Resources for Racial Justice Bible Study:

Resources from Session #4:

Matthew 25:31-46

31 “But when the Son of Man[a] comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations[b] will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[c] you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.[d] 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

Ephesians 2:19

19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family

Matthew 22:37-46

37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Sojourners

Those of us Christians who seek to be at peace with each other must honestly believe that peace not orchestrated by God will be dominated by principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places. Even the church impedes the reconciliation it preaches. We claim to be followers of Jesus, and yet we find no contradiction in openly and sometimes not so openly treating women as if they were inferior to men, treating people of color as if they were inferior to people who do not have that color, and treating poor people as if they were inferior to rich people.
What we understand from this behavior is that wearing the label “Christian” does not protect us from bias, ignorance, or ugly stereotypical behavior. Some of us Christians believe that some folks are more human than other folks. We make policies and create Christian cultures that reflect that mindset.
….In Jesus we have equality. Equal sinners, then in Jesus, equal partners. In Jesus we have equal need. It is only in Jesus that the significant cost of reconciliation can be made real.

Verna Myers

How to overcome our biases?   Walk boldly toward them

Talking About Race

Dismantling racism

The PC(USA)’s policy also reminds us that this realization “does not mean that human beings are awful. Rather, it means that we must have humility about our own righteousness, and that we must cling to the grace of God in Jesus Christ.”

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