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Sermon November 21, 2021
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, MSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Last Sunday After Pentecost, proper 29, Year B, Track 2
Annual Meeting
http://lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Pentecost/BProp29_RCL.html
Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ John 18:36
Please be seated.
Recently I have been taking a course through the Stevenson School. It’s called White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity by Robert P. Jones. I had previously heard of Dr. Jones and this book, having watched a video of a presentation he made. While the times the 5-session class meets don’t always work for me, I decided to sign up anyway and take advantage of what I could. The sessions are also recorded. Having the structure also helps me read the book.
Yet, this is a really tough book to read. Not a lot is new, frankly; however, the details in some cases are horrifying. Mr. Jones uses his own background growing up in Mississippi in a Southern Baptist Church to detail how the church or at least the people in the pews perverted Christianity to uphold the supremacy of Whiteness, thus supporting the enslavement and torture of people who were not White. At one point Jones states, “…that there may be something in the ideology and in the traditions themselves that gives rise to the ugly and horrific things some people do in its name.” (p. 76) Of course, Mr. Jones’ point is that that this ideology and these traditions influence how Christianity is lived right now. What in our ideology and traditions of our faith give rise to ugly and horrific things some people do in the name of Jesus?
In the past year, we have heard more about the boarding schools for children who were from indigenous nations in the United State and Canada. As many of you probably know, the first such school was in Carlisle. The founders believed they were being good Christians by forcibly taking children away from their families, their homes, their culture, their spirituality and their language. This horrific abuse was interpreted as following Jesus.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is in front of Pontius Pilate. Pilate is questioning Jesus, especially about the charge that Jesus is the King of the Jews. Such a claim would definitely challenge the power of Rome. The claim was put forward by the powerful religious establishment who for a variety of reasons wanted to silence the teachings of Jesus.
In Jesus usual way, instead of answering the question in a yes/no fashion, he opens up a whole new way of thinking. “My kingdom is not from this world,” he says. He goes on to say what the people, including Pilate, must have assumed, “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.” He ends by saying, “My kingdom is not from here.”
The religious leaders of Jesus time were steadfast. They lived in and in some cases created a system that they believed loved God and followed the commandments. Yet, somewhere along the way, the system became perverted, maybe you could even say corrupt.
Look at our Eucharistic Prayer
“From the primal elements you brought forth the human race, and blessed us with memory, reason, and skill. You made us the rulers of creation. But we turned against you, and betrayed your trust; and we turned against one another. Again and again, you called us to return. Through prophets and sages you revealed your righteous Law. And in the fullness of time you sent your only Son, born of a woman, to fulfill your Law, to open for us the way of freedom and peace.” Book of Common Prayer, p. 370.
We are created in the image of God. We have so much to guide us and yet we easily fall into a way of living in the world that causes so much harm. We fall right into the kingdom of this world. It is so very hard for us to see the kingdom Jesus spoke about. It is so very difficult for us to work for that kingdom.
Is it a failure of our imagination? I heard Dr. Angela Davis say that during the time of slavery, people could not even imagine a world without the enslavement of people.
Jesus does show us the way. Love God and love your neighbor. Time and time again, Jesus sits down with people who are considered the worst of sinners and transforms their lives. When Jesus comes upon the leper who has been banished from the community, Jesus asks that person what they need. Jesus doesn’t assume to know what they need, although I’m sure Jesus had some ideas about what might be best. Jesus calls out injustice, even overturning the tables in the temple.
We must bravely examine our ideology and traditions. Are they more from the kingdom of this world or are they from the kingdom that Jesus taught us to build?
Amen
