Psalm 23:1a - "The Lord is my shepherd."
The price of prejudice is high.
In fact, the price is so high that I'm going to use a fancy word to describe it. The price of prejudice is exorbitant. "Exorbitant" means "exceeding the bounds of custom, propriety, or reason, especially in amount or extent; highly excessive." Of the many definitions of exorbitant that I found, only one said anything about being fair. That's because the price of prejudice is not fair. It's exorbitant.
Just ask Donald Sterling.
It's possible that you don't know Donald Sterling because he's stolen national news at the same time as deadly tornadoes. In a nutshell, Donald Sterling is the owner-in-limbo for the Los Angeles Clippers of the world's best basketball league. A recording of him, making vicious, racist remarks was leaked to the media. Mr. Sterling has discovered that the price of racial prejudice is exorbitant. His parting gifts are a lifetime ban from the league, a fine of $2.5 million, and a forced sale of his team. Mr. Sterling thinks his penalty is not fair, so he's appealing it to a high court because he thinks his penalty is exorbitant. Hunh? Of that you are right, Mr. Sterling.
But, as exorbitant as Mr. Sterling's racial prejudice penalty is, it's nothing compared to the price of prejudice that God says some others might pay in relation to today's Bible verse, which says that the Lord is our shepherd. Ya see, there were people in Bible days who were prejudiced against shepherds. Shepherds were not only unbathed and uneducated, but they were also unable to keep the Sabbath and worship the Lord, so they were considered spiritually unclean. Therefore many people who were prejudiced toward shepherds didn't want to associate with shepherds. Unfortunately, the price of such prejudice is not just exorbitant; it's downright "out of this world."
Since the Lord Jesus is our shepherd, to be prejudiced against him and not associate with him is to keep him at arms length. And to keep him at arms length is to not receive him. And to not receive Jesus is to die an eternal death, which is like getting eaten alive by the biggest, baddest wolf. The irony is that the biggest baddest wolf is so confused by his prejudice against the shepherd that he dresses up in sheep's clothes.
Furthermore, Jesus is constantly associating with shepherd-level people like the poor, the hungry, the imprisoned, and the sick. And he says that whatever you did (or not) towards all these shepherd-level people is what you did (or not) towards Jesus.
The sum of all this is that being prejudiced not only runs the risk of missing an opportunity to serve Jesus, but it also runs the risk of missing him altogether.
And that's a price far greater than Donald Sterling has to pay a pro basketball league.
And it's a price that God wants no one to pay. So surrender to the Holy Spirit, put your faith in Jesus, and love all people as if something is at stake.
Because it is.
Put your faith in Jesus; and you'll see.
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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