International Roma Day

On April 17, 1423 King Sigismund wrote a letter of safe conduct for "Ladislaus, Gyspy Voivode, and those who depend on him."  This is one of many letters and one of the most well-known granting safe travel and autonomy for Roma in Central Europe.  This letter protected Roma, who have lived throughout Central Europe (and the whole world) from even before that time and since.

Today is International Roma Day.  Many people have no idea who Roma are, let alone that this day exists.  If our current administration is any example, they also have absolutely no clue of the difficulties Roma have historically faced and continue to face today.  I was one of those people for a long time.

In 2009 I was accepted to serve with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Young Adults in Global Mission program in Slovakia.  I worked with Phiren Amenca, which meant that I spent much of my time in relationship with Roma in the village of Rankovce.  This year was profoundly formative in my life for many reasons.  The relationships I formed and the people who opened their lives to me, an outsider from the states, continue to impact how I live (and are part of why I am writing this blog today).  Roma have not always been welcomed, valued, or affirmed like they were by King Sigismund.  Their history is much more difficult.

Growing up, the sentence that best sums up what I learned about the Holocaust, or porraimos (the devouring) in Roma was: six million Jews died in the Holocaust.  Since then I have learned better.  I don't know of anyone who "died" in the Holocaust.  People were systematically targeted, tortured, and killed in the Holocaust.  Six million of those targeted, tortured, and killed were Jewish.  Almost five million more were not Jewish.

It is, indeed, vital to recognize the ways that anti-semitism (including anti-semitic writing from the namesake of my faith tradition, Martin Luther) actively targeted and still targets Jewish people.  It is also important to recognize that, by our best estimates from incomplete information, at least half a million, or 500,000 Roma (sometimes known as gypsies, though unless someone is self-identifying, that is generally a derogatory term) were also targeted, tortured, and killed.  This is between one quarter and one half of all Roma living in Europe at the time.

It's harder to know the details about Roma because frequently they were categorized as "social deviants," "tramps," and later "Gypsies," among other terms.  The Romani and Jewish peoples were the two main and largest groups targeted because Nazi Germany categorized them as "racially inferior."  The intentional targeting, torturing, and killing of Roma was not recognized as being racially motivated until the 1970s and most scholars didn't begin to pay attention until the 1980s.

Roma also continued to struggle under communism, which attempted to erase their culture.  After the fall of communism, since the discrimination that Roma have faced for centuries was never addressed, and even the reality of their persecution under the Holocaust has been erased and downplayed for so long, Roma have continued to face discrimination throughout the world, especially in Central Europe.

Roma in Slovakia especially are often placed in schools for children with learning disabilities, hired last for work--if at all--even when they do a better job, and stereotyped as lazy, thieves, or conniving (where do you think the term "gypped" comes from?).  The Roma I encountered cared deeply about me.  They wanted to get to know me and I wanted to get to know them.  We were both outsiders in the dominant culture, which helped us connect.

Whether it was connecting with the children who came to our after school-type program or youth group activities, or the adults who volunteered and worked to help the kids who came or who participated in our bible studies, we took the time to get to know each other.  The friends I made among the Roma were the hardest to say good-bye to.  They taught me (or tried to teach me) to dance.  They stood up for me personally as a queer person and for other lgbtq+ people they didn't even know at bible studies and when I couldn't be there or couldn't stand up for myself.

Today is International Roma Day.  This month is a great month to learn more about Roma, so here are some resources:

Books:
We are Roma: One Thousand Years of Discrimination by Valeriu Nicolae
Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey by Isabel Fonseca

Links: 
Check out #internationalromaday on social media.
My friend and fellow YAGM, Matt's blog, which includes a paper shared at the European Commission Meeting on Roma in Europe in 2010. 
Phiren Amenca, the European-based organization I worked with as a YAGM.
A Huffington Post article about some of the five million people targeted, tortured, and killed during the Holocaust who were not Jewish, yet were purposefully targeted, including the Roma.

god manifests the glory of christ in those outside the church: epiphany sunday

The first reading is Isaiah 60:1-6.

The second reading is Ephesians 3:1-12.

The holy gospel according to Matthew (2:1-12)

In the time of King Herod,

       after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,

              wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking,

                     “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?

                            For we observed his star at its rising,

                                   and have come to pay him homage.”

       ³When King Herod heard this,

              he was frightened,

              and all Jerusalem with him;

              ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people,

                     he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

                     ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea;

                            for so it has been written by the prophet:

                                   ⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

                                          are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

                                                 for from you shall come a ruler

                                                       who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

       ⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men

              and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.

                     ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,

                            “Go and search diligently for the child;

                                   and when you have found him,

                                          bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

⁹When they had heard the king,

       they set out;

              and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising,

                     until it stopped over the place where the child was.

                            ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped,

                                   they were overwhelmed with joy.

                            ¹¹On entering the house,

                                   they saw the child with Mary his mother;

                                          and they knelt down and paid him homage.

                                   Then, opening their treasure chests,

                                          they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

                            ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,

                                   they left for their own country by another road.

The gospel of the lord.

-----

Epiphany is the season when we celebrate God’s glory being made manifest.  Rev. William EdwardFlippin, Jr. points out that the Greek epiphaneia translates as “manifest, show forth, or make clear.”  As we hear in today’s reading from Ephesians, Paul’s work and his call as an apostle is to make God in Christ known to the Gentiles—who were, at the time, the ones outside the faith.  They were not Jews like Paul and most of Jesus’ followers and yet they are among the first to recognize Jesus for who he is: the King of the Jews.

The wise ones from the East see the star at Jesus’ birth, gather their things, and set off on a journey that will take them up to 2 years to complete, not to mention the risk to their lives inherent in travel at that time.  All this for “the child who has been born king of the Jews.”  It is not their religion, but even so,            they know God is doing something big            in Bethlehem.  And in this way God is already coming to these Gentiles, even before Paul takes up the cause—maybe even before he’s born!

These wise ones are not only recipients and witnesses to God’s glory, made manifest in Christ Jesus, but they also become the epiphany.  God works through them to manifest the glory of Christ.  They witness to Herod about this “child who has been born king of the Jews.”  And, as God frequently does to those in positions of oppressive power, this child king frightens Herod. 

Just as in Harry Potter when Voldemort—the epitome of evil—is threatened by the prophecy of a baby, who turns out to be Harry Potter, Herod is afraid of this child king.  Voldemort chooses to hunt down Harry and with him his whole family, while he is still a baby and, after the wise ones leave “by another road,” Herod orders the slaughter of all male children 2 and under. 

Those who hold oppressive power seem ready to do anything, even what we consider unthinkable, in order to hold onto that power.  Last Monday was the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a day in the church year commemorating the innocent children killed in Herod’s frightened and frightening attempt to keep power.  It is the story that follows today’s in the gospel of Matthew.

That’s the thing about children and babies.  Even as they are quite powerless, dependant on others for life, the powerful will often target them when they are afraid. The Feast of the Holy Innocents not only commemorates those killed millennia ago, but also the children killed still today around the world and in our own country. Just as Hitler went after children and adults during World War II, just as Voldemort targets the young Harry Potter, and Herod goes after any child in the area close to Jesus’ age, children are many times the easiest targets. 

Children are killed as victims of war, of poverty, of racism, and of xenophobia, or fear of others.  They are killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.  There are many reasons given for why children are killed, and yet is any reason ever good enough to take the life of a child?  Jesus was targeted his whole life because of who he was.  No child deserves to die.

And yet despite the attempts of King Herod to destroy and oppress, God’s glory is made manifest.  As the wise ones’ presence and gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh demonstrate, God’s glory can stir up opportunity and trouble.  Gold and frankincense are kingly gifts, signs of hope and opportunity, but myrrh is used at burial and foreshadows Jesus’ death and the trouble he will face. 

But as with Voldemort’s attempt to kill Harry, Herod causes horrifying trouble, and yet, that is not the final word.  Harry lives and so does Jesus.  The wise ones stir up hope and affirmation for the Holy Family and for those who have been awaiting news of a Messiah—a king to lift them up out of their oppression.

These outsiders, these wise ones, begin the mission of the church—reaching out and glimpsing God in those outside the church, because God is, indeed, already at work out there.  The gifts of bread and wine that we receive today, like the gift of a visit from the wise ones, sends us into the world, to seek out those who are not like us, to learn from them, to find God with them, and to be transformed by them.

During this season of Epiphany, that’s what we as a faith community, will be up to.   Each week we will have a different, though similar task.  This week: head out to a street corner in Rushford, and one in the town in or near where you live (if you live in Rushford, pick two different street corners).  Take five minutes to, as Isaiah says, “Lift up your eyes and look around.”  Pray. Pray, "God, show me how you are at work." Pray, "God, show me how you are calling me." and "God, show me how you are calling us." 

You don’t need to have high expectations or low ones.  Like the wise ones, we may not know what to expect in this search and THAT IS OK.  The goal is to open ourselves up, take some intentional time to ask God to make manifest the glory of Christ in our community.  So pray,            and then jot down a few notes. 

What stands out?  Did anything happen?  (it’s ok if the answer is no) What do you notice?  Is there anything new you haven’t noticed before?  Did you catch any glimpses of where God is and where God’s leading you or us?  Do this during the week—it can be right after worship today or on your way between a here and a there, or whenever it fits into your schedule two times this week for about five minutes each. 

If you want to email or call me and let me know what, if anything, happened, please do!  Otherwise, bring your notes next Sunday and we’ll take some time to wonder at God’s glory in the community.

Just as the wise ones prepared for their long journey and came from afar, following a star to the child king, may this bread we receive today, the body of Christ, nourish us for the journey this week, and may we too glimpse God’s glory made manifest.

Amen.

advent is a young adult dystopia

in my last post (sermon), i mentioned that if john were an author, he would probably write young adult dystopias.  as i explored that concept, i also realized that if i were to categorize the season of advent as a literary genre, it would be young adult dystopias.  i promised some exploration of that, so here it is:

during the last few months, i read 3 or more young adult dystopia series (having read hunger games previously, i read the unwind, divergent, and legend series) and realized that young adult dystopias are my favorite genre. 

young adult dystopias affirm my despair about our country and the world.  they assure me that i am not the only one recognizing all that is going wrong in the world.  i am not the only one lamenting and despairing about the fear and hate being sown in the united states, about the militarism that seems to be taking over, the potentials for abuse of power, the rampant consumerism and materialism, obsessions with how we appear over who we are.  they affirm my caution and pessimism about the path we seem to be going down.

and i love it.  i am a pessimist at times and i have been despairing a lot and to not be alone in that means a lot to me.

BUT, the thing about young adult dystopias that i really love is that they always move to hope.  they start with the despair of how the world or the country is, but that is only ever the beginning.  there's always potential for redemption. usually there are many working against the dystopic system (totalitarian, fear-mongering, whatever type of power is at work controlling and dictating life).  they work by themselves or with just a few others in secret, trying to put cracks in the armor of the dystopia, similar to those who were forced to build bombs for germany during world war ii and made sure they wouldn't explode--even just a few bombs, saving even just a few lives.

then arises one or a few characters that usually have the burden hoisted upon them to redeem their country, their society, their world.  they are not superheroes.  yes, they have unique gifts or skills, usually, and they come from a variety of backgrounds (the posh, upper, military class, the "lowest" district, the poor sector, or just one of the kids to be "repurposed").  they could be any of us, really.

as i explored all of this, it led to my last sermon about john writing a young adult dystopia in last sunday's gospel.  then i continued to think about it and realized that it's kind of the whole season of advent.  especially if you do the 7-week version of advent, which includes the last 3 sundays of the church year, advent focuses on the end-times.  

now, many people who are theologically grounded will say that this is because advent focuses on waiting for jesus 1-to be born in bethlehem and 2-to come back.  this is true, but it also means that advent looks at all of the potential harm that we has humans can do until then.  it looks realistically at our toxic politics, our fear-based approach to neighbors, our theologies of scarcity that keep us from real generosity.  advent, unlike the "time before christmas" that stores sell, doesn't sugar-coat reality.  it tells it like it is, despair, confusion, hurt, and all.

BUT, like young adult dystopias, advent doesn't just leave us there.  it brings us through the despair, confusion, and hurt into the hope and redemption of christ who does reign and who will reign.  the prince of peace.  the young adult dystopia that is advent, doesn't leave me alone with my pessimism.  it sits with me and my pessimism for a time and then starts pointing out the stars in the deep blue of the night sky, the people running into scary situations to help, the ones who live out hope, peace, joy, and love.

and in the end, the true gift in young adult dystopias, for me at least, is that they're really good for moving me from potentially being overwhelmed with despair at the reality of our world and especially our country to recognition and trust in the hope for redemption, that there is always still time for God's redeeming work.  and that is advent for me.  and i love them both.

jesus is coming.

god promises "never again": 1st of lent

i primarily preached on genesis 9:8-17.

the holy gospel according to mark (1:9-15)

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee

       and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

              ¹⁰And just as he was coming up out of the water,

                     he saw the heavens torn apart

                     and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.

                     ¹¹And a voice came from heaven,

                            “You are my Son, the Beloved;

                                   with you I am well pleased.”

                     ¹²And the Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness.

                            ¹³He was in the wilderness forty days,

                                   tempted by Satan;

                                   and he was with the wild beasts;

                                   and the angels waited on him.

¹⁴Now after John was arrested,

       Jesus came to Galilee,

              proclaiming the good news of God,

                     ¹⁵and saying,

                            “The time is fulfilled,

                                   and the dominion of God has come near;

                                          repent,

                                          and believe in the good news.”

The gospel of the lord.

-----

our readings this lent focus on covenants made by god with god’s people.  by and large, covenants of mutuality.  today, after a long, smelly time in the ark with the animals and immediate family, they are finally free.  i can’t imagine the emotions running through noah and his family to be back on dry ground with fresh air.  and before completely letting them loose, god makes a very wordy and repetitive promise to the noah family, every living creature with them, and their descendants.

this covenant is not quite like the others we will explore or even the others made at that time.  old testament scholar, cameron howard points out that covenants in that time typically involved commitments from both parties—usually initiated by one—about how to exist in relationship.  most of the time it was a conquering nation creating a covenant with a conquered one, where one side had the power and the other did not, and so the covenants clearly benefited one over the other, but both were able to agree on them. 

but today’s covenant is god making unconditional promises with noah’s whole family, “and your descendants after you, ¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.” 

and god expects nothing in return.

before the flood, humanity was not living up to its potential.  humans were acting with disregard for god and others.  through the flood, the old things have been washed away.  the sins committed, the pains and hurts of days gone by, and god chooses to be again in relationship with humanity.  sometimes we talk about the god of the old testament as a very different god from the one we know in jesus.  that god is vengeful and powerful and even violent.

but when we talk about god that way, we miss out on the god who is one and the same throughout the bible.  god is certainly multifaceted, but here in genesis, we encounter a god who, though god could choose again to destroy the world, instead chooses to limit those powers in order to be in relationship with us.  god chooses to never again destroy us or all of creation, but rather to be with us in love, no matter what humanity does. 

in the flood that washes away the inhabitants of the earth, making room for the new life that god is bringing forth, god washes away the sin of the past, yes, but not the memory of it.  in fact, god places a bow in the clouds—the rainbow—as a reminder of what god had done.  god did not want to forget the pain and sorrow of the flood.  god needs to remember, god needs the reminder to make sure it never happens again.

there is a saying that i don’t really like at all.  it is “forgive and forget.”  i don’t like it, because it doesn’t really work.  we continue to experience violence, pain, and hurt because we don’t remember the lessons of history.  when i was coming back from my year in slovakia, my dad and i spent two weeks in germany.  while we were there, we went to many places important to martin luther and the reformation and we went to many places important during the holocaust.  the two were more related than you might think.

at dachau concentration camp, there are several art memorials at the international monument by the roll call area of the camp.  one of the tour guides for dachau would end their tour at the international monument and after looking at several artists’ sculptures, they would end at an urn with the ashes of an unknown prisoner, behind which read the words “never again” in yiddish, french, english, german, and russian.  when the tour guide got there, they would simply say, “this is a lie.” 

we as humans have forgotten the horrors of the holocaust.  genocide has happened many times before and since the holocaust.  from the native peoples who were systematically killed on this land to more recent horrors.  j was telling me just last week about a book he read about the genocide in rwanda.  we forget what has happened—some people even deny that the holocaust happened at all.  we forget the true horrors of it, and so it happens again, and again.

forgiveness is about releasing the pain and anger that control us, about separating ourselves from the evil that has happened.  it is not about pretending that it never happened or allowing it to continue happening to us.  it is not about forgetting our past.  god even goes so far as to provide a reminder of the flood—not for us, although we do use it to remember god’s promises of love—but for god’s own self!  when god places a bow in the sky—a thing of beauty and wonder—it is a reminder of the pain and anger, and a commitment to never do it again.

a reminder of the love that is greater than the anger and deeper than the pain.  the rainbow is a reminder of all the diversity god has created in people, animals, plants—all of creation.  it is a reminder to god and to us that god is choosing to be faithful to us and promises to be our god of love forever.

these promises of god are made in exchange for nothing.  no matter how much we might mess up, god chooses to love us and be with us.  even when we might wish to wipe everything out and start over, god instead chooses to love us where we’re at.  we still face consequences for our actions—violence and wars still kill people and damage the environment, threatening all living creatures.  genocides still happen.

instead of wiping us all out and starting over, god remembers god’s promise and honors our free will.  god comes to us again and again in love in the waters that put to death our sin while bringing us alive to new life in christ.  life in the wilderness with jesus and the wild beasts, and life in this community of faith.  life with reminders of pain in the hope and promise of the One who fulfills all promises, the One whose “never again” truly means “never again.”  that is the god who love us; the god who promises life for us; the god who claims us in the waters of baptism and every day since.

amen.