“By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows, there we hung our lyres… O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us. Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.”

Psalm 137:1-2,8-9, ESV

What are we to make of and what’s the value, if any, of such a difficult text? And what’s a biblical response to America’s prevalent history of black oppression and systemic racism? They’re actually not unrelated questions. And if you want faithful and substantive answers to both, as well as plenty of practical guidance on related topics, the best place I’ve found to date is Reading While Black (IVP, 2020) by Esau McCaulley.

Although I’m skeptical about what my lab, Sydney, got out of it, here are a few of my favorite insights:

Biblical authority & our questions and challenges:

“For those of us who want to continue to affirm the ongoing normative role of the Bible in the life of the church, it will not do to dismiss the concerns raised about the Bible from many quarters. The path forward is not to return to the naivete’ of a previous generation, but a journeying through the hard questions while being informed by the roots of the tradition bequeathed to us. I propose instead that we adopt the posture of Jacob and refuse to let go of a text until it blesses us. Stated differently, we adopt a hermeneutic of trust in which we are patient with the text in the belief that when interpreted properly it will bring a blessing and not a curse. This means that we do the hard work of reading the text closely, attending to historical context, grammar, and structure.” (21)

How the Bible questions and challenges us:

“If our experiences pose particular and unique questions to the Scriptures, then the Scriptures also pose unique questions to us. Although there are some experiences that are common to humanity, there are also some ways in which the Bible will pose particular challenges to African Americans. For example, the themes of forgiveness and the universal kinship of humanity are both a boon and trial for Black Christians because of the historic and ongoing oppression of Black people in this country.”

Why being “color blind” is a poor and unbiblical answer to racial and ethnic divisions:

• “I want to find out whether God saves me from my blackness (the colorblind kingdom model) or whether my blackness is a unique manifestation of the glory of God.” (23)
• “God’s vision for his people is not for the elimination of ethnicity to form a colorblind uniformity of sanctified blandness. Instead God sees the creation of a community of different cultures united by faith in his Son as a manifestation of the expansive nature of his grace. The expansiveness is unfulfilled unless the differences, are seen and celebrated. Not as ends unto themselves, but as particular manifestations of the power of the Spirit to bring forth the same holiness among different peoples and cultures to the glory of God.” (107)
• “When God finally calls the dead to life, he calls them with their ethnic identity intact (Rev. 7:9).” (135)

The place of “mourning” for Christians in our public witness:

“To mourn is to care. It is an act of rebellion against one’s own sins and the sins of the world… We do not simply mourn the sins of the world. We mourn our own greed, lusts, and desires that allow us to exploit others. Sin is more than exploitation, but it is certainly not less. A theology of mourning never allows us the privilege of apathy.” (65)

Does forgiveness mean putting up with serious abuse?

This call to transform rage into love and forgiveness can be misheard. It can be heard as a means of justifying continued abuse and acquiescing to mistreatment… willingly accepting abuse is inappropriate for Christians… the theological energy of the Bible is toward liberation. The exodus speaks of freedom from slavery and the New Testament speaks in numerous places about freedom from sin. God does not intend for his people to remain in bondage forever. Therefore, it is appropriate for those suffering unjustly to forgive their enemies from a distance if necessary. We do not have to stay.” (132-133)

Is world peace possible and, if so, what’s its source?

“What brings the warring parties of the world together is not the emergence of a new philosophy of government; it is not free-market capitalism, communism, socialism, or democracy. It is a person: the root of Jesse… the Bible calls on us to develop a theological imagination within which we can see the world as a community and not a collection of hostilities. It does so by giving us a vision of a person who can heal our wounds and dismantle our hostilities.” (129)

Resurrection, forgiveness, and the cross:

“Without the resurrection, the forgiveness embedded in the cross is the wistful dream of a pious fool. But I am convinced that the Messiah has defeated death. I can forgive my enemies because I believe the resurrection happened. I am convinced the God who had the power to judge me did not. Instead he invited me into communion with his Son and through that union with the Messiah I discover the resources to love that I did not possess before. When anger is victorious in my own heart it never defeats God.” (134)

What if I still get angry about things that were done to me or others, and can’t seem to fully forgive?

• “It is the duty of survivors to remember…Traumatized communities must be able to tell God the truth about how they feel. We must trust that God can handle those emotions. God can listen to our cries for vengeance, and as the one sovereign over history he gets to choose how to respond. Psalm 137 does not take power from God and give it to us. It is an affirmation of his power in the midst of deep pain and estrangement.” (125-126)
• “There are times when I look at the present and the historic suffering of my people and I feel closer to Psalm 137 than Luke 23:34 (‘Father, forgive them’). That is fine because I am not yet fully formed into the likeness of Christ, and Psalm 137 is part of the canon for a reason. This side of the second coming there will continue to be Babylons. And as long as there is a Babylon, the oppressed with weep beside the willows.” (133)