RACIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY 09 02 25
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Isaiah 6. 1-end
NEW TESTAMENT READING: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
GOSPEL READING: Luke 5:1-11
The church celebrates today the Racial Justice Sunday. We celebrate Racial Justice to affirm that we are a community of people who believe that every ethnic people are all equal before God and there fore all are equal to us. We celebrate with joy that we are all created in the image of God. We all look different as different ethnic people but we share the image of God and the breath of God.
The theme for Racial Justice Sunday this year is COAT OF MANY COLOURS. This reminds us that the church is made up of different ethnicities and the world is made of different ethnic people and that is the glory of God’s creation.
God has created us in God’s image and that is so wonderful because God has created us in different colours. People in each part of the world are different. It is not just the colour that is different, languages are different, food is different, the way of dressing is different, music is different, art is different. Together, we all make such a wonderful world of God.
People are wonderful but people also have certain tendencies to differentiate people based on colour and sometimes people place those who are different to them as the other and that leads to discrimination.
The dictionary definition of racism is ‘prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized’.
Treating people differently on the basis of a bias or prejudice is a form of violence. Sometimes there is an unconscious bias operating in people, sometimes people demonstrate their bias openly. Racist behaviour could be Overt or Covert.
We heard a glorious reading from the book of prophet Isaiah in which we read about a wonderful vision that Isaiah saw. There was a heavenly scene and there were angelic hosts praising God and Isaiah sees himself as part of this heavenly splendour. Isaiah makes a initial response saying, ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’ A seraph touches his lips with a burning coal and sanctifies him. Then he hears the voice of God who calls, is there anyone who will speak on God’s behalf and represent God. Isaiah now joyfully surrenders to God saying, Here I am send me. The same attitude was shown by Peter when he saw Jesus perform a great miracle. He feels that he is up to no good. Jesus accepts him and accepts him as his disciple.
The joy of following Christ is to accept people as they are and see the good in everyone. This is the calling Jesus gives to all those who wish to follow him. We in the Diocese share in the Diocesan Anti Racism Charter which affirms the commitment of our Diocese which encourages us to be against racism and discrimination. Discriminating people on the basis of their ethnicity is a contradiction to the gospel and everything that Christian faith stands for.
On this Racial Justice Sunday we dedicate ourselves to accept people of all ethnicities as God’s children and as our brothers and sisters.