This morning I heard these words spoken out loud.
Not once, but several times.
Some of them said our loud over and over again.
Justice.
Peace.
Joy.
Enough.
A place for all.
Loved…as in I am and you are.
Church (or another place to worship) may not be for everyone.
I know all too well how judgmental and insular and narrow churches can be.
But for me, one of the things I value about the church I attend is the language.
Words I don’t hear anywhere else.
Said out loud.
Words which stand counter to so much of what we hear
In the news.
And, on our social media feeds.
And, in the midst of our daily round.
Words which remind me and challenge me and turn me towards what I desire and hope for.
Not just for myself.
But for us and for all.
MLK Day 2021
I wrote (and spoke) this several years ago, but thought it might be worth revisiting today.
Last night I was privileged to attend the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Banquet hosted by Antioch Baptist Church. At the end of the evening I was asked to give the Benediction. Here it is.
As we depart,
Both individually and collectively
Be who you are called to be.
In any and in all the ways you can
Seek justice.
Resist evil.
Stand strong against Death.
And all Death’s works and wiles.
Add your voice.
Move your feet.
Extend your hands.
And because it just might
Hold on to that long arc of history like your lives depend on it.
And pull
With as little or as much strength as you have
So that together we might help it continue to bend in the direction of justice.
And of peace.
And of hope.
And of promise.
For you and for me.
For us and for them.
For all of the children of God.
So, having been nourished by this evening’s gathering
Its words and its witness.
Go now and be Peace.
Amen.
Eulogy
“You are a light. You are the light. Never let anyone—any person or any force—dampen, dim or diminish your light. Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant. Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates. […] Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don’t be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice. And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see, then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is finally at peace with itself.”
from Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America
John Lewis 1940-2020
I know I thought it.
I often do in moments like this.
And, I think I said it.
Out loud.
In front of all the people who were gathered for her funeral.
“I can’t imagine her resting in peace.” I said.
“Or even wanting to.
Or even wanting me to say it.”
Her life was given to
Seeking out
And speaking out
And standing up
And moving towards
What she understood to be right and just
And the grand dream of God meant for us and for all.
After giving her life to that, why would she want to stop now.
I thought about her funeral and about what I said again this morning when I read the news that John Lewis had died.
He sought out
And spoke out
And stood up
And moved towards
And marched for
And worked tirelessly for
Justice and peace and equality and inclusion.
Why would he stop now?
Or even want to when there is still such a long way to go?
I often do in moments like this.
And, I think I said it.
Out loud.
In front of all the people who were gathered for her funeral.
“I can’t imagine her resting in peace.” I said.
“Or even wanting to.
Or even wanting me to say it.”
Her life was given to
Seeking out
And speaking out
And standing up
And moving towards
What she understood to be right and just
And the grand dream of God meant for us and for all.
After giving her life to that, why would she want to stop now.
I thought about her funeral and about what I said again this morning when I read the news that John Lewis had died.
He sought out
And spoke out
And stood up
And moved towards
And marched for
And worked tirelessly for
Justice and peace and equality and inclusion.
Why would he stop now?
Or even want to when there is still such a long way to go?
It may not be good theology
But in whatever way heaven is our lives being wrapped up in the Holy
In that which we know and name as God
A God who is about
A table large enough for all
And everyone in and no one out
And no us or them.
In whatever way heaven is about that
Then the witness and energy and vision of John Lewis
And my friend for whom I did her funeral
Is, in someway, added to that presence and power which we name as God
Inspiring our vision
And showing us the way
And urging us forward.
Even, sometimes, dragging us forward
Until that day.
Until that day.
But in whatever way heaven is our lives being wrapped up in the Holy
In that which we know and name as God
A God who is about
A table large enough for all
And everyone in and no one out
And no us or them.
In whatever way heaven is about that
Then the witness and energy and vision of John Lewis
And my friend for whom I did her funeral
Is, in someway, added to that presence and power which we name as God
Inspiring our vision
And showing us the way
And urging us forward.
Even, sometimes, dragging us forward
Until that day.
Until that day.
Rank Order
I don’t know what made me begin thinking about this.
Maybe it was something I saw on my social media feed.
Something I skimmed over.
Barely saw.
But somehow it got stuck some where in the recesses of my mind.
Until today.
When it became unstuck.
And pushed its way forward for me to think about.
Maybe because it is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
And I have been seeing and reading some of Dr. King’s more famous quotes.
What became unstuck is a Bible verse.
One I like.
And, one I know by heart.
One I find myself remembering and thinking about even if I didn’t see it posted on Facebook.
Micah 6:8.
God has told you, O mortal, what is good:
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice,
And to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Most of the time we think of those three things in a row.
All equal.
Do justice. Love kindness. Walk humbly with God.
Yea, the justice part is hard. Challenging.
Most of the time we really don’t know what to do with that.
But we are all over the kindness part.
And, the walking humbly with God…
Humbly or not, it is always comforting to think we are walking with God.
But what if we have it wrong.
What if I have it wrong.
What if instead of all equal these three are rank order.
One first and then the next.
Do justice first.
Then we can figure out kindness.
And, then…
Only then…
Can we begin to understand what it means to walk humbly with our God.
Maybe I have it all wrong.
But, then again, maybe I don’t.
In Dangerous Times
One of the songs they sang last night was In Dangerous Times by Alison Burns.
90+ women lending and blending heart and mind and soul to make music.
And to give voice to hope.
What a gift.
In dangerous times hold fast to courage.
In dangerous times hold fast to love.
In dangerous times…
Maybe times like these
When lies are held up as truth.
And name calling and bullying has become normative.
And when it feels like the fabric of our democracy is being torn in pieces.
Me versus you.
Us versus them.
My street
My neighborhood
My town
My state
Versus yours.
I feel unsettled.
Very unsettled.
How about you?
I drove home from the concert thinking about the song I had heard.
And, adding my own verses to the ones which had been sung.
In dangerous times hold fast to compassion.
In dangerous times hold fast to truth.
In dangerous times hold fast to honesty.
In dangerous times hold fast to justice.
In dangerous times hold fast to integrity.
In dangerous times hold fast to courage.
In dangerous times hold fast to love.
I will try.
I Have Given Up on Love
I know all the verses as well as you.
Love God.
Love your neighbor.
Love one another.
The greatest of these is love.
The problem for me is that we (the Church, Christians, those of us who worship on Sunday, those around us who hear us speak) have allowed our default understanding of love to become mushy. More Kum By Yah than We Shall Overcome. More holding hands in a circle than linking arms and marching across the Pettus Bridge. More Joel Osteen than John Lewis. Or Gordon Cosby. Or Archbishop Romero. Or Rufina Amaya.
My read of the world around us and the communities in which we live is we need something more. Something much more than a mushy understanding of love. We, in the Christian community, need to begin thinking and talking and believing and living an understanding of love which is strong and resilient and justice bound. A love rooted in our deep understanding and our firm belief that the Kingdom of God is meant for right here and right now. A love that not only says all the right words in our hymns and our prayers and our preaching, but stands up for them in the public square.
We have allowed the word love to be misused by so many for so long which is why I am giving up on it. Giving up on at least the word. And intentionally trying to replace it with something which gives me and maybe others pause when we hear it. I am still working on what some of those words or phrases might be, but here is a start.
Hold onto God like your life depended on it.
Hold onto one another like your life depended on it, including the other over there.
Hold one another accountable.
And the greatest of these is when God’s Kingdom comes and all have enough and all have a place.
As I said, I am just starting.
I invite you to start as well.
Maybe together we will find a language and a way of living which tears open a hole and allows the Kingdom of God to push through.
