Well friends it's certainly been a while! Welcome back. Many of my friends have reached out to me asking me to express my thoughts about the crisis happening in my own backyard. You see I live in Bridgeton, MO better known as North St. Louis County, or the Greater St. Louis area. While I serve in ministry in downtown STL I live just 10 minutes from Ferguson. So this is my official return to blogging. The following is the revised manuscript of what I preached Sunday 8/17/14 at Centenary United Methodist Church, St. Louis. *Revised because typically I don't write a word-for-word manuscript to preach from but rather use bullet points. It is impossible to express in words the passion that was expressed through my voice and body language on Sunday. Nonetheless here it is. Thank you friends for encouraging me to raise my voice through the blogosphere.
Blessings,
Katrina
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
If I’m
really being honest I haven’t prayed this continuously since my son Connor was
in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
As a youth minister I have felt tortured and am certain we all have
stories of how this week has affected each and every one of us. I hope we’ll
begin to share those stories with one another today.
Our
community is in the beginning stages of Grief, first denial, for those
unfamiliar with what it’s like in our black neighborhoods, “not in our
community, not in our backyard.” Then anger,
anger toward the horrible injustice, anger toward the response of police, anger
toward the looting, anger toward the lack of answers, anger toward the way our
community is being depicted around the world in the media. The anger of a population of people who
feel ignored and undervalued, of young people that fear for their lives and
feel they have no voice. Anger of
mothers who wonder if their black sons will make it home from a walk to the
store today.
So how do
we begin to look at the complexity of this horrific week?
Where do we
go from here?
The task of
a preacher is to proclaim Good News. To bring Hope.
Where do we
find good news in this situation?
What hope
is there in any of this?
Where do we
see the movement of the Holy Spirit?
Where is
God at work in the midst of this nightmare?
Because
deep down I know that God must still be moving…
Honestly I
had no idea what I was going to preach this week. I felt a little helpless, until
the other night when Captain Johnson came into authority. As a 40-year resident of Ferguson he
promised to demilitarize the police presence, to walk and talk with protestors.
And though it didn’t solve everything, there was a very
different response from crowds that night. It was a lesson for us all...Peace
comes when we truly listen to one another, when we truly see one another.
People need
to be heard, to truly be seen. So
how do we do that?
Yesterday Rachael and I answered the
call put out by clergy to come together for a prayer walk in the Canfield Green
Apartments, where Michael Brown was killed. We gathered for group prayer and then were asked to spread
out into the community to stop, listen, and be a presence for residents.
As we
approached a group of young men I said to Rachael, “Don’t feel bad if this
feels strange or awkward…even some of the pastors feel that way”
That night I
went home and thought a lot about just how scary that can be for people.
Especially the first time you do something like that, walking up to total
strangers to extend care. It takes
practice and so I think we need to be practical today with our theology. So I’m going to talk about 3 steps we
can take to move toward truly knowing our neighbors, listening to one another,
and hopefully being a small part of bringing unity to our community.
1. We have to
recognize our fear of strangers, our fear of “the other.” From a young age we’re taught about “stranger
danger” which is a very good thing for children but doesn’t really work for
adults in a Kingdom Culture, people who are trying to live and love like Jesus.
I don’t
know what caused officer Darren Wilson to shoot Michael Brown multiple times, I
have my theories based on hearing so many witness reports, however, I do know that
there is a pattern in our nation of violence against young black men, often
based out of fear, a reaction to fear.
As a former youth minister that spent the 3 years prior to moving to STL
primarily working with black teenagers the thought of someone fearing a young
man simply based on his dark skin makes my stomach turn, my blood boil, and
causes me to shake with frustration, but I know that it’s a reality we have to
be honest about and deal with.
Martin
Luther King Jr. said, “Men often
hate one another because they fear one another.”
I think if
we are honest about who or what we are afraid of and begin speaking about it,
we cast light into darkness and expose it, we can begin to deal with it and
heal and move past it.
1 John 4: 18 There is no fear in
love, but perfect love casts out fear;
It is God’s perfect love extended to us
that transforms us into people who are able to love others as we were first
loved by God.
We have to allow God’s light to shine
into the darkness of our fear of others and expose it and talk about it. It’s
time to get real, and get honest, brutally honest and face up to our fears. You may
have grown up hearing “don’t trust the police”, or “don’t trust the immigrants”,
or the black people, or the white people, or the rich people, or the poor
people, and you know it’s wrong but those thoughts still linger deep in the
back of the darkest places of your mind. We need to allow God’s light to expose
those dark places and start talking about them in a safe environment.
2. Begin to see others as children of God
and as God sees them…
In the book Jesus and
the Disinherited Howard Thurman uses the example of Jesus’ interaction with
the woman at the well,
“He met the woman where she was, and treated her as if
she were already where she now willed to be. In dealing with her he “believed” her into the fulfillment
of her possibilities. He stirred
her confidence into activity. He
placed a crown over her head which for the rest of her life she would keep
trying to grow tall enough to wear.”
When we see
looters do we refer to them as the scum of our city, or dumb thugs coming in
from the outside, or are we able to look past their indiscretions and see that
even they are hurting, misled, misdirected young men and women?
Friday
night there were young men that stood and blocked the looters with their
bodies. But still the temptation among these young men had to be so strong to
join in, and the temptation to fight back against police that were facing them
down again with tanks and weapons drawn had to be intense. Some of the young men peacefully protesting
did grow tired of the force they saw from police and began to try and face off
with them. Alderman Antonio French,
who has become a household name in our community through this crisis, is known
for his work with youth in North County, in the midst of this face off grabbed
some of the young men and looked them in the eyes and said, “you’re better than
this. I believe in you. You have a future. You’re better than this.”
He believed
in them and they lived up to his expectation and backed off.
He saw them
as valued human beings capable of a future better than what a few angry youthful
mistakes could result in.
If you hear
me say nothing else this morning, let me tell you what pastors have been saying
all week, Black Bodies Matter. Young Black men matter!
Seeing all
people regardless of our fears, or their indiscretions as children of God is
not an easy thing to do, especially if we have grown up with an ingrained
hatred or distrust. The good news
is we aren’t the ones changing our outlook toward others, God is. Romans 12:2 says, Do
not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is
the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Be transformed. It doesn’t say go transform yourself,
but BE transformed, allow God to begin to renew your mind and transform
you. Give God the power and Let
God do the work of transformation.
I think we can all agree that there are prejudices we hold that we need
to turn over to God. Maybe they
have nothing to do with race but instead have to do with politics, or social
status, or even differing religious views. God can transform our minds to love like Christ.
3. Extend Hospitality to Strangers and
Enemies.
As we begin
to see others as children of God, regardless of their actions. We can then
begin to extend hospitality to others.
Radical Hospitality as we often call it.
In his
book, I Was A Stranger, Arthur
Sutherland talks about the task of hospitality toward those we consider to be
strangers and even enemies. His
definition of hospitality: “In the light of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection,
and return, Christian hospitality is the intentional, responsible, and caring
act of welcoming or visiting, in either public or private places, those who are
strangers, enemies, or distressed, without regard for reciprocation.” He
writes, “Christians were once both strangers and enemies to God who now have
been brought into relationship with God through an act of divine
hospitality.” He goes on to say,
“The more clearly I see myself as having been once an enemy of God, as having
been once far from God, the more I see my reason for being hospitable toward others.”
This means
the hard stuff, that won’t happen easily. It means extending hospitality to ALL
people whether they are looters, thieves of cigarillos, or even police officers
that kill unarmed teenagers. Notice
I didn’t say “forgive them” I said, practice
forgiveness because forgiveness isn’t always a once and for all action on
our part it is something we need God’s help in, continuously, as we work
through our own anger and distrust with the situation. We have to continuously
turn it back over to God, knowing it is God who will to work God’s love and
grace through us.
This is the
radical message of Jesus that is so completely countercultural and such a turn
off to those who feel they have to hold on to their hate. The hate is what fuels us, or so we
think, when in actuality it is the hate that will eventually eat us alive from
the inside out.
4. Listen to one another.
People
simply need to be heard, to be truly seen. We cannot understand our brothers and sisters unless we are
willing to LISTEN.
When Captain
Johnson listened, things changed.
Last night
someone posted something so relevant to this on Facebook about her day at the
prayer walk…
“As we were
leaving the prayer walk in Ferguson today, my daughter up on my husband’s shoulders
still holding her sign, we approached a small group of African American
teenagers on the sidewalk near the QT. One of them, with a football player
build and a baseball cap says to us, “Excuse me…”
We stopped,
and he said, a bit timidly, “I like your sign. It’s so simply made, but it says
so much.” We said thank you, the teen offered up his forearm for Josh to bump,
and we went on our way.
It was then
that I really looked at the sign, that I at first thought was just made with
whatever poster board was readily available to our freshly moved friend and saw
what this young man saw…2 white pieces, 2 black pieces, taped together with the
word EQUALITY written across it. And that’s when the ugly cry started,
mercifully behind my sunglasses.
What if we hadn’t stopped when he spoke to us? What if
we listened to all those years of voices that told us, That’s how people get
robbed. One person distracts you and the others will rob you. Don’t listen.
Don’t stop. Keep walking. I’m so glad we stopped to listen to what he had to
say. We all need to listen more, even if we are afraid or it’s awkward or
uncomfortable. He might have been afraid to talk to us nerdy white people, to
compliment our sign, to look silly in front of his friends. We could have been
afraid to stop because they were black teenagers, dressed how teenagers dress,
looking how teenagers look. Because no matter how conscious our efforts to not
judge, we are all dealing with years of biases and stereotypes and media feed
that just.won’t.go.away. It won’t just disappear; it will take work and courage
and self-examination and effort and dialogue to have actual, meaningful
encounters with people who are different than us, to not just pat ourselves on
the back because we have friends who are a different race, or because we live
in a city with a diverse population, or because we don’t use the N word, so we
can't possibly be racist. We have to listen. We have to HEAR. And we have to
LOVE one another. Peace.”
Powerful
powerful lessons are being learned right now. Discussion that has been needed for decades is
happening. God is still moving!
Realistically
I know that the steps I’ve laid out may seem impossible when we are facing
injustice, anger, depression, and all the high emotions that go into a week of
watching our community fall apart with the eyes of the world on us. And maybe it’s too soon, I honestly
don’t know. But we have to start
somewhere.
The truth
is none of these steps are possible if we aren’t growing in our relationship
with Christ. Because it is only
through Christ that we are able to see a stranger, or enemy as created in the
image of God. It is only through
Christ that we are able to seek justice while still forgiving unthinkable acts
of violence. It is only through
Christ that we are able to extend hospitality to strangers and enemies and
truly begin to listen to them, even when we don’t agree with what they are
saying or are deeply wounded by their words.
Colossians 3:12-17
12 As
God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear
with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each
other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love,
which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your
hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in
your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do
everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through him.
When Paul
writes, “clothe yourself” he is referencing the idea that when we accept Jesus
Christ as our Lord and Savior we are stripped clean by God’s grace and
forgiveness, we are given a new life, we let go of our old self and now need
new clothing. And so this clothing we are now to put on as new creations
following the way of Christ, are compassion, kindness, humility,
meekness, and patience. We are to
bear with one another, bringing our grievance to one another, sorting them out
and forgiving one another freely just as Christ first forgave us. Paul goes on to say, “Above all, clothe
yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” It is this love that empowers us to see
others as God sees them. “And let
the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the
one body.”
We can’t extend that
peace to others if we ourselves cannot find peace from within. This week has been hard to find peace
within, I’ve spent many nights unable to sleep as I am sure many of you also
experienced.
Peace comes in
recognizing that Christ is still on his thrown as Lord, and though we may not
understand all that God allows to unfold we cling to God’s promises of
faithfulness and daily cast off our fears and lay them at the foot of the cross. And daily we seek ways to extend
that same love and grace we’ve received to our neighbors, strangers and enemies
and then work together in unity for justice and peace for all.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In the
Benediction/Close of the service I encouraged the congregation to stay and
fellowship with one another over a meal (as we do weekly) but this time at our
tables focus on discussion of two questions:
What fears
have you struggled with this week?
How can you
be a peacemaker this week?
Wherever
you are reading this, PLEASE start talking and more importantly start
listening. God is still moving,
stirring conversations and movements that can lead to true healing in our communities. Thanks for reading.
