Sermon for February 17th, 2013

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

1When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, 2you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. 3You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ 4When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, 5you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. 6When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us, 7we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; 9and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. 11Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.

Romans 10:5-13

5 Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that ‘the person who does these things will live by them.’ 6But the righteousness that comes from faith says, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” ’ (that is, to bring Christ down) 7‘or “Who will descend into the abyss?” ’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart’(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Black History: Greeks, Jews & Wandering Arameans

I have talked several times in the past few weeks and months about something called "Providence." It's the idea that God is in control. Of everything. All the time. Even when we think he couldn't possibly be. From the largest and most sweeping events, to the minutest details, everything flows from God's perfect will. Everything happens for a reason, even the things we can't understand, can't believe, can't accept. Like, for example, slavery, racism, and discrimination. Note that I didn't say these things are "good." Not at all. But consider the story of Joseph from the Old Testament, whose own brothers sold him into slavery, causing him to be taken from his home into a foreign land without his freedom. Years later, when Joseph (who has done well for himself) is reunited with his brothers, he tells them this: Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. Through Joseph's slavery, his brothers and their descendants are brought to Egypt and saved from famine.

There are great parallels between the story of the Hebrew children in ancient Israel and the African Americans of the past three centuries who were brought to this country in slavery, and have struggled for freedom, equality, and prosperity.

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