Opening Doors for Racial Reconciliation

Yesterday, I had the privilege of participating in a panel discussion that was the culmination of a three-day symposium at Hampden-Sydney College called “Closing Doors, Opening Doors: Fifty Years After the School-Closing in Prince Edward County.”

Below were the remarks I made during the presentation.

First of all, I want to thank Professor Mike Utzinger for graciously inviting me to participate in this panel.  In many ways, I feel inadequate to address this issue since I’ve only been pastor at Farmville Baptist for three years, and I don’t have the experience or history of involvement in this community as the two distinguished ministerial colleagues sitting next to me.  However, I do hope that I have something to add to this conversation as we look toward the future and as we consider religious resources for reconciliation.

First, I want to say that before we can look toward the future for prospects of reconciliation, we-and here, I mean, we members of Farmville Baptist Church-have to honestly acknowledge our past. As pastor, I want to own up to the role that Farmville Baptist played in the turbulent fifties and sixties as this community struggled with desegregation and the closing of the county’s public schools.  The small amount of research that I’ve done has revealed that during this period, Farmville Baptist was seen as an institution that supported a policy of segregation.  A 1963 New York Times article described the Sunday on July 28 when twenty three black demonstrators were refused entrance into the church during worship and were subsequently arrested.[1] That same day, J. Samuel Williams, Jr., who is here in the audience tonight, was arrested for taking part in a demonstration to integrate Farmville Baptist Church.  It was probably events like this that prompted Donald Baker, a Washington Post staff writer, to label Farmville Baptist as a “bastion of white supremacy” in a March 2001 article.[2]

The Mysterious Glory of God

Preached by Michael Cheuk
February 22, 2009, Transfiguration Sunday, Year B
Mark 9:2-9

When I was young, I loved to read mysteries.  I read Encyclopedia Brown, the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, and Agatha Christie novels.  What I loved about the novels was the sense of not knowing “who did it.”  Could it be the butler?  Or the mean uncle?  Surely not sweet, young Mathilda?  Of course, as much as I liked not knowing, I liked even better the ending in which everything was revealed and I learned how the ingenious protagonist was able to piece all the clues together to find out who the culprit was.  Sometimes, I would stay up late reading, pushing through to the end of the novel into the wee hours of the morning, much to the consternation of my parents.  But I wanted to know what happened.  I wanted to know the identity of the bad guy.  And sometimes, I must confess, I would get impatient, and I would sneak a little peek at the end of the book, because I couldn’t stand the suspense anymore.

This morning, we come to the end of the season of Epiphany in the Christian calendar.  The general theme of Epiphany is Jesus’ revealing or showing of Himself as God.  The Bible readings and sermons during this time of the year deal with Jesus’ identity.  It’s like reading a mystery, and we have seen glimpses of God in the life of Jesus.  We heard God calling Jesus “my beloved Son” during his baptism.  We saw Jesus teaching with God’s authority, so that even unclean spirits recognized him as “the Holy One of God.”

Today, on Transfiguration Sunday, the climax of the Epiphany Season, Jesus revealed himself as God in a most incredible way to Peter, James and John.  It is almost as if Jesus gave them a little peek behind the veil, to show them who He really was.  Jesus led them to a high mountain and there, Jesus transfigured, or changed before them: his clothes became dazzling white as if someone had poured a gallon of OxyClean on his robes.

Walk the Talk, Run the Race

Preached by Michael Cheuk
February 15, 2009, Sixth Sunday of Epiphany, Year B
1 Corinthians 9:24-27

When the weather is nice outside, my son Wesley and I periodically go out to shoot baskets.  One time, when Wes was just six years old, we were out shooting and keeping score, and I was leading 6 baskets to 3.  After I made my last basket, Wesley took the ball from me with authority, and with a determined look on his face, he told me: “OK, no more Mr. Nice Guy.  You’re going down!”  “Big talk from a little man,” I responded, “but you’re going to have to back that up.”  And by golly, he did, and he ended up beating me 10 baskets to 9!  By the way, it should be evident by now why I’m a preacher and not a basketball player!

This morning, in chapter nine of his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul also was talking big.  He spent the entire chapter defending his status as an apostle, his identity as a messenger sent forth by God’s Spirit to preach the good news of Jesus Christ.  Paul was so passionate and consumed with preaching the gospel that he was willing to use whatever means possible to share in the blessings of the gospel.  Last Sunday, we heard Jeaninne preach from verses 16-23, where Paul made these claims: “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone.  To the Jews I became like a Jew.  To those under the law I became like one under the law.  To those not having the law, I became like one not having the law-even though in reality I am under Christ’s law.  To the weak I became weak.”  And for what reason?  The answer: in order to win those various kinds of people for Jesus Christ.  Paul concluded in verses 22-23: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

That’s a lot of big talk coming from Paul.  And in today’s passage, Paul continues his talk by invoking sports imagery as a way to illustrate his point. 

The Power of Jesus’ Teaching

Preached by Michael Cheuk
February 1, 2009, Fourth Sunday of Epiphany, Year B
Mark 1:21-28

Teachers.  Some of the most important people in the world are teachers.  How many of you in this sanctuary were teachers, are teachers, are studying to become teachers?  Would you please stand up?  Thank you, teachers.  You give us power.  Power to read, power to understand our world, power to be freed from ignorance by teaching us how to think.  Remember that bumper sticker that reminds us about the worth of teachers?  It goes like this: “If you can read this bumper sticker, then thank a teacher.”  Well, thank you, teachers.

This morning in our Gospel lesson from Mark, we get a glimpse of Jesus’ power as a teacher.  Our story begins after Jesus called his first disciples, Simon Peter and Andrew, and the Zebedee brothers, James and John.  Those four and Jesus went to Capernaum, a city by the Sea of Galilee and they entered a synagogue on the Sabbath, a day of worship for the Jews.  There, Jesus began to teach the worshippers, and something strange happens.