Week 17: It's Not Safe to be Black on Thursdays

Scripture: John 18:1-8

After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.”

It’s Not Safe to Be Black on Thursdays

I am aware of the amount of shock that a sermon with this title could cause to the hearts of many, but this is a circumstantial reality that many of us have to deal with every day and I think it is one that cannot go unaddressed. To be sure, I am not arguing that it is only unsafe to be black on a Thursday because, for blacks, it is unsafe every day. We lament over the rough reality of the apprehension and arrests of Male Suspects of Ebony Hue, who have committed no crime that could be recorded. To be arrested for simply being present in a space that should be welcoming, and actually is welcoming to everyone but you. You weren’t doing anything illegal, nor were you attempting to disturb anyone near you. It also hurts that simply because of who you are and not because of anything you’ve done, there are people who have a great hatred and disdain for you. It hurts to think that this is truly going on, but what hurts more is that you probably think I’m talking about Jesus’s arrest but in reality I am referring to the Two Young Black Men who were arrested for being in a place where they should have been welcomed. On Thursday, April 12, 2018; two young men were arrested in a Starbucks for allegedly “trespassing” due to them not purchasing anything from their store.

This may seem like one instance to you, but the reality is that there are many of instances that Blacks have suffered under the hands of those who have sworn to protect and serve us. I know you’re wondering, what does being Black have to do with a Thursday? I’m so glad you asked! It has everything to do with it because:

·         It was on Thursday, December 1, 1955 that Rosa Parks was arrested.

·         It was on Thursday, April 4, 1968 that Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated.

·         It was on Thursday, December 4, 1969 that Fred Hampton was assassinated.

·         It was on Thursday, December 4, 1969 that Mark Clark was assassinated

·         It was on Thursday, July 17^th 2014 that Eric Gardner was murdered.

·         It was on Thursday, November 20, 2014 that Akai Gurley was murdered

·         It was on Thursday, March 22^nd 2018 that Danny Ray Thomas was murdered.

·         It was on Thursday, April 12, 2018 that two Unnamed men were arrested in Starbucks  

These Thursdays give us a frightening reality and to make matters worse they come every week. These may be the ones that are public, but all of us have experienced a terrible Thursday. To be honest, many of us only make it through a Thursday with the thought that Friday is on the other side. But I know a Thursday, that is followed by Friday you wouldn’t believe. A Thursday that Shonda Rhimes and her TGIT lineup couldn’t fix. That terrible Thursday that I am referring to begins in John 13. John 13 is the very chapter that discusses Jesus’s last supper with his friends. This text is taking place on a day when Jesus’s purpose is getting ready to come to fruition. Jesus had an inclination that his life was coming to an end very soon and decided to have a dinner with the people whom he was closest to. So, on Thursday (also known as Maundy Thursday), Jesus had a last meal with all of his friends gathered. At this meal, Jesus gave us the gift of communion.

Communion (or Eucharist), based upon this depiction, is a gathering of a community to eat a meal in common in the remembrance of the person who brought them (or us) all together. Communion, is literally, a community uniting together for a particular occasion or purpose. It is an opportunity to have fellowship with other like-minded individuals. To this day, we gather around the table (or in some cases, walk down aisles) as a community gathered in remembrance of Jesus Christ for the Eucharist. But the reality that we all face with the institution of communion and its continuity is that there are people who don’t have the heart and mind of Christ that are eating at the table with us. But regardless of the fact that the one who would cause Jesus to die was in their midst, Jesus would feed them and give them drink. Jesus departs from His disciples to pray alone, while they too were supposed to be praying. The reality is that while all the disciples were supposed to be praying, Judas was out betraying. It was Judas! The same Judas Iscariot that walked with Jesus for the entirety of his ministry.  How could Judas, who participated in this meal with Jesus, be the one who would betray Him? Judas just symbolically ate the body and drank the blood of Jesus and would become the cause for the blood to be shed. How could you Judas? How could you walk alongside someone and go out of your way to privately betray them? Judas, you had Jesus’s direct contact information, why didn’t you just reach out to Him if you had an issue? Was it because you wanted to be in the good graces of the Roman Empire?

Whatever Judas intentions were, he sold Jesus to the highest bidder, the Roman government. The Roman government, with their industrialized and privatized prison system, had the capacity to retain and punish anyone who had broken the law. Jesus Christ, an unarmed Black Man, who had committed no crime, who was from the hood of Nazareth, was being arrested for unidentified and unjustified crimes. Jesus was so innocent of crimes that they drug Him to five different courts in an attempt to find some charges on Him. Why? Because He’s a black man, so surely he’s committed a crime or two, right? You’ve seen this before, it is typically seen when a black person is killed by a Police Officer and in the search for a justifiable claim to the murder, our society slanders the name of the victim. The only thing is that Jesus is truly innocent! Except, for Him Being Black on a Thursday. Nevertheless, Jesus was going to be arrested. But Jesus takes control of the situation here because he could’ve just let them take him but he doesn’t. Although Judas was prepared to hand Jesus over, the text teaches us that Jesus was prepared to go to Calvary.

As the soldiers and Judas are approaching, Jesus steps up and ask them who are you looking for? Jesus knowing that they were looking for him, put himself on the line in order to protect the rest of the disciples. When they responded that they were looking for “Jesus of Nazareth”, Jesus responded “I am HE”, so let them go. This text teaches me something and it is that in the midst of my insecurity, Judas-Like betrayal and breach of safety, I can hide behind the Lord who will sacrifice Himself to save me!  That may not be good news for somebody, but on a Thursday where I had no hope of a future Jesus stood up for me and said “Let these men Go”. He took on the death alone that we all should have shared together but decided, in an effort to fulfill scripture, that He would save us even though it meant that He had to die. So in this instance, Jesus had to sacrifice his life to ensure that His family would survive. In the midst of Judas like betrayal, Christ looks beyond the situation to protect a people whom he knows are unsafe. So I simply remind you that in order for it to be safe for Blacks on a Thursday, there must be some work done to ensure our safety.

·         It won’t be safe to be black on Thursday until all people can stand with all people

·         It won’t be safe to be black on Thursday until justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

·         It won’t be safe to be black on Thursday until the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.

·         It won’t be safe to be black on Thursday until the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

·         It won’t be safe to be black on Thursday until the small and the great are there, and the slaves are free from their masters.

·         It won’t be safe to be black on Thursday until ALL people act as the Good Samaritan

·         But until this all takes place here, I know a place where it is safe for all people on Thursday. So I join in with the hymn-writer and say:

Some bright morning when this life is over

I'll fly away

To that home on God's celestial shore

I'll fly away

I'll fly away, oh glory

I'll fly away in the morning

When I die, Hallelujah by and by

I'll fly away

So let us work to make it safe to be Black on Thursday!