2/16/64

Scripture: Read Isaiah 58: 1-12.

Text: Isaiah 58: 12b; "... you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in."

Henry Smith Leiper is one of those men who have a gift for making facts vivid. Here is his way of giving some facts about the population of this old world. He notes that there are approximately 3 billion people on the earth. That is too many to imagine! So try thinking of a smaller group to represent them --- say one thousand. Leiper says:

"When we compress the three billion people into a group of 1,000 persons living in a single town, here the contrasts become vivid and a little frightening. Sixty persons of that 1,000 would represent the US population; all others would be represented by the 940. The 60 Americans would have half the total income of the entire town; the 940 the other half.

"Thirty six of the 60 Americans would be Christian church members, and 24 would not. In the whole town, 300 would be Christians, 700 would not. At least 80 would be believing Communists, and 370 would be under the domination of Communists.

"Three hundred and three people in this town of 1,000 would be white, 697 would be non-white. The 60 Americans would have a life expectancy of 70 years, while all of the other 940 would average under 40. The Americans would have fifteen and one-half as much per person as all the rest. They would produce 16% of the town’s total food supply, eat up all but one and one-half percent of that total supply, and keep most of it for their future use in expensive storage equipment. The 940 others would always be hungry and not quite know when or if they would have enough to eat. The 60 Americans would have 72% more food than the optimum requirements daily. More than one half would have never heard of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but very soon more than one half will be hearing of Karl Marx."

There, in a few sentences, is Leiper’s summary of a lot of facts concerning us people on the planet earth. And while we are trying to take in those facts, we might take a swift look at the world through the eyes of Frank Jennings, who says:

"Our world is only 90 minutes in circumference and soon a pair of human eyes will be able to look upon a hemisphere. The mind behind those eyes must see more than topography, more than tactical vantage points. It must see people in all their variety, the commonality of their needs, the similarity of their aspirations. That mind must be educated in the discipline of compassion, the logic of brotherhood, and the literature of social hope."

Well, it is easily apparent that there are not only many people on the earth, but many kinds of us people. There are people like the African tribesmen, described last Wednesday evening by Bishop Alton at the Union Service. There are people like those of the Far East who know that they inherit a culture far older than ours. There are people who suppose that their own country offers all that really matters, and there are people who appreciate the contributions to common welfare that come from many nations. There are people whose skins are so light as to be called "white" and there are far more people whose skins may be described as brown, yellow, black or even red. There are people whose religious preference is Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Jewish, Christian, Shinto, or nature worship. There are people who like democracy in government and there are people who believe it won’t work. But the fact remains that we are all people, and that we have a common brotherhood.

Probably you have read many times, as I have, the prayer of our Lord as reported in the gospel of John, the 17th chapter. When we get to the 20th verse, we find these words: "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who are to believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee; that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me. The glory which Thou has given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and Thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that Thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as Thou hast loved me."

I have always thought of that prayer as having been offered by Jesus for his immediate disciples and for those who would also become disciples. The prayer has often been quoted as evidence that Christ’s church should be one, because Jesus wanted it that way, and prayed that it should be so. But John Baillie has come up with a further suggestion. Baillie seems to feel that this prayer could easily be interpreted as a plea for the unification of all mankind in a sense of common brotherhood. Among Christian doctrines, he refers to one which does not often explicitly appear -- namely the doctrine of the unity of mankind. This is really one of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion, a basic contribution of Christianity to the process of human thinking.

Everyone knows that Christianity teaches the unity of God. "There is only one God, and Him only shall you serve." But the world does not so clearly understand that Christianity teaches, at the same time, the unity of man. Baillie believes that these two doctrines -- the unity of God and the unity of man -- are as closely interdependent as it is possible for two doctrines to be.

The unity of God can never be properly understood except as it is brought into intimate relationship with the thought of the human race. And the human race can scarcely be thought of as a unity except in relationship to the worship of one God. Christian teaching on this matter, as in other things, rests upon the foundation of the Jewish Old Testament.

You remember how, in Hebrew Old Testament thinking, the whole human race is thought of as issuing from one pair, Adam and Eve. There were Semites and Hamites and the sons of Japheth. But their ancestors were brothers in a single household, according to the Jewish thought. "And the whole earth was of one language." [Genesis 11: 1]. "And the Lord said, ‘Behold the people is one." [Genesis 11: 6].

But then there came the confusion of tongues in the building of the Tower of Babel, symbolizing the division of humanity. [Genesis 11: 1-9]. The Hebrews apparently regarded this as a tragic situation, which could never be set right until the broken unity should be restored in the worship of the one true God.

The proper unity of man is the theme, not only of Old Testament lore, but also in New Testament concern. Here is this prayer which the writing in John’s gospel reports. It was while Jesus and his close friends were together in an upper room, before they went out to the garden of Gethsemane, that Jesus prayed -- first for himself, then for the little band of his original disciples. Then he finally adds: "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who are to believe in me through their word." [John 17: 20]. Is he not, in this third part of the prayer, praying for all of us, for you and me, and for all those who, in later days, have been reached or may be reached by his word?

And the prayer is that we all may be one. If we sometimes become uneasy or unhappy about the denominational division of the churches, we may be more distressed over our secular divisions. Our barriers of nationality, class, race and party invade our Christian fellowship and make mockery of the unity we profess to enjoy.

The one who realized the full implications of Christian unity more fully than any of the original twelve apostles was Paul. To Paul, it was as clear as could be that the first great barrier which must be overcome was the Jewish exclusion of Gentiles. He was, himself, a Jew of strict upbringing, a true Pharisee. But he set himself the task of persuading fellow Jews that Christ’s message was not for them alone, but for all others, Gentiles, as well. Addressing the Gentiles in Ephesus, Paul writes: "But now in Christ Jesus, you who were sometimes far off are made near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us, that he might reconcile both to God in one body ..." [Ephesians 2: 13-16].

The idea of the unity of mankind under the one God is an old Hebrew idea in history. And it is revitalized in New Testament Christianity. If, then, this is basic Christian doctrine --- that we people are supposed to be united --- how can we go about doing something for this brotherhood?

Last Sunday we did some talking, and serious thinking, about race relations. particularly here in the United States of America. But there are other aspects of human relationship to be dealt with as well.

One area in which we have long allowed ourselves to be divided is that of religion. Some Christians have long had an adverse prejudice against Jews. It is based partly on the notion that it was Jews who killed Jesus, and that all Jews, through the nineteen and one-half centuries since, have shared in that guilt. It is true that there were some Jewish leaders who desired Jesus’ death. It is also true that the actual crucifixion of Jesus was carried out by Gentile soldiers. It is further true that Jesus’ original disciples or apostles were Jews who became his followers. So the cruel term, "Christ-killer," is justified only by one limited set of facts, and it is wrong to charge the great tragedy against all Jews of today. Some base their adverse prejudice against Jews on the loyalty of many Jews to their own religious tradition, forgetting that the Hebrew’s religion is in many ways a forerunner of the Christian faith, and the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, a part of the Christian Bible. Jews are sometimes called "clannish" by those who forget the restrictions and ghettos forced upon Jews by their own Gentile forebears.

A Christian need not become a Jew in order to appreciate the values in the Jewish religion, its great emphasis on family and personal integrity, its emphasis on justice and fair play.

The world has not yet seen the end of a vicious kind of prejudice such as that which moved the Nazis to exterminate six million Jews a couple of decades ago. Now there is evidence of anti-Jewish policy and practice in the Soviet Union where no Jewish books on religion have been printed since 1920; practically no one can train as a Rabbi; the articles used in Jewish training and worship can not be made or sold; the Nazi persecution of Jews has never been publicized; the practice of the Jewish faith is even more severely restricted than that of the Christian faith.

We are under an obligation to God and our fellow men to treat a neighbor’s religion with respect, even though we disagree with it and prefer our own. We will do well to judge a person for his or her own personal worth, rather than dismiss that one by classification as though to say, "He is a Jew," described everything worth noting in the person.

Some years ago, a young man who was then in law school wrote to me that one of his greatest challenges was to value each person for his or her own individual worth rather than to classify people by groups. We are brothers under God.

A minister whom I once knew carried, for a time, a letter in his pocket which both amused and sobered him. The letter came from a Filipino man who had some trouble with his use of the English language. Having heard the expression "Brethren in the Lord," this Filipino man had undertaken to use the expression as a salutation to my ministerial friend. But the salutation came out this way: "Dear Bother to God:" We had several good laughs over that; and also a bit of sober reflection of the prophetic possibility that many of us may be a bother to God’s purposes rather than a brother to others under His Fatherhood.

Fortunately there has been a disposition, in recent years, to get more conversation going between Christians and Jews that can lead to understanding of, and respect for, each other, without "watering down" or abandoning the faith that each of us has.

One of the hopeful facts of our life in 1964 is the possible improvement in Protestant-Catholic relationships. A long stride has been taken in this direction by the atmosphere in which Vatican Council I and Vatican Council II have been conducted. Protestant observers have been not only invited, but included in the discussions and given choice seats and treatment in the sessions. It might take centuries for Catholic and Protestant churches to draw together in any kind of workable unity. But the churches of both Catholic and Protestant faiths are on the move, and there is a strong disposition to try for better understanding of each other through frank discussion and dialogue.

At the close of Minister’s Week in Chicago last month, Mr. Minnick and I found ourselves in a meeting at which there was not only able reporting of the thinking that has emerged from the Vatican Councils, but Cardinal Meyer of the Chicago Catholic diocese actually participated with our Protestant leaders in the conduct of a brief act of worship. It is time that we knew, more thoroughly and accurately, our own beliefs and the beliefs of each other. Brotherhood among Protestants and Catholics, among Jews and Christians, and even among those of the Judeo-Christian tradition and the other religions of the world can help to bring the healing of understanding.

Now, what else can we do for this brotherhood? We can deal with people as individuals on their own merit, rather than pigeon-holing them in generalized classes or groups. We can welcome friendship with people of all religions, races, nationalities, and vocations. We can scrupulously refrain from blaming others for our own faults, and from making others the scapegoats for the problems of society. We can challenge prejudiced statements quietly with moral principles and with facts. We can ask for proof of statements that we think are prejudiced. We can point out that religious principles and democratic ideals call for fair play to every person.

In our homes, we can give our children good examples by talking about, and acting with, people as individuals. We can give our children love and affection so that they will be secure at home and not aggressive toward others. We can back, and encourage, teachers who lead us and our children in inter-group understanding. We can encourage such presentations as that which occurred in our own church school last Sunday when a member of the Jewish community presented an explanation of her faith and customs to some of our pupils and teachers.

We can be thoughtful of others and try to be understanding of their viewpoints. Who, for instance, is a "foreigner?" Have you heard this bit of verse? [Edith Blair].

I thought that foreign children

Lived far across the sea

Until I got a letter

From a boy in Italy.

"Dear little foreign friend," it said,

As plainly as could be;

Now I wonder which is "foreign"

The other child, or me?

Our Scripture lesson this morning ended with these lines: [Isaiah 58: 26b]; "You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in."

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Let us look to God in a prayer that is adapted from Saint Francis of Assisi.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace!

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is intolerance, understanding.

O Divine Master, make me an instrument of Thy love.

---grant that I may not so much seek to be

Consoled -- as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved, as to love; for

It is in giving, that we receive;

It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned;

It is in dying, that we are born to eternal life."

Amen.

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Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, February 16, 1964.