Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Auburn, California
Gospel Text: Matthew 14:22-33
Let us pray. May the meditations of
our hearts and the words of my mouth be acceptable in your sight O God. Amen.
(Pause)
Today I invite us into a time of
lament and prayerful listening. This morning we need this sacred time and space
to really think about why we are here and who we are called to be as faithful
people and members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – a community
rooted in Jesus Christ which proclaims a Gospel of grace, welcome, and justice
for all.
(Pause)
Our Gospel is about fear, doubt, and faith in the storms of
life.
The storm in our lives that that we need to lament and talk
about is racism in the United States.
What has been taking place in Charlottesville, Virginia
regarding protests over removing a Robert Lee statue, a sign of the
confederacy, is hard to watch and it’s also hard to understand. I spent hours
yesterday praying, lamenting, watching live videos, reading reflections of
pastors from all over the country, and hearing my friends of color beg for
mercy. Finally, in the evening, I found some words of my own to post on
facebook. I wrote:
Been praying,
lamenting, writing a sermon, and trying to stay informed about the events in
Charlottesville, Virginia. God, have mercy. Enough with the racist, hateful, no
good and violent ideas and acts toward people of color. #blacklivesmatter
What do you think about what I wrote?
(Pause)
One of my friends responded:
Sara ALL lives matter... black lives matter
want to see me dead... I like the idea of living for a while longer... lol!!
How would you have responded to my friend, Kari?
(Pause)
This is what I said:
Hi Kari, gosh, why do you think this? I have
several friends of color and while I won't speak for them, I know them well
enough to say that none of them would wish you dead.
I think we are in a great storm and war between races and it's time that institutional racism be abolished. Charlottesville is a big problem that is being fueled by hate that, in my opinion, is rooted by tradition, fear, unwillingness to let go of the past, and ignorance. Its true that everyone has a life and therefore we all matter. But using our white privilege to deflect energy from Black Lives Matters to a statement like All Lives Matter is wrong.
We (white people) have a voice, vote, opportunity, protection...you name it and with some truth...if we work hard enough we can achieve whatever we want. This is called power and privilege.
But this isn't about us because people of color could do the exact same things and work just as hard and our systems will get in their way. So this can't be about all until the least of us has an equal voice.
We could debate a lot of things but it's been statistically proven that people of color's lives haven't mattered enough to us and our majority white leadership to offer and protect their basic rights. It's sad but true.
I think we are in a great storm and war between races and it's time that institutional racism be abolished. Charlottesville is a big problem that is being fueled by hate that, in my opinion, is rooted by tradition, fear, unwillingness to let go of the past, and ignorance. Its true that everyone has a life and therefore we all matter. But using our white privilege to deflect energy from Black Lives Matters to a statement like All Lives Matter is wrong.
We (white people) have a voice, vote, opportunity, protection...you name it and with some truth...if we work hard enough we can achieve whatever we want. This is called power and privilege.
But this isn't about us because people of color could do the exact same things and work just as hard and our systems will get in their way. So this can't be about all until the least of us has an equal voice.
We could debate a lot of things but it's been statistically proven that people of color's lives haven't mattered enough to us and our majority white leadership to offer and protect their basic rights. It's sad but true.
(Pause)
Why am I sharing this? I’m sharing this because I can’t
count the number of times I have read, heard, and seen people say things like
this. All lives matter. Blue lives matter. We all matter.
And I wanted to take this opportunity to encourage us not
to do that. Let’s not use power and privilege to take away from the voices of
Black Lives Matter. Let’s instead say that Black Lives Matter and stand behind
our words.
We may also be asking ourselves and wondering today: Where is
Jesus in Charlottesville, Virginia?
(Pause)
And before we jump to saying something like “Jesus is with
the people” or “Jesus is everywhere,” let us stop and pause and think. What
would Jesus be doing in Charlottesville?
The answer to “Where is Jesus in Charlottesville” is clear.
Jesus is with our black sisters and brothers in Christ, who
are on the receiving end of racist hatred and violence. Jesus is with the
clergy and others who are showing up in counter protest, offering a presence of
peace and hope to those who are being hurt. And Jesus is calling the haters to
stop and repent.
In my opinion, we don’t name sin a lot in our culture and
church today. We’re often content to talk about shortcomings and quick to offer
or receive grace.
In times like Charlottesville, we need to talk about the
evil sin of racism. We need to talk about our sin of racism because this is an
anchor that is causing us to drown, but we’re afraid that if we talk about it,
we will lose any number of things like friends, family, power, patience – even
our lives. Racism is an evil that has worked its way into the visible and
invisible parts of our lives. And it’s killing our people of color. Just like
Jesus preached that we are to love our neighbors like God loves us, Jesus is preaching
today and calling us to listen with our hearts and to use our voices to
advocate for human rights.
(Pause)
I am aware that Bethlehem has grown a lot over the years
and you are a bold witness to what it means to be a community that is welcoming
to all. You called Pastor Ron Valadez – a person of color – to be your pastor.
This is good. And it’s a witness to our church and world of equality, justice,
and welcome. And it’s also all the more reason why we need to be aware that the
sin of racism is still active in our world because we need to think about and
consider how people like Pastor Ron, hear and are responding to the events taking
place in Charlottesville, Virginia.
I encourage you to pray for your pastor, the people of
color you know, and all people of color throughout the world. For those of us
who are white, we can’t know the realities of what life is like for our friends
of color. And yet, we are human. And we know what it feels like to be loved and
to be rejected. And dear God, I pray that as soon as possible, loves overcomes
hate, once and for all.
Jesus was a Middle Eastern, poor, carpenter, who was
crucified by a wealthy empire. God sacrificed Jesus so that all of us can know
and receive the equal gift of forgiveness and grace. I also believe God wanted
all people to have an opportunity to live a meaningful and healthy life.
It’s been eight months since I returned from the Holy Land
and the events happening in Charlottesville took me back to that place,
remembering the Via Dolorosa – Jesus’ walk to the cross. Why do we keep
reliving this?
Our broken world is stuck in a cycle of power and fear. And
the only way out is to release our power, feel our fear, and let Jesus lead us
into a new life of awareness, grace, and action. God’s got the whole world in
God’s hands. God also is praying that we will use our hands, minds, hearts,
voices – and courage – to speak up and take action for justice. Innocent people
are dying and discriminated against every single day.
Some good news is that we are part of the ELCA, a body of
Lutheran Christians. Together – all of us – 10,000 congregations with 4 million
members – together we can make a difference in sharing God’s love and ending
racism.
What can we do to help end racism and proclaim that Black
Lives Matter?
We can do five things right now. We can:
1.
Pray
2.
Become educated
3.
Get involved with an
advocacy group
4.
Call out acts of racism as
they occur
5.
Honor all people and our
diversity
Friends in Christ, this is a time when we need to be bold.
We need to step up to the plate, have courage to step out of our comfort zones,
and be Jesus’ disciples in the world. Jesus already died on the cross and so we
are the ones that God is counting on to lift up our beloved people of color and
to do what we can to end racism.
The cost of discipleship is high. This work requires
change, overcoming fear, and having an open heart to experience God’s amazing
grace. It’s not going to be easy, but nobody ever said being a Christian would be
easy.
I invite you to join me now in taking a stand against
racism. Would you please stand as you are able, bow your heads, and join me in
a lament for our people of color and against the evils of racism?
When we are finished, we will have a moment of silence and
then continue with our hymn of the day, When
Peace like a River.
A
litany for predominantly white spaces, against white supremacy
Litany
against white supremacy, written by Revs. Elizabeth Rawlings and Jennifer
Chrien
Gracious
and loving God,
We, as a church,
must respond to the white supremacy in our nation. Here is one attempt at
a litany to address it.
Change it, do with it what you will, just please do something.
In
the beginning, you created humanity and declared us very good
We
were made in Africa, came out of Egypt.
Our
beginnings, all of our beginnings, are rooted in dark skin.
We
are all siblings. We are all related.
We
are all your children.
We are all siblings, we are all related,
we are all your children.
Violence
entered creation through Cain and Abel.
Born
of jealousy, rooted in fear of scarcity,
Brother
turned against brother
The
soil soaked with blood, Cain asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?
We are all siblings, we are all related,
we are our brothers keeper.
When
your people cried out in slavery,
You
heard them. You did not ignore their suffering.
You
raised up leaders who would speak truth to power
And
lead your people into freedom.
Let
us hear your voice; grant us the courage to answer your call.
Guide
us towards justice and freedom for all people.
We are all siblings, we are all related,
we all deserve to be free.
Through
the prophets you told us the worship you want is for us
to
loose the bonds of injustice,
to
undo the thongs of the yoke,
to
let the oppressed go free,
and
to break every yoke;
Yet
we continue to serve our own interest,
To
oppress our workers, to crush our siblings by the neck because we are afraid.
Because
they don’t look like us, act like us, talk like us.
Yet,
they are us. And we are them.
We are all siblings, we are all related,
we are not free unless all are free.
In
great love you sent to us Jesus, your Son,
Born
in poverty, living under the rule of a foreign empire,
Brown-skinned,
dark-haired, middle-Eastern.
They
called him Yeshua, your Son,
Who
welcomed the unwelcome, accepted the unacceptable—
The
foreigners, the radicals, the illiterate, the poor,
The
agents of empire and the ones who sought to overthrow it,
The
men and women who were deemed unclean because of their maladies.
We are all siblings, we are all related,
we are all disciples.
The
faith of Christ spread from region to region, culture to culture.
You
delight in the many voices, many languages, raised to you.
You
teach us that in Christ, “There is no Jew or Greek, there is no slave or free,
there is no male and female.”
In
Christ, we are all one.
Not
in spite of our differences, but in them.
Black,
brown, and white; female, non-binary, and male; citizen and immigrant,
In
Christ we are all one.
We are all siblings, we are all related,
we are all one in Christ.
Each
week, we confess our sin to you and to one another.
We
know that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.
We
are captive to the sin of white supremacy,
Which
values some lives more than others,
Which
believes some skin tones are more perfect than others,
Which
commits violence against those who are different.
We
confess our complicity in this sin.
We
humbly repent.
We
ask for the strength to face our sin, to dismantle it, and to be made anew
We
trust in your compassion and rely on your mercy
Praying
that you will give us your wisdom and guide us in your way of peace,
That
you will renew us as you renew all of creation
In
accordance with your will.
We ask this, we pray this, as your children,
all siblings, all related, all beloved children of God.
Amen.
