Fifth Sunday
after Pentecost/ 24th June 2018
Moses is dead. “My servant Moses is dead.” Now it’s time for you to cross the Jordan
without him. “Do not be frightened or
dismayed,” God tells the people, “for I am with you wherever you go” (Joshua
1:9). Be strong and courageous. Proceed.
Go.
This is the command, the mantra, which
carries its own momentum. Be strong. Be
courageous. Do not be afraid. Proceed.
This is a difficult story, of
course. The Israelites are about to
forge the River Jordan and cross into the land promised to them, a land
“flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:17), flowing with wealth and abundance.
But what about the people already in the land?
They don’t know Yahweh, they don’t know anything about the prior
arrangement, the covenant, the promise.
And at what cost to those already living there? Is it the promised land or the stolen
land? Yes, it’s problematic text.
Acknowledging this, I want to place
the emphasis elsewhere, on the overall movement of these verses: the call to
Joshua and the people, and the summons of God that sends them forward. Not back to Egypt. Not back to the wilderness. Not back to slavery and aimless wandering,
but forward into a promise. I want us to
listen for the promise that comes tumbling out of the future to meet us and
then carries us along to where we need to go.
Because God offers the promise and the summons, because God is good and
kind and faithful, we’re told to be strong, be courageous. Set fear and dismay aside. Step out into the land, step into the
spaciousness of God’s promise, step into God’s expansive grace.
As I hear these words, I can’t help
but hear similar promises running through scripture. Jesus promised never to leave us orphaned
(John 14:18). A comforter, a companion—the Holy Spirit—would come to strengthen
us in our call (John 14:26). Over and
over and over again, Jesus encouraged his people, “Take courage! Do not be afraid”
(Matthew 14:27). Didn’t the angel at the
tomb on Easter morning tell the disciples that Jesus had gone ahead of them and
will meet them in Galilee (Matthew 28:7)? Before
his ascension, Jesus promised, “I am with you always, even to the close of the
age” (Matthew 28:20). In his letter to
the Philippians, we have Paul’s stirring description of his call, “Not that I
have already obtained the goal” of fully knowing the height and depth of
knowing Christ, “I press on to make it my own.
Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one
thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies
ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in
Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:12-14).
It was George MacLeod (1895-1991),
founder of the Iona Community in Scotland, prophet, preacher, mystic, who said
that the posture of the Christian is always leaning into the future. This insight has always meant a lot to
me. We don’t look back. We don’t stay where we are, standing upright,
going nowhere. We lean forward into the
future, into the new day of God. We move.
Proceed. Go. Cross over the Jordan into the land. Press forward.
It was the perfect choice for this
GA and for the PCUSA, for we are crossing over the Jordan into new territory as
a denomination—and people are fearful and anxious. As God spoke to Joshua, so God speaks to us: “Be
strong. Be courageous. Do not fear.
Proceed. I am with you wherever
you go.” You’re not alone.
It’s impossible to summarize the
work of the GA. There are plenty of
articles you can read online at The Presbyterian Outlook site, with excellent
reporting done by the Presbyterian News Service. I’m grateful for the commissioners. It’s joyful, holy, and challenging work being
a commissioner at GA. Through faithful decisions and bold
demonstrations, the PCUSA proved this week that God isn't finished with us.
The church is reforming, straining forward. We're offering hope, acting with
hope, extending release to the captives as agents of liberation. As the
Confession of Belhar reminds us, coming from Reformed Christians in South
Africa, “The church as the possession of God must stand where the Lord stands,
namely against injustice and with the wronged.”
The Assembly elected Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri
and Cindy Kohlmann as co-moderators.
Vilmarie, a good friend, is a ruling elder who lives Miami, originally
from Puerto Rico. She is the first
Latina to serve in this role in the church. Cindy, a teaching elder, is the resource
presbyter for both the Presbytery of Boston and the Presbytery of Northern New
England. Vilmarie and Cindy led the Assembly with great skill, kindness,
energy, and love. During plenary
committee reports, the Assembly often takes short breaks to keep commissioners alert
and engaged. During one break Vilmarie
taught the entire Assembly how to salsa dance.
We had Presbyterians dancing! Dancing the salsa! It truly is a new day for the church. (It was Vilmarie who first taught me how to
salsa several years ago in San Juan; she’s a great dancer.)
On Wednesday morning, it became clear that the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) had entered into a new day. Commissioners approved two historic
overtures. One affirms and celebrates the gifts of people of all sexual
orientations and gender identities in the church. Another affirms the rights
and dignity of people of transgender, non-binary and people of varying gender
identities.
The Covenant Network of Presbyterians, together with More LightPresbyterians and other partners, worked for the passage of these overtures, as
well as one upholding the church's historic definition of "religious
liberty." The Social Justice Committee (11) approved these items with no
opposing speeches and few dissenting votes and sent them to the Assembly for a
full vote. Then—remarkably!—the Assembly included these items in its consent
agenda—truly a sign of the power and impact of the stories of LGBTQIA+ people
in the church these past few years. If
you know how much we struggled as a denomination over the past twenty years,
you know just how extraordinary this is.
One overture (11-12) says: “Standing in the
conviction that all people are created in the image of God and that the Gospel
of Jesus Christ is good news for all people, the 223rd General Assembly (2018)
affirms its commitment to the full welcome, acceptance, and inclusion of
transgender people, people who identify as gender non-binary, and people of all
gender identities within the full life of the church and the world. The
assembly affirms the full dignity and the full humanity of transgender people,
their full inclusion in all human rights, and their giftedness for service. The
assembly affirms the church’s obligation to stand for the right of people of
all gender identities to live free from discrimination, violence, and every
form of injustice.”
The other overture (11-13) says: “Celebrating the expansive
embrace of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the breadth of our mission to serve a
world in need, the 223rd General Assembly (2018) affirms the gifts of LGBTQIA+
people for ministry and celebrates their service in the church and in the
world.” The resolution laments the suffering of LGBTQIA+ people who were
hurt by the church’s policies in the past, and gives thanks for the persistence
of those who worked for change. It notes the ministries of those serving in
many capacities in the church today with excellence, and it calls for greater
openness, stronger social witness and intentional effort in ecumenical and
mission co-worker relationships to advocate for justice and equality for all people. Again, this, too, was part of the consent
agenda. It was approved, with no debate—unanimously.
The Way Forward Committee, considering the work
of The Way Forward Commission, considered proposals pertaining to the future structure
of the GA. What kind of structure does the denomination need for a time such as
this? What will allow us to move forward
with the work God is calling us to.
The GA considered overtures calling for divestments of PCUSA
funds in fossil fuels. After three hours
of debate on Friday, the recommendation failed.
Nevertheless, the GA encouraged Presbyterians to continue to care for
God’s good creation. The Presbyterians for Earth Care awarded the Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake for the excellent
work they are doing in caring for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. As an Earth Care Congregation, Catonsville
Presbyterian Church has directly benefited from its partnership with IPC. I was honored to receive the award on behalf
of IPC, at the Presbyterians for Earth luncheon.
The Presbyterian Writers Guild recognized the prophetic writing
of James Atwood, who has been tireless in his work to end gun violence,
especially in his book Gundamentalism
and Where It is Taking America (Cascade
Books, 2017). Atwood said, “One
million Americans died at the barrel of a gun since 1979.) I highly recommend
his work.
The Assembly condemned the U.S. Federal
government for separating refugee children from their parents, as well as the
President Trump’s recent executive order.
The resolution calls on the government to
ensure that parents in custody know the location of their children, facilitate
regular communication between parents and children and ensure that families in
detention have access to attorneys. It also says the government should not use
the promise of reunification with children as a ploy to get parents to plead
guilty to a crime. The Assembly called
its churches to act on behalf of the children and their families.
Last Monday, I went on an Underground Railroad tour to Alton, IL, situated about thirty miles north of St. Louis, along the Mississippi River. The town was an important center of abolitionist activity, and had many safe houses or “stations” along the road to freedom; it’s also the final resting place of Elijah P. Lovejoy (1802-1837). Lovejoy was a graduate of Princeton Seminary, a Presbyterian minister, prophet, preacher, abolitionist, and newspaper publisher who fought for the end of slavery, and most associated with Alton. He was attacked several times in St. Louis, and his printing press tossed into the Mississippi River. He crossed the river into Alton, IL, where he set up another press.
One of the most meaningful experiences
of the week, for me, was to participate in a public action, called Release to the Captives, which took
place on Tuesday afternoon. Hundreds of Presbyterians gathered at the
convention center and then walked—six across, arm-in-arm—and chanted, prayed,
and yelled our way through the streets to the St. Louis City Justice Center,
about a mile away. This was the first time the Assembly did anything like
this. The march was led by J. Herbert
Nelson, our stated clerk, along with former stated clerks, former moderators,
and the current co-moderators. The march was a plea to end cash bail. The jails
in St. Louis (and elsewhere in the U.S.) are full of people being held on minor
offenses, unable to pay cash bail. The inability to pay bail has been a driving
force in the increased mass incarceration of the past fifteen years, resulting
in job loss, mounting fines, and child custody issues. I learned this week that
90% of people who are held in jail on bail will plead guilty just to go home,
even if they did not commit the crime. J. Herbert Nelson presented
representatives of The Bail Project—which screens incarcerated individuals and
seeks to help those whose bail is less than $5,000—with a check for $47,500. As
early as that evening people were being released from jail. This offering was collected during worship on
Saturday morning, and through online contributes from Presbyterians across the
country. Since Tuesday, another $7000 had
been received. (And it’s still not too late to give.)
Now is the time for the
church to be the church, to bear witness to the liberating power of the gospel.
It’s up to us to bear witness to God’s demand for justice and wholeness and
healing. We must move from the safe
confines of our sanctuaries out into the streets. We need to be visible, seen, heard. Now is the time. Don’t be afraid. Go on!
As we move into God’s
future. Here are two questions that, I think, we need to keep before us: Where
is God’s heart breaking? Where is God’s heart breaking in the City of
Baltimore, in Catonsville, in Baltimore County, in Howard County? We need to go there. This is the work of the church.
Baltimore BUILD (Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development), is a community-organizing
association in the city working closely with religious leaders downtown, for
more than thirty-five years. They are
working hard to make Baltimore a better place to live. Their work was celebrated in a powerful sermon
on Thursday morning. BUILD’s ministry/mission
is driven by this mantra:
Your misery is your ministry.
Your pain in your purpose.
Your mess becomes your message.
Your test becomes your testimony.
This is
the work of the church.
There’s also another question
we must keep before us: Where is God’s
heart bursting with joy? Ministry is
about more than heartbreak and suffering.
Where is God’s heart bursting with joy in the City of Baltimore, in
Catonsville, in Baltimore County, in Howard County? We need to go there, too, to share the joy,
to support them in their joy.
Can you see the land of promise
out there? It’s there. Human suffering
and joy will lead us there, to the place we need to be. God says:
Go. Cross over.
Proceed. Be strong. Have courage.
Don’t be afraid. I will be with you wherever you go.
