I don’t claim to know much about race relations. Even if I did, I probably wouldn’t want to be taken too seriously. So, as much as I’d like to make comments on the Trayvon Martin case, I won’t. Some time has passed since the verdict, and people are still angry and resentful. Some have done certain unjustifiable acts in the name of Trayvon. I will grant that a lot of people have been very frustrated with the verdict. It seems to a lot of people that the system failed Trayvon and, for many, themselves. If you believe that, let me remind you: this wouldn’t be the first time the system has failed, and it won’t be the last. And, while I in now way will suggest that people shouldn’t be upset or frustrated or stand up for what is right, I will suggest that as followers of Jesus we must act differently by responding to a broken system with grace and forgiveness.
This thought didn’t cross my mind until I read this tweet by pastor and author Will Willimon:
Look, I don’t like (racist, uneducated) people either, but for some reason Jesus loved them to death…
— Will Willimon (@WillimonTweets) July 27, 2013
He’s right, isn’t he? It’s simple but true. I don’t like racist people. Racism bothers me. Ignorance bothers me. As it should! However, for followers of Jesus, we must remember that love, forgiveness, and grace triumphs over all. As St. Paul said it,
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. -1 Corinthians 13:8
Love isn’t turning a blind eye to evil. Love isn’t saying that where as system failed, it really didn’t. It’s standing up and saying, when a system fails, love never does. When the system of the day failed Jesus, his love never did. When the Jewish people hated the Samaritans, Jesus taught about the Good Samaritan. When the Romans hated the Jewish people, Jesus taught to love your enemies and pray for them. When the Pharisees were ignorant and claimed only God could forgive sins and—how dare Jesus try!—Jesus responded by doing something loving by healing the man with paralysis. Did Jesus ignore racism? No, but he taught of something better. Did Jesus act like ignorance didn’t exist? No, he pointed it out and did something better.
Again, I in no way want to suggest that I know anything about race relations or know everything about the George Zimmerman trial, but I would like to believe I know a little about these things and a lot about grace and forgiveness. As Scripture reminds us,
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. -Romans 5:6-8
Did you catch that? “At just the right time, when we were still powerless…while we were still sinners…Christ died for us.” While people are racist, uneducated, proponents of failed systems, Christ died for them. And it was “at just the right time.”
So, let us remind ourselves that we, without the grace of God, would be classified sinners: racists, sexists, uneducated, ignorant, evil, unjustified, wretched persons. But that didn’t stop God’s love and grace, and it shouldn’t stop ours.