Sermon Preached on Advent 1B
In the wake of the announced decision of the
Grand Jury to not indict Officer Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown,
our nation has erupted with countless responses. The most volatile of which have made their
way into our homes through reports and commentaries on our televisions, through
our Facebook and Twitter feeds, and around many of our Thanksgiving dinner
tables.
And today is the first Sunday of Advent – a
season when we focus on hope and begin looking forward with anticipation to the
coming of the Christ child. As we fill
our calendars and our lives with festivities – caroling, shopping expeditions
with friends, decorating Christmas trees, hanging colorful lights, radio
stations sent to all Christmas music all the time. It is a season of great joy! And so, it is tempting to put all of the talk
of Ferguson, Missouri aside – at least for this one hour that we share together
– to focus instead on the coming of Christ. Can’t we just wait?
Waiting until tempers cool
down or until the season feels more appropriate – really, which season would
that be? And waiting, I was reminded
this week, is really a white privilege; for our brothers and sisters who are persons
of color, waiting has been the cry for too long. Our history books could be filled with
stories of “waiting” for the right time.
And when circumstances around us are already filling our homes with
conversation and questions, waiting to address those circumstances can only
send a confusing message. We cannot wait
for a better, more opportune time. Writing
for a group blog for educators, contributor David Cohen wrote:
“If we don’t talk about Ferguson, about the
life and death of Mike Brown, Jr., then we miss an opportunity to help our
students understand and develop a connection to their country’s living
history. That’s not something we cherish – the recognition of
seemingly perpetual conflict – but if we ignore it, we don’t equip
students to deal with it any better in the present or the future”
and, “if we don’t talk
about this . . . we’ll have to explain why this particular event – and the
tragic pattern in which it fits – that mattered so much to [our students] was
not worth our time, not considered educationally relevant.”[1] And so it is in our churches. If we don’t talk about Ferguson, about the
life and death of Mike Brown then we too miss an opportunity to help one
another understand and develop a connection between our faith and our lives. To this end, The Very Rev. Mike Kinman, Dean of the
Episcopal Cathedral in St. Louis who has been in the midst of this unfolding
incident since August has asked Episcopalians across the country “to take at
least one Sunday during Advent [to] talk about the issues the events in
Ferguson have raised and where those issues of race, class and the oppression
of God’s children are present in their own communities.”[2]
In order
to move us in this direction, I have invited Motoko Maegawa to facilitate such
a conversation with and for us after the 10:30 a.m. worship next Sunday [note
the date has since been changed to Sunday, December 14]. Motoko is known to many here as “Tyler’s Mom”
or as a middle school principal at a Jewish Day School in Chicago but another
hat she wears – and, indeed, a gift she has been given is as a Leader for the
National SEED Project for Inclusive Curriculum. SEED stands for “Seeking Educational Equity
and Diversity and it is a non-profit organization which encourages
conversations about how our own stories relate to social systems and about how
we can turn both oppression and privilege into agency and action.
When
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he began by giving thanks to God “because
of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way
you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind. . . so
that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of
our Lord Jesus Christ.” In the rest of
his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul lambastes them for the many things
that were not going so well in their community – for their chaotic assemblies,
because of their abuses of the Lord’s supper, and their struggles to sort out
what to do with gentile converts to the faith.
But Paul begins with thanksgiving. Some have suggested that Paul is being
sarcastic in his opening remarks; but I don’t think that is the case at all. I
think that Paul is truly thankful for the spiritual gifts that God has given
them and, by raising this up in the beginning, he can through the rest of the
letter tell them of the great things that are expected of them. There are no good excuses – they have every
gift they need – in speech and in knowledge.
They have all that they need to transform their community into one that
waits with anticipation and hope for the revealing of our Lord Jesus
Christ. They are a community, poised on
the edge of what we now call Advent - a
season of hopeful preparation and waiting for the coming of Christ.
What
might hopeful preparation and waiting look like for us in the wake of all that
has taken place in Ferguson, Missouri?
Here are just some suggestions – you may have your own to add to the
list[3]:
1. Listen
deeply. Learn from persons of color how we ended up
here by listening to their stories.
2. Do
not police others’ reactions. I’ve heard a lot of comments this week about
the need for peaceful responses. But,
remember that much change has taken place in our country through protest from
the Boston Tea Party to Women’s Suffrage, from the March on Washington to
Stonewall.
3. Know
the history.
Take time to understand the history of racial violence in America.
4. If
You See Injustice Occurring, Do Not Stand Silently or Walk on By
5. Imagine
a future without racism. Learn about and
look for the ways systemic racism is a part of our institutions – all of them,
including our church. What alternatives
can you imagine? If our churches – if St. Mark’s – were to be built anew how
might we more fully use all of the gifts we have received from God to transform
our community into one that waits with anticipation and hope for the revealing
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
6. Come
be a part of next Sunday’s conversation led by Motoko. This may be the most difficult challenge of
all. Because it is sometimes hardest to
have honest conversations with those we care about most deeply, with those we
are committed to being in community with.
And yet, isn’t that what being church is all about – deepening our
relationships? To help us begin thinking
about the conversation, Motoko has suggested that we might spend some time this
week considering how you might complete these two prompts: “A hard and scary thing in talking about
racism is. . .” and “A good and useful thing in talking about racism is. . .”
Today is
the first Sunday of Advent – a season when we focus on hope and begin looking
forward with anticipation to the coming of the Christ child. Maybe this is,
after all, the right season to talk about Ferguson, about race, and about the
transforming power of God’s love at work in our lives and in our community. God has given us every gift we need – in
speech and in knowledge. We have all
that we need to transform our community into one that waits with anticipation
and hope for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Will you take this opportunity together with
me?
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