2-12-06 Sermon by Pastor Barbara Currie
DO YOU CHOOSE TO BE A RUNNER FOR JUSTICE?
Scripture: 2 Kings 5:1-14, Psalm 30, Mark 1:40-45
How in the world can I put together a sermon for Racial Justice Sunday and include the scriptures that were read this morning? How am I going to connect the healing of Naaman, the healing of the leper, and Jesus’ answer to the leper. “I do choose” and still end this sermon in less than 12 minutes? Let us pray: O Lord, what a challenge you give me today. Let me decrease and you increase, O God. I can’t do it without you. Bless all of us, guide my words and the listening of the congregation so that we may all be better able to do your holy will. Amen
In both our Old and New Testament readings we encounter a man with a skin disease. In these olden days all such diseases were lumped together in the category of leprosy. These folks were considered unclean and had specific rules to set them apart such as wearing torn clothing and shouting at anyone that came close to them, “Unclean, unclean”. You can find all these rules written down in the book of Leviticus. Today leprosy is called Hansen’s disease, and there are treatments that keep the disease from progressing. As late as the middle of the 20th century, people who were suspected of having the disease were banished from society. On the island of Molokai in Hawaii about 8,000 residents of the state were forced into exile since 1865 when King Kamehameha V instituted a law called an "Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy." Those suspected of having leprosy had to be secluded on land that was set apart. The law remained in effect until 1969. Father Damien of the RC church ministered to these people and died there himself after catching the disease (one of my sources said that of the 1000 plus visitors at the colony, Fa. Damien was the only one to get leprosy). So obviously, these scriptures are talking about a condition that caused great stigma for the people so affected or infected.
In the Hebrew Bible we heard about Naaman, a commander of a King’s army, who had a skin disease. Being a commander, he was well connected, and was given a letter from his King to present to the King of Israel to tell of his worthiness to be healed. We know that when the great prophet, Elisha, doesn’t even come out to examine Naaman, but just sends word for him to go bathe seven times in the Jordan to cure his skin disease, Naaman was angry, insulted and offended. He had expected a great ‘to do’, a big show, maybe some fireworks or something dramatic. This type of person reminds me of that story about the man that was stranded on his rooftop because of a flood. He keeps praying for God to save him. Person after person comes by in rowboats and helicopters, offering help. The rooftop man refuses their offers, telling them that God is going to save him. Finally the water rises over his head, and he dies. When he gets to heaven he complains to God, “I prayed and prayed and you didn’t save me.” And God answers, “I sent two rowboats and two helicopters, and you wouldn’t get into any of them.”
Now in the second healing, the leper recognizes Jesus as the man that has been performing miracles and comes humbly to him, kneeling in front of him and begging him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” And then Jesus does an extraordinary thing, he reaches out and touches this leper, the untouchables of that day, and says, “I do choose. Be made clean.” We are told that immediately his leprosy is cured. Jesus told the leper to keep quiet about the miracle, and in keeping with the custom of the time, instructed him to go show himself to the priest as Moses’ Law commanded, and the priest would give him permission to reenter the community. We know that the leper was so overjoyed that he couldn’t keep his mouth shut and went about telling everyone the good news of Jesus.
Have you ever been considered an outcast by others? Lepers were so considered. Their social stigma was great. No one wanted them near them and certainly would not touch them. It reminds me of the days of segregation of the black and white races: separate bathrooms, drinking fountains. I remember a black psychiatrist friend, Dr. Dudley, a brilliant man. He was not allowed to go into the library in his southern town but could request that books be given him through a back door. He ended up getting an award for having read the most books of any patron of that library! More examples: No matter how hot it was the black children were not allowed to go to the public pools or beaches except for occasional segregated times. If blacks did swim in a pool, it would be closed down, drained and disinfected before being used again by whites. Before the Civil Rights Movement it was not uncommon for a white shop keeper to throw a black customer’s change on the counter rather then to touch their hands. There were even situations in non-segregated churches where blacks were denied the Sacraments or were required to wait until all the whites had been served before they could approach the altar. When I met my first husband, Roland Luckett, an African American from Jackson, Mississippi, it was the summer of 1961. We met in Maine where I was part of the local staff and he was part of an American Friends group all working at an institution for the mentally retarded. We married in 1964. By that time many changes had taken part in the legal aspects of segregation; however, there was still a great deal of prejudice, and Roland was very frightened of some terrible bodily harm happening because of us being together. This was a time when most southern states still had a law on their books forbidding marriages of blacks and whites. The first time we went to visit his family in Mississippi; he carried a gun in the baby’s diaper bag.
When we moved to Los Angeles in 1966, there was still tremendous discrimination towards blacks in housing. After being denied consideration for several apartments we looked at together, we worked with the Urban League in bringing suits against places that would say there was nothing available when we applied together and then white only folks would go back to the same place and be given an application to complete. As the years pass, discrimination decreased in official ways, but we have only to look at Hurricane Katrina to see the ways people are separated---be it my class or race. How many of the blacks left behind in New Orleans were poor, and how many of them were poor because of a continued atmosphere of prejudice and lack of opportunity due to their race?On this Racial Justice Sunday we can choose to be a “runner” for justice or to keep on doing whatever we have been doing. Being a runner for justice means first of all that we must love one another as God loves each of God’s children, whether that child is American or Mexican, white or brown, disfigured by leprosy or suffering from HIV/AIDS, straight or gay, Muslim or Jew. If you choose to run this race for justice you may be called to sacrifice some material gain to make sure others don’t go without what they need. Because I believe that if we are runners for racial and social justice we have to participate in the radical redistribution of the earth’s wealth. And I hate to think about this, but in this part of being a runner for justice, it’s not the time to criticize the World Bank, the IMF, or George Bush, but it’s time for me to start looking at my own investments, getting rid of some stocks that support the rich getting richer while the poor are deprived of opportunity. One of the lectures that impacted me most down in Mexico was by Ched Myers, looking at what he calls Sabbath Economics, using a significant portion of your investment dollars to help fight poverty here and around the world by investing in communities. It has to begin with me and with us. If any of you want to know more about his philosophy, I’ll share the material for you.
I can’t leave this sermon without spending some time talking about one of my greatest heroes, Martin Luther King, Jr. In King’s last years he was focusing more and more on the need to stop the war and eradicate poverty. He had a chapter in Where Do We Go From Here, Chaos or Community?[1] on “The World House”, where he calls us to (among other things) to transcend tribe, race, class, nation, and religion. “We must rapidly shift from a thing-oriented society to a people-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”[2] He says our values must change so that we “resist social injustice and resolve conflicts in the spirit of love embodied in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence.”[3] He says we are called upon to be Good Samaritans but that true compassion is more than giving to the poor; the whole Jericho Road, or any edifice producing the begging needs restructuring and transforming. He believed that America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can and should lead the way in this revolution of values. A nation that year after year spends more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death, according to King. (Flash forward to White House Budget 2006.) King says there is nothing but shortsightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing an annual minimum—and livable—income for every American family. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war.
In those days the great fear was communism as today’s fear is terrorism. So if we substitute the words we have this from King:
“This kind of positive revolution of values is our best defense against ["terrorism"]. War is not the answer. We must seek to remove those conditions of poverty, insecurity, and injustice which are the fertile soil in which the seed of terrorism grows and develops. A genuine revolution of values means that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to humanity as a whole. This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all people. Love is the key that unlocks the door… We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or to bow before the altar of retaliation.”[4]
So my brothers and sisters, we all have choices to make. Jesus had a choice whether or not to heal the leper. He could conform to the morals and mores, the laws and rules of his time and leave the leper to his suffering and stigma. In the end Jesus gave his whole life out of his love and his willingness to be part of the answer. King was also willing to choose to speak up for all the poor, for all the nations. In this way he could be much more effective than just advocating for African Americans. This was much more threatening for the powers to be and may have led to his assassination. So what choice will you make? Will you choose to be a runner for justice? May our faith guide us all, and may we feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as we make our choice. Amen
[1] Boston: Beacon Press, 1968
[2] Online at http://www.theworldhouse.org/whsummary.html
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
Scripture: 2 Kings 5:1-14, Psalm 30, Mark 1:40-45
How in the world can I put together a sermon for Racial Justice Sunday and include the scriptures that were read this morning? How am I going to connect the healing of Naaman, the healing of the leper, and Jesus’ answer to the leper. “I do choose” and still end this sermon in less than 12 minutes? Let us pray: O Lord, what a challenge you give me today. Let me decrease and you increase, O God. I can’t do it without you. Bless all of us, guide my words and the listening of the congregation so that we may all be better able to do your holy will. Amen
In both our Old and New Testament readings we encounter a man with a skin disease. In these olden days all such diseases were lumped together in the category of leprosy. These folks were considered unclean and had specific rules to set them apart such as wearing torn clothing and shouting at anyone that came close to them, “Unclean, unclean”. You can find all these rules written down in the book of Leviticus. Today leprosy is called Hansen’s disease, and there are treatments that keep the disease from progressing. As late as the middle of the 20th century, people who were suspected of having the disease were banished from society. On the island of Molokai in Hawaii about 8,000 residents of the state were forced into exile since 1865 when King Kamehameha V instituted a law called an "Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy." Those suspected of having leprosy had to be secluded on land that was set apart. The law remained in effect until 1969. Father Damien of the RC church ministered to these people and died there himself after catching the disease (one of my sources said that of the 1000 plus visitors at the colony, Fa. Damien was the only one to get leprosy). So obviously, these scriptures are talking about a condition that caused great stigma for the people so affected or infected.
In the Hebrew Bible we heard about Naaman, a commander of a King’s army, who had a skin disease. Being a commander, he was well connected, and was given a letter from his King to present to the King of Israel to tell of his worthiness to be healed. We know that when the great prophet, Elisha, doesn’t even come out to examine Naaman, but just sends word for him to go bathe seven times in the Jordan to cure his skin disease, Naaman was angry, insulted and offended. He had expected a great ‘to do’, a big show, maybe some fireworks or something dramatic. This type of person reminds me of that story about the man that was stranded on his rooftop because of a flood. He keeps praying for God to save him. Person after person comes by in rowboats and helicopters, offering help. The rooftop man refuses their offers, telling them that God is going to save him. Finally the water rises over his head, and he dies. When he gets to heaven he complains to God, “I prayed and prayed and you didn’t save me.” And God answers, “I sent two rowboats and two helicopters, and you wouldn’t get into any of them.”
Now in the second healing, the leper recognizes Jesus as the man that has been performing miracles and comes humbly to him, kneeling in front of him and begging him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” And then Jesus does an extraordinary thing, he reaches out and touches this leper, the untouchables of that day, and says, “I do choose. Be made clean.” We are told that immediately his leprosy is cured. Jesus told the leper to keep quiet about the miracle, and in keeping with the custom of the time, instructed him to go show himself to the priest as Moses’ Law commanded, and the priest would give him permission to reenter the community. We know that the leper was so overjoyed that he couldn’t keep his mouth shut and went about telling everyone the good news of Jesus.
Have you ever been considered an outcast by others? Lepers were so considered. Their social stigma was great. No one wanted them near them and certainly would not touch them. It reminds me of the days of segregation of the black and white races: separate bathrooms, drinking fountains. I remember a black psychiatrist friend, Dr. Dudley, a brilliant man. He was not allowed to go into the library in his southern town but could request that books be given him through a back door. He ended up getting an award for having read the most books of any patron of that library! More examples: No matter how hot it was the black children were not allowed to go to the public pools or beaches except for occasional segregated times. If blacks did swim in a pool, it would be closed down, drained and disinfected before being used again by whites. Before the Civil Rights Movement it was not uncommon for a white shop keeper to throw a black customer’s change on the counter rather then to touch their hands. There were even situations in non-segregated churches where blacks were denied the Sacraments or were required to wait until all the whites had been served before they could approach the altar. When I met my first husband, Roland Luckett, an African American from Jackson, Mississippi, it was the summer of 1961. We met in Maine where I was part of the local staff and he was part of an American Friends group all working at an institution for the mentally retarded. We married in 1964. By that time many changes had taken part in the legal aspects of segregation; however, there was still a great deal of prejudice, and Roland was very frightened of some terrible bodily harm happening because of us being together. This was a time when most southern states still had a law on their books forbidding marriages of blacks and whites. The first time we went to visit his family in Mississippi; he carried a gun in the baby’s diaper bag.
When we moved to Los Angeles in 1966, there was still tremendous discrimination towards blacks in housing. After being denied consideration for several apartments we looked at together, we worked with the Urban League in bringing suits against places that would say there was nothing available when we applied together and then white only folks would go back to the same place and be given an application to complete. As the years pass, discrimination decreased in official ways, but we have only to look at Hurricane Katrina to see the ways people are separated---be it my class or race. How many of the blacks left behind in New Orleans were poor, and how many of them were poor because of a continued atmosphere of prejudice and lack of opportunity due to their race?On this Racial Justice Sunday we can choose to be a “runner” for justice or to keep on doing whatever we have been doing. Being a runner for justice means first of all that we must love one another as God loves each of God’s children, whether that child is American or Mexican, white or brown, disfigured by leprosy or suffering from HIV/AIDS, straight or gay, Muslim or Jew. If you choose to run this race for justice you may be called to sacrifice some material gain to make sure others don’t go without what they need. Because I believe that if we are runners for racial and social justice we have to participate in the radical redistribution of the earth’s wealth. And I hate to think about this, but in this part of being a runner for justice, it’s not the time to criticize the World Bank, the IMF, or George Bush, but it’s time for me to start looking at my own investments, getting rid of some stocks that support the rich getting richer while the poor are deprived of opportunity. One of the lectures that impacted me most down in Mexico was by Ched Myers, looking at what he calls Sabbath Economics, using a significant portion of your investment dollars to help fight poverty here and around the world by investing in communities. It has to begin with me and with us. If any of you want to know more about his philosophy, I’ll share the material for you.
I can’t leave this sermon without spending some time talking about one of my greatest heroes, Martin Luther King, Jr. In King’s last years he was focusing more and more on the need to stop the war and eradicate poverty. He had a chapter in Where Do We Go From Here, Chaos or Community?[1] on “The World House”, where he calls us to (among other things) to transcend tribe, race, class, nation, and religion. “We must rapidly shift from a thing-oriented society to a people-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”[2] He says our values must change so that we “resist social injustice and resolve conflicts in the spirit of love embodied in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence.”[3] He says we are called upon to be Good Samaritans but that true compassion is more than giving to the poor; the whole Jericho Road, or any edifice producing the begging needs restructuring and transforming. He believed that America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can and should lead the way in this revolution of values. A nation that year after year spends more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death, according to King. (Flash forward to White House Budget 2006.) King says there is nothing but shortsightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing an annual minimum—and livable—income for every American family. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war.
In those days the great fear was communism as today’s fear is terrorism. So if we substitute the words we have this from King:
“This kind of positive revolution of values is our best defense against ["terrorism"]. War is not the answer. We must seek to remove those conditions of poverty, insecurity, and injustice which are the fertile soil in which the seed of terrorism grows and develops. A genuine revolution of values means that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to humanity as a whole. This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all people. Love is the key that unlocks the door… We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or to bow before the altar of retaliation.”[4]
So my brothers and sisters, we all have choices to make. Jesus had a choice whether or not to heal the leper. He could conform to the morals and mores, the laws and rules of his time and leave the leper to his suffering and stigma. In the end Jesus gave his whole life out of his love and his willingness to be part of the answer. King was also willing to choose to speak up for all the poor, for all the nations. In this way he could be much more effective than just advocating for African Americans. This was much more threatening for the powers to be and may have led to his assassination. So what choice will you make? Will you choose to be a runner for justice? May our faith guide us all, and may we feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as we make our choice. Amen
[1] Boston: Beacon Press, 1968
[2] Online at http://www.theworldhouse.org/whsummary.html
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 9:46 AM
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