Sermon
In February of 2012, African-American teen Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman. In July of 2013, after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, social media saw the first hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
Since that time that hashtag was developed into a full blown movement including a global network.1 BlackLivesMatter did not begin just a few years ago, and the death of George Floyd was not the first foray into public non-violent action for this group. Unlike the violent Rodney King riots in 1992, also spurred by the acquittal of officers involved in excessive use of force, crowds protesting after the death of George Floyd included more whites and occurred across most of the country. I remember the most recent national upswell of voices calling for finishing the work of the civil rights movement, this summer. I don't really think of myself as cynical in general, but I had a conversation then with someone saying that the sad thing was that this huge popular swing in the right direction would die down too, just like the work of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others who worked alongside him in the 60's. And sure enough as if the country wasn't already tense enough, so many even more complex outrageous conflicts have occurred.
Friday night, PBS Newshour had a special report called American Reckoning, to discuss the context of the events at the Capitol that left 5 people dead.2 It was a very well rounded report looking at the events and the country in the context of history. Political history, social history, institutional history as well as personal accounts. An interesting avenue of discussion arose when the guests during one portion of the report mentioned how regional divisions have been sown over generations. Thinking of the trajectory of American culture in different geographic areas of the country seemed like a new and wider approach to finding the context to the severe polarization, unrest, and extreme behaviors that have happened recently.
It's never a simple answer. The events of January 6th leave us wondering about events on January 20th this week. What will people who are unhappy do? What will people who are feeling threatened do and how far will they go?
History has shown us that in times of great distress leaders will arise. Leaders will be called. Biblical leaders have been called to leadership by God. All the great prophets, the kings, the average people in the Christian bible are examples of God's hand in human history. That leads me to believe that there is no reason not to believe that some of our own prophetic voices and leaders were called by God. Certainly Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prophetic voice that we still turn to today for his thoughts, his full narrative, and his example. I invite you to name others in the comments section if you want. Rev. Dr. William Barber, II will probably be seen as a prophet. Throughout Christian history there have been many voices who have cried out against social structures and have been imprisoned and killed for their beliefs. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote Letters and Papers from Prison.3 Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote the Letter from the Birmingham Jail.4 The apostle Paul wrote many of his letters from prison. Even Jesus seen as a political enemy was killed for his stand against the authorities.
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King, Jr. writes that there are four basic steps in any non-violent campaign. One of the steps is what he calls “self purification.” This was a process of asking themselves questions about themselves. Primarily they asked, “Are you able to accept blows without retaliation?” “Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail.” In other words, if you do this, there will be consequences. Are you prepared to remain non-violent? John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Jr. all knew that the justice they were fighting for and living for would require a certain submission in order to remain faithful to their call. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the same letter says that “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.” He writes, “I a not afraid of the word 'tension.' I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.”4
All of this historical data and biblical witness makes my question of “will the forward motion from the BlackLivesMatter movement disappear just like all the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement?” seem silly. The work for justice has never stopped. Beginning with the prophets who called out people and cities who were headed for destruction, faithful followers like Abraham and Sarah and Moses, and John the Baptist and Jesus and Paul and continuing God is always calling us to positions where we never thought we would be.
We can trust that now. We can trust that what we are concerned about now, and worried about, and anxious about is in God's hands. That does not mean that it is not in our hands. God calls each of us over and over, to the work of God's mission. We can be sure that within the circumstances in which we find ourselves in this country God will call us to our particular work in this time.
One of the ways God finds people is through God's people.5 In the scripture from the Gospel of John, the editors have labeled this paragraph, “God calls Philip and Nathanael.” The scripture tells us that God called Philip and then Philip called Nathanael. Jesus met Nathanael after Nathanael answered Philip's call to “come and see.” “Come and see.” are words of Jesus' call many times in the Gospel stories.
Even disciples who have been following Jesus for the last 2000+ years have been called by God to their roles in history and in life, through someone else. I wondered who came before Martin Luther King, Jr.? I wonder who came before Dietrich Bonhoeffer? Who came before John Lewis? Who came before you? And me? Our call to follow the way that our faith in Jesus leads us can come from anywhere. Think for a minute about your own motivation for actions or values that you hold. Where did they come from? Maybe a bad experience gave you inspiration to go in another direction. Maybe a great experience inspired you to do more of the same. Maybe a good person instilled strong positive values. Maybe a difficult person or a tragic event gave you focus and perspective for your future.
Every step we take is movement toward God or away from God. Both directions work in our favor. Either direction helps us find our place, our call in this world in this time. The courage to take a step comes from our knowledge that God is with us and God loves us. The psalm we read today, which is a favorite of many of us, is the hope that we all keep coming back to. While I thought the psalm was going to be my primary text for today, I find myself even as I write, surprised that I haven't mentioned it yet. For me, and maybe for those for whom Psalm 139 is a favorite, my lack of mention thus far is because I trust the words to be foundational to anything else I believe. The foundation is the only reason anything else stands. People believe in Jesus for many reasons but we act on that belief because we know that we are not alone, that God loves us and knows us. What a relief to know that sometimes, God loves us in spite of knowing us!
God's work in our lives knows no bounds. We can be sure that when we feel called to follow and have prayerfully discerned our steps, we're good to go. Writing about the psalmist capturing the fundamental message of the gospel, commentator Timothy Beach-Verhey writes, “God is transcendent enough to overcome any earthly power, immanent enough to be present in the midst of whatever happens, and gracious enough to care about the destiny of each of God's creatures.”6
I invite you to head into this important week in our country, with hope and optimism. We can do that because that's what faith is. Head held high, hoping for the best, paying close attention and listening for the voice of God at every turn.
Let us pray,
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1 https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/ “#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin's murderer. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.”
2 https://www.pbs.org/video/american-reckoning-a-pbs-newshour-special-report-vbxybj/
3 Dietrich Bonhoeffer In his poem, “Who Am I?” written in the Tegel prison (transferred to Flossenburg after 1.5 yr) shortly before his execution by the Nazis, Bonhoeffer contrasted what others said of him with what he knew of himself. He ends the poem by asking, “Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine. Whoever I am, thou knowest, O “God, I am thine.” (hanged 4/9/1945, just 19 days before Flossenburg was liberated) Allen C. McSween Jr., Feasting…p.250
4 https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/sites/mlk/files/letterfrombirmingham_wwcw_0.pdf
5 from the front of the WorkingPreacher website. No author mentioned.