Sermon from November 12, 2006
When people gather for a family meal, the usual rule of thumb is to avoid talking about politics and religion. But today as we gather around the communion table, we will talk about both.
When I lived in Atlanta, an ordinance was passed which made it pretty much impossible for a homeless person to use public restrooms. The little dignity they had left was pulled out from under them. Those of us who worked for homeless ministries got organized. We delivered 100 porta-toilets to the state capitol in the midst of a protest. It was out of our Christian passion to be in ministry with, and to stand for, the less fortunate, that we did this. But many were infuriated: 'Stay out of politics,' they said. Offer shelter and food, but leave the legislature to us. I asked the question, "Where does Jesus stand on this?"
When I lived in Orleans parish, Harry Lee was the head of the Jefferson police department. This was the parish next to Orleans. He told his police officers, "If you see anyone black in a white neighborhood, stop them." We protested, asking that Harry Lee and his racist attitude be ended in the police department. But we were waved away - "Churches stay home, tend to people's souls," we were told. Angry, restless, and unsettled, we went home. Years later, after Katrina, hundreds of people from Orleans parish who had no food and who were sick and scared walked to Jefferson Parish where Harry Lee had erected a barricade. He refused to let them cross into his parish. Souls wounded and sad, devastated, blocked from help. "Stay home, save souls," we were told. God's children of God's kingdom stood at that barricade and wept.
As people of Christ, we are called to talk about and live out a very personal journey with Christ. Christ speaks to our souls and tells us about love. Christ offers us healing. It is a personal journey, but it is not private. For to be a Christian is to be one who is called into community and the world to be involved in its transformation in the name of Christ.
Evangelical Christians have been organizing for years to influence the political climate of our country. Recently there has been a national push by the religious right to enact the "Defense of Marriage" act. We cry foul: One's religion shouldn't affect policy. I stand against the Defense of Marriage Act in all of its forms, yet I struggle with how religion influences politics. We live in an interfaith community. Should Christian values be imposed on people of other faiths? Yet, throughout history, people of faith have led movements of major change: women's suffrage, the abolition of slavery, the end of segregation. The Evangelical church and the progressive churches are joining hands to lobby for economic justice - housing, health care, faith-based initiatives.
What does Jesus say about involvement in politics?
In our scripture Jesus says, "The Kingdom of God is among you." He was not talking about a heavenly Kingdom but our own on Earth. He was challenging two kingdoms. The Roman Empire had occupied the Hebrews' land. Through military and economic oppression, they had pushed the people into poverty and hopelessness. There was the temple government too: It had forgotten the essence of what it meant to be in relationship with God. It was corrupt. It became more interested in ritual, law, and structure than people. I love what Jesus said, "You strain gnats and swallow camels." They had forgotten what was important. The people of Israel would say, "One day, one day, we will be free and we will know God's promise of a Kingdom." But Jesus said, "The time is
He told them that like that mustard seed, something huge was growing. A mustard seed is an amazing thing. For out of that plant, other seeds come, and there are vines and runners. It becomes like a weed you can't get rid of. You doesn't realize it until one day, there it is. He said, "The Kingdom of God is like yeast," silently, secretly rising up. In his day, he was a political guy. Both the Romans and the temple government went after him because of it.
Jesus spoke to the heart, and he spoke to the soul. Just as he helped the bent-over woman who could only see the ground and the feet around her - he helped her to strengthen her back and see the world from a new perspective, a Kingdom perspective - we too are called to stand up and really look at the world around us from a Kingdom perspective. It is a perspective that is not comfortable with the status quo. It demands transformation and change. Decisions are not made through the power of greed and self-interest but through the eyes of hope, equity, and justice. All are fed and clothed and safe, not as acts of charity, but as an act of reality.
The Kingdom is rising around us. . .
- As the One Campaign, in which governments are challenged to give one percent of their budget to end poverty, continues to gain ground
- As Amnesty International demands justice and seeks to end the death penalty
- As students nationally demand sweat-free products
- As Palestinians and Israelis who we don't hear about on the news come together and work tirelessly for peace
Jesus is not a Republican or a Democrat or even from the Green Party. Jesus belongs to a universal party that is huger than any one government. When people are criticizing Madonna for adopting a baby from Africa, Jesus' party is asking why there are so many orphans in Africa and what we are going to do to end the downward spiral of AIDS there.
Jesus' party is about hope, the future, a vision of unity, wholeness, and abundance. The Kingdom of God is in our midst, he says.
Nelson Mandela was a young man who was involved in the Youth League of the African National Congress, calling for the end of apartheid in South Africa. He was jailed and given a life sentence. While Mandela was in jail he educated himself, grew, matured, and became a hero for the African National Congress. After over 20 years of imprisonment, he was released. I remember that day. I saw it on the early Sunday morning news, on a February in 1990. He was escorted out of the prison, not bent over. He stood straight, filled with a certainty and purpose. The man knew who he was. We thought the impossible had happened when he was released. But God would surprise us one more time. Nelson Mandela was later elected the first black South African as President of South Africa, in the first democratic elections. But something even more impossible happened: He was a thoughtful, forgiving leader who didn't desire revenge. His desire for a hopeful and whole future for his country was stronger than its painful past. The Kingdom of God is in our midst - Impossible? I think not.
Stand up, look beyond your toes. Look around you. Where is the Kingdom of God rising up? What is the Kingdom perspective? It is in our midst.