On August 28th 1945, a momentous day took place that would forever change history. The great baseball player, Jackie Robinson, and Brooklyn Dodgers team General Manager, Branch Rickey, shook hands in agreement to make Jackie Robinson the first African American player in Major League Baseball (MLB). Since the 1880s, baseball had been known as a whites-only profession. That was until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier on America’s pastime. But like all things, no momentous day happens without trial and tribulation. Before becoming the first African American player in MLB, Jackie Robinson faced many hardships that propelled him to not only become a legend on the field, but a strong-minded individual.
In the 1930s, racism continued to be a huge barrier for many African Americans. More often than not, Jackie Robinson found himself on the wrong side of justice and inequality. During his time at Pasadena Junior College, restaurants and hotels refused to serve Jackie and his black teammates. In the summer of 1939, while driving his Plymouth home, Jackie was pulled over by a policeman who pulled a gun on Jackie, pressed it to his stomach and arrested him for hindering traffic. Jackie continued to be a victim of more racial arrests. None of more significance than in 1944 when Jackie was enlisted in the U.S Army. While riding the bus, the bus driver “noticed that Jackie was not sitting at the back of the bus, and furthermore, was sitting by a woman who appeared to be white” (Metaxas). The bus driver asked Jackie to move to the back of the bus, but Jackie refused (even Rosa Parks said she was inspired by Jackie Robinson). Military police arrived and placed Jackie under arrest. Jackie was honorably discharged from the U.S Army. But little did Jackie know that the arrest would change the course of his life and the lives of many black and brown athletes.
I believe that “God is in the business of strategically positioning [us] in the right place at the right time (Batterson). What may seem like trials and tribulations to us, may be God’s way of preparing us for good works. Essentially God is going to turn these trials into something beautiful, but more so our faith and character will be built up in the process.
James 1:2-4 tells us: “Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.” (AMP)
I doubt the trials Jackie endured were anything but joyful but I do believe they were producing in him, endurance for his faith. Similar to a marathon runner who constantly runs in order to produce endurance for the race. The racial unrest that Jackie experienced may have been God’s way of working up the endurance of his faith for what was to come. On April 18th, 1946 Jackie Robinson played his first game in MLB, which officially broke the color barrier in professional baseball. In the MLB, the vicious name-calling, death threats and race-baiting only grew worse. Yet that did not stop Jackie from excelling on the field. His performance did all the talking. Jackie led the Montreal Royals to one-hundred wins, which was the most wins in team history. The Montreal Royals won the pennant that year. The following season Jackie Robinson was officially part of the Brooklyn Dodgers team along with the famous 42 jersey. He played in 151 games without a single incident of retaliation. As a Christian, Jackie Robinson knew that if he could refrain from retaliating he not only would open the door to other African American players, but he would also be accomplishing what he “felt was God’s will” and only “God would give [him] the strength to accomplish it” (Metaxas).
There are a lot of similarities in Jackie Robinson’s character that emulates Jesus. On his final days, Jesus was mocked and ridiculed by Roman soldiers, “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). But don’t mistake their silence as passivity. Jackie Robinson was a furious competitor, who was ready to swing at anything that came his way, figuratively and literally. Jesus flipped a few tables and chairs in synagogues and confronted pharisees head on. Both were anything, but passive. Jesus and Robinson realized they needed to do something that was greater than themselves. For Jesus, salvation for all outweighed the cost of retaliation. For Jackie, equality for people of color outweighed the cost of retaliation.
Our trials are preparing us for something greater. They are producing endurance and perseverance in our faith that essentially impact others around us. I love what National Community Church Pastor, Mark Batterson says, “every testimony starts with a test.” Our trials and tribulation often serve as a testimony for others. More often than not, what God does through us is typically not for us. It’s for others.
In this month, in which we celebrate black history, let us reflect on the many black men and women whose trials and tribulations, paved the way for African Americans and people of color.
Metaxas, Eric. 7 MEN, Thomas Nelson, 2013.
Batterson, Mark. Win the Day, Multnomah, 2020.
Nicely done Joel.