Voting for the Least of These

In this conversation, Pastor Dylan L. Sellers addresses the intersection of faith, race, and social justice, particularly focusing on the responsibilities of Black Christians in America as they approach the upcoming national election. He emphasizes the importance of aligning voting decisions with biblical teachings, particularly Matthew 25, which outlines the need to care for the marginalized. 

Transcript

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So I said, we need to talk. It's been a minute. And I think there's some things we need to discuss. So when you're seeing this, I usually don't like try to like timestamp things or give you any real indication of like when I'm recording a thing. But the thing that we need to talk about is directly connected to the time that we live in. So when you're hearing this, it's before the national election. the presidential election that's happening here in November. So it's around October 6th. And voter registration is about to close. People are about to make their decisions. Most people already know who they're voting for, right? Cool. I'm only talking to Christians, right? People who profess the name of Christ and who happen to be living the experience of a black person in America. Okay? I wanna be very, very clear about like who I'm talking to and who I'm not. Now, you can stay and listen, by all means, please stay and listen, send it to people. But I wanna be very clear about who I'm talking to. If you are having the experience of living as black in this country, and you profess the name of Christ, we gotta have some conversations right now. All right, here we go. Get your Bible. Yeah, that's where we're going today. That's how we start the conversation. Roll over to Matthew 25, right? You wanna go to Matthew 25 and you wanna skip all the way down to verse, I don't know. We can start at around 31, right? Here's why we're starting there. Because Jesus is talking right before he's headed. to be crucified before he leaves his disciples, before he's doing this great act, he is outlining the things that need to be done in like what this kingdom thing is before he's about to go take care of business, right? And so I'm gonna read it to you and I'm gonna tell you why we doing this thing. But when the son of man comes in his glory, all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glory, all the nations will be gathered in his presence. And he will separate the people as shepherds, as sheep from goats. As a shepherd, sheep from goats. He will place the sheep at the right hand and the goats at the left. 34. Then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed by my father, and here at the kingdom prepare for you before the creation of the world. Why? For I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you cared for me. I was in prison and you visited me. Pause. This is why we need to have a conversation. Cause if I have one more conversation with a believer who is making decisions about systems that don't have to do with this list, there's a problem. Particularly if you happen to be black. Why particularly if you happen to be black? Because far too many of us are the ones who are hungry, thirsty, the stranger, naked, sick, and in prison. The people who need the thing are the people who disproportionately look like and is having an experience of being black in this country. So if you were making decisions, about who you are going to vote for and not considering this list, come here. Let's talk about it. Because when I tell you I'm frustrated, but I'm here to help, right? I'm going to draw the lines for you. So let's break this scripture down. Let's find ourselves right at 35. Okay. For I was hungry and you fed me. Right? Now you can think about this on a very micro interpersonal level, right? That you see a person who is hungry on the side of the road or you know some children who need to eat or you feed people during the holidays. That's true. But in America, why is food so expensive? Why in the neighborhood that I live in do I have to drive at least 10 minutes to get fresh produce so that I could have a salad or an apple? Why are the school lunches prepared similar to stuff that you wouldn't feed your family? that it isn't nutritious or good for them, that we're not doing that kind of work, but we give it enough for them to sustain themselves. Why isn't the food good there? Why don't the children enjoy that food? Why does it feel like we give them the leftovers? What are we doing to address hunger? Why are there any hungry people in our country at all? Come on, because we're going to keep walking, right? You're going to be real uncomfortable by the time we get to the end, but I promise it should prick your spirit enough that you're going to want to do something. And when you decide that you want to do something, I'm here to help. All right, let's keep walking. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. Hunger and thirst are different things. I can survive quite a while without food. won't survive that long without clean water. water that I can drink and quench a thirst that will help me not be dehydrated and delirious. Why don't you have access to that? Why is it difficult for people to get access to that? Why are the same people disproportionately not able to access clean water? These are the issues that are in my mind when I step into a ballot box, when I'm talking to an elected official, when I'm dealing with local politics, these are the issues because they disproportionately affect people who look like me. Furthermore, they affect poor people. we, cause he says a lot about taking care of the poor people, but we not gonna stay here. I'm talk to who I'm talking to. All right, let's keep going. I was a stranger. and you invited me into your home. into the place where you feel the safest. I was a stranger and you took care of me. without question, without needing to know my backstory, without approving it. You just saw that I was human and deserved help, so you helped. into my country. into my community. that we should be figuring out how best to do that while taking care of the people who are hungry and thirsty. We can walk and shoot bubblegum at the same time, folks. We can invite strangers in, immigrants in, and take care of the people who are here. They don't have to be mutually exclusive, and we don't have to be fighting about Let's keep going. I was naked and you gave me clothing. Here's one that you would make you uncomfortable. because it's not just giving people old rags that you don't want. They should be able to dress in the way that makes them the most comfortable. that boosts their confidence. There are those of us who get dressed in the morning sometimes. We get dressed in the morning to make ourselves feel better because if you look good, you feel good. But we don't carry that same energy when we are giving clothes away to those who need them. give you rags, but I'll wear what makes me feel good. Why is it? that there are children in our country who will walk through the winter without a coat. who don't have new shoes, that there are adults who don't have the things that they need to feel good even some of the time. These are systemic issues, not just interpersonal issues. And when you were talking about an election, these are the questions that should be rattling around in your mind. Who are the people that are most affected by these things that my savior is staking my salvation on? He is staking my salvation on helping these kinds of people. So who are they? And which one of these candidates is gonna help them the most? Let's keep going, because we got two more that we need to deal with. I was sick and you care for me. Stop. not just showing up with soup, why don't we have universal healthcare? Why is it that one of the most dangerous things that a black woman can do is give birth? Why is it that the issues that we deal with on a regular basis that children can't just go to the doctor and... and not bankrupt their household. that you can't just go to the doctor without bankrupting your household, that you have elders in your family who have to make decisions between food and prescription. Furthermore, why do we have a healthcare system that profits off you being sick? Whose decision is that? What policy decision do I need to focus on to change that outcome? And again, let me reiterate who I'm talking to. If you are black in America and profess the name of Christ, come here. We don't have options to ignore this scripture. This is ultimately about survival for us. Let's keep going. Last but not least, I was in prison and you visited me. Come here. Why do you stop seeing people who happen to be incarcerated as less than human? What triggered in your mind, who taught you that they were less than? That they should be treated like animals? That they shouldn't be fed well? That they shouldn't have a say in the elections that affect their families? Who told you that? Why do you believe that? Jesus Suggest to me that going and visiting these people to visit is to be present with to care about the well-being of Not just writing a letter. The whole system itself is about punishment in our country and not about rehabilitation. Maybe they did do something wrong. Maybe they did, but far too often in my community, it's my babies that they're locking up. That sends them on a trajectory to be incarcerated the rest of their lives. So am I just forfeiting my future? instead of doing everything in my power to make sure that the juvenile justice facility is empty. Therefore going forward that they won't be in these other places in these prison systems. And then the ones who are in prison systems, shouldn't they be treated humanely? Shouldn't they have to deal with and be able to have access to mental health facilities, health care? They're human, like us. Furthermore, disproportionately, they look like us. So which one of these candidates, which one of these people, which one of these parties are best aligned to deal with these issues? I'm not expecting you, come here, I'm not expecting you to be a political expert. That's not your job. Right? What I am expecting you to do is to hold a politician accountable to the things that we're supposed to care about. This scripture is eschatological. What does that mean? This is a conversation about heaven or hell. This is about where you're going. This is about who you with. It has salvific implication. Meaning if I'm not doing this, you don't believe me. Maybe you've never read the scripture. Let's continue reading. I'm going to read it to you really quick. Then the king turned to the left away with you cursed ones into the eternal fire, prepare for the devil and his demons for I was hungry and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty and you didn't give me anything to drink. was a stranger and you didn't invite me in. I was naked and you didn't give me clothing. I was sick and in prison and you didn't come see about me. Because whatever you do to the least of these, that's the word. Whatever you do to the least of these, you have done to me. He was talking about himself, savior, Jesus, the one we just got done praising here on Sunday morning. Whatever you did to the least, you did to me. How did you take care of the least? Here's one that I'm gonna tuck in here for free for all of the people who are obsessed with abortion and LGBT rights. Come here. Where did it say, make sure they're not gay? You can go ahead and, where did it say, make sure they aren't trans, make sure they're living the life the way that I need them to live. Where did it say, make sure that they're Christian? Make sure that they never had an abortion or ever considered it. Where did it say that? Where did it say I was sick, but I had an abortion, so don't worry about that sickness. That's something else. I don't have to deal with that. That women healthcare issue, that's not a thing that I have to deal with. No, no, no. I was sick and you didn't take care of me. If in your Christian mind, in your black Christian mind. You have allowed people to let you believe that the only thing that we should care about as believers, or if somebody is gay, or if somebody can have an abortion, you have been tricked. bamboozled, led astray, run amok. You have been led away from what the scripture tells you because that's what you care about, What the scripture tells you, you should be working on. That's how I will know you did good work here. So okay, Dylan, you brow beating us. All right, all right, I hear you. So what you want me to do? I need you to read. I need you to ask relevant questions. need you to not slip into conspiracy theories. I need you to pay attention to what is happening around you. I need you to not just take what some right-wing preacher has told you. Some Christian nationalist who don't care nothing about you anyway. I need you to remember that God didn't make a mistake making you black and knew that you would be in this time and that it would have implications on how people would treat you. that in this country you happen to be part of the least of these. But praise God that you find yourself in America that in the least of these, they have a say in what the most of them do. So come here, you gotta vote. But that's just the start. You do have to vote. In November, you need to be cast in a ballot. You need to know what's on your ballot. There are tools to help you figure out what's on your ballot. I've developed one for you to use. It's called the black file. You can have it. I'll put it in a link somewhere where you can see it. That'll give you some information, but you need to go forward understanding. I don't have to be a political expert to be a political advocate. Say it with me. I don't have to be a political expert to be a political advocate. I only have to be an expert in my experience and the experience of the people around me. And then you are to hold people accountable who you put in these places of power, not just the president. mayor, the city council reps, the county council reps, the governor, senators, representatives, legislative branch, judicial branch. You have to be interrogating. Find yourself a political home. with some people who are caring about these issues, not necessarily reading them from your Bible, but you better be hearing about what's happening to people who are hungry. You better be hearing about people who can't clothe themselves, the people who are sick, the people who are shut up in these prisons, our children, our elders, you better be listening for those key words. What are you doing for the least of these? That's where you find a political home. What am I doing for the least of these? You find that political home, you get engaged, you support those political homes, be it your black church, be it the NAACP, be it the Urban League, be it some other local organization that you might find near you that are dealing with these issues, that are spending their days that the leadership is not just throwing parties, but doing work. that are not just saying things to make you feel good. but you can actually catch them doing good. my rant. Hello, 30 minutes is up. Let me give you the highlights. If you need Bible, Jesus seems to care very deeply about who he refers to as the least of these. Disproportionately in this country, black people happen to be the least of these. He did not say or suss out who the least of these have to be in order for you to help them. He say anything about don't help the gays because they sinful. He didn't say nothing about don't help the whoremongers who are destroying communities. He didn't say nothing about don't help the drug dealer. Didn't say nothing about don't help the woman. who has made different choices than you would have made, didn't say anything about that. He said the least of these, the people on the margin, and then outline them for you. worry about them, find a political home, and don't be quiet. Go forth. and do everything you can to make sure that you happen to be the group on the right. When Jesus comes back and he parts that sky, you can say, I did everything in my power to take care of them. That's all I have to say about that.