Why in the world would God allow Black people to suffer such oppression in the United States of America and the European (i.e. Western) world?
If Victor Frankl could find meaning and be celebrated for finding meaning in his time in Auschwitz, certainly we should be encouraged to find meaning of our dehumanizing experience at the hands of White people.
We should be encouraged to find meaning in the betrayal of life that led to our sale by our African brothers and sisters.
And yes, we’re still there…
Still talking about slavery.
It is the the most important question as we are still searching for the mattering of Black Life.
Like: there must be a reason God allowed us to suffer.
Is God just wicked? Is He an abusive Father Who delights in seeing His children bludgeoned under devilish brutality?
CERTAINLY NOT! Right!?
But if not…how then do we explain our reality as Black people in America and throughout the world?
Where do we find an answer?
I mean, it can’t be enough to simply ignore that discrepancy. We can’t just pretend like we didn’t arrive in America by an evil endeavor.
White Power has fooled our White sisters & brothers into thinking their Cause was noble. They were Christianizing savages…spreading the Gospel and upholding the Great Commission.
They were bringing enlightenment, freedom and democracy. Bringing light to the “Dark Continent” (sic). They weren’t stealing. They were adding value to commodities we were “too primitive” to understand.
We’ve accepted their narrative, even if we don’t articulate any agreement.
Our African brothers & sisters have fooled themselves by feigning ignorance of the wicked plan of those to whom they sold us. Besides, since then they’ve been subject to colonialism and neocolonialism. They are “shit hold countries” = even if we are not so bold as to say that.
We don’t even hold them accountable because we have fooled ourselves into thinking we ultimately got the better end of the deal…we are “American” and the “world’s wealthiest Blacks.”
And so, we have not answer…
Why in the world would God allow Black people to suffer such oppression?
As one’s created in the imago Dei, there must be a reason right?
I mean: what man meant for evil, God uses for good. Ain’t that what it says?!
So there must be some good and praiseworthy reason for our sojourn in this Western manifestation of Babylon…right?
This is where the Spirit led me as I considered what should be my focus this Sunday for my live sermon.
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If you’ve been with us on this journey thus far, you know we’ve been following Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham for a while. And, we’ve been considering the story of Jacob in context with our own story. #BlackLivesMatter
If you are just catching us on this trek, you can read this to see what you missed.
We now meet Jacob’s favorite son, Joseph.
It’s interesting to consider that Jacob had a favorite son, after his own struggle with a father who had a certain preference for his brother Esau. But, I guess the first-born son of the woman you worked so hard to get as a wife, who then died giving birth to her second son…
Anyway, Joseph…Jacob’s favorite.
I love unpacking Joseph. He’s the figure in the Bible, after Christ, I think we – Black people in America and the West – ought to consider.
He was the focus of my thesis in seminary. I published it as a book, Black Power: Our God Given Call to Make America Great.
The Exodus narrative has long been intertwined with the identity of Black Americans. You mightn’t think about it, but if you stop to consider you’ll see the truth of it.
Really…stop and consider…
How we speak of our exodus rom the South…
Of Sister Moses swinging low on that sweet chariot…
Of the Hebrews 400 years and ours…
Dr. King on the Mountaintop.
The Exodus is ever-present at the critical moments of our story…silently defining our identity as Black people in America and subconsciously conditioning how we interact with the culture.
But what if it’s the wrong narrative?
Clearly our conditioning hasn’t gotten us to the Promised Land. Clearly this narrative has no value anymore. It isn’t something to which we refer and from which we draw strength to endure.
From where is the hope to come?
I think there’s a better narrative upon which to form our identity. I think you’ll see some things in the story of Joseph that will make you agree.
I certainly think we need a good narrative right now…something that reminds us of the Charge to Keep we Have.
Real hope comes from believing the promises of God. And for us to really believe those promises, we have to understand why the God Who made those promises would allow us to suffer as a people, as we have…don’t you agree?
So…that’s what we will look at this coming Sunday, August 9, 2020 at 9:30AM EST on JahBread TV. Again, I really do hope to see and share with you then!
The Revised Common Lectionary readings appointed for the day can be found here. I will be focusing on the Genesis reading – Chapter 37:1-28.
Bless up yourselves Beloved! Our only Master sees and knows. And unlike the masters from our earthly bondage, our Lord could never abide such injustice to one of His children – much less to an entire family of His children – unless it was part of a Divine Plan with Christ Incarnate implications!
Let us come to understand His purpose in all things, that we might get in formation!
