Today, I preached at Trinity las Americas United Methodist Church (TLA). My sermon was rooted in my queerying the text this week.
This Sunday is the Sunday before the 20th annual Trans Day of Remembrance, so that was a big part of my sermon. Below is the manuscript. Because TLA is multicultural and worships bilingually, the sermon also is bilingual.
I'm doing my best to include the manuscript more or less as it was preached. The italicized is English and bold is Spanish.
Isaiah 65:17-25
17 For I am about to create
new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
and its people as a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for calamity;[a]
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
and their descendants as well.
24 Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
-----
Isaías 65:17-25
17 »Miren, yo voy a crear
un cielo nuevo y una tierra nueva.
Lo pasado quedará olvidado,
nadie se volverá a acordar de ello.
18 Llénense de gozo y alegría para siempre
por lo que voy a crear,
porque voy a crear una Jerusalén feliz
y un pueblo contento que viva en ella.
19 Yo mismo me alegraré por Jerusalén
y sentiré gozo por mi pueblo.
En ella no se volverá a oír llanto
ni gritos de angustia.
20 Allí no habrá niños que mueran a los pocos días,
ni ancianos que no completen su vida.
Morir a los cien años será morir joven,
y no llegar a los cien años será una maldición.
21 La gente construirá casas y vivirá en ellas,
sembrará viñedos y comerá sus uvas.
22 No sucederá que uno construya y otro viva allí,
o que uno siembre y otro se aproveche.
Mi pueblo tendrá una vida larga, como la de un árbol;
mis elegidos disfrutarán del trabajo de sus manos.
23 No trabajarán en vano
ni tendrán hijos que mueran antes de tiempo,
porque ellos son descendientes
de los que el Señor ha bendecido,
y lo mismo serán sus descendientes.
24 Antes que ellos me llamen,
yo les responderé;
antes que terminen de hablar,
yo los escucharé.
25 El lobo y el cordero comerán juntos,
el león comerá pasto, como el buey,
y la serpiente se alimentará de tierra.
En todo mi monte santo
no habrá quien haga ningún daño.»
El Señor lo ha dicho.
-----
This
Wednesday is Trans Day of Remembrance, or TDOR. Every year on November 20, we gather
and read all the names that we know of the transgender people who have died in
the last year. Although the list can often include some of those who died by
suicide, the majority of trans people who died were intentionally killed. This
year we know of 369 trans people who died. 36 of them have been killed or died
here in the United States. One trans woman died in prison on Riker's Island, New York, and
another was in ICE custody. The vast majority of those killed in the united
states are Black trans women.
El miércoles que viene es el día internacional de la memoria trans. Cada año el 20 de noviembre, nos reunimos y leemos todos los nombres que conocemos de las personas transgénero que se murió en el año pasado. Aunque muchas veces incluye algunas de las personas que se murieron por medio del suicidio, la mayoría de personas trans que se murieron es matada. Este año sabemos de 369 personas trans que se murieron. 36 de estas personas han sido asesinadas o se han muerto aquí en los estados unidos. Una mujer trans se murió en la cárcel en Riker’s Island, Nueva York, y otra fue en la custodia de la migra. La mayoría en los ee uu es mujeres descendientes de Africa.
Cada noviembre leemos cientos de nombres y sentimos como si fuera inevitable hacerlo cada año. Es como pensaron el pueblo de Israel en la lectura de hoy. La gente está regresando del exilio y no sabe como encontrará la vida nueva. Piensa en el exilio como si fuera inevitable otra vez.
Every November we read hundreds of names and it feels like the next Trans Day of Remembrance is inevitable, much as the people of Israel thought in today's reading. They are a people returning from exile with no idea how they will find a new life—or if there even is life after exile.
It was easy for them to resign themselves to an exiled life forever, and it is easy for us now to think that violence against trans people will always exist — that racism, sexism, and transphobia will never end, but our God says otherwise. God says, “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.” And God continues with this new vision, saying, “No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.”
Era fácil para la gente regresando del exilio y es fácil para nosotrxs pensar que la violencia contra personas trans siempre estará—que el racismo, el sexismo, y la transfobia siempre existirán, pero nuestro Dios dice que no. Dios dice, “Miren, yo voy a crear un cielo nuevo y una tierra nueva. Lo pasado quedará olvidado, nadie se volverá a acordar de ello.” Y sigue con una vista de vida, diciendo, “Allí no habrá niños que mueran a los pocos días, ni ancianos que no completen su vida. Morir a los cien años será morir joven, y no llegar a los cien años será una maldición. La gente construirá casas y vivirá en ellas, sembrará viñedos y comerá sus uvas.”
Dios tiene otro plan para nosotrxs y para el mundo entero.
God has another plan for us and for the whole world.
It is not an easy plan to achieve — it never is. It requires major changes in how we function as human beings and in our cultures. God’s vision that “the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox;” requires changes on the part of the wolf and the lion. It’s not possible for the wolf and the lamb to eat together if the wolf is eating the lamb.
No es fácil alcanzarlo—nunca es fácil seguir a Dios. Requiere grandes cambios en como funcionamos como seres humanos y como culturas. El plan de Dios, que “El lobo y el cordero comerán juntos, el león comerá pasto, como el buey” requiere un cambio fundamental por parte del lobo y del león. No es posible que el lobo y el cordero coman juntos si el lobo esta comiendo el cordero.
Para crear un mundo donde toda la gente puede vivir sin miedo, la gente con poder—la gente que han abusado su poder, que han hecho más difícil la vida para la gente marginalizada—los lobos, no pueden tener tanta poder—no pueden comer a los corderos. El poder que tienen sobre otras personas es poder sin amor y poder injusto. Hay que enfrentarse con las consecuencias de sus acciones. La cultura necesita cambiar para que los lobos no puedan hacer daño a otras personas.
To create a world where all people can live without fear, people with power — people who have abused their power, who have made life harder instead of easier for marginalized people — the wolves and lions, cannot have all that power. The power they have over other people is power without love—it is unjust power. The wolves must face the consequences of their actions. Culture needs to change so that they cannot harm other people.
And we, here, can be part of the change that God makes. We have power. We especially have power together as this community of faith. But also, every person here — some more than others, but each person — has power. We can honor each person, protect the most vulnerable people, share power, and limit the damage done.
Y nosotrxs aquí somos parte del cambio que hace Dios. Tenemos poder. Especialmente tenemos poder juntos como comunidad de fe. Pero también cada persona aquí—algunas más que otras, pero cada persona—tiene poder. Somos capaces de honrar a cada persona, de dar protección a la gente más vulnerable, a compartir el poder y limitar el daño hecho.
Tenemos el poder de corregir unos a otros cuando decimos los pronombres incorrectos, cuando alguien habla de “esas personas.” Nuestras acciones solo son una parte, pero son una parte importante, especialmente ahora que el gobierno no funciona bien. Lo que podemos hacer, tiene que ver con nuestres amigues, nuestras comunidades.
We have the power to correct each other when we say the wrong pronouns, when someone talks about “those people.” Our actions are only one part, but they are an important part, especially when the government feels so hopeless. What we can do has to do with our friends and our communities.
Pastor Alejandro has asked about great, great, grandmothers. I will ask about friends and friends of friends. Can we talk to our friends about racism, sexism, and transphobia? Can we speak up about these things when we´re in a group and don´t know everyone in the group? When trans people aren’t present? When it is just white folks? How can we influence our neighbors for the good?
Pastor Alejandro preguntó de las tatarabuelas. Yo pregunto de les amigues de les amigues. ¿Podemos hablar con nuestres amigues sobre el racismo, el sexismo, y la transfobia? ¿Podemos decir algo, cuando estamos en un grupo y no conocemos a cada persona en el grupo? ¿Cuando personas trans no estén presentes? ¿Cómo podemos influir a nuestras projimas?
Dios está creando un mundo nuevo, está llamándonos, ¿seguimos a Dios? ¿Creemos en la posibilidad de otro tipo de mundo? Podemos hacerlo juntxs.
God is creating a new world, God is calling us. Do we follow God? Do we put our faith in the possibility of a different kind of world? We can do it together.
Amén.
Showing posts with label criminal justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label criminal justice. Show all posts
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Sunday, July 02, 2017
God welcomes. Do we? - 4th after pentecost
Jesus
said:
40“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me,
and
whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
41Whoever
welcomes a prophet as a prophet
will
receive a prophet’s reward;
and
whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person
will
receive the reward of the righteous;
42and
whoever gives even a cup of cold water
to
one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—
truly
I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
The
gospel of the Lord.
-----
As
Jesus sends his disciples out, his message for those of us they might encounter
along the way is clear: welcome them.
Don’t just tolerate, put up with, or quietly ignore them, but truly
welcome them as we would welcome Jesus.
Welcome a prophet as a
prophet—recognize their calling, what makes them unique, and even perhaps what they
say that makes us uncomfortable.
Last
week and this week, we’ve been encountering Jeremiah in our first reading and
though I didn’t preach on him, he is a great example of a prophet in the sense
that he embodies just about everything a prophet could possibly go
through.
Rev.
Liddy Barlow, points out that as a prophet, Jeremiah preaches what people don’t
want to hear, occasionally even the opposite
of what might make sense at the time or in the short term, he has plenty of
doubt and despair as we heard about last week, and his performance art—engaging
in symbolic acts to convey the heart of God’s message—like breaking pottery and
wearing literal yokes, can definitely make folks uncomfortable.
When
Jesus says, “41Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet
will receive a prophet’s reward,” he’s certainly familiar with Jeremiah
and other prophets who, like his own disciples that he’s sending out, are
likely to make their hosts a bit uncomfortable. But Jesus’ concern is not with comfort. It is with the vulnerable ones—the
prophets willing to speak truth to power, even under threat of violence or
death; the righteous—those committed to being in right relationship with God,
their fellow humans, and all of creation; the little ones who need a refreshing
drink of cool water; and all those who will know the Good News of God’s healing
and love because of them.
With
the events of the last week and July 4th coming up, I can’t help but
think of the Statue of Liberty and Jewish immigrant, Emma Lazarus’ poem at its
base. Though many of us are
familiar with the second half of The New Colossus,
the whole poem is striking
as it refers to the imposing Greek Colossus of Rhodes, pictured on the
left. The Colossus of Rhodes was
the Greek titan-god of the sun, Helios,
a symbol of power and military victory, which Lazarus then compares with the
Statue of Liberty.
 |
| The Colossus of Rhodes |
 |
| The Statue of Liberty |
The
poem reads:
Not
like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Like
Jesus in today’s gospel and the prophets and faithful throughout biblical and
human history, the welcome of this poem, symbolized by the Statue of Liberty,
isn’t a welcome for those who already fit in. It isn’t a welcome to those willing to assimilate to the
unassimilating culture that has become dominate in this country. And it isn’t a welcome to those with
the “right” belief, creed, politics, family, or connections.
The
welcome of the Statue of Liberty, of Jesus, and of the prophets is a welcome to
whoever is most in need of welcome, shelter, or refuge. A cup of cold water sounds simple, but
it can be the difference between life or death in the Sonoran Desert, provided
at stations along the route of many immigrants to this country by organizations
like Humane Borders and churches
like la Iglesia Luterana San Lucas in Eagle
Pass, Texas.
Asylum-seekers,
refugees, and immigrants come to this country for a million different reasons,
and I wonder at the ways we do and do not welcome them.
This
week, NPR’s The Takeaway reported
about one of the three family detention centers in the united states where
asylum-seekers are held until they are accepted as having a well-founded
fear of future persecution or harm in their country of origin and then
processed, which can take quite a while due to the current backlog. The workers at the center refuse to
drink the water provided to those being detained because it has been
contaminated by nearby fracking and, although it is legally required in order
to hold children, the detention center still hasn’t been certified as a
childcare facility. And yet, if
you are a Thrivent member, your money supports the for-profit prison company,Corporate Corrections of America, which runs the facility.
This
week the Supreme Court reinstated parts of the president’s travel ban, which,
as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) states, “will mean
individuals whom the U.S. has historically offered protection through the U.S.
Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) will be denied that protection – at least
for now – despite their having been appropriately vetted through top security
and intelligence agencies.”
Closer
to home, in our most recent legislative session, language was included in the
budget bill that will make it even harder to reinstate the ability of undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers’
licenses like they had been able to do in the past.
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and
whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me,” Jesus says. “41Whoever
welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever
welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive the reward of
the righteous.” It is in
these, at times uncomfortable, encounters with prophets, little ones, the tired,
the poor, the huddled masses, the wretched refuse, the homeless, tempest-tost
that we receive Jesus’ rewards.
We
are not the rewards, nor are those we might welcome, but it is in the very act
of welcoming, that everyone involved receives Jesus’ reward. It is in the relationship that forms,
the connections created, and the love both given and received. It is in the work of LIRS, joining
together new immigrants and refugees with communities eager to welcome them to
this country. It is along the side
of the highway when cars stop to help someone change a tire or get the help
that they need.
God
gives us glimpses of the reign of God as it will be, God shares a truth deeper
than any government or news agency could report, and God uses us, the people we
encounter, and the interactions themselves as their own prophetic,
performance art and symbolic acts, which embody the Good News. Through these acts, God welcomes each
of us into the dominion of heaven and brings us all closer to the world and the
country as we hope it will be.
Thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God.
Sunday, April 16, 2017
resurrection breaks in: easter 1a
The
holy gospel according to Matthew (28:1-10).
After
the sabbath,
as the first day
of the week was dawning,
Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
2And
suddenly there was a great earthquake;
for an angel of God,
descending
from heaven,
came
and rolled back the stone
and
sat on it.
3The
appearance of the angel was like lightning,
and
its clothing bright as snow.
4For
fear of the angel the guards shook
and
became as if dead.
5But
the angel said to the women,
“Do not be afraid;
I
know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.
6He
is not here;
for
he has been raised, as he said.
Come,
see the place where he lay.
7Then
go quickly and tell his disciples,
‘He
has been raised from the dead,
and
indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee;
there
you will see him.’
This
is my message for you.”
8So
the women left the tomb quickly
with fear and great joy,
and
ran to tell his disciples.
9Suddenly
Jesus met them and said,
“Greetings!”
And
they came to him,
took
hold of his feet,
and
worshiped him.
10Then
Jesus said to them,
“Do not be
afraid;
go
and tell my brothers to go to Galilee;
there
they will see me.”
The
gospel of the Lord.
-----
I
need to confess that I have not been feeling Easter this year. I have felt like I’m still in Good
Friday, or even Holy Saturday.
Like these women—these Marys—I feel almost numb. Every time I turn on the news or get
online, there is another tragedy.
As I was working on this sermon, the news came out that we had dropped
the biggest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat in Afghanistan.
And
it’s not just what our and other governments are doing in other countries. It’s in our corner of the world
too. Kids are still sick, people
we love still die, Immigration and Customs Enforcement could come in and tear
this community apart at any time, and domestic violence still haunts our
community.
We
know that the world both far and near is not how it should be. And yet we still show up. Like the brave women, the Marys, who
show up at the tomb. They bring
nothing. In Matthew’s account they
don’t bring any spices to anoint the body, or anything at all really. We don’t hear them worrying about how
they’re going to get into the tomb.
They just go, walking numbly along the path to the tomb. Maybe to sit and stare. Maybe to sit and cry—if there are any
tears left, that is. Maybe just to
not be alone with their grief.
The
women show up and God crashes into their sorrow and grief. God breaks in, literally rocking their
world with the resurrection. The folks
guarding the tomb are lost in fear and become “as if dead.”
There
is no denying the violence and pain that put Jesus on the cross and then into
the tomb. That violence is just as
real today around the world: at the hands of our and other governments, as well
as at the hands of individuals, like the pastor in San Bernadino who killed his
estranged wife, a child in her class, and himself, and in domestic violence in
our own community over the last few years.
Violence
is real. Jesus is still being
crucified and in this reality the women come to the tomb. Mary and Mary, these faithful women
caught in despair, show up at the tomb.
They show up because even though they might not have a plan or hope, it
is the faithful thing to do.
The
witness of these women—the first witnesses of the resurrection—would have held
no legal standing in their time and they have been maligned throughout
church history. Yet these women
show up, expecting nothing but a tomb and the bloodied corpse of the one in
whom they had placed their hope.
The One they thought would change everything.
But
this isn’t the end. This is where
we are with the world right now, and
this is where Christ breaks in.
This is where the resurrection shakes the foundations of this world.
Bishop
Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land points
out that “The powers and principalities of sin and death could not overcome the
love of God. Yes they could
crucify Jesus. Yes, they could
bury Jesus. But they could not
bury God’s love for this world.”
THIS is what Easter is.
The
women show up at the tomb, because it is the faithful thing to do and God
breaks in. Into their sorrow and
confusion, the angel proclaims the message Christians have greeted each other
with for thousands of years as the angel says, “6He is not here,”
Christ is risen! Christ is risen,
indeed. Alleluia!
In
the face of all the violence: resurrection breaks in!
In
the face of sickness, death, and despair: resurrection breaks in!
In
the face of broken relationships, lost lives, and hopelessness: resurrection
breaks in!
In
the face of every single thing that
beats us down, discourages us, and gives us every reason not to believe:
resurrection breaks in!
Resurrection
breaks in no matter what!
The
women respond “with fear and great joy”
because resurrection breaks in.
These
women show up today and throughout history. Though they are not always named or recognized, women have
been showing up forever. They have
known the secret that perhaps we who gather here today know deep in our souls,
no matter what else we might think.
The women know: sometimes you just need to show up, even if you don’t
want to or even if you don’t know why.
Because
resurrection does break in!
And
God, after all these years, still breaks into our lives, shaking the very
foundations we’ve thought were so solid.
Resurrection
breaks in when executions are stayed, granting life in the face of death.
Resurrection
breaks in when Muslims give blood to help Coptic Christians who were victims of
violence.
God
breaks in in surprising ways that don’t make sense.
Resurrections
breaks in and changes us!
Resurrection
changes our relationship with Emmanuel,
who is
God-with-us,
and who is the
God of life!
Jesus
has vanquished death and the power it holds over this life.
Despite
all of the potential for evil, resurrection breaks in and Love wins.
Despite
all of the reasons we might have to despair, despite our human capacity for
death, destruction, and hatred, resurrection breaks in and evil doesn’t have
the last word.
Love
is still stronger than hatred or fear.
Life
still conquers death.
Because:
Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed.
Alleluia!
Resurrection
breaks into our lives!
Christ
resists oppression and overcomes evil!
In
the face of all that may come, we can trust that no amount of evil will ever be
the final word. No amount of evil
will conquer.
Because
life is different
Because
resurrection breaks in
Because
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is
risen, indeed. Alleluia!
Sunday, May 08, 2016
the holy spirit breaks in: easter 7c
A reading from Acts (16:15-40).
15When
Lydia and her household were
baptized,
she
urged us, saying,
“If
you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord,
come
and stay at my home.”
And
she prevailed upon us.
16One
day, as we were going to the place of prayer,
we
met a slave girl
who
had a spirit of divination
and
brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling.
17While
she followed Paul and us, she would cry out,
“These
men are slaves of the Most High God,
who
proclaim to you a way of salvation.”
18She
kept doing this for many days.
But
Paul, very much annoyed,
turned
and said to the spirit,
“I
order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.”
And
it came out that very hour.
19But
when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone,
they
seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace
before
the authorities.
20When
they had brought them before the magistrates, they said,
“These
men are disturbing our city;
they
are Jewish
21and
are advocating customs that are not lawful for us
as
Romans to adopt or observe.”
22The
crowd joined in attacking them,
and
the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing
and
ordered them to be beaten with rods.
23After
they had given them a severe flogging,
they
threw them into prison
and
ordered the jailer to keep them securely.
24Following
these instructions,
he
put them in the innermost cell
and
fastened their feet in the stocks.
25About
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
and
the prisoners were listening to them.
26Suddenly
there was an earthquake,
so
violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken;
and
immediately all the doors were opened
and
everyone’s chains were unfastened.
27When
the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open,
he
drew his sword and was about to kill himself,
since
he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.
28But
Paul shouted in a loud voice,
“Do not harm yourself,
for
we are all here.”
29The
jailer called for lights,
and
rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
30Then
he brought them outside and said,
“Sirs,
what must I do to be saved?”
31They
answered,
“Believe
on the Lord Jesus,
and
you will be saved,
you
and your household.”
32Paul
and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him
and
to all who were in his house.
33At
the same hour of the night he took them
and
washed their wounds;
then
he and his entire family were baptized without delay.
34He
brought them up into the house
and
set food before them;
and
he and his entire household rejoiced
that
he had become a believer in God.
35When
morning came,
the
magistrates sent the police, saying,
“Let
those men go.”
36And
the jailer reported the message to Paul, saying,
“The
magistrates sent word to let you go;
therefore
come out now and go in peace.”
37But
Paul replied,
“They
have beaten us in public,
uncondemned,
men who are Roman citizens,
and
have thrown us into prison;
and
now are they going to discharge us in secret?
Certainly
not!
Let
them come and take us out themselves.”
38The
police reported these words to the magistrates,
and
they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens;
39so
they came and apologized to them.
And
they took them out and asked them to leave the city.
40After
leaving the prison they went to Lydia’s home;
and
when they had seen
and
encouraged the brothers and sisters there,
they
departed.
Word of God, word of life.
I also allude to Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21.
-----
In
today’s reading from Acts, we pick up where last week’s reading left off. Lydia, the first convert to
Christianity in Europe, has responded out of her newfound faith, with:
hospitality. She welcomes Paul,
Silas, and the others into her home.
With this offer of hospitality, the group sticks around and as they
continue to pray in the area, a girl who is a slave sees them.
This
girl, who, as a slave, has not known freedom and agency is both blessed and
cursed by a spirit of divination.
Because of this spirit, she makes money for those who own her and is
therefore deemed useful. This, at
least, means she is likely to have enough food and shelter to survive—to scrape
by. It is probably not enough to
really live off of, to save, to enjoy, to really care for herself, but it is
also more than nothing. After all,
her owners need her alive in order to make money off of her.
Then,
as she proclaims the truth of Paul and Silas’ mission, day after day, Paul gets
annoyed. Perhaps Paul is annoyed
because he thinks her reputation in fortune-telling will discredit the actual
truth of what she is saying about them, which will then discredit them and
their mission. Or maybe the
annoyance comes because as she names their situation as “slaves of the Most
High God,” she is forcing Paul to consider her and her plight as a child slave
to people who only want her for the fortune-telling profit she can make them. She is forcing Paul to really see her.
Whatever
Paul’s reason may be remains a mystery to us. All we know is that he reaches the limit, and “very much
annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus
Christ to come out of her.” And it came
out that very hour.”
The
spirit of divination, the blessing and curse for this child, is gone. She is left alone with herself for
perhaps the first time in her whole young life. She is left to figure out anew who she is and what her place
will now be in the world. She is
no longer the moneymaker for her owners that she once was. What does the future hold for her
without the security of that spirit?
Will she face freedom or an even more dire situation than before? As a child, does she even know how to
care for herself?
For
the owners’ part, they get mad—and quickly. They had been making money off of this girl and we learn
that “when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized
Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.” The little girl was useless to them, so
they went after Paul and Silas, dragging them before the authorities.
The
charges they bring, however, don’t even mention the girl who will no longer
make them money, whose future is uncertain. As frequently happens, economic and cultural accusations get
mixed up and swapped. An economic
complaint becomes a cultural one. The
owners decide that Paul and Silas’ jewishness is to blame.
Their
difference is threatening the status quo.
Their culture is too different, their religion too dangerous, and they
will harm the established Roman culture.
These owners face a new economic challenge without the easy money of
slave labor, and instead of questioning the economic system that lets some make
money at the expense and poverty of others, they blame cultural
differences.
As
the story continues, the girl, whose identity as a fortune-teller is lost, is
herself now lost, leaving us with questions and wonderings about her own future
and fortune.
The
focus zeros in on Paul and Silas, who are Jewish and therefore “less than” the
Romans, making it an easy decision to beat them and throw them into jail. If they are not considered full
citizens, they are also not considered full humans, and so abuse is deemed ok.
The
story so far is unsurprising.
Cultural and economic abuse and exploitation are not new to us today. Violence against unarmed men and child
slavery are still realities throughout this country and the world. Yet this story is not over.
As Paul and Silas sit shackled in jail,
they praise God. In her
reflections, our early mother in the faith whom we commemorate today, Julian of
Norwich shared that no matter how dire the situation, “all shall be well, and
all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.” In this spirit of confidence and trust
in God, “About midnight Paul and
Silas were praying and singing hymns to
God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”
Then
an earthquake literally rocks the foundation as chains and locks are broken
open. The captives are set free!
…
And yet, they remain.
The
jailer, whose terror runs deeper than the earthquake, to failure at his job and
the prospect of economic devastation, loses himself to despair. In the midst of the utter despair, the
jailer draws his sword to kill himself and the grace of God breaks in, as Paul
shouts out, “Do not harm yourself,
for we are all here.” All hope is
not yet gone. Paul and Silas and
the other prisoners could have easily escaped to freedom, but out of compassion
for even this one who is keeping them bound (and maybe out of a little shock),
they remain.
It
is in this profoundly countercultural move of love and care for the one who is
oppressing them
that the jailer comes to new faith, asking “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Because for Paul and Silas, as
followers of Jesus, their liberation is not complete without the liberation
that has been holding even this jailer in bondage.
The jailer, who is enforcing the rules and directives given
to him, serves to keep the people “in line,” especially those Jewish outsiders,
stirring up trouble, disrespecting the Roman customs and culture. The jailer serves the occupying Romans,
caught up in the system of oppression, whether or not he even realizes it.
And
that is where God breaks in.
Beginning
with Lydia and sharing their faith in words and in actions, Paul and Silas and
the growing community of believers in Macedonia know
that to follow Christ is to love others.
It
is to risk remaining captive for the sake of the one who would take his own
life.
It
is to choose love over self-preservation, safety, or security.
It
is to challenge economic systems that rely on the enslavement and exploitation
of adults and children.
It
is to speak out and even use their own power, as they did in the end, as full
citizens, to challenge and change the unjust culture and practices.
And,
as Lydia and the jailer demonstrate,
it
is to open their home in hospitality, providing shelter and food for those in need,
protecting the vulnerable, even at the risk of their own place in society.
And
it is in those moments where the Holy Spirit works so powerfully, proclaiming
Paul and Silas as “slaves of the Most
High God, who proclaim to you a way
of salvation” and staying the jailer’s sword with the command “Do not harm yourself, for we are all
here.”
That
is how the Holy Spirit comes—in the midst of even crisis and despair
with words of hope and assurance.
Promising God’s love from “the
first [to] the last, the beginning [to] the end.”
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