“Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.” -Luke 12:33-35
In 1968,
So… Just over 50 years ago...
James Baldwin, the author, activist, artist, playwright…
In 1968, James Baldwin
wrote a short essay, remembering, among other things,
some of the years he overlapped with Stokely Carmichael
back when they both were involved in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee,
and back when they had both worked with and marched alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
One of the stories upon which he reflects goes like this:
“I remember standing on a street corner in Selma during a voting registration drive.
The [community members we were working with there were] lined up [in front of] the courthouse,
under the American flag;
the sheriff and his men,
with their helmets and guns and clubs and cattle prods [were also lined up],
and a mob of idle white men [were] standing on the corner.”
After some time, we might imagine,
“The sheriff raised his club,” Baldwin says,
“and [suddenly he] and his deputies beat two [young] black boys [two children] to the ground.”
“Never will I forget the surge in the mob;” he says...
“Never will I forget the surge in the mob;
[for] authority had given them their signal.”***
For authority had given them their signal.
***
Today in the Gospel of Luke,
We once again encounter Jesus.
Jesus, you may remember, is the person who
the first Christians, over 2,000 years ago, named “the messiah.”
And Jesus, like all good messiahs, was a messiah who dreamt messianic dreams.
Jesus was a dreamer!
And Jesus dreamt his dreams aloud.
“The last shall be first,” he often dreamt!
“The tyrants will be torn from their thrones!”
“The lowy shall be lifted… the humbled will be exalted!”
“Blessed are the poor and the persecuted and those who weep…”
“For the hungry, the pressed down, those who suffer now:
“Soon and very soon they shall be called blessed!” he dreamt.
Soon and very soon
“they shall all be filled with good things!”
Amen?
These are the dreams that Jesus dreamt.
These are Jesus’ messianic dreams.
***
After Jesus died, after Jesus was killed by the authorities, a curious thing happened.
You see, even after Jesus was gone,
the crowds (or at least the ones who had fallen in love with Jesus’ dreams)...
These crowds, they didn’t stop dreaming.
And these crowds would do something strange when they continued to gather:
You see, as they recited their memories and their stories about Jesus and stories about Jesus’ messianic dreams,
(eventually they would call these Gospels)...
As they did this, they would stand and salute him, their messiah, as they said his words.
“Praise to you, O Messiah,” they said, as if he was actually there in the room.
They would hail Jesus “son of God” and “Lord,” and reject Caesar, whose title was the “son of the gods,” and “the Lord.”
You see, even though it had killed Jesus
No cross, they decided, would kill Jesus’ messianic dreams.
Even though it had killed Jesus,
they decided, no cross would kill Jesus’ messianic dreams.
And therefore no cross would kill their dreams, either. Amen?
Jesus’ dreams were their treasure. And were your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Jesus’ dreams were their treasure. And were your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Jesus the Messiah, had become their authority.
***
The word “sanctuary” has strong connotations:
both of safety and of belonging.
At my old church we used to say that we strive to be a sanctuary and a home: a safe place and a place for people to belong. Especially those who do not feel safe or at home in other places, in other churches, or even at home.
One of Jesus’ dreams is that the kingdom of Love would be like a tiny little mustard seed, the smallest of all the seeds, but when it was planted, it would grow and grow and grow and it would have great branches, and then all the birds and animals would come and find sanctuary, safety, and home in its shade.
That is how Jesus talked about sanctuary.
***
This week the ELCA declared itself to be a “Sanctuary Denomination.”
The meaning of this declaration, “WE ARE A SANCTUARY,” it is said, is left up to each member’s and each congregation’s own interpretation.
And perhaps even application. Amen?
Now, when I think about “sanctuary” and what it might mean for me, it helps me to remember a couple of things:
First: those with clubs and cattle prods almost always claim that they are on the side of “safety” and “peace and security.” Amen? That they are making the world more of a sanctuary.
And so second: It is important for me to remember that my response, when someone claims that they care for “safety” and “security,” is always to ask:
Safety and security for whom?
Safety and security for whom?
Does safety and security extend to those targeted in Texas or in Dayton or in Mississippi or in Norway this week?
What about those here in Chicago?
What will sanctuary mean for us?
***
What will sanctuary mean for those of us who are still ‘out there’ enough to still wanna dream Jesus’ messianic dreams?
For those who wish to dream:
that “the last shall be first,”
that “the tyrants will be cast down from their thrones,”
that “the lowy shall be lifted…” that the humbled will be exalted,”
and that “blessed are the poor and the peacemakers and the persecuted and those who weep?”
What will it mean for those who wish to dream that soon and very soon we will all be filled with many good things?
What will this mean for us:
Sanctuary?
Safety?
Peace?
Where are our hearts invested?
What is it that we treasure?
And when the batons are raised…
And when the batons are raised…
And when the batons are raised…
who will be our authority?
In the name of Jesus, messiah, Lord.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment