2/8/59

Scripture: Galatians 3: 13 - 4:7;

This is Boy Scout Sunday, and it comes near the beginning of National Boy Scout Week which opened yesterday with Scouts from local troops learning civic responsibility by taking part in the offices and departments of city government. We welcome the attendance of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts who have come to morning worship in recognition of their acknowledgment that a Scout is reverent, and that he does his duty to God and his country. You will notice that when a Scout repeats the Scout Oath or Cub Promise, he mentions his duty to God first and then continues immediately with mention of his duty to his country. "On my honor, I will do my duty to God and my country." And one of the duties to God is worship. It is a primary, basic obligation. And so we gladly, and approvingly, welcome Scouts in the church service, not alone in uniform on Scout Sunday, but on any Sunday of the year!

The troop which this church sponsors, is the direct descendant of the first and oldest troop in this city. It was organized as the Grand Rapids troop number 1 of the Congregational Church in the building that is across the river and which, in later years until now, has been known as the Masonic Temple. It was registered in the early fall of 1910, only 6 months after the national organization of Scouting in this country was formed. Mr. Guy Nash was the Scoutmaster, and he retained a lively interest in Scouting all of his life.

In 1919, when the Grand Rapids Scout Council was formed, the troop was registered as Troop number 2 (the Methodist church troop having registered with the local council first and hence becoming Troop 1). In 1936 this troop became Troop 72 of the Samoset Council, and in 1958 became known as Troop 172. The first Eagle Scouts in this community were a Scout named Tan Nash (who has since died) and Philleo Nash, who is now Lieutenant Governor of this State.

The Cub Pack sponsored by this church was the first pack organized in Wisconsin Rapids, and it has seen a lot of fine boys go through the cubbing program and into the Boy Scouting of Wisconsin Rapids.

One of the excellent characteristics of the Scouting program is that it is interracial in character and makeup. There are Scout troops all over this land and all over the country of many other lands. Indeed, Scouting came to this nation from another country, for it was started in England. There are English scouts, Scotch scouts, Canadian scouts, United States of America scouts, scouts in many European countries, Japanese scouts, Filipino scouts, and so on. In some parts of this country the boys of a troop come from several racial backgrounds.

I was once a committeeman for a troop whose ancestors were mostly Japanese, with some Koreans, and now and then someone of another race. That was in Hawaii.

When the last National Jamboree was held at Valley Forge, there were Scouts from all over the nation and a few from foreign countries as well. They were of many races --- but all Scouts together. A scout from Wisconsin Rapids Troop 72 took the trouble to look up the Scouts from Ehuhai Troop 9 of Hawaii and found them to be about the friendliest bunch of fellows whom one could hope to meet.

All of this leads us to the second, and main, part of this sermon. For today is Race Relations Sunday on a great many church calendars. And it is a time to consider how people of differing racial backgrounds get along together in the world, and more particularly in our nation. It is also a time to ask ourselves the question, "How ought the several races of our country get along together?" For we in this country have troubles, as well as accomplishments, in this field.

Whenever in this world people of differing racial strains live in close proximity to each other it becomes necessary for individuals of each group to ask themselves, "What is the right attitude toward individuals of another race?" And Christian people must dig deeper than that into the problem, asking of themselves, "What is the Christian way for such a one as myself to believe and act in this field of human relationships?"

We may come at once to the problem assuming that we sincerely want to have our attitudes, plans and activities governed by the teaching of Scripture, and especially by the teaching and spirit of Christ.

As we read our newspapers and magazines, and as we talk with people, it becomes fairly clear that there are some people who seem to have deluded themselves into thinking that they want to hear the voice of God in these matters, whereas they are really quite ready to listen to almost any voice except the divine Word. The voice of custom, tradition and prejudice is more easily understood than the voice of the One whom all mankind has been taught to call "Our Father in Heaven."

Some of the customs of this country are rooted in a lot of history. In the colonial days of our country many people came to these shores looking for freedom --- usually freedom in religion, sometimes freedom from objectionable political control, often freedom of opportunity.

Some people wanted this freedom so badly that, not having the means to purchase passage, they would temporarily sign away what freedom they had, agreeing to work for a time as indentured servants, if they could thereby finally become free men in a new land.

But among the freedom-loving people of this new land, there were those who were willing to purchase human beings as permanent slaves. Some shipping captains, and companies, had found that they could make a profit by raiding the tribes of Africa, capturing men and women of those tribes, and shipping them to Europe, or to America to be sold as slaves. And so many Africans, of many tribes and places on that great continent, were brought forcibly to this country and sold into slavery, to become the property of their owners. And the owners included the first President of the United States, President George Washington. Some of the owners had uneasy consciences about it, and many tried to make it partly right by treating their slaves well. Others were as cruel to their slaves as they were to any animal they owned.

After the better part of 2 centuries of this, the conscience of the nation became so far convinced that slavery was wrong, that the issue had to be fought out in the War between the States which we of the North commonly call our country’s Civil War. By the time that war was over, the slaves were legally freed by the proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln.

In July of 1958, just last year, our nation’s Census Bureau estimated that the population of the United States was approximately 174 million. Of these people, the great majority of us are what are called Caucasian or "white" folk. About 15 million are Negroes; some fewer than a half million (or 450 thousand) are American Indians; and a fifth of a million (or 200 thousand) are of Asian ancestry.

Now the ancestors of most of the 15 million Negroes were the slaves, brought forcibly to this country by white traders and sold to white owners. In the 90 or 95 years since they were freed from legal slavery, the Negro folk have had to become educated in the ways that would help them catch up with the civilization in which they move as freed men. It has not been easy. But some Negroes have succeeded brilliantly. Many others are still behind, and are trying to catch up with their time. (There are some white folk like that, too!)

The American Indians appeared for a while to be a dying race, as they were forced by the conquering white man to go onto reservations. But now they are again on the increase and are coming off the reservations into the work and life of communities like ours. Some of them succeed quite well. Others have a hard time catching up to the civilization of our time.

People of Asia have come to this country -- some as laborers, some to enter merchandising and other occupations. They are one of the minority races of this country, though a substantial part of the nation’s life. In the whole wide world they are not a minority, but are one of the great majorities in world population. In our country the people of Asiatic origin have come from the Philippines, from China and Japan and Korea, from India and Indonesia.

And then there are the Mexican folk who are one minority part or group of our nation living mostly in the southwest, but coming here to Wisconsin and elsewhere for seasonal work or occasional year-round employment.

How shall we all get along together? Shall the majority of us, whose ancestors were Caucasian, stick with ourselves and conduct ourselves as though the minority did not exist except for certain services they can perform? If the minorities feel they should realize certain rights which they do not have, should they fight for them in various ways, or can they expect justice and brotherly concern from the majority? The whole field is full of problems, and some of the problems do not have easy solutions.

Now, let us look to the Bible for a few tips or "pointers" in this field of race relationships. Must the races of mankind keep separated, or have they lived and mingled together in the centuries of Biblical history? The Old Testament is full of the self-consciousness of the Jewish people and the conviction that they are God’s chosen people. And there are many of the Jewish folk of both Old and New Testament times who felt that their race and their religious customs should be kept separate and superior.

But there were others who did not hold with that feeling. And some of those from other groups contributed a great deal to the Hebrew nation. When Joseph married, it was not a daughter of Abraham who became his wife, but Asenath, daughter of an Egyptian high priest. And their two sons, Manasseh and Ephriam, became heads of two tribes. The second wife of Moses was a dark-skinned Cushite who was of foreign race and, some scholars believe, an Ethiopian. Ruth, the wife of Boaz, was a Moabitess. And her husband was of mixed origin. Together they became ancestors of David, and of Jesus.

Uriah, first husband of Bathsheba, was a Hittite. He was one of Israel’s staunchest soldiers and was killed fighting the battles of the Hebrews.

It was an Ethiopian, Ebed-melech, who contributed much to the welfare of the southern kingdom of Judah during the fateful days of King Zedekiah. He let down ropes, and considerately provided soft clothes for padding, to the prophet Jeremiah to lift him out of the cistern prison. There was in the Old Testament more freedom to cross racial lines, in various ways, than many of us have realized.

The way Jesus dealt with Samaritans throws a great deal of light upon the question before us -- this question as to how Christians of any race, should conduct themselves toward people of other races. The population of Galilee in the north, where Jesus’ family lived, and of the south where the capital city of Jerusalem was located, was mostly Jewish. That was the race and religion of Jesus’ people. But between Galilee and Judea was the province of Samaria. Samaritans had different religious customs than had the Jews. And the Samaritans were a mixed race. There was a great deal of antipathy, and even hatred, between Jews and Samaritans. Neither like very much to deal with the other.

The Jews of Jesus’ race found the Samaritans who were partly Jewish and partly non-Jewish particularly repugnant. And the Samaritans found it mutual! There were centuries of antipathy between them. Yet Jesus dealt with Samaritans in a remarkably unprejudiced way. Beside Jacob’s well, Jesus asked a Samaritan woman, much to her surprise and that of his disciples, for a drink of water. And he talked with her at some length about spiritual matters. [John 4: 4-26]. Jesus did the unprecedented thing of living for two whole days in a Samaritan village so as to teach them about the all-inclusive Kingdom of God.

In the story of the lepers who were cleansed, Jesus helped them all -- the nine who were Jews and also the one who was a Samaritan. He did not have one type of aid for Jews and another for non-Jews. And it was the Samaritan among them who came back to Jesus to say "thank you" for his cure. [Luke 17: 11-19].

There is another account in which Jesus deliberately traveled through Samaria instead of going around it, as did some of the Jewish travelers. On the trip, Jesus and his disciples asked to stay overnight in a certain village. Because they were obviously Jews, and appeared to be headed for Jerusalem for a religious festival, they were refused lodging. The villagers could have been friendly or hostile. They chose to be hostile. Some of the disciples wanted violence. They were filled with wrath; they asked Jesus if they might call down fire from heaven to consume these people of another race. But Jesus forbade any such action or attitude. His way was one of non-violence and understanding in the midst of injury. [Luke 9: 51-56].

That is the way by which Gandhi led the people of India to their independence from Britain without violent hatred of the English. It is the way in which Negro leaders of Montgomery, Alabama, notably Martin Luther King, have finally secured the right to general seating on city buses. It is the way used by the minority race in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 and 1958. It is worth notice that while the majority race of Little Rock have used or threatened violence, the minority race has not!

Turning back for a moment to the Montgomery, Alabama story, there is now a significant book by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called "Stride Toward Freedom" in which he relates his experience. He is a son of a minister, and his father presides over a congregation much larger than his own. He is a highly intelligent man with a superior educational training. He and his wife turned their back upon the opportunity to live in the greater freedom of the North to go back among their people in the South.

When he saw the issue for desegregation in the busses arising, he tried to prepare his people for what they were asking, and to do what they were determined to do without violence or aggression. He has, himself, been threatened by phone and by mail. His home has been bombed. But his basic philosophy continues to be non-violent in a way that is no place for a coward! And these are points in his philosophy.

1) Non-violence does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but seeks to win his friendship and understanding.

2) The attack is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who happen to be doing the evil.

3) Non-violent resistance is a willingness to accept suffering without retaliation, to accept blows from the opponent without striking back.

4) It avoids not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit.

5) It is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice.

Not only was the effort of King, and other leaders, to secure desegregation of seating on busses, but to prepare their people for desegregation with decency. There was a careful attempt to prepare their Negro folk not to act like victorious passengers -- which they became, with the abolishing of segregated seating, but to act in non-violent ways. The theme of the training sessions was: "We must not go back on the buses and push people around unnecessarily, boasting of our rights. We must simply sit where there is a vacant seat."

This situation is one of those which is hopeful in this field of race relations. For some progress has been made with less violence than could have erupted. Unfortunately there was more struggle on the part of the minority than support on the part of majority. But some progress has been made. [Harriet Harmon Dexter’s book: What’s Right With Race Relations.]

Little Rock, Arkansas has had more troubles. So far as I know, there is one Congregational Church in the whole state of Arkansas. And that is a Negro congregation in Little Rock of not more than 60 members, in middle class occupations. I have met its minister several years ago, Rev. C. C. Walker. In fact we occupied a room together for a couple of days at a ministers’ meeting in Chicago. He is an able, somewhat reserved, but competent man -- a former chaplain of the U. S. Army. I have thought frequently of him and his church in connection with the struggle over school integration in Little Rock. But the headlines are made not by him but by people of my race, many of whom are determined to keep members of his race separated from mine and in a position that suggests inferiority for him and his people.

Our church, the Congregational Christian fellowship, is one that is trying to work for a desegregated church in a desegregated society. We have a long way to go, but there must be a steady effort to advance if human justice is to prevail in this, as in other areas of our country’s life.

The apostle Paul was a proud and meticulous Jew. But after his conversion by the spirit and grace of Christ, he became an advocate of brotherly understanding in the spirit. In his letter to Romans, he acknowledges: "I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians." []Romans 1: 14]. In his letter to the Galations, he wrote: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

This is not to deny that each is what he or she is; but to recognize that there are spiritual bonds on the side of minimizing the differences and bringing us into spiritual community.

This is a long study, and with more facets than can even be mentioned in so short a time as that allotted to this sermon. But one point of view from which to examine the whole field, and each of its facets and problems, is the saying of Paul -- a Christian saying: "Ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

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Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids February 8, 1959.