about what an elephant looks like now of course being blind they would look with the other senses they would touch something and describe what something looks like and they argued about what an elephant looks like and one day an elephant came to town so they
decided to settle the argument each would touch the elephant and describe what they see so the first blind man touched the trunk of the elephant and said oh the the elephant is like a thick snake still another touched the leg and wrapped his arms around the leg and said no no no no the elephant is like a a tree that's what the elephant is like still another touched the side of the elephant and tried to move the elephant and said no no no no the elephant is more like a wall because the elephant won't be moved still another was on the backside and touched the tail of the elephant and said no no the elephant is like a rope still another went to touch the elephant and the ear moved and as it touched the ear said no the elephant is like a
fan and finally the sixth blind man touched the Tusk of the elephant and touched the hard Tusk and followed it and touched the tip and said no the elephant is like a spear and of course the moral of this Parable is to teach us that every one of us have a unique perspective in life we have a tendency to claim the truth based on our limited subjective experience and we only see the part in which we see so each of us if we get honest with our own Hearts we have a limited perspective based on when you were born how you were raised what time you were born in uh what part of the city you live what part
of the nation you live what color your skin is what your socioeconomic status is all of these things will sh shape your perspective and with perspective in mind I introduced the topic today the elephant in the room is racism racism is a real problem that exists that we need to confront see the reason we've called these topics the elephant in the room is often we don't want to talk about these elephants in the room because they're divisive so we don't want to talk about them we don't want to talk about the elephants in the room because the they can be full of conflict so we don't want to talk about these things they can they
can be awkward or hard to talk about or maybe we even have a limited perspective so we don't want to talk about these things and the reason we're doing this series the elephant in the room is we need to talk about the elephants see racism not only exists but it has existed for a very long time there's been much Injustice and unrighteousness that has been done and it's time for the church to rise up and fight for justice and righteousness Psalm 1063 tells us this blessed are those who observe Justice who do righteousness at all times God wants us to be blessed and we will be blessed when we're more like our just God our righteous God God wants us to put this into practice
and observe Justice not just to see it but to be a part of the solution blessed the word blessed in this language is a is a deep happiness that cannot be taken from you Jesus wants you to be blessed he starts off The Sermon on the Mount saying blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness blessed are those with with with a pure heart Jesus wants you to be blessed and we will be blessed when we're more like God when we identify what the problem is and racism is just that it's a problem because racism is a sin and the solution to racism is not the government the solution to racism is God because there's only one solution to sin that is the savior the forgiver of
our sins Jesus Christ and the root of racism manifests itself into every generation because all of us were born into sin see as we read the Bible we understand where sin came from in Genesis chapter 3 we read that Adam and Eve the the first humans decided to choose their perspective over God's perspective another way to put it is they chose their way over God's way and as a result sin stepped into the human story and Paul to told the Romans he says for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God so sin impacts the entire human race and if we misunderstand racism we will misunderstand the solution and we
will think it's academic we will think that we can legislate it and we will completely miss the point the Bishop TD Jake says really when you get down to racism in or out of the church it's a heart issue it's not a head issue when we actually get to experience each other's Ministry and each other's struggles and each other's pains there's a greater sensitivity so we start by acknowledging this is a heart issue that was last week's elephant in the room to acknowledge is there anything in my heart that shouldn't be there how can my heart be more like God's Jesus wants us to love what he loves and if Jesus is the answer we must
turn to him it was Jesus that told us in John 3:16 for God so loved the world that word in the original language the Greek for world is Cosmos it literally the universe the Earth the inhabitants of the earth aren't you glad that Jesus didn't say for God Loved a certain group of people God Loved These people but not everyone now Jesus was certain for God so loved the the world that he gave his only son that whoever aren't you glad this is a whoever and not just somebody that's good enough somebody born into the right family with the right color skin or the right National No whoever means whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life but we are living in an age of
confusion we are living in an age where cell phones capture Injustice so what do we do when we see Injustice how can we observe Justice and do what is right in God's eyes Jesus when he told his disciples that I'm going to prepare a place for you and where I'm going you know where I'm going and Thomas is the one that gets honest in John chapter 14 says Hey Jesus we don't know the way I love the honesty of scriptures because when I look back at this last year and a half okay when I look back at my life sometimes I just want to say Jesus I don't know the way I don't know what to do I'm confused I'm uncertain of what to do I I
see the problem but I don't know what to do and it was Jesus that just clearly said and this is the solution to all of life in John 14 verse 6 he says I am the way and the truth and the life no one can get to the father except through me so there's there's no other way that government cannot do what Jesus alone can do the schools cannot do what Jesus alone can do we cannot experience racial reconciliation without the help of Jesus and we all today have direct access to Jesus God made a way so that we can experience who he is I love how the late Billy Graham said
in the 1970s he said now Jesus was a man he was a human he was not a white man he was not a black man he came from that part of the world that touches Africa and Asia and Europe and he probably had brown skin Christ belongs to all people he belongs to the whole world that's my best Billy gram impression but the truth of the 1970s is still true today if Jesus is the king of all Kings and the Lord of all Lords he's the Lord of Africa he's the Lord of North and South America he's the Lord of Europe he's the Lord of Asia he's the Lord of Australia he's the Lord of
Antarctica we've got to start with recognizing the proper place of who Jesus is the late preacher Eevee Hill one of my favorites an African-American Pastor he was being criticized by the Black Panthers for preaching a white Jesus and it was Eevee Hill that said this this was his reply I don't know anything about a white Christ I know about Christ a savior name Jesus I don't know what color he was but he was born in brown Asia he fled to Black Africa and he was in heaven before the gospel got to White Europe so I don't know what color he is I do know one thing if you bow at the altar with color on your mind and you get up with color on your mind go back
again until you no longer look at his color but at his greatness and power his power to [Applause] save and so we see a perspective shift that if we have a limited perspective if we think Jesus is for a certain group of people or a certain color of people if we think somehow we've got it figured out we need to shift our perspective until we see Jesus accurately now can I just address another elephant in the room I am a white male speaking about racism every time I look in the mirror I'm still the same color no matter how much I wish it or will it and pray it and I I completely understand that from this perspective I cannot fully do this message justice so
I come at it not as one who has experienced this and let me tell you my story I come at it as a preacher pointing us to the truth and at Journey Church we have many different people from many different backgrounds and I have heard horror stories of racism right here in our community stories of someone at a stoplight being flipped off because of the color of his skin story of of kids being made fun of because of their ethnicity by other kids over and over it exists in our own community and if we don't think it exists it's probably a white person who who's surrounded by other white people and it's not intentional many of us don't have the intentions to say racism doesn't exist
it's simply out of ignorance last year at the peak of the protests after the death of George Floyd our nation was awakened to this reality that Injustice happens because of racism right here in our nation and Pastor Alex from Uganda was in the United States during this time and pastor Alex is a pastor here at Journey Church he's spent many years in America and I asked him Alex have you as an African experienced racism here in Central Oregon and Alex started by telling me that because he comes from Africa there could be racism that he's completely unaware of simply because it's cultural so meaning he's unaware that he
may have experienced racism but didn't even acknowledge it or know it because of a a cultural perspective and then he went on to tell me that really he hasn't experienced too much but he recounts a time where he was in sisters at a coffee shop waiting for someone he was going to have a meeting and he was alone at a table and a white male came to his table and said your kind aren't welcome here if you know Pastor Alex with the wisdom and patience and the Holy Spirit of God he turned to this guy and said well I will leave if you allow me to get on this chair and ask everyone else's in the coffee shop if they agree with you and if they do I'll leave and it was not Alex that left that coffee shop that [Applause]
day you see racism exists right here in our own Community it happens in our region it happens in our nation it's not limited to a segregation of a a smaller geographic location it can even happen in our hearts unknowingly so how can we have the right perspective of racism how can we have the perspective of God to better understand what racism is not from our understanding but from God's understanding well when you turn to Jesus he has a plan and the plan is the church there is no other plan there's no plan B the plan a for Humanity the human race is the church Jesus did what needed to be done no human in existence has lived of perfect life but it was Jesus that lived
a life without sin so when he died on the cross he did not deserve death but he took our sin on the cross and on the third day by the power of the Holy Spirit he defeated death he rose from the grave in the book of Acts we see how the church gets started Dr Luke is the author of this biography of of really the church and in Acts chapter 1 we see the resurrected Jesus and he gives some final instructions before he ascends into heaven acts 1:4 says says and while staying with them Jesus ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father which he said you heard from me for John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now we have one God in three persons not three Gods one God in three persons we have a Triune God and Jesus says God the Father
will give you the Holy Spirit When You Believe In Jesus you get the Holy Spirit this is awesome you get God a few verses later Jesus says you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you why do you receive power from the Holy Spirit he says so you can be my witness wherever you go you will do what you can never do on your own you will do what I do you will do the things of God because of the Holy Spirit now those followers of Jesus they listen to Jesus they go to Jerusalem they go to an upper room and they begin to pray when you don't know what else to do you should pray and Acts chapter 2 Luke tells us when the day of Pentecost arrived now Pentecost is a Jewish Festival the name Pentecost literally means the 50th day it happened on the 50th day of Passover a great celebration many keep people would come
celebrate Pentecost the Jewish people know how to celebrate we can learn a little bit from the Jewish people we need some more celebration well Pentecost was a festival it was a day of Celebration we shouldn't let the world do all the celebrating come on church we need some celebration so there's a celebration of Pentecost and on that day of Pentecost when when it was originally a celebration of the Feast of first fruits when you would give God your best you would give him the first and eventually over time it became a celebration of God giving the law to his people on Mount Si this law in the Hebrew is called the Torah it means the instructions of God it's literally God's word how do you get to know God through his word through the Torah through his instructions you get to know God through his perfect law God Made A Way so they celebrated God gave us a word he gave us
a way so here they are in Jerusalem those who believe in Jesus are waiting the praying and on that day they were all together in one place look at verse two and suddenly there came from Heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting and divided tongues the word tongues here means languages and divided tongues as a fire appear appeared to them and rested on each one of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance so this this is the birth of the church right here how did the church happened where where did the church come from Acts chapter 2 tells us this is where it all got started you wait on Jesus you believe in Jesus God gives us the Holy Spirit here they were celebrating God giving them
his word and that's when God gives them His Holy Spirit and when the Holy Spirit shows up there's change if you want to know if God's working in your life there's change you want to know if the holy spirit's working in your life something happens that would ordinarily not happen in your life maybe you forgive a person you said you would never forgive maybe you talk to someone you said you would never talk to maybe you do something you thought you would never do when the Holy Spirit shows up there's change you cannot stay the same in the presence of God and in this case they began to speak different languages this is the first thing that God does to show off in his church he wants everyone to know this is not for some people this is for all people so Luke continues this is the doctor he writes this now there
were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews devout men from every nation under heaven and at this sound a multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language and they were amazed and astonished saying are not all these who are speaking galileans let's pause right there for a moment they're hearing their native language spoken by galileans now Galilee was a region up north that was typically full of a blue collared people these are not the most academic people now to speak different languages you typically have to go to school and learn a different language wait a second these are all galileans how would they all learn so many different different
languages so they're actually amazed they're astonished they're in awe when God shows up there will be awe some of you show up and you see someone that shouldn't be at church at journey and you say what and you're in awe like you we we have stories of people who have come out of jail and they run into the the the booking Deputy of the sheriff's department here at church where else does that happen where else does that happen you bump into your PO but it's Journey Church you're in awe you're amazed you're bewild this this is where it happens where else do you see people of such diversity in different backgrounds and ages and socio economic Places come together but the church so they're in awe they're amazed and and Dr Luke wants us to know exactly how amazing this was and in verse eight he says how is it
that we hear how is it that we we hear each other in our in our own native language then he lists who was there look at look at the detail of a doctor verse 9 there there parthians and mes and elamites and residents of Mesopotamia Judea that's the southern region capid doia pontis and Asia Fria pamilia Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to sirene this is Africa and visitors from Rome that's Italy both Jews and prelates crans and Arabians we hear them telling in our own language notice what's being proclaimed the mighty works of God this is the early church what is a church about a give gives God all the glory they're they're hearing in their own language people from all over the world Africa and Asia and Europe they're hearing about God in their own languages and
look at verse 12 and all were amazed and perplexed saying to one another what does this mean like so many of us right now what does this mean living right now I mean how many you just confused like God why you let me live right now like 100 years ago would have been great thousand years ago like for a while we're thinking we're living in the best generation ever now we're like no not so sure about that I don't know about you but it's easy to look around turn on the news look in your own City watch your own friends and family all you got to do is what does this mean there's there's great division there's confusion there's all these things are Happ can God really work in the midst of all these things well in the early church we see he can and he will through the power of the
Holy Spirit but right when the spirit is working look at verse 13 but others everyone say others but others all over Instagram and Facebook and Twitter were mocking saying they are filled with new wine meaning this they're just drunk that's the problem they're's crazy people they're just they're just drunk so I want you to get this picture this is the first church you have the diversity of people from all over the world in unity how are they in Unity come on how are they in unity the holy Spirit the spirit of God shows up when the spirit of God is in the house there is Unity doesn't matter what color of skin you are doesn't matter what your nationalities there's unity in this diversity of the beauty of this thing called the church it's God's plan from the beginning but as soon as there's Unity don't you know there's an enemy of
God Satan himself that wants to divide he wants to destroy he wants to bring confusion and what does he do he mocks the unity he tries to bring confusion to the unity as soon as God's people start to do so within minutes it didn't take the enemy very long to say I don't want this to happen this is too beautiful this just too wonderful and he mocks what was happening and what happens next is incredibly important if you keep reading I'll just paraphrases Peter stands up and he preaches what does he preach not hatred not anger he preaches one message Jesus Christ crucified is a powerful message you want to know what we need to do in a world that's divided a world that's confused a world that mocks the church you stand up and you preach Jesus
in a time when the world is wondering what is happening this is the time for the church by the power of the Holy Spirit to have courage and point them to Jesus even if you've never done it before even if no one else has done it before this is the time to preach Jesus and what we see is a response thousands of people were saved that day Peter had every excuse in the world not to preach that day he could have easily said come on guys were were going somewhere else he could have yelled back he could have fired back on Instagram he could have gone back on Twitter but instead he stood up with courage and he pointed the world to Jesus Christ it was a day of recogn that the first thing Jesus did in
the church was racial reconciliation the first thing Jesus did in the church is just say that he's for all people for God so loved the world as God reconciled himself to his people through the power of the Holy Spirit he wants us to do the same that's the message of the church we don't need to ignore it we don't need to hide from it Pentecost reminds us that Jesus came to Reverse Racism the racism that exists today is not something new Jesus wants us to know that things are not the the way they ought to be but we can be a Praying people and when we pray things change Jesus taught us to pray our heavenly father Hallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven do you know why
Jesus taught us to pray that because right now things are not the way they ought to be and some of us are confused why is the world The Way It Is Well Jesus told us because it's not the way of heaven when the there's division it's not the way it should be when there's racism is not the way it should be when we watch this world confused and hurting and broken Jesus said you be a Praying people you remember that one day in heaven everything that's wrong is going to be made right one day in heaven God's going to wipe away every tear no more sorrow no more sin One Day in heaven it's going to be wonderful and beautiful and until then you keep praying that God's will would be done on Earth as it is in heaven that you get to be a part of it you are living for such a time as this you take Jesus at his word and you
pray see heaven's going to be diverse place don't think that heaven's going to be filled with people that look like you because John tells us in the Book of Revelation he said it's going to be awesome Revelation 7:9 and 10 just gives us a glimpse of this he says after this I looked and behold everyone shout behold behold a great multitude that no one could number from every nation from all tribes and peoples and languages standing Before the Throne and before the lamb that's Jesus clothed in white robes and palm branches in their hands crying out with a loud voice salvation Belongs To Our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb Jesus is described as a lamb for he was the last and great sacrifice don't be mistaken that we'll all be wearing white in
Heaven someday this is symbolic of the purity of Jesus Christ that we receive his righteousness that we can stand before God not not because of things we've done but because God clothes every one of us we we won't see some people with a hey your Rob's a little wider than mine hey your your robe is a little off-white no you either receive the full righteousness of Jesus or none at all the only reason you get to go to heaven is because of what was done for you and we can't deny that heaven is going to be beautifully diverse so we should start practicing it right now but unfortunately so many of us naturally gravitate to People Like Us it it's most natural to gravitate to people with your perspective remember that Peter that stood up so boldly on Pentecost and what a great preacher well he ended up starting to get famous throughout the church and as Peter grew
in his faith he still had some issues in his own heart by Acts chapter 10 Luke tells us that when Peter was praying he goes into a trance he sees a vision and while he's praying he sees a sheet come down from the sky and in the sheet he sees a whole bunch of animals they were unclean Animals by the Jewish standard and what he hears from God in this Vision as he sees these animals that came down from heaven by the way not up from hell but God gave the pig and all these other animals and and God tells Peter rise up kill and eat typically we say Amen but Peter was a Jewish person and so he held to the tradition of the law legalistically he he believed that he was raised a certain way and if you hold to the law God is going to be happier with with you and and lukee tells us in Acts 10:14 but
Peter said to the Lord when he told him rise up and eat by no means Lord for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean and the voice came to him again a second time what God has made clean do not call common this happened three times and the thing was taken up at once to Heaven it was a prophetic Vision not about food but about people for the Jewish people anybody that was not a Jew they're called a gentile it just simply means a non-jew and in the same chapter Peter's going to have to get uncomfortable as he crosses racial and cultural barriers as he begins to see a different perspective that God does not see what he sees see man sees a Jew and a non-jew but God sees a person that's made in His image
and the Lord was trying to shape Peter's own perspective and his own heart to let him know that what you see is unclean I see the potential see you read the story of God's word and and and it's really encouraging for our own Hearts there's always potential with God he'll use the least of these he'll use the overlooked he'll use the one that says you can't be used and God was teaching Peter a lesson that what you don't see I seen as you read Acts chapter 10 Peter confronts this and we start to see the diversity even within the church the Jew mingling with the Gentile it's at this place as we start to see the beauty of the church Peter starts to hang hang out with the Gentile he starts eating with him which is something he thought he would never do because you're considered unclean if you even hang out with a gentile but he's eating with them so he's touching their food he's touching their Forks which means he's
unclean and as Peter continues to grow in his Fame Paul writes a letter to a region called galatia which is full of different cities with churches inside those cities and this region was full of Jewish people and many of those Jews had converted to Christianity they they' believed in Jesus and as they believed in Jesus Peter made his way and and people knew who Peter was but then the Jewish people from Jerusalem came to Peter and all of a sudden Peter got a little awkward he remembered his roots and so Paul writes to the Galatians and he calls Peter out on this look at Galatians 2:1 but when sephus that's Peter just a different name for Peter when sephus came to Antioch that's a city I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned for before
certain men came from James these are the Jewish Christians from Jerusalem Peter was eating with the Gentiles but when these Christians that were Jews came Peter Drew back and he separated himself fearing the circumcision party now let me just pause right there the Jewish people called themselves the circumcision party and when they saw someone that was uncircumcised which is a gentile they didn't call him a gentile they called him uncircumcised which seems really weird to many of us but let me tell you that was a derogatory term in their day it was like calling someone an inappropriate derogatory term in our day and so when Peter sees the circumcised party he doesn't want to see himself hanging out with the uncircumcised because sometimes they would call them uncircumcised dogs so Peter's like okay I'll go hang out with the circumcised
party and verse 13 says and the rest of the Jews the rest of the church they acted hypocritically along with him so they even Barnabas who is a really cool dude is nicknamed encouragement he was led astray by their hypocrisy but Paul says when I saw their conduct was not in step with the truth of the Gospel gospel means what good news the good news is Jesus Christ this doesn't even look like Jesus I said to sephus to Peter before them all if you though a Jew live like a gentile meaning you just ate with them and not like a Jew how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews how can you set a standard that they've got to be circumcised they got to look a certain way they got to act a certain way so he calls Peter out on his
racism aren't you glad that the scriptures are honest with us that these problems that we're facing today of segregation of separation of division they're not something new we're constantly at will against other people we see this division today Dr Derwin gray a pastor of Transformation Church in South Carolina he says he says this as Americans we root against each other too much Democrats against Republicans Republicans against Democrats I know you all don't know anything about that but he says may we heed the words the wise words of Martin Luther King Jr we must learn to live together as brother or pairish together as fools if we could just pause for a moment say in our generation what will the generation after us think will we
either live for Christ or will we live like fools we have an opportunity today to live like Jesus Jesus constantly broke down the status quo he looked nothing like what the world thought the King of Kings should look like he looked nothing like the Christ in John chapter 4 when he was tired of the religious people of his day John tells us in chapter 4:3 Jesus left Judea and departed again for Galilee let's just do some geography lessons Judea is down here do you see this Judea is right here G is up here and then John says in chapter 4:4 and Jesus had to pass through Samaria so I need you to see this judea's right here Galilee is right here Samaria was right in the
middle now a good Jewish person would never go through Samaria because for centuries they considered it unclean because long ago Jews had settled in Samaria and they married with people who were non-jewish so true Jewish people saw them as half breeds they saw them as as uncircumcised they saw them as dogs so a Jewish person would not want to be unclean and go through Samaria to get to Galilee they would actually take the longer route you know how Google map says here's the fastest route but do you want a longer route I don't know who chooses that route but the Jewish people today say I'm not going to go around the longer route and Jesus said I have to go through Samaria now if you keep reading John chapter 4 Jesus had to go through Samaria because he had a meeting it was a Divine meeting with a woman not just a woman a Samaritan woman even she was
shocked wait you're a man you're a Jew and you're a rabbi why would you talk to me because God Came In the Flesh and he came to show us that he did not come for some people he came for all people including the Samaritans he came to Reverse Racism he came to liberate women he he came to show that children are gift from God this is our Jesus he came to write every single wrong he came to show us what love actually looks like but even his own followers didn't always get it in Luke Chapter N9 it says on another occasion they were in Samaria and the Samaritans weren't loving on Jesus like they were used to and Dr Luke tells us in this biography of Jesus life Luke 9:53 but the people of Samaria did not receive Jesus because his face was set towards Jerusalem he was looking he
was looking towards the cross and they were confused like the confused world we live in and his disciples James and John these guys are brothers their nickname is sons of thunder so these these guys had like they had guns they had muscles they they had ABS you know they wherever they went people were like man you strong you know these these guys they manly men it's James and John they said to Jesus here's what they said Lord do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them I know none of you would do that here's what they're saying Jesus can we just have them all killed since didn't receive you the way we thought they should receive you you're telling Jesus this this is what Jesus did in verse 55 but Jesus turned I imagine he just gave them the
stink eye he rebuked them I imagine right away they're sorry Jesus totally forgot they're telling Jesus would you just bring down the fire from heaven and we want them to burn alive here here's what they're saying if we just dissect this we are better than they are we are better than they are and they deserve to die this this is where come on we got to check our own Hearts check your hearts have you ever had a bias and you thought you were better than someone this doesn't just come out in racism comes out in all kinds of prejudice someone doesn't think like you look like you it's when you say that someone else does not have the same value that you have so that's why Paul when he wrote to the Galatians in chapter 3:28 he said there's neither Jew nor Greek there's neither slave nor free there's neither male and female for you are all one one
in Christ that when you believe in Jesus you're not getting a segregated Jesus Christ you're getting the Jesus that came to save the world this is an important message that the Gospel of Jesus unites us Paul said to the Corinthian Church for in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body Jews or Greeks that's non-jewish people slaves or frees all were made to drink of one Spirit we talked about this last week with the Living Water the River of Life that Jesus gives us through the Holy Spirit God has an expectation that your life would be great and that would be different than what you were raised with that with that perspective that you would get God's perspective Colossians 3:11 here there's not Greek and Jew circumcised and un circumcised barbarians cian slave free but Christ is all and in all if we go about life just living
through the same perspective through the lens in which we we grew up and we will miss the heart of God this is the church right here that we would see people the way God sees us that we would put into practice his law and his word Micah 68 he has told you oh man what is good what does the Lord require of you but to do justice remember blessed are those who observe Justice and who love kindness remember we talked about this last week we are living in the angriest world ever and it Grieves the Holy Spirit we need to put into practice kindness and to walk humbly with God God the tragic horrific Death of George Floyd ought to be used as a catalyst for
the church to stand up and say black lives do matter and some will get caught up with the semantics and say wait wait wait there's an organization called black lives matter an entity that does evil things they do wrong things I don't want don't want to agree or stand with black lives matter you've missed it here's why if if we actually believe like that do you know how many churches are Cults do you know how many churches are evil you how many churches do wrong things then we should never use the word church the church matters the church is the hope of the world and black lives do matter don't don't be afraid of saying that don't be afraid of observing Justice and saying that that's not okay that's not okay and I know some will get riled up and say there there's really really good
police officers and let me just say there's amazing police officers we have some right here at Journey Church Great police officers who do good men and women who serve to to protect they they're willing to give their lives so I just want to State there are great police officers but there are also racist police officers just like there are really good politicians but there are racist politicians there are really really good pastors and there are also racist pastors so so we we have to acknowledge and start start somewhere so let me just let me end this message with some tangible things we can do to be a part of this racial reconciliation that should happen in the church and it's not limited to these five things but I'm going to just list five quick things to say we need to be a part of what God's doing here's the first thing that we would see equality in all people and we wouldn't just see it we would actually
say it we actually know where Humanity came from we did not evolve from monkeys or some little Abyss somewhere but actually we were God's idea Genesis 1:27 says so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created male and female he created them come on there should have been an amen right there you're made in the image of God so is every human being so we're going to start there and say the human race is God's idea I'm going to State it I'm going to believe it here's why here's number two is we're going to start treating people the way they ought to be treated you you treat them with the dignity as a human being James 2:1 says my brother show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ the lord of G here's why if you believe in Jesus you believe in God Jesus is the fullness of God and the scriptures tell
us that God shows no partiality so we shouldn't as well we're going to treat everyone with the same equality the way that God sees them here's number three that I would say have a concern for those who have experienced Injustice for those who have been oppressed because this is the heart of God he constantly recognizes Injustice Zechariah 7:10 sayso not oppress the Widow the fatherless the sojer or the poor and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart see in the scriptures if we just get to the heart of it God wants our heart to be like his and it doesn't matter what the Injustice is it doesn't matter whatever Injustice is God wants us to see it and be a part of the solution which leads me to to to the fourth tangible application in our lives today and this is probably the most important do something do something something is better nothing I know that this world is
so broken and is paralyzing it's so hard to look around and you know what we may not not ever experience full racial reconciliation in our generation but doing something is better than doing nothing James says this in 4:1 17 so whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it for him it is a sin it's like the old story of the man who was walking on the beach after a big storm and he was walking on the beach and there were thousands of starfish and he sees a boy throwing starfish into the ocean and he stopped and talked to the boy and said booy you're never going to get all these starfish and the boy looked in his hands and saw one starfish and said says yeah but I can save one as he throws it back into the sea do something you when when all this this this upheaval from racism happened last
year I have teenagers and my oldest teenager wanted to be a part of the solution she made pictures and signs and she wanted to be a part of the protest and something as a dad said no I don't want you to do that I don't want you to do that as I watched on the news all the things that were happening it opened up conversations after conversations so then I told her sweetie if you do this you got to realize what you're align yourself with that you could die is this something you're willing to lose your life for and as we had these conversations together we were able to go to the protest together and walk why are we doing this what are the problems that are happening in the world see it's better to do something than to do nothing and often times when we're of an older generation we tell the younger generation don't do anything because we don't like the method in which they're doing it but I just want to prophesy to the Young Generation change this world and point them to Jesus have the courage to stand up when
something is wrong and say only Jesus can make it right I realize there horrific things were done last year in the name of protests I'm not talking about that that's both un unlawful and foolish Proverbs 29:8 says scoffer set a city of flame but a wise man turns away wrath all I'm saying is we got to do something we got to stand with those who are hurting lastly here here here's your challenge today look through life through the lens of a different perspective try to get into the shoes of someone else at church just imagine if you not you how would you see church this church was created for people who aren't a part of church like I have to think through that lens all the time like I know some stuff we do is weird so we try to explain it I want to look through that lens but if you're a person of a different color
than you actually are look through that lens how would you feel at church here or Target or driving we have a mission that we exist to lead people on a journey of transformation in Jesus that's our mission here if you don't know Jesus today our goal this that you would know Jesus and be changed by him you'd be transformed but it doesn't stop there you're on a journey you don't arrive once you believe in Jesus like Peter remember what happened to Peter God had to keep working on his heart he had to keep massaging YP still got something there that's not good Peter God dealt with it a little bit later oh still got something there Peter how many of y'all can relate to Peter today I'm a work in progress I'm a work in progress I need God's help I want to just finish with one last verse that comes from the book of Hosea I love Hosea if you've never read it it's one of the the weirdest stories in the Bible Hosea is a prophet and God tells Hosea here's what
I want you to do I want you to marry a okay maybe you don't know that where I want you to marry a prostitute and Hosea the prophet marries a prostitute and she's Unfaithful what a difficult story and God says go after go after her she keeps going back to her old ways he even buys Hosea back from the prostitution block and it's a crazy story then God says actually I'm the husband in the story the groom and my people are the Unfaithful bride wow some of might be like wait I don't like that story but but God is drawing us back and he says this my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge because you've rejected knowledge I reject you from being a priest to me and since you've forgotten the law of your God I also will forget your
children here's here's what I believe God is telling us if if you choose another way other than me it will never work it might look good it might sound good but it can't happen through academics it can't happen through the government legislating truth it has to happen through the truth of God and as I acknowledged earlier the elephant in the room I come out at this from a perspective not as someone who's necessarily experienced this okay I have not experienced this because I've typically been around people who look like me I've got to acknowledge God is there anything in my heart that shouldn't be there anything just in this moment right now would you just ask God that in your heart maybe close your eyes just turn turn to the Lord right now this is this is our time to receive from God what he has God
what's in our hearts that shouldn't be there I'm so thankful you're God of Grace you're god of love your god of goodness I'm so thankful that your word says your mercies are new Every Morning Lord we pray that you would use the church to bring rship reconciliation to the world today in this moment of prayer if you've ever received Jesus today is your day of salvation God has done everything possible that he'd make an easy way for you to trust him and follow him I'm going to ask you right now in your heart if you want to receive Jesus and follow after him the rest of the days of your life it may be the most difficult thing you've ever done but it will be the greatest thing because you receed the gift of eternal life the gift of God himself the Holy Spirit and the gift of Grace the Forgiveness of all your sins ask you pray something like this it's just got to be sincere from your
heart Lord I trust you today I want to want to follow you forgive me of my sins help me to have your heart and your perspective in Jesus name listen if you made that decision today it's the greatest decision you could have ever made I'm just going to ask right now just even in this moment of prayer as you still have your eyes closed if you made that decision would you just raise your hand up to me so I could celebrate with you the Lord says it's a great celebration in heaven to all those who repent and come home that's you today I just want to celebrate with you praise God praise God praise God God anyone else today just want to celebrate I just would love to see your hand to celebrate man today you decided to change your life forever if you're online we want to know that as well wherever you're listening or watching right now let us know that you made that decision to follow Jesus God I pray over
your church I prophesy healing I prophesy that The Best Is Yet To Come that you're not done with your church that what you've begun you will finish help us Lord help us Lord we confess our sins we repent of our sins today because you are faithful and just to forgive us oh I love you Jesus in your name we pray so be it amen well my friends we want to respond to the Lord we want to sing one last song as you stand to your feet we give God our hearts would you turn to him right now would you make this song A Prayer from you from you to our god to say God would you shape me would you change me would you make me more like you church can we can we just ask God to do more because of this topic in our nation for such a time as this in a time of division that we would experience you unity in Jesus name
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Justice and righteousness as God's blessing
Pastor Keith reads Psalm 106 on observing justice and doing righteousness at all times and connects it to the blessing Jesus pronounces at the start of the Sermon on the Mount. His application is that God wants his people not only to see justice but to take part in it, because he is a just and righteous God whose character his people are meant to reflect.
Psalm 106:3
- Pastor Keith says the blessed life in Psalm 106 is tied to observing justice and doing righteousness at all times. What does he say that looks like in practice?
- He describes this blessing as a deep happiness that cannot be taken from you. How does that compare with how you usually think about being blessed?
Racism as a heart issue
Pastor Keith argues that because racism is sin, the church cannot treat it as merely academic or legislative, and he quotes a bishop's line that racism is a heart issue rather than a head issue. He traces sin to Genesis 3, applies Paul's statement that all have sinned, and points to John 3:16 and John 14:6 as the shape of the solution — a Savior, not a program.
Genesis 3 · Romans 3:23 · John 3:16 · John 14:6
- Pastor Keith says the solution to racism is God, not government. How does he connect that claim to the passages he cites about sin and the Savior?
- How does Pastor Keith use John 14:6 to explain dependence on Jesus for racial reconciliation?
- What does Pastor Keith mean when he calls racism a heart issue rather than a head issue?
- Pastor Keith describes the word 'world' in John 3:16 as the whole universe and its inhabitants, and stresses that 'whoever' includes everyone. Why does he emphasize that?
Pentecost and the shape of the church
Pastor Keith reads Acts 1–2 as the birth of the church: Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the promised Spirit, they pray, and at Pentecost the Spirit enables them to speak in many languages. He stresses that the crowd heard the mighty works of God in their own languages, that the church was diverse and unified from its beginning, and that Peter responded to mockers by preaching Jesus. He closes the arc by pointing to Revelation 7's picture of a multitude from every nation.
Acts 1:4 · Acts 2:2-4 · Revelation 7:9-10
- Pastor Keith says the first public thing the Spirit did in the church was to make it multilingual. What does that suggest about the church's identity?
- What does Pastor Keith emphasize about the crowd hearing God's mighty works in their own native languages?
- Pastor Keith says heaven will be diverse, so we should practice that now. What would that look like in your congregation?
- Peter responded to mockers by preaching Jesus rather than by firing back. What does that model for the church today?
Peter's slide and Paul's confrontation
The message is candid about a leader's failure: Peter, who preached at Pentecost, later withdrew from eating with Gentiles when Jewish Christians arrived, and Paul opposed him publicly. Pastor Keith argues this shows racism can exist inside the church and that Scripture does not hide it. He also points to Peter's vision in Acts 10, where God reshapes Peter's view of people, and to Paul's statement in Galatians 3 that those in Christ are one.
Acts 10:14 · Galatians 2:11-13 · Galatians 3:28
- Peter ate with Gentiles, then pulled back when certain people arrived. What pressures make people do that today?
- Pastor Keith treats Peter's withdrawal as racism rather than mere social awkwardness. What reasons does he give from the text?
- What does Pastor Keith say the Acts 10 vision taught Peter about how God views people?
- What was Paul's stated concern about Peter's conduct in Galatians 2?
From belief to action
Pastor Keith ends with five concrete applications. He admits full reconciliation may not arrive in our generation but insists that doing something beats doing nothing, citing James on the wrong of knowing the right thing and failing to do it. He grounds the applications in passages about humanity made in God's image, showing no partiality, not oppressing the vulnerable, and walking humbly with God. The message closes with prayer, an invitation to follow Jesus, and a final song.
Genesis 1:27 · James 2:1 · Zechariah 7:10 · James 4:17 · Micah 6:8
- Pastor Keith grounds equality in Genesis 1, that every person is made in God's image. How should that shape how we treat others?
- Which of the five applications feels most concrete for you this week, and which feels hardest?
- Pastor Keith uses James on knowing the right thing and failing to do it to say that inaction is itself sin. How does that land with you as you think about this topic?
- He also points to Zechariah 7 on not oppressing the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor. Why does he tie God's concern for the vulnerable to this conversation?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
What does Pastor Keith teach about justice from Psalm 106?+
Psalm 106 speaks of blessing on those who observe justice and do righteousness at all times. Pastor Keith explains that God wants his people not only to see justice but to be part of the solution, and he says this kind of blessing is a deep happiness that cannot be taken from you. He connects it to Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount about hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
What does Pastor Keith say about the early church at Pentecost?+
He reads Acts 1–2 as the birth of the church: Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the promised Spirit, they pray, and at Pentecost the Spirit enables them to speak in other languages. The crowd includes people from across Africa, Asia, and Europe, and each hears the mighty works of God in their own native language. Pastor Keith's point is that diversity and unity came together at the church's beginning, and that racial reconciliation was among the first things Jesus did in his church.
Why does the message spend so much time on Peter's failure?+
Because Peter is the same man who preached boldly at Pentecost, yet later in Galatians 2 he stopped eating with Gentiles when Jewish Christians arrived from Jerusalem, and Paul opposed him publicly. Pastor Keith treats this as an early case of racism inside the church, not outside it. He draws two lessons: Scripture is honest about its heroes' failures, and growth is gradual — Peter kept needing correction, and Pastor Keith identifies himself as a work in progress in the same way.
What practical steps does the message actually recommend?+
Five are stated near the end, each tied to Scripture: see equality in all people because all are made in God's image (Genesis 1:27); show no partiality because God shows none (James 2:1); care about those experiencing injustice, as God commands against oppressing the vulnerable (Zechariah 7:10, Micah 6:8); do something rather than nothing, since knowing the right thing and failing to do it is itself wrong (James 4:17); and try to see life through another person's perspective, as Peter had to learn.
