Can anything good come
out of Atlanta, GA? [The reader should note that I live in Louisiana. The
Falcons had just gotten knocked of the playoffs, and the Saints were set to
move ahead.] That’s where Martin Luther King Jr. was born – me too. What about
Kennesaw, GA? That’s where I was raised – the town with the law stating every
household must own a gun. Can anything good come out of the Ninth Ward of New
Orleans – number 9 on the list of the 10 poorest areas by zip code in the state?
Can anything good come out of Haiti or Venezuela?
You can see where I’m
going here, but I want to be clear all the same. I’m not concerned with words
that politicians may have said. I’m concerned with the gospel. I’m not
concerned about the attitudes of those in power. I’m concerned about the impact
of their decisions on the lives of those without power. I’m concerned about our
ability to be true to ourselves and faithful to our God in a time when visions
are not widespread and the word of the Lord seems rare.
I’m concerned that we
might forget how tempting and how easy it is to dismiss one another’s humanity
when our primary directive is to put our own needs first. I’m speaking about
our nation, yes, but I am also speaking about each of us as a part of the
whole.
And on this day – the
day before the Martin Luther King Jr. Holliday – I think it is important to
remember – as we consider what it means to be called by God – how recent our
history of conflict over racial and ethnic inequality truly is.
The Civil Rights Act
was signed into law in 1964, making it illegal to discriminate against others
for race, religion and gender. As many states and other institutions continued
to resist, Martin Luther King Jr continued to speak out and was fatally shot on
April 4, 1968. Many changes continued to happen through legislation that
attempted to put an end to discrimination against disabilities, voting rights, and
other areas of injustice, but as you know, you cannot legislate the heart.
Even so, in 1983
Ronald Regan instituted the Martin Luther King Jr Holiday as show of national
respect for the values of Dr. King, yet it took three more years for it to be
celebrated. Some states refused and combined it with other holidays that
celebrated Confederate Generals and other individuals important to those
states. It was not until the year 2,000 that the holiday was recognized in all
50 states. Even today, many regard this as a “black holiday” rather than an
opportunity to honor what Dr. King did for all of us.
I share all this with
you today, because it is part of the context that we live in as we stand
against our fig trees and serve in our temples and wait for the voice of the
One who would recognize us for who we are; the One who will redeem us in spite
of ourselves; the One who is ruling the cosmos and yet revealed in and through
you and me.
As we think about that,
I want us to reflect a little on how this whole “called by God” thing works, or
at least the way that it has been demonstrated for us in our readings today.
What is it that we see in these stories?
Samuel seems to be in
the right place at the right time. He’s been set apart. He was in the part of
the Temple with the Arc of the Covenant where the lamp is kept burning. Who
else would be in there but God? This was the part of the temple set apart for
God alone!
You see, Eli knows
this. He also knows that the last person that came to him with a message from
God told him what he already knew and did not want to hear. His sons were
abusing their authority over those that came to make sacrifices to God, and God
would destroy them for it. “Go back to sleep.” He said, thinking, “Maybe God
will go away.”
Yet God is persistent.
In fact there’s no way for God to go away because there is nowhere that God is
not, and Eli knows it. So, what we find here is that Samuel was in the right
place – having been dedicated to the temple – but he had to have someone else
point out the obvious. The next step was up to him, though. He responded in
humility, and he did it without regard to personal cost. Not only was he
willing to stand before the One that could have destroyed him (unholy and holy
can’t be in the same place at the same time – it’s a paradox), but he was also
willing to tell Eli that God would destroy his sons.
Samuel’s humility and
vulnerability actually reminds me of a very lovely and intimidating phrase in
the Book of Order of the PC(USA). In the Foundations of Presbyterian Polity it says:
The Church is to be a
community of faith, entrusting itself to God alone, even at the risk of losing
its life.
The Church is to be a
community of hope, rejoicing in the sure and certain knowledge that, in Christ,
God is making a new creation. This new creation is a new beginning for human
life and for all things. The Church lives in the present on the strength of that promised new creation.
We live in the present
on the promise of God’s new creation. So, when we hear someone say, “Can
anything good come out of Nazareth?” we need to have our minds set on the hope
that is unseen by the one who doubts. And when we find that we are the ones
asking that question, we need to hear Jesus cut us to the quick by recognizing
that we have put into words the true nature of our contempt for someone else.
So, whether we are
like Philip, that happy Labrador of a disciple, or Nathaniel, the one who is
not aware of his judgement until it is returned, or Samuel, the one who needs someone
else to clue him in to what should have been obvious all along, we must
remember that what is at stake is not only our salvation but the redemption of
all of creation!
That’s too big for us
to shoulder alone, but it’s not going to happen – or at least not in our
experience – if we hang out under the shade of a fruitless fig tree. It’s not
going to happen if we elect officers but forget that we have all been elected
for service in the Kingdom of God. It’s not going to happen if we continue to
think of Martin Luther King Jr. as a “black person’s holiday.”
It will happen,
though. It happens when we affirm our need for forgiveness every week. It
happens when we recognize Christ in one another, and even more so in the
stranger. It happens when we actively forgive ourselves and one another. It
happens when we become reconciled with someone that has wounded us or whom we
have wounded. It happens whenever we celebrate divinity by celebrating diversity,
for we are all made in the image of God!
Yes, the new creation
is unfolding – even here and even now – that means that the present creation is
at risk and will one day fall away, and that’s a good thing. For we follow and
serve the one who recognizes us for who we are, reveals all that is hidden, and
invites us to come and see what we have yet to imagine.
I’ve highlighted race
relations today, but I see that as part of a whole. It’s a tangible piece of
the puzzle. It’s that missing piece of blue sky with the funny shape. The true
peace that we seek, in the words of Dr. King, is not the absence of conflict.
It is found in the presence of justice.
And while we have a
certain responsibility to see it through, we can do nothing without first
recognizing that God is active and present. If we want to be a part of what God
is doing, we simply have to be willing to listen, to be vulnerable, and to help
each other work it out the best we can as we move toward God’s new creation
together. Amen.
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