Rev. Raphael Warnock delivered his first sermon since winning the key Georgia Senate race and the violent riots that took place at the U.S. Capitol the following day.
What We Know:
- Rev. Warnock delivered his sermon for the first time as a senator-elect on Sunday at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, a place of worship whose significance to the Black community helped secure his victory as Georgia’s first Black U.S. Senator. His victory, however, was overshadowed by the catastrophic events that took place at the U.S. Capitol the following day.
- “I want to talk to you about God’s victory over violence,” begins Warnock in his sermon. “Just as we were trying to put on our celebration shoes, the ugly side of our story — our great and grand American story — began to emerge as we saw the crude and the angry and the disrespectful and the violent break their way into the people’s house, some carrying Confederate flags, signs, and symbols, of an Old World Order passing away,” Warnock said of the rioters, who wreaked havoc the Capitol in support of President Trump.
- For his first Gospel reading after the events, Warnock chose Matthew 11: 7-15, which, according to the NBC News, establishes God’s measure of greatness versus man’s — and addresses the tension that occurs when the violent try to take away God’s kingdom.
- Warnock stresses the importance of truth in his sermon, emphasizing that this country must use the truth to heal and grow from the tragic events that killed 5 people and those events leading up to the attack. “We cannot and we will not change until we confront or are confronted by the sickness of our own situation. That applies to individuals, that applies to institutions, that applies to nations. You can never get better until you have an actual diagnosis.”
High turnout among Black voters sealed the victory for Warnock and fellow Senator-elect Jon Ossoff. Adding to the history Warnock is making as a result of his victory, he will also become the 11th Black senator elected in the U.S., while Ossoff will be the state’s first Jewish senator.
