“When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have a moral obligation to say something. To do something. Our children and their children will ask us, ‘What did you do? What did you say?’” - John Lewis
There will always be men like Haman. But there will always be Christians like you and me that are called to respond to their policies of violence and oppression with a Gospel of love, gentleness, compassion, and justice.
We come to this Table to join the voices of those who are crying out for justice. We come to this Table to join forces with the “Vashtis” around us who have suffered the consequences of standing up to the patriarchy, those who have suffered the consequences of standing up to white supremacy and racism, those who have suffered the consequences of standing up to homophobia and any other ideology that opposes God’s justice.
[audio mp3="http://bpclex.org/wp-content/uploads/sermons/2020.05.17-Service-Audio.mp3"][/audio] Click above to listen to the entire service.
Today’s text reads a bit like a pep talk; as if it’s given to a people who are feeling weary and worn down. It reads as if its words aren’t written to an infant, but to an adult who needs to be reminded of where they came from. And the truth is that we all need reminding from time to time of how we’ve been nurtured by our Mother God, who feeds us with truth, grace, justice, and steadfast love.
So, my question for us this day is this: how can we resist the urge to “go back to the way things were” and instead position ourselves to become something new, renewing our focus on the basics of what it means to be a Christian community.
Friends, the Resurrected Christ is made known to us in the breaking of bread. That simplest of acts. And Mama C taught me and so many other students that. You see, at the end of the day, the Gospel is not proclaimed so much by eloquent sermons, or fancy church buildings, or huge choirs, or whatever else. At the end of the day, the Gospel is proclaimed simply by breaking bread with one another.
And I hope that once this is over, whenever that will be, we might have a new appreciation and curiosity for the ways that appropriate and healthy touch can make the love of God known to us and to our community.
The resurrection doesn’t need us to do anything. But we most certainly need the resurrection. And the resurrection is the most relentless force in creation. And that, my friends, is joyful news. And while that may not do away with our fear, it certainly gives us something beautifully potent to hold in tension with it.