ARE YOU A DAVID???

Some of us, didn't get to choose whether we were a David or a Uriah--destiny appointed us to be a Uriah. And, naturally-speaking, we remain Uriah until David does the right thing regarding us.

"Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, who refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.”

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.”

Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.

Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight.You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ ”

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” 

“The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.” [2 Samuel 12:1-14, BSB]

This is written to White Evangelicals. I love y'all, but as the Lord said in the Revelation, "Nevertheless I have this against you...". You refuse to acknowledge what is right before your eyes, and until you do, and repent, there will be NO revival in this land. God is grieved by the racism that you have allowed to walk boldly into His Body under the guise of righteousness, and be comfortable among you, while alienating your brethren.

Any mention of the sin of your fathers--and by extension you, causes you to attack rather than listen. Just as the sins of the father are visited upon the children; so are the pains and agonies of our ancestors visited upon us. 

We still bear the chains, the rapes, the abuses, the forced free labor of the past--still without compensation, deep within us; continually perpetrated today. You refuse to see any difference in opportunities afforded. When you speak of your upbringing--your average middle class upbringing compared to the average upbringing of your black and brown counterparts, you still don't get it--and it's exhausting, frankly. Our parents worked hard, went to school, followed all the rules, yet we never had vacation homes, and we for the most part remained in the inner city--in fact, we weren't allowed in the Levittown's of America, when I was growing up. Redlining insured that we stayed in our place and insured de facto segregation, and certainly segregation come Sunday morning. Even when we had the money, we couldn't buy the car we wanted, eat where we wanted or stay in hotels for many years. Our churches and homes were burned down--even whole towns. When are you going to care about the things that pain us? The Tulsa's, The Rosewood's, and so many more, I'm learning. Many have been covered up, but the light is being shone on the deeds of the past.

And as I listen to you speak with such ownership of all things American, I'm baffled. When I hear ignorant statements such as affirmative action is reverse discrimination or the one I was told last year, in the midst of all of the civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd--"if black people get what they want, then we [white people] lose out, and I don't want to give anything up". Here's what's so ridiculously wrong with that statement. Who built this nation [wasn't the Rockefeller's and the Carnegies]? Who did this nation belong to in the first place [Natives]? Who built the railroads [the Chinese]? Who built the cities, the monuments, the roads [black slaves]? Who grew your crops--many of which were brought from Africa aboard slave ships and you are still enjoying them today? Who nursed your babies? Who invented much of what you commonly use, today. Who picked your cotton, your sugar cane, your tobacco before your sugar cane and cotton--all while being tortured.

Any gains that black Americans made, in terms of land--if it was of any value, it was stolen by unscrupulous practices, eminent domain, and all manner of diabolical tactics. But, it's our fault that we are behind, right? And, when you arrived on the shores of Massachusetts, all hell broke loose for the Indigenous people who were already here--and it hasn't stopped for them either. How do you discover something, that is already inhabited? White people brought them disease, stole from them, and shoved them off the lands they knew and cared for and slaughtered countless numbers of them. The Chinese came to build the railroads and you abused them. Americans of Japanese descent were stripped of homes and property and forced into internment camps during WWII. And, I haven't even mentioned immigrants--or as the Old Testament refers to them, "the stranger among you" even as those sacred words command you to give them shelter and ensure that they have sustenance.

Black and brown people are still fighting for the right to vote and have those votes count, not be lynched, given equal justice under the law, and the right to protest peacefully. When we protest, we are met with riot gear and gassed. When you riot, kill and vandalize the capital--it's unjust if you face punishment.

Why are you fighting so hard to keep your children from hearing historical truths? Is it because you know they will behave better than you have? It's so sad to see so much hatred, but I recognize that it is generated by fear. The fear in you exists because you expect those you have harmed to treat you as harshly as you have treated us. 

The truth is, we don't want that. We want reconciliation and harmony, but you keep fighting it. You know what? "Perfect love casts out fear". 

Come, and sit down at the table. Talk to us, and more importantly, listen. We need you, and believe it, or not, you need us.