Cracks in the Wall

But more than that, to know Jesus is to surrender our right to decide whom we will love and whom we will hate.

Look at this story from the Jewish perspective. The Jews had many reasons to hate the Samaritans. Let me give you a brief history lesson. In 710 BC, the Northern Kingdom of Israel (or Samaria) fell into the hands of the Assyrians. Judah, the Southern Kingdom, held out until 586 BC. But the Assyrians intermarried with many Jews of Samaria. Their offspring were considered half-breeds by the "pure" Jews of the south. Besides diluting the Jewish bloodlines, these Samaritan Jews came up with their own version of the Old Testament, which omitted the Books of the Prophets. They even rejected the custom of worshipping on Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem and declared their own holy mountain, Mt. Gerizim. But the Jews' hatred of the Samaritans was really fueled by the events of 150 BC. Judas Maccabaeus and his family led a revolt against the Assyrians. They threw out the intruders and cleansed the Temple. The anniversary of this event is still celebrated today on the Jewish calendar as the feast of Hanukkah, at the time of year when we celebrate Christmas. But during the Maccabaean revolt, the Samaritans supported the Assyrians against the Jews!

Advertisement

Today many Christians harbor venomous feelings toward Muslims. After all they rewrote our scriptures, saying Jesus did not die on the cross. They put their Mohammed on our mountain. And today, some Muslims are supporting the enemies of American Christians. Why shouldn't we despise Muslims? Because Jesus passed through Samaria. God loves the Muslim people.

I once read a book that contained a chapter entitled, "Why are Christians so mean?" That got my attention. The book asserted that so many Christians are mean because we believe that the essence of Christianity is believing the right thing. If we are correct, we have the right to dislike people who believe the wrong thing — even other Christians, if their beliefs are mistaken. The author pointed out that the flaw in this logic is its premise: actually, the true essence of Christianity is taking on the character of Jesus. There can be no holiness without "Christlike"ness. Jesus passed through Samaria. Something in Jesus did not love a wall.

A friend of mine likes to say that Jesus walks through the Gospels like a kung fu expert. A wall prevented Jews from talking to Samaritans. So Jesus cried "Hyah!" and down came the wall. A wall kept lepers from entering the temple and worshiping God. "Hyah!" cried Jesus, and the wall came down. A wall of prejudice kept Gentiles from worshiping God. "Hyah!" cried Jesus, and the wall came down. A wall excluded women from worship. "Hyah!" He chopped it down. And on the day Jesus died, the very last barrier fell: the veil of the Holy of holies was rent in twain.

In coming to this table we acknowledge, to paraphrase the words of the great Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, that the line separating good and evil does not run between this race or that race, or between this religion or that religion, or between this nation or that nation. The line dividing good and evil runs right down the center of every human heart. So we all operate out of mixed and impure motives. I encourage you to bring your impure motives to the table this morning. Let Christ break down the walls in your heart.

Many of us learned a song in Sunday school that goes, "Red brown yellow black and white / All are precious in his sight . . ."

This morning let's envision all those faces around our table. Oh, the multitude of faces gathered around here is unbelievable. There are black faces, brown faces, yellow faces, red faces, white faces. With flat noses and pointed noses, black eyes, brown eyes and blue eyes, round and almond-shaped eyes. All of them, our sisters and brothers from every tribe and nation, are gathered in this morning's joyful feast of the people of God.

Let us be a congregation that does not love walls. Let us shatter the walls this morning.