On Sunday, Pastor of Epiphany Fellowship Church in Philadelphia, Dr. Eric Mason preached a sermon from a series he has entitled ‘Cancel Culture’ in an uncharted location in Philadelphia. He was preaching from what he called ‘ground zero‘ of brokenness in Philadelphia; Dr. Mason even mentions why he kept looking around, and even addressed someone telling them “I’m talking about reparations for black people.” He said, “Christians shouldn’t be the ones cancelling culture, we should be the ones engaging culture.” The focus in his sermon was reparations and preached from Luke 19:1-10 (the passage about Zacchaeus the tax collector).
A Biblical Case for Reparations
“Africans were released from slavery without any counseling, without any economic plan, without any opportunity…but left out there in a way that we would say wasn’t restorative for them being kidnapped by their kidnappers…and imported into this country as an import versus an immigrant,” Dr. Mason started off saying before stating his only point of the sermon, ‘Initiating correcting the effects of sin on others is a strong fruit of conversion‘.
He explained from the passage that the interaction Jesus had with Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus’ repentant and immediate reaction, emphasizing verse 8: And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Dr. Mason taught that he’s not saved by giving to the poor (verse 9) but because of the response from the encounter he had with Jesus. Then pointed out immediately, “His repentance bears fruit!” He showed that Zacchaeus went beyond general alms giving (an offering), and said for anyone he had extorted he’d pay back four times as much. Dr. Mason then pointed out, “it wasn’t just enough to show that he had changed (salvation), but also to correct something that he did.” He said that the word ‘extort’ is the exegetical springboard for understanding our reparations.
“This exegetical statement here is powerful, because it says to oppress someone, and cheating them, and extorting them…who’s more extorted than black people in America,” he asked. Black people in America were extorted because “we gave you 256 years of free labor with nothing but poor eating, and poor places to stay,” referring to the years of slavery and the current situations of many black people today.
When people say black folk is lazy, I’m like we sure built the country on some lazy people huh?
The idea of paying back four times as much is an Old Testament principle, and he cited Exodus 22:1 as an example. Dr. Mason used Numbers 5:7 to show why Zacchaeus was willing to pay above and beyond what he took so he could help catch a person up, showing how repented he was for the sins he had committed. “This is what reparations does,” he explained, “What would their life be like, if I didn’t interfere with their advancement…restitution thinks that way.” Proverbs 14:9 and Exodus 22:12 were also quoted.
Generational Restitution
Dr. Mason quoted Ezra 1:4 showing that the children of Israel received restitution; the silver, gold, and livestock were for the people, the offerings for the house of God. He said, “it would be unjust to send them back to their land without anything to be able to begin to build their own independent economy.”
There’s nothing that’s been done in this country comprehensively as a system, beyond a ‘handout’ versus a ‘hand-up’ to help there to be economic independence among black people.
Reparations in Exodus 12:35-36 is a direct result of the Israelite’s protesting Pharaoh to let God’s people go, he explained. “Jesus in verse 9 of Luke 19 connects Zacchaeus’ willingness to pay reparations as a sign that he had been changed by the gospel.” Dr. Mason asked how many listening to me are saying racism doesn’t exist, and pointed out those who say it ‘wasn’t me’ I don’t need to pay reparations. “If you are resisting restitution for black people because of what’s happened in this country. You may want to check your justification monitor.”
The gospel isn’t just a message that changes the soul, it is the power of God to change everything. So reparations fits in the scope of the gospel.
Dr. Eric Mason then gave some history of when and how America has paid reparations, which can be seen here, and showed how he says, “America has slapped black people in the face because of the inequitable ways they’ve been treated.”
The church should be leading the reparations effort because the slaves ships that came over here that were led by people who were calling themselves Christians.
Reparations That Blacks Need
He explained reparations have to be “comprehensive because the offenses were everything from emotional to economic, (and) the gospel demands that we do that.” He said that reparations first includes public confession and repentance for active and compliant role in destroying black people…”I think the church needs to start this off, just as Nehemiah did in his day. Praying and asking for forgiveness for sins he didn’t commit specifically, but benefited off of.” Dr. Mason continued what the next reparation should be, “Admitting that racial injustice still exists and needs to be addressed.” The next was the need for physiological reparations, “Admitting slavery still effects us. You need to pay for counseling for us, we need help!” The next was the need for economic reparations, “We need an economist to help so it’s restorative, and not just us throwing money at people. Having a land initiative and housing initiative.” The next one he listed was educational reparations, “Investing what has lack in economics in schools and black communities.”
HBCU’s Funded for the Next 200 Years
Dr. Mason thinks that HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) should be funded for the next 200 years, as well as descendants of slaves should not have to pay for college for the next 200 years. He said that reparations should include cancelling every black person’s student loan debt and repay the blacks who have already paid for their student loans. His next reparation was “telling the history properly…for it to tell the real American story, so (black) people won’t look crazy when we bring up our racial past.” Dr. Mason gave an example of how he’d like to see that happen which included black churches receiving faith-based funding so that they could build black institutions in the black community, “because the black church has always been the mainstay of helping black people do that for the last 250 years.”
We need reparations to repair. We’re not asking for a handout. Black people have built this country from the beginning. Black people have made America…America from the beginning, and it’s just time to begin compensating black people comprehensively for whats been left out over time.
Jesus Will Bring Peace on Earth
“Now I’m not saying reparations will bring peace on earth, Jesus will bring peace on earth.” he said as he closed and finished by exhorting everyone listening to move forward in this great act that he calls ‘Restorative Justice’.