Service for Reconciliation, Justice and Peace
Proper 7A – June 14, 2020 - The Rev. Jeunée Godsey
Lord
Take our Eyes and See through them
Take our ears and hear through them
Take our lips and speak through them
Take our hearts and fill them with your fire.
In the past few weeks, our eyes have seen a lot, our ears have heard a lot.
Maybe your lips may have spoken a lot… or maybe you’ve been holding your lips tight.
And our hearts…. Many are on fire right now… Where is God’s fire?
Perhaps now more than ever, it is important for each of us to pray that we see, hear, and speak through the lens of God’s truth.
We are experiencing unrest and confusion in our country right now. Demonstrations and protests against racial injustice and police brutality are indeed circling the globe following the murder of George Floyd on May 25th in Minneapolis. Of course, it’s not just him. The cover of Time magazine this week was outlined with the names of 35 people, starting with Treyvon Martin, ending with the most recent: Michael Dean, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd.
My friend, The Rev. Dr. Nyasha Gumbeze, priest in New Zealand posted about the Black Lives Matter protest she and other clergy were marching in in Auckland, while my Scottish Episcopal Priest friend, and fellow Ukulele player, posted about how in Bristol, England, a statue of the Edward Colston, a civic leader and notorious slave trader was pulled down and thrown into the dock. Here in Richmond, of course, there have been ongoing demonstrations in the city and around the area. Mostly Peaceful. Some decidedly not.
Our Governor has ordered that the General Robert E. Lee statue be removed, but meanwhile, other protesters have pulled Jefferson Davis off his pedestal on Monument Avenue, and Christopher Columbus was thrown into Byrd Lake by those who see him as a symbol of colonization and white supremacy due to his major role promoting the enslavement of the Natives People of Hispaniola.
I’ve mostly been staying away from TV news, but the images from around the country and around the world are both disturbing and heart-breaking, and sometimes exhilarating and hopeful.
Let me just pause here to say that there is a clear distinction between Violent riotors and looters who seek to destroy,
and peaceful protesters, engaged in positive social action and demonstration. Peaceful protests may still indeed disturb the status quo and the traffic flow….but protest is an effective element to work for constructive change to end racism and racial inequality.
There’s also a difference between the many good police officers and members of law enforcement who seek to serve and protect their communities, and the bullies who use a badge to dehumanize and intimidate, and the systemic issues that allow such brutality, discrimination and injustice to be perpetuated in our institutions and communities.
As Christians we do not condone violence. Not by riotors, and not by corrupt police officers. But as Christians, we are also called to stand with the oppressed, to stand with those seeking the welfare of the people, and to work to carry out God’s will of justice and mercy. Sometimes that’s gritty work.
When Jesus sees the crowd coming to him, looking for truth and solace, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
He gathered his disciples around him, and said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and sent them out, as apostles. (Disciples learn and walk in the masters path. Apostles go, being sent to do the masters work.)
Jesus gave them authority over Jesus told them, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.
That’s the work Jesus gives us as well- all of us, white, black, or brown, or any other color.
We are called to be agents of healing, to rid the world of the demons of racism, hate, discrimination, and inequality.
When someone is baptized, they are asked to renounce evil and accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Our renunciation is three-fold:
Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual force of wickedness that rebel against God?
Do you renounce the Evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?
Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?
The response to each of them is “I renounce them.”
These three renunciations move from the cosmic, to the global, to the personal.
We may not get it, but we can see there is cosmic evil / Satan, that works against God, but God has won already.
I definitely get Personal evil. My own sinful desires are usually the easiest to recognize. We all know we have sinful habits. We all know we screw up and need reform. While we know many of our faults, we also have blindspots to places that still need to be redeemed in our lives.
But The Evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God? That’s systemic evil. That’s the evil that is beyond one person, or one entity. That’s what makes it so hard to deal with. This is exactly where racism comes in. It lives alongside other evil powers like corporate greed, prejudice of all kinds, war, environmental degradation, political corruption, economic injustice, and so on. It’s so big and so complicated that we oftentimes don’t even try to renounce it or resist it. We go along to get along. Or when we do renounce or resist, our efforts feel like a drop in the bucket.
As a white middle-class woman, I have the privilege to decide I don’t want to think about racism, to turn off the news and go about my weekend in suburbia without even having to worry things my black and brown brothers and sisters always have in the back of their minds…. That they will likely be watched suspiciously in a store, or pulled over by police simply because of the color of their skin. Or that their college age son might not even make it home. These are things I don’t have to think about or talk about Just because I’m white.
Scripture tells us that we cannot remain silent. We are called to speak out. More than speak out, do something.
PROVERBS 24:11-12 says,
If you do nothing in a difficult time, how small is your strength!)
Rescue those being taken off to death, and save those stumbling toward slaughter.
If you say, “But we didn’t know about this,”
won’t He who weighs hearts consider it?
Won’t He who protects your life know?
Won’t He repay a person according to his work?
The Message puts it even more clearly.
11-12 Rescue the perishing; don’t hesitate to step in and help.If you say, “Hey, that’s none of my business,” will that get you off the hook?Someone is watching you closely, you know— Someone not impressed with weak excuses.
Edmund Burke nailed it when he said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
I know many of you have actively been working for justice, peace, and racial reconciliation. You have mentored children in interracial children’s camps, and proactively joined discussion groups to help break down racial barriers. You’ve sought to educate yourself about the systemic issues that have led us where we are today. This is good. But we are not done yet.
In Our Gospel today Jesus says the apostles are sent out. Where they find people of peace, worthy folk, who will allow the message of God’s Good News to be preached, they are to spend time there. Those people of worth, or people of peace will provide for the messengers, feed them, help them share their message with the wider community.
Sometimes the message isn’t received. So then, Jesus says, shake the dust off your feet and move on. We cannot force people to change. Judgement is God’s. (But Jesus doesn’t make that judgement sound too good, does he?)
What if we turned Jesus’ words around 180 degrees? What if God has called others to be apostles to us? To cast out the demons in our lives? To heal our souls from the sin-sickness we have experienced? What if we are called to be the worthy households, people who can receive the words of peace – words that describe a future peace, and not reject them. What if we supposed to be those who serve the apostles, who offer harbor, who hear and accept the good news of God’s kingdom and in turn share it with our neighbors. Who protect the messengers from those who would persecute them, and who are willing to be persecuted ourselves for the sake of God’s message of justice and reconciliation?
Maybe we are the ones being evangelized. We, the average white person with a good heart but still not fully understanding our part in dismantling racism. Maybe we are the harvest Jesus is so concerned about.
Many of you know that until last November, I had live my seven years in Richmond on Monument Avenue, in an apartment in a grand old house that was just half a block from General Lee. I loved that apartment. I loved sitting out on the front porch. I loved walking up and down the Street. I enjoyed the majesty of the monuments. I knew they were all about the confederacy, which of course I knew was wrong headed, but I didn’t really give it much thought. Old history I figured. I often took pictures of the sunrise or the sunset with General Lee featured prominently in the middle. I posted him often on my Facebook page.
But one black death after another crossed the news. One black lives matter protest after another. Then, in 2017 Charlottesville happened. The protests and counter protests about the cities decision to take down a statue of Robert E Lee ended in the death of a woman, as a white supremacist drove into a crowd of protesters. Wow. Protests over statues.
It wasn’t until one of my black friends said to me as I gave her my address and she dropped me off, “I could never live on this street. It just hurts too much.” Something like scales dropped from my eyes. I saw things differently than I had before. She wasn’t judging me, or even trying to convince me. She was simply speaking her truth. It sounds stupid, but I hadn’t really considered how such a symbol could cause such pain.
I stopped taking pictures of General Lee.
One small evil was cast out of my soul by her words.
I’d say that we each have a role to be both apostles who are sent out, and people of peace who are willing to receive the words of the apostles sent to us.
We sometimes we are agents of another’s conversion.
Sometimes we are the ones being converted.
We are sent by God into the public square and into voting booth to make change.
We are also asked to feed and support those on the front lines of change.
Rev. Becki included an article in our weekly e-news of 75 things white people can do to fight racism. You may find something in that list that encourages you to take action.
At our baptism service, After the three-fold renunciation of Evil, we affirm our faith by accepting Jesus as our Savior, Trusting in his grace and love, and following him as our Lord.
We then make 5 promises about how we plan to live out our faith.
These are the action items I leave you with today.
Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers? PRAY
Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? RESIST & REPENT
Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? PROCLAIM
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? LOVE
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every humanbeing?
STRIVE FOR JUSTICE. PEACE, RESPECT & DIGNITY FOR EVERY HUMAN BEING.
This should be nothing new for most of us. But let this be a new day for all of us.
Lord, take our eyes and see through them.
Take our ears and hear through them.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take our hearts and fill them with your fire.
Proper 8, 2020
Mt: 10-40-42
June 28, 2020
Reverend Becki Dean
“Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward,” Jesus tells his disciples in our reading from Matthew. “Whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
Jesus makes being a disciple sound so easy in today’s Gospel; at least when compared to last few weeks when he told them, in verses 9 & 10, “…take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. And in verses 16-20 how they would face persecution; in verse 21 the rejection they would encounter within their own families and then last week, “…Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have come not to bring peace but a sword…”
In today’s verses Jesus tells the disciples three things are necessary to receive our reward: welcoming the prophet, welcoming the righteous, and giving a drink to the thirsty. It seems pretty straight forward. Jesus wants us to be welcoming? We do that! Jesus wants us to pass out food? He wants us to live a righteous life? We do that too! When it comes right down to it, St. Michael’s is welcoming, hospitable and caring. On the surface, today’s verses make discipleship seem like a cakewalk
But, as I read this Gospel again, I realized, Jesus isn’t talking about giving. He is talking about receiving!
Don’t misunderstand. Giving is important. But receiving, the other side of the coin, that’s not as easy. Like, how many of us are willing to receive as generously as we are willing to give? We know as Christians we are to minister to those on the margins. We remind ourselves every time we renew our Baptismal Vows, answering the questions. “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” And “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” Our response, “I will with God’s help.” And I believe we all answer sincerely from our hearts.
But here’s the thing: the majority of us don’t live on the margins; Says Debbie Thomas in her blog, Journey with Jesus, we’re used to occupying the center. We’re used to being the ones who wield institutional and cultural power over the very people we set out to help. We’re accustomed to being the privileged ones who compassionately extend welcome, generosity, charity, and hospitality to others less privileged than ourselves. And we’re really good at knowing what the marginalized need without asking. Having never walked in their shoes we think we have the answers to their needs.
When Jesus told his disciples not to carry anything with them, the understanding was that they would assume a posture of humility and depend completely on the hospitality of the people they were sent to serve. Can’t we see? Even as we give, we are also to receive.
Ancient Jewish people had a custom. They called it shaliah. People were expected to treat the king’s emissary as if he were the king himself. If the king sent you a message by a messenger even with bad news, you better not shoot him! You had better treat the king’s messenger as if he were a VIP; roll out the red carpet, offer the messenger coffee and a donut, and be prepared to put him up for the night! It was simply expected.
Shaliah! The messenger bears the image of the one who sent him.
The messenger bears the image of the one who sent him. The apostles bore the image of Jesus – and Jesus bore the image of God – so the apostles also bore the image of God. They were to speak with God’s authority. They were to act by God’s power.
Those who welcomed the disciples took the final step of Shaliah, by providing support. The image of the apostles bore the image of Jesus who is the image of God.
“Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me,
And whoever welcomes me welcomes
the one who sent me.” (v40)
Shaliah! The messenger bears the image of the one who sent him.
Jesus points us to three categories of people God expects us to help.
The first are the prophets. In the Bible prophets were the people who spoke for God, who said, for better or worse, what God told them to say. Mostly God sent prophets to straighten people out, to tell them to repent or else! Frequently he sent prophets to reprimand the rich and powerful for mistreating the poor and powerless; the widows and orphans.
Prophets were not popular.
Whether or not we are aware, Jesus continues to send us prophets. And no matter what message the prophet brings we are to pay attention.
Next, Jesus wants us to help righteous people, people who obey God, people who try their best to do what God calls them to do, people who love God and neighbor, those who lives honor God. Jesus said if we welcome people like that, not only will they be rewarded, but so will we.
Last, and maybe most important to God, is the assistance we provide for the little ones. Little ones could be nearly anyone, children, the poor, the homeless, those who are deserving of justice and mercy, anyone who is vulnerable. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us that he will reward those who feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, or help the sick, or visit the prisoner. “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (25:40)
All of this is to say to us today in the 21st Century: look at where we are in this present moment and ask ourselves the hard questions. Are we the prophets God has called us to be? Do we speak the truth even when it’s easier to be silent? Can we say with confidence that we have always been the people God calls us to be? Do we look the other way when our system of justice is unjust for our brothers and sisters who are not our color, race, ethnicity or religion?
Are we the righteous people God calls us to be? Do we truly love our neighbor, near or far off, as much as we love the neighbor most like ourselves? Does the life we lead honor the God we love?
This is a very painful time for so many who have never known freedom the way you and I know freedom. But it is also a time of pain and grief for many of privilege, authority and power who look just like me. For me personally to know that I have not recognized my participation in racism in this life of privilege that I was born into leaves me broken. I have not received the voices of my brothers and sisters who live on the margins have been trying to tell me for so many years in the way God wants me to receive their voices. I have not fought for justice and mercy for the vulnerable and, until this present moment, I have not heard their cries. It is my state of privilege and arrogance that has prevented me from hearing those cries of the prophets in my midst, on my news channel, on my social media, even my ministry to them that God called me to. There’s no excuse. I can do better. I will do better. I will not turn away or be silent. Through these 21st Century prophets my eyes have been opened and my ears unstopped. I will, with God’s help, keep my eyes and ears open for opportunities to help the prophets, to spread God’s inclusive love, to educate myself to what the prophets are telling us. I will strive, with God’s help, to live the life God has called us to live. I will, with God’s help, Won’t you prayerfully join me? Maya Angelou once said “You do the best you can. When you know better, you do better.” Every opportunity to help is an opportunity to receive; to receive someone’s story, to receive someone’s desires, to receive a new friendship. It is in this receiving that we are abundantly blessed by our all-inclusive God. Shaliah!