ATLANTA – Rev. Raphael Warnock delivered his first sermon as a senator elected on Sunday at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, a scenario that underscores the pastor’s profound death in Georgia’s black faith community that helped ensure his victory.
“I want to talk to you about God’s victory over violence,” Warnock began his sermon, a clear reference to Wednesday’s disturbances in Washington, DC
Warnock will be Georgia’s first black senator – and only the 11th black senator in US history – while fellow Democrat Jon Ossoff will be the state’s first Jewish senator. He described “delighting in the glory” of what his historic victories represented, only to be reminded of the work to be done in America hours later.
“As soon as we were trying to put on our celebration shoes, the ugly side of our history – our great and great American history – started to emerge when we saw the rude and the angry and the disrespectful and the violent making way for the home people, some carrying Confederate flags, signs and symbols, of an old world order dying, ”said Warnock of the protesters, who invaded the Capitol in support of President Donald Trump, wreaking havoc and widespread terror.
“They were not protesters, they were rioters, tearing up people’s houses and were treated with the kind of kid gloves with humanity,” he added of the group, whose actions led to the death of at least five people, including a police officer. “We couldn’t help but juxtapose that to the response to those who were responding this summer to the deaths of George Floyd and the death of Breonna Taylor, those who stood up in a peaceful, non-violent fight and were met with brute force.”
For his first reading of the Gospel as a future senator, Warnock chose Matthew 11: 7-15 which establishes the measure of the greatness of God versus man – and addresses the tension that occurs when the violent try to take the kingdom from God.
“Telling the truth will get you in trouble, but there can be no transformation without truth,” he preached from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s former pulpit “We cannot and will not change until we confront or are confronted by the disease of our own situation. This applies to individuals, this applies to institutions, this applies to nations. You can never get better until you have a real diagnosis. “
Jelani Favors, 45, Warnock’s teacher and parishioner for the past seven years, said Sunday’s sermon was “a perfect word for a perfect moment” for her pastor.
“This is what Reverend Warnock has always done,” he told NBC News. “He has been able to use the pulpit to heal, bring people together and approach the struggles we face in this country honestly and boldly and, certainly, racial violence and racial terrorism are one of those historical issues.
Warnock’s opponent in the January 5 runoff, Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, used to use his sermons against him during the campaign, attacking the pastor for quoting scripture that man cannot worship God and the military and say that America must regret its whiteness – a tactic that did not go well with voters.
“It was one of the worst measures you could take politically,” said Favors of defaming Warnock’s faith, calling the approach a “reckless” error. “What it did was galvanize black Christians across the state who understand the historic mission of the Black Church.”
“I think it was a real test of his character that even when you are throwing stones, I will use them to build a house, and that is what he did and got them in the Senate,” said Caity Alexandra, 32, who is a member from Warnock Church since he moved to Atlanta in 2011.
“He encouraged this in his campaign to go out and vote,” added Alexandra. “He told us what he believed in. He did the same thing as a pastor in the church, there was almost no difference, except that one was more inclined towards God and the other was inclined towards his faith, and putting it in people. “
High voter turnout among black voters propelled Warnock and Ossoff to victory, the result of the focus of campaigns on reaching the electorate and years of organization by constituencies in the state.
“I think demography is the fire and organization is the accelerator,” said Nse Ufot, CEO of the New Georgia Project, which Warnock led until his Senate candidacy.
“It is not an issue now – Georgia is an undecided state,” Terrence Clark, Warnock’s campaign advisor, told NBC News. “And the conventional thinking that you have to choose between appealing to white moderates or black or progressive voters is out of the window. You can do anything. “