Participants:
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000674S
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:05 Sermon #B674 - Faith On The Frontline 00:20 Dr. Byrd: We are going to go ahead and get in the word of God today. 00:24 I would invite you to take your bibles and go with me to the Book of Luke. 00:28 We are going to go to Luke chapter ten. Luke chapter ten today 00:32 and we are going to go to verse number thirty. Luke chapter ten 00:36 and we are going to go to verse number thirty. Familiar passage. 00:39 Luke chapter ten, verse number thirty. Turn there with me in your bibles. 00:43 I am going to read from the King James Version in your hearing. 00:46 I would ask that you follow along with me. 00:49 Luke chapter ten, verse number thirty we are going to read today. 00:55 Jesus is telling a story. We know this story, the Parable of the Good Samaritan. 00:59 Luke chapter ten, verse thirty, the word of God says, "And Jesus answering said, 01:05 A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, 01:11 which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 01:16 By chance there came down a certain priest that way: 01:20 when he," the priest, "saw this man, he passed by on the other side. 01:26 Likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, 01:31 and he too passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, 01:40 came where he was: and when he saw him," the bible says, "he had compassion on him, 01:48 and he went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, 01:53 and set him on his own beast," his own donkey, "brought him to an inn, 01:58 and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, 02:04 and gave them to the host," the hotel manager, "and said unto him, Take care of him; 02:10 whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 02:18 Which now of these three," the priest, the Levite, the Samaritan, 02:23 "which now of these three, thinkest thou, 02:28 was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? 02:32 And he said," the lawyer did, "He that showed mercy on him. 02:38 Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."" 02:47 Today, I want to challenge you on the subject, faith on the front line. 02:54 Faith on the front line. God, bless us now. 02:58 What a wonderful worship experience we have already had in praising you. 03:03 The music, the praise team, the hymn. O God, the baptism, children's ministry, 03:10 the wonderful selection by Patrick, but now, God, we need a word from you. 03:15 Speak, Lord, for your servant heareth. 03:18 Do like you always do every Sabbath during this period of virtual worship. 03:22 Go through the computer screen. Go through the television screen. 03:27 God, have your way today. Forgive me of my sins, hide me behind your cross, 03:32 and when the appeal time comes, I am praying, O Lord, 03:36 and I am asking you to move along your people in a mighty way. 03:39 Let some drops fall on me today, I pray, drops of your Holy Spirit. 03:45 In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen. Amen. 03:50 Faith on the front line. 03:55 While we may have thought that the racial tensions of the 1960s were behind us, 04:03 and that we entered a post-racial era with the election of President Barack Obama as 04:08 the first black president of the United States, and that Jim Crow was over, 04:13 and that the segregated South was done, think again. Racism is alive and well, 04:22 and still runs rampant in America's workforce, schools, communities, 04:27 and society at large. Segregation still continues in our schools. 04:33 Urban schools are underfunded and understaffed. 04:38 Blacks are often underemployed and underpaid. The penal system, judicial system, 04:46 education system, economic system, police system, 04:51 and a whole bunch of other systems overtly 04:54 and covertly contribute to the racial injustices in our world today. 05:00 In the past couple of months, we have witnessed examples of this with the unmerited, 05:06 unwarranted, unfair, and unjustified deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, 05:13 George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks. As a result of these deaths, demonstrations, 05:23 and marches, and protests have emerged across cities here in the United States 05:29 and abroad, chants of "Black lives matter", "No justice, no peace", "Hands up, 05:38 do not shoot", and "I cannot breathe" have been heard daily. 05:43 As you know, as I shared with you a couple of weeks ago, 05:46 I have been actively a part of these demonstrations. 05:48 As a result of my being a part of these demonstrations, I have endured criticism, 05:54 complaint, and received scores of hate mail because of my willingness to take a stand 06:00 and speak out against the racial injustices of the day. 06:04 Anonymous messages telling me to watch my back. 06:09 Nameless emails reaching my inbox saying, 06:13 "I will make sure you never ascend any further in your career." 06:18 Social media posts that say my behavior is not becoming of an Adventist minister 06:25 have reached my ears and crossed my sight, 06:28 but in the name of Jesus, I shall not be moved. I shall not be deterred. 06:35 I am going to keep on peacefully protesting. I am going to keep on marching. 06:41 I am going to keep on speaking up and speaking out until change comes. 06:46 Why? I have got God on my side. If God be for us, who can be against us? 06:54 No weapon formed against us is going to prosper. I wish I had a witness in this place. 06:59 As I said a couple of weeks ago, 07:01 a church is in danger of death when it is silent on the reckless racism that exists 07:06 in our world, in our country, and in our church where a man can be killed while jogging, 07:12 a woman can be shot eight times while sleeping, 07:15 a man's life can be put in danger because he is simply bird-watching, 07:19 or a man can lose his life because of a knee to his neck. 07:24 Some within our faith community, they feel that if it does not directly affect them, 07:30 they can be silent, but we cannot be silent. 07:34 I learned as a little boy that if someone does something to somebody else, 07:39 it is just a matter of time before they do it to you. 07:42 Remember, it was Jesus who said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto least of these my 07:46 brethren, ye have done it unto me." 07:49 Martin King said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." 07:54 Most importantly, as a faith community, 07:57 we have a responsibility to speak up and speak out against racial Injustice. 08:01 Remember, it was Dr. King who said, "In the end, 08:04 we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." 08:08 We further have a biblical mandated. Micah chapter six, verse number eight, 08:12 "To do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before our God." 08:17 Let me be clear. If you do not hear anything else, hear this. Racism is wrong. 08:23 Racism is a sin. When a church, when we, as a church, do not speak out against racism, 08:30 when we as a faith community are silent 08:33 and absent from the front lines of real-life issues, it compromises our witness. 08:39 Because why would people want to join a church group? 08:42 Why would people want to join a faith group if the faith through does not care 08:45 or appear to care about basic human needs? 08:49 Yes, the twenty-three hundred day prophecy is good, 08:53 but somebody is saying, "I am homeless." Yes, the health message is good, 08:59 but somebody is saying, "I have nothing to eat." The Sabbath message is good, 09:05 but someone is saying, "I do not have a job." 09:09 People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. 09:15 I was grateful for the statement that was published 09:19 and put out by the leadership of our North American Division in response to the recent 09:24 death and racial inequalities in our country in the aftermath of the deaths of 09:29 Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. 09:32 The statement said, "As Christians, we condemn such actions of hate and violence 09:38 and call for justice to be served for the victims and their families." 09:41 The statement continues, "We urge all of our church members to prayerfully consider 09:46 how they can interact with everyone in their communities. 09:49 We ask that you speak out against injustice and hatred, 09:52 just as Jesus did when Jesus was on this earth." Praise God for the statement. 09:58 Hallelujah for the statement. Thank you, Jesus, for the statement, but let me say this. 10:04 While many within our faith community agreed that we have a racism problem, 10:10 we disagree on the solution. Yes, we need to pray. Yes, we need to have changed hearts, 10:16 but I also think the answer is to change laws. 10:20 In order to change laws, you got to change the people who make the laws. 10:24 In order to change the people, you got to speak up, get out, and vote. 10:29 Are you hearing what I am saying? The answer is not private responsibility 10:34 but the answer is public accountability. 10:36 We have got to be on the front line requiring public accountability. 10:42 How can you call yourself a Christian and not be on the front line of human hurt, 10:47 human suffering, and human distress. If we are followers of Christ as we say we are, 10:54 Jesus spoke up for the marginalized. 10:57 He spoke for those who could not speak for themselves. 11:00 He helped those who could not help themselves. 11:03 His beliefs and actions were Illustrated in the narrative of our text. 11:08 You all know the text. You know the Good Samaritan story. 11:11 A lawyer asks Jesus a question. He says, "Jesus, Lord, 11:17 what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 11:20 Now, you need to understand that this lawyer does not ask this question for the 11:25 purpose of being instructed but he asks for the purpose of trying to tempt Jesus, 11:31 but Jesus has a little something-something for this lawyer. 11:34 Jesus answers the lawyer by telling him a story about a man on a journey who was mugged, 11:39 beat up, and left for dead on the side of the road. 11:43 The first person to travel on the same road and see this beat-up man was a priest. 11:48 Now, you would think that out of all the people in the world, 11:52 the priest would help this beat-up injured man. When the priest saw the man, 11:58 the bible says that the priest passed on the other side of the road. 12:02 Now, maybe the priest was afraid to defile himself. 12:06 He saw the man and he was maybe unsure if the man was dead or alive. 12:09 According to Jewish law, if he were dead, if the man had been dead, 12:15 the priest would have defiled himself if he touched the man so the priest goes to 12:19 the other side. 12:21 Isn't it Interesting that back in Jesus' day, like it is today, 12:24 people are more concerned about policy than there are people I wish I had time. 12:28 The bible then says that another man came, but just like this priest, this other man, 12:33 a Levite, a deacon, if you will, sees the injured man but he also passes, 12:39 the Levite does, on the other side of the road. Now, the priest 12:42 and the Levite should have been the first persons, first people, 12:45 the most expected people to help the injured man. 12:48 After all, they are of the same race and the same religion as the man, 12:54 their half-dead brother in the ditch. 12:57 They are both Christian and so is the brother in the ditch. 13:01 They are both Adventists and so is the brother in the ditch. 13:05 They are of the same ethnicity and so is the brother in the ditch. 13:09 They are both religious people. 13:11 They both have read the law of love as it has been written hundreds of times, 13:17 but they passed the man right on by. They know the law but they do not know love. 13:23 They know the commandments but they do not know Christ. 13:25 They know that they are religious but they do not know relationship. 13:29 They are public saints but private sinners having a form of godliness 13:34 but denying the power thereof. 13:37 The story says, "This Samaritan guy comes along. He is not Adventist. 13:44 He is not of the same color. 13:46 He is of a different race and religion than the man who is in the ditch. 13:50 Neither race of people like each other." They do not have potluck together. 13:56 In fact, they are taught to hate each other. 13:59 You are not supposed to talk to one another. 14:01 They are taught to think of the other as less than. 14:06 The Samaritan, the bible says, gets off his donkey, bandages up the man's wounds, 14:14 and then he puts oil and wine on the man. He does not stop there. 14:19 He then takes the man, and he puts the man on his donkey, 14:23 and he takes the man to a hotel where the man can be taken care of. 14:27 He spent his own money for the guy to stay at a hotel 14:32 and even promises to pay the hotel manager back for any extra expenses even 14:37 though he probably was not particularly wealthy himself, but he helps the man. 14:43 The central message of this parable, friends, 14:46 is this, that if we are to be good neighbors, we have to be more like the Good Samaritan. 14:51 Jesus then concludes this story with the admonition. 14:54 He says, "Go and do likewise." That is a message for somebody today. 15:00 Get off your donkey and get on the front line. 15:06 Pastor Byrd, how do we do this? Well, there are three ways we do this. 15:11 Number one, we need to have vision. 15:15 We need to have eyes to see those who are hurting. 15:19 Too many people have sight but no vision. Where there is no vision, the people perish. 15:26 Are you hearing what I am saying? Number two, we need to have compassion. 15:31 We need the love of Jesus in our hearts. Number three, we need to go to the people. 15:39 We must go to where the people are and do whatever it takes to reach them with God's 15:46 love. We have got to go to the front line. 15:49 We have got to get beyond the four walls of the church. 15:53 Faith on the front line is more than just calling people to pray 15:57 because faith without works is dead. 16:00 Faith on the front line is not just sitting up in an office, 16:04 waiting to get to the next position. 16:06 Faith on the front line is not simply writing statements. 16:10 Faith on the front line is not just posting to social media, 16:15 quoting the latest sound bites or posting the best cliches like your woke. 16:20 Faith on the front line is not going through another cycle of church days, programs, 16:25 where you are insulated, and isolated, and ministering to nobody but yourselves. 16:30 Faith on the front line is marching. Faith on the front line is peacefully protesting. 16:35 Faith on the front line is getting involved. 16:38 Faith on the front line is helping human suffering. 16:41 Faith on the front line is speaking up to employers, systems 16:45 and structures about racism and telling them that they are wrong. 16:48 Faith on the front line is feeding people who cannot feed themselves, 16:52 clothing people who cannot clothe themselves, teaching young people how to read 16:56 and write, counseling and mentoring troubled, disadvantaged, at-risk youth, 17:00 loving unwed teen mothers, rehabilitating drug addicts and substance abusers, 17:05 starting and opening up credit unions so you can help your people realize their dreams. 17:12 That is faith on the front lines. That is church on the front line. 17:17 Too many of our churches, too many of our ministries, 17:20 too many of our faith groups are not on the front line 17:23 and that is why the church is not growing. Our faith is limited to the building. 17:27 Our faith is not shown on the front line. 17:29 What has happened, we have conformed to a system. 17:33 The Seventh-day Adventist Church was never supposed to be a system. 17:35 It was supposed to be a movement. Are you hearing what I am saying? 17:38 We have conformed to a system. A system that perpetuates itself. 17:44 Systems are built for you to go along to get along. Systems are not built for change. 17:50 Systems are not built from radical movements. 17:52 Systems are put in place to keep the status quo, to keep things as they are. 17:57 For example, in any organizational system, 18:01 the ones in charge of the system are reluctant to change the system 18:07 because that would mean it would compromise their place in the system. 18:10 No one wants to vote themselves out of a job. 18:14 In our church system, we are hearing cries to reform. 18:17 We are hearing cries to restructure the system. 18:20 To change the structure, to change the system would mean you have to change the people, 18:25 which would mean the very people who make the decision to change the system 18:30 would have to vote themselves out of their position and they are not going to do that. 18:35 To keep the people on the front lines at bay, 18:37 to keep the people on the front lines quiet, 18:39 system leadership will pit front line people up against each other. 18:44 They do this with a divide-and-conquer philosophy or better yet, 18:49 they say, "Do as I say and I will look out for you with the position up the road." 18:54 "If you are a field slave, just be quiet. 18:58 Sooner than later, I will make you a house slave." Preach, Pastor Byrd. 19:03 Let me tell you something. Can I tell you something? Be real today. 19:06 Nobody hires you to make you rich. They hire you to make them rich. 19:11 They do not pay you so you can have retirement. 19:14 They pay you enough so you are going to work on Monday morning 19:17 and give you enough benefits so you will not quit your job. 19:19 You all do not hear what I am saying. You all ain't ready for this today. 19:22 If you got vision that is bigger than the system, 19:26 you have to open up some other stuff in your life. 19:29 You have got to do and have more things going on. 19:32 You have got to do something else. You have got to write a book. 19:35 You have got to get some professional development, take a computer class, 19:39 start a new degree or finish that degree you started. 19:42 You cannot waste your time fixing to or getting ready to, 19:46 but you better understand, that this is the day the Lord has made. 19:50 I will rejoice and be glad in it. Do I have a witness in this place? 19:53 Thank God. Thank you, God, for waking me up this morning. 19:56 Thank you, God, for starting me on my way. 19:58 Thank you, God, for allowing me to view church this morning. 20:01 Thank you for giving me your mind to think with and hands to work with 20:04 because you are about to open up the windows of heaven 20:07 and pour us out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 20:10 Somebody is listening right now and you are about to get your license. 20:15 License to break out. License to get loose. 20:19 License to go where no man or no woman has ever gone before and do what no man 20:23 or no woman has ever done before. You have been in jail long enough. 20:26 You have been held hostage, hallelujah, long enough. 20:30 You have been status quo long enough. You have been a slave long enough. 20:34 It is time to let God arise and let his enemies be scattered. 20:39 I can't spend,Carlton Byrd can- -not spend thirty or forty years stuck in a system waiting for 20:46 somebody to tell me what to do. I have got to do something now. 20:51 Waiting for a board to tell me what to do. I have got to do something now. 20:55 Waiting for a conference committee to tell me what to do. 20:58 I have got to do something now. Do not get it twisted. Do not misquote me. 21:03 I fully support and respect our conference leadership. 21:06 I fully support and respect our North American Division leadership, 21:08 but I do not wait on them to give me an idea. 21:12 I pursue the idea and then I want them to say, "Pastor, just slow down a little bit." 21:17 Mission and ministry start on the front line. 21:21 I am not waiting for this group or that group, 21:23 and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a 21:27 witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Go thee therefore. 21:31 Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, 21:34 and the Holy Ghost. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; 21:37 for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; I will help thee; 21:40 I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 21:42 Today, I want to talk to some radical people. 21:44 I want to preach to some folk who are ready to break outside the status quo, 21:49 folk who are ready to do big things for God 21:51 because you cannot be big as long as little has you. 21:54 Quit letting blind people proofread your vision. 21:56 Get out on the front lines of God and do something big for God. 21:59 In any organization, whether spiritual or second, the front line is where it is at. 22:07 Any organization that is growing, that is developing, that is prospering, 22:11 that is solving, any organization like that, if you study organization, 22:15 it has its emphasis on the front line. 22:19 The church can have an awesome infrastructure, 22:23 wonderful buildings, first-class hospitals, large, parochial education systems, 22:30 great preaching, inspiring music, but if it is not on the front line meeting human need, 22:39 souls will not be baptized and the church will not grow. 22:45 Faith has got to be on the front line. 22:48 Ellen White said it best in Ministry of Healing that Christ's method 22:53 alone will give true success in reaching the people. 22:57 The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good. 23:00 He showed his sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, won their confidence, 23:05 and then he bade them, "Follow me." Friends, that is faith on the front line. 23:12 We cannot call ourselves Christians and simply sit silently by 23:16 and allow people whom we claim to love 23:18 and desire to see saved suffer unjustly at the hands of others. 23:22 Let me make another point. Go back with me now, and let us get one more Samaritan story. 23:29 In John chapter four, when you read it later, after I finish preaching, go back 23:33 and read John chapter four. When you read John chapter four, 23:36 when Jesus went from Judea to Galilee, but he decided to go through Sychar, 23:40 which means city of drunkards, it was located also in Samaria, 23:44 you need to know that this route was rarely taken by Jews. Jews avoided Sameria, 23:52 but yet Jesus, a Jew, invested much time in John chapter four in talking to the 23:59 Samaritan woman. Not only that, she was a Samaritan woman of not good reputation. 24:05 In other words. She was not known by her name but she was known by what she did. 24:10 You all do not hear what I am saying? By talking to this woman, 24:15 Jesus was clearly saying Samaritan lives matter. 24:22 Just like in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, 24:24 Jesus was cutting to the chase of the racism of his time and clearly affirming that 24:28 Samaritan lives matter. This did not mean that Jewish lives did not matter. 24:35 This did not mean that Levite lives did not matter. 24:39 It just meant that Samaritans were the ones being marginalized 24:43 and Samaritan lives matter. You all do not hear what I am saying. 24:46 In April of 2013, after the Boston Marathon Bombing 24:51 and the City of Boston had been hurt by this bombing and the deaths, 24:55 the popular slogan everybody was quoting everywhere in the United States was, 24:59 "Boston strong, Boston strong, Boston strong". 25:03 Now, this did not mean that New York was not strong. 25:07 This did not mean Chicago was not strong. This did not mean LA or DC were not strong. 25:12 It just meant that Boston was the focus because Boston had been targeted and afflicted. 25:19 It was a given that the other cities were strong. 25:21 After the Las Vegas shootings on October the 1st, 25:24 2017 where fifty-nine people including the shooter were killed 25:28 and another eight hundred and sixty-nine were injured, 25:30 we heard, "Vegas strong, Vegas strong, Vegas strong". 25:35 That did not mean that Atlanta, Huntsville, Nashville, and Miami were not strong. 25:43 That was a given, but the slogan "Vegas strong" was adopted 25:48 because it was Vegas, Las Vegas, that had been targeted. 25:52 It was Las Vegas that had been affected. When you hear "Black lives matter", 25:58 that is not to say other people do not matter. Other people do matter 26:02 but that is a given. When people say, "Black lives matter," 26:06 that is to the say that it is black people who are presently 26:09 the ones being wrongfully targeted, marginalized, and affected. 26:13 I was reading something this week written by Erna Kim Hackett, and I am paraphrasing, 26:20 she said, "No one sees himself or herself as the priest or the Levite that walks 26:26 by the Jewish man. Everybody sees himself as the Good Samaritan but that is 26:33 because everybody looks through their own lens, their own personal lens. 26:38 No one sees themselves as Pharaoh. They always see themselves as Moses. 26:43 No one sees themselves as Haman. They always see themselves as Esther. 26:48 No one sees themselves as Judas. They always see themselves as Peter. 26:54 People in power, people of privilege have no lens for rightly appropriating 27:01 themselves in scripture and society. It has made them blind to what they see 27:08 and what they do when engaging in issues of privilege, power, and injustice. 27:14 In other words, you will never see yourself as a racist, bigoted, xenophobic, 27:20 prejudiced or discriminatory person because you live your life 27:24 and look through the lens of privilege, power, and injustice. 27:28 That is why faith has to go to the front line. 27:35 Gospel that Jesus preached was not limited to sermons in the pulpit 27:40 and neither should ours. What we are experiencing today is not black versus white. 27:48 This is not a revolution of black versus white or white versus black. 27:53 This is a revolution of right versus wrong. 27:59 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 28:04 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 28:08 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 28:11 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 28:17 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 28:30 When I was eight years old, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. 28:36 When I was fifthteen, I had my first surgery. When I think about the time that I lost 28:47 during my adolescent years, I just can't seem to put it togther. Even now I'm doing 28:57 treatment for my disease. Everyone experiences loss. It's not of matter of if but when. 29:09 www.breathoflife.tv 29:17 [END] |
Revised 2020-07-01