Sermon
John Lewis wanted to be a preacher. At age 5 he preached to his chickens. At age 15 he preached his first public sermon. At age 17 he met Rosa Parks. At age 18 he met Martin Luther King, Jr. At 23 he was the youngest member of MLK's entourage to speak at the March on Washington.
Just as Paul has suffered greatly for the cause he was behind, John Lewis suffered for his cause. On Bloody Sunday, in 1965 in Selma, Alabama, a young John Lewis was beaten unconscious for his cause. He later said “I saw death that day. I thought I was going to die.”
I wonder if John Lewis ever preached the words we read today. The very first line sounds like something we all could say to ourselves every day: “Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.”
Paul's tribulations are described throughout the letters of the new testament. He has suffered greatly for preaching and teaching the words and life of Jesus and he spends a lot of time telling everyone about it. But in today's reading he speaks of his suffering differently. Today's reading is the second half of the section where Paul describes how he has such confidence and where he finds hope. It is the discussion of hope that we need to hear today.
Today, we are in the midst of sufferings that are almost too much to bear.
It is easy to name our current sufferings. We are in the midst of a pandemic; civil rights issues are coming to life with a fury long awaited; our country is succumbing to the whims of an administration full of cruel bullies, those without homes, those in poverty, those who are mentally ill, those who I call the great pretenders (and we all are sometimes) -- the ones who look fine every day but are filled with deep anguish that the rest of us know nothing about. We each have a list. I'll leave a little silence here for us to name our own sufferings…
For some it is a generalized angst. If we are prone to depression we might become depressed now. If we are prone to anger, we might become more angry now. We all run the risk of being our worst selves a little more than usual. The collective anxiety that is pulling at all of us is like the pull of the moon on the tides. It is inevitable. And it is rhythmic. What we can't fix now, will come back and pull again.
Those who are already cruel, narcissistic, violent, are finding outlets for their systematic rage almost everywhere now, seemingly given approval at the highest level.
“Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.”
Our ministry, the ministry we are engaged in, is one of living our lives in ways that speak to justice, that listen to new voices, that comfort those who are afflicted, put back together those who have been broken. It is by God's mercy that WE are engaged in THIS ministry.
This ministry is a treasure. The opportunities that are in front of us, whether we want them or not, are the treasure. We are but clay jars, temporary vessels. The treasure, the life and work of John Lewis, and C.T. Vivian, is ongoing and permanent. The treasure is the life of The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II who, as one writer puts it, “puts on a clinic on moral clarity every time he opens his mouth.”1
Paul, speaking of himself in the plural, much the same confusing way as the Scottish detective shows I watch do, says
7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.
Can't you just hear John Lewis here, “I thought I saw death that day.” Struck down but not destroyed. Struck down but he still had 67 more years of work to do.
We too have this extraordinary power from God that does not come from us. Every single one of us too has been afflicted in every way, crushed, perplexed, driven to despair, persecuted, forsaken and struck down by something in our lives. Has a loved one died? Have you survived cancer? Were you ever been afraid for your life at the hands of another? Have you ever experienced the hell on earth that is intractable depression? Have you ever been betrayed? And don't say to yourself, “Oh, my suffering wasn't that bad, or as bad as so and so.” We have all been lost beyond the point of return, and yet we are here. If we were in person, I would stop now, and hold you all close, with a glance.
Our resilience is far stronger than our hardships because of that extraordinary power that come from God. Yes, we do the work, take the medicine, repair the relationships, we work through the grief, we are the support for someone else. But the gift for the strength to do that comes from God. Our lives are the light that shines out of darkness.
So what is our ministry, our purpose now, in the midst of such a confusing and fiery time? What is the ministry that we are engaged in by God's mercy, now?
In his article, “When God's normal becomes abnormal”2 Walter Brueggemann, theologian, scholar, speaker he says that what has previously been unheard of becomes normal. He writes:
“When the capacity for shame evaporates, the maintenance of human dignity and the valuing of human life are dramatically diminished.
• It is a new normal among us that homeless persons, that is, the house-disadvantaged, are accepted as ordinary social fixtures without hope or reprieve.
• It is a new normal among us that health care is primarily for the well financed and the well connected.
• It is a new normal among us that many people should work for pay that make a viable life impossible.
• It is a new normal among us that racism is often forcefully practiced in administration of justice.
• It is a new normal to keep unwelcome children in detention.”
Brueggemann writes that at times like this, “God dispatches truth tellers.” Our ministry now is to tell these truths:
• ·It is normal that greed should be curbed by an awareness that we live most elementally by gift.
• It is normal that every human person should have good housing.
• It is normal that every human person should have adequate health care.
• It is normal that those who work should receive a living wage and enjoy the fruit of their labor.
• It is normal that the wealth of the community should be deployed for the wellbeing of the neighborhood.
• It is normal that the truth shall be told about the deployment of public moneys, about the degradation of the environment, about the index of suffering caused by injustice and inequity.
• It is normal that those who violate these norms will be shamed and embarrassed enough to blush.
We can do that by listening. We can do that by learning. Whether it's by participating in the 21-day Anti-Racist Challenge, or reading new books, or listening to stories, we can all be a force in this new world of ours. We can do that by beginning where we are. I met a young woman at church yesterday who said that she has decided to do one nice thing every day. She said it didn't seem like much, but in a year she will have done 365 nice things. When she can't think of something nice to do, she calls up a memory of someone else being nice to her. Through her, someone else will have a memory to call on. That is being a force in this new world of our too. Nothing is too small.
Everything we do in a new way brings us an opportunity for a new perspective. And every new perspective becomes part of the story that history will write about this time. We are creating stories for the future to remember. Let's give them something to be proud of.
In Christ, let us pray…
1 ”Is Our Generation Ready to Take Up the Torch That John Lewis Lit?, As legends like Lewis pass away, I wonder whether we're prepared to become the new elders. By Elie Mystal JULY 23, 2020
2 "When God's Normal Becomes Abnormal", Walter Bruggeman, June 24, 2020, Church Anew