Loading...Sermon February 26, 2017
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen, Newport, PA
Last Sunday after the Epiphany
When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” Matthew 17:6-7
Please be seated.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but when I talk about my grandchildren, my whole body changes. I know I smile and laugh. My voice changes. I feel so relaxed in my body… so bright and joyful. I’m sure others see these physical and emotional changes in me. It’s like a kind of transfiguration.
Every year on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, we hear one of the stories of the transfiguration. This year it’s from the account in the Gospel according to Matthew, although the accounts in Mark and Luke are fairly similar.
In Matthew, this event occurs in the 17th chapter. There is still some ministry Jesus will do in Galilee and he speaks more often about going to Jerusalem and his crucifixion. The disciples traveling with Jesus have witnessed miraculous healings, the feeding of the five thousand with just a few loaves of bread and some fishes. Jesus has walked on the water and calmed the storm. Jesus has taught them through parables. All of this and yet it is not enough. The disciples still do not see all of who Jesus is. They still haven’t grasped the full understanding of Jesus.
And Jesus does not give up. God does not give up. Up the mountain go Peter, James and John. They see Jesus transfigured. One dictionary definition I found online is “a complete change of form or appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state.” I believe Peter, James and John got a glimpse of the total Jesus.
And they were terrified!
Yes, when we follow Jesus, we are changed, and I would say we are changed into our true selves…into our God-created selves. That process, which I believe continues throughout our lives, is terrifying and ultimately freeing and liberating. The terrified disciples come down from the mountain, changed…not completely, but changed nonetheless.
So what are the changes we face that terrify us? The changes that will shake the very foundations of our lives and are essential if we are to truly follow Jesus? That changes necessary if our form or appearance is to be changed into a more beautiful state?
One of those areas I believe we must address and which terrifies us is racism, especially what it means to be perceived as White in this place and at this time. What is happening to your body as I say this? Is your mind wandering? Are you saying, “Well, here she goes again?” Are you tense? Have your eyes widened or do you feel a big knot forming in your core? Are you preparing already to refute what I will say next? Or are you curious, feeling relaxed? Take a moment to feel what is happening inside of you.
On Wednesday, I attended the lecture at Messiah College given by The Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas. You remember an announcement has been in our bulletin for a number of weeks. Rev. Dr. Douglas is an Episcopal priest, a college professor and Canon Theologian at The Washington National Cathedral.
After the murder of Trayvon Martin, exactly five years ago today, Rev. Dr. Douglas started questioning:
“Why is it becoming increasingly acceptable to kill unarmed Black children….? Why are they so easily perceived as a threat? How are we to keep our Black children safe?” p. ix (Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God.)
She explains that as a mother of a Black male child, she felt an urgency to answer these questions. Any of us who love children would do the same, because it’s a matter of how do we keep our children alive? Rev. Dr. Douglas started researching and wrote the book, Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God. I commend this book to you.
Bishop Scanlan was one of many who attended the lecture on Wednesday evening. She wrote her weekly blog about her experience. Bishop Scanlan wrote:
"[Rev. Dr. Douglas] spoke with deep beauty and personal power about racism in our country- about the historic and destructive Anglo-Saxon privilege that we have not been able to overcome; about the white need to claim space and the abuse of power that we use to enslave and imprison people of color in order to keep our white space free and our hearts without fear; and how this sinfulness, this racism, perpetuated by our white-ness and our blind-ness results all too often in the ultimate act of power and fear: the killing of innocent black men- Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Philandro Castile, to name just three. The Rev. Canon Dr. Douglas’ words were powerful, articulate and important words to hear.
And they made me uncomfortable as hell."
As Bishop Scanlan concludes, we have work to do! We are good people. We do not want to hurt anyone. We really do love Jesus. We know how loving Jesus has changed our lives. And yet, I believe, we are terrified to talk about racism and being perceived as White. In many ways we do not fully understand how our very identity and concept of ourselves is tied up in being perceived as White. We are terrified of losing an identity that we haven’t fully acknowledged, yet guides and controls us nonetheless.
And our fear means that parents who are Black like Rev. Dr. Douglas must have the heart-wrenching conversations with their children who are Black about how to survive and even thrive in a culture that James Baldwin in a letter to his nephew over 50 years ago described this way:
“This innocent country set you down in a ghetto in which, in fact, it intended that you should perish….You were born where you were born and faced the future that you faced because you were black and for no other reason. The limits of your ambition were, thus, expected to be set forever. You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being.” P. 7, The Fire Next Time
And Rev. Dr. Douglas affirmed in her talk that what James Baldwin described over 50 years ago is still true today! She spoke about the various conversations she needed to have with him as he was growing up and still has with him as a young adult, to counter the realities he faces that were described by Baldwin.
How can we choose to let this reality continue? How do we choose to do nothing to change this reality?
As Bishop Scanlan said, this is really tough to hear.
Jesus loves us so much. God loves us so much. We continue to be called to be transfigured; to undergo “a complete change of form or appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state.” Yes, we will be terrified just like Peter, James and John. Yes, we may not always get it. I mean Peter soon after this and with everything he had seen, still denied Jesus three times.
And Jesus comes to us…just like he did to the disciples and says, “Get up and do not be afraid.”
Amen
Definition of transfiguration: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=transfiguration+definition&*
Bishop Scanlan Blog: //compasspointsmappingtheway.blogspot.com/2017/02/identity-and-place.html
Letter to my Nephew - James Baldwin: //progressive.org/magazine/letter-nephew/
