“In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”” – Luke 1:39-55
*****
This morning we enter the second week of Advent, a time in the church calendar that calls us to wait in expectation and preparation for the birth of Jesus. And this week in Advent, we are reminded that Jesus is named the Prince of Peace, for he comes proclaiming peace upon all the earth.
And it is in times such as these when we long for this Prince of Peace to come quickly.
We are overwhelmed with grief over the suffering, violence, and injustice we continue to witness throughout the world and even in our very own communities. The growing number of people experiencing homelessness. The migrant crisis. The tornadoes in Tennessee. The rise in anti-Palestinian hate crimes, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, transphobia, and so many forms of racism. The horrendous crimes against humanity that are being inflicted upon the people in Ukraine, Sudan, and occupied Gaza.
Many of us feel helpless as we are watching – in real time – a genocide taking place with the help of US tax dollars – and the barbaric treatment and atrocities that are being inflicted upon 1000s of innocent people – both Palestinians and Israelis.
We feel despair – as we continue to become more aware of the 75 year old history in the State of Israel of settler colonialism, occupation, displacement, and unjustified detainment of Palestinians as young as 12 years old.
We feel hopeless – as we are learning that since Oct. 7th, more than 1100 Israelis have been killed, almost 18,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and around 270 Palestinians have been killed during Israeli raids on Palestinian towns and refugee camps in the West Bank.
Thousands of those killed were children and babies.
And yet, as people of faith and members of the human race: we believe that NO human being is just a number.
And so as we light this Advent candle of peace this morning: the cries of the prophet Isaiah have become our own: “how long, oh Lord? How long?”
How long must we wait until oppression, violence, and genocide will cease? How long must we wait until we will no longer allow fear of the “other” to create division and injustice? How long must we wait for the day when Jesus – the Prince of Peace – will finally return bringing peace upon all the earth?
O Come, o come Emmanuel!
*****
Throughout our scriptures, we often find that the word peace is paired with the word righteousness, which in Hebrew is tzaddiq and is actually better translated as “justice.”
For instance, in Psalm 85, the Psalmist cries out: “Let me hear what God will speak, for God will speak peace to God’s people… to those who turn to God in their hearts… Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness – or tzaddiq/justice – and peace will kiss each other. Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and tzaddiq/justice – will look down from the sky… Tzaddiq/Justice will go before God and will make a path for God’s steps.”
How long, oh Lord, How long? – We ask.
According to our scriptures = it is when justice and peace will kiss each other.
Peace comes only when we have tzaddiq, justice. For when there is NO justice, there is NO peace.
As we gather this morning on this second Sunday of Advent, we are reminded that we need the prophets – both past and present – calling for this justice-peace now more than ever.
Now, what makes a prophet a prophet?
A few years ago, while teaching confirmation to 7th and 8th graders about the biblical and contemporary prophets, I asked my students to come up with four things they thought were most important to know about the prophets. And I think these youth were spot on in their answers.
The students explained that first, prophets are called by God to proclaim the good news of God to the world. While their messages can cause discomfort for those with privilege and power, these messages offer solace and hope to those who are suffering and oppressed. Solidarity is crucial, because it helps those who are suffering to know that they are not alone.
The second thing the students thought was important about prophets is that they are definitely not popular. They say and do things that many people in power do not like. Therefore, those in power often misrepresent and demonize the prophets in order to discredit them.
Next, prophets are very brave because they are constantly causing what contemporary prophet John Lewis called “good trouble.” They denounce injustice and call on those who impose, support, and ignore unjust policies – to change their ways. And they advocate for people who are most vulnerable and marginalized.
Because of this, some prophets are threatened, bullied, harmed, and even killed. And so the prophets are often the ones who are most vulnerable and marginalized.
The final thing that our confirmation students said was important about prophets is that they do not remain silent. They continuously cry out until they get the attention of God’s people so that we all will respond to the world’s suffering and injustice and join them in God’s prophetic work.
*****
This morning, as I think about what deems someone a prophet, I can’t help but think of the Palestinian prophet Refaat Alareer, who was a poet, mentor, father, and a university professor of English Literature in Gaza. He helped found an organization in 2015 that memorializes the victims of Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
While I was gathering with over 100 Jewish siblings in Welles Park on Thursday night for the first day of Hanukkah and the lighting of candles for a Cease fire, one of the leaders of the service announced that Refaat had been killed just earlier that day. The state of Israel had bombed his sister’s home, killing him, his brother, his sister, and her four children.
Over the last few months of his life, Refaat had witnessed the killings of many of his students during the attacks on Gaza. Refaat was likely aware of Black poet Claude McKay’s poem that was written in response to white supremacist attacks on Black Americans in 1919 and was titled “If We Must Die.”
And so on November 1 of this year, Refaat wrote a poem that he titled: “If I Must Die.” And on the day of his death, this poem was read at the lighting of the Hanukkah candles that I attended in Welles Park:
If I must die,
You must live
To tell my story
To sell my things
To buy a piece of cloth
And some strings
Make it white with a long tail
So that a child, somewhere in Gaza
While looking heaven in the eye
Awaiting his dad who left in a blaze –
And bid no one farewell
Not even his flesh
Not even to himself –
Sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
And thinks for a moment an angel is there
Bringing back love
If I must die
Let it bring hope
Let it be a tale
This Advent Sunday, we cannot avoid the cries of the prophets – even if we tried.
*****
And we hear them in our scripture reading, as well.
Just before this morning’s reading, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, telling her that she – a poor, unwed teenage girl – is pregnant and would soon give birth to a baby named Jesus. But wondering how Joseph, the man she was legally bound to by betrothal, would respond and knowing the severe state’s consequences for unwed pregnancies, she is left perplexed. And so she seeks counsel from her cousin Elisabeth.
But when she arrives at her cousin’s home, Elizabeth – who is now filled with the Holy Spirit – blesses Mary. And it is here, where God disrupts the confines that had been placed upon these two women due to their gender and their placement in society.
You see, this ordinary woman named Elizabeth – who had been barren and was much older in age – will soon become the mother of a great prophet, John the Baptist. And here, in this moment, she becomes the very first person to feel the presence of the Son of God.
And it is this poor, ordinary girl named Mary who has been chosen to become the mother of God and her female cousin’s blessing is what empowers her to live into this call.
Yet, while both expectant mothers are filled with joy as they realize how much of a gift it is to receive this radical call from God, they also know that raising and advocating for their children will be dangerous and require a lot of resistance. And so Mary – who will do anything for her child – prophesies as she bursts into her famous song, which we find in our reading this morning, which is what we find in this morning’s reading.
*****
I love this story in Luke for several reasons. First, I love it because we don’t always get to hear a lot of voices from and stories about women in our Bible. We know that this is due to the way women were treated in biblical times: they were considered property of men, had very few rights, and were viewed by much of society as not worthy of having anything important say. And yet, here in Luke, the author shares a beautiful story about two very important women and some prophetic words that they proclaimed.
The author begins his account of the story of Jesus not with powerful men – but with two pregnant women – those who were on the very margins of society.
I also love this story because of the song Mary bursts out singing. Most of us are quite familiar with this song and know it as the Magnificat. What few people rarely realize, though, is that this song was a typical protest song. It was a cry of resistance, very similar to what Miriam and Moses sang when God delivered God’s people from oppression and bondage in Egypt.
You see, in singing this song, Mary recognizes that though she is a poor, unwed, Jewish Palestinian teenaged girl, who is considered property of men and viewed in her society as unworthy of a voice, she is – indeed – beloved and worthy to God.
“My soul magnifies the Lord,” she sings. “for God has looked with favor on the lowliness of God’s servant. God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; 53God has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.”
Of all people, God has called upon Mary to be the one who will give birth to and raise the long-expected Savior of the world.
Mary!
And so Mary sings on: “for the Mighty One has done great things for me. Holy is God’s name.”
*****
If you don’t know Christian author Cole Arthur Riley and creator of BlackLiturgies, I strongly recommend you read her book This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us and check her out on Instagram and facebook. Her reflections are powerful, and last week’s reminded me of the significance of Mary’s protest song.
In Cole’s post she says:
“The same voices that cannot be trusted with our histories, certainly cannot be trusted with a story unfolding. When you don’t know who to trust, listen first to the one who’s still bleeding. Inhale: I don’t know what to believe. Exhale: so I listen for the silenced.”
*****
Not only was Mary’s protest song of resistance a song that brought hope to those who would have first heard it, but it is also a song that offers us hope today. It reminds us that NO person is just a number, and that God uplifts those who are deemed lowly in society – for they are indeed worthy and loved by God.
And Mary reminds us that when we do not know what to believe or how to respond to the atrocities in this world, we must listen to and be led by the prophetic voices of those who are still bleeding. And that we must live to tell the story of those who cannot.
*****
How long, oh Lord? How long?
As that beloved song says: “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”
Yes, peace – which only comes with tzaddiq/justice – will prevail over all the earth when Jesus comes again, but this peace-justice is also already breaking into this world in the here and now.
And this peace-justice begins with each one of us, as we prepare for the coming of Jesus and as we continuously proclaim his way of peace.
This peace-justice begins with us as we extend care and love to those who are grieving, as we offer welcome to our migrant siblings, as we shut down transphobia, anti-Semitism, Islamaphobia, anti-Palestinian racism, and all forms of racism in our schools, workplaces, and day-to-day conversations with our friends and family. As we work to end poverty and hunger by offering our resources and time. As we use our voices to call for a cease fire in Gaza and an end to genocide, a safe release of all hostages, and an end to the 75 year old occupation of Palestine. As we call out injustice by listening to and learning from those who are still bleeding, using social media and other platforms to educate others, contacting our legislators, and marching in the streets.
*****
May the cries of the prophets we are listening to this Advent Sunday not only touch us, but also lead us to action.
Do not be afraid to bring peace – which can only come when there is tzaddiq/justice.
I’d like to leave you with a poem by Rabbi Brant Rosen, Palestinian rights activist and founder of Tzedek Chicago (a Jewish congregation that’s name means “Justice Chicago”). He wrote this poem for the lighting of the candles for first night of Hanukkah. He titled it: “We Light These Lights For Gaza.”
As we light our Advent candles this morning and throughout the rest of the Advent season – may they too – be for Gaza and all victims of violence and oppression:
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; 4for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience.
6For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. 7Pay to all what is due to them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honour to whom honour is due.
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 10Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; 13let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. 14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” – Romans 13:1-14
*****
Today we continue our sermon series on the book “Who Stole My Bible? Reclaiming Scripture as a Handbook for Resisting Tyranny” by Rev. Jennifer Butler. And this week’s chapter (8) takes a good look at Romans 13, which is a bit of doozy.
At the beginning of our reading, we hear that famous clobber passage from Paul, where he states: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement.”
For centuries, many Christians have misused and abused this text: claiming that everyone must obey all laws and “governing authorities” because these authorities are God-ordained.
Enslavers used this passage to justify the institution of slavery and quoted it to enforce those who were enslaved to obey those who enslaved them.
In Germany during the rise of Naziism, Protestant pastor Otto Dibelius preached a sermon calling on Germans to support Hitler, using this passage as his reasoning. From then on, the Nazi Establishment used Romans 13 as a means to claim that their government was chosen by God and thus it was a sin against God to resist their regime.
Similarly, in South Africa, Romans 13 was used by pastors and politicians to claim that the Apartheid state was ordained by God and therefore all must submit to it and not challenge it.
And in 2018, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions quoted this passage while urging Americans to support the administration’s policy of separating families at the border.
Today, Romans 13 continues to be quoted in order to justify tyranny and stifle various resistance movements and forms of civil disobedience around our country and the world.
*****
Now, what those who misuse and abuse Romans 13 often do is leave out the context from which it came. According to Cherice Bock in her work “Quakers’ Relation to the State,” she suggests that the first 10 verses of Romans 13 are part of a larger narrative that begins in Romans chapter 12 verse 17.
According to her, this narrative focuses on how Christians are to express love toward others both inside and outside the faith community.
Bock states: “The overall point of the long passage is to call believers to remain firmly grounded in God’s goodness while interacting with the world around them in peace and love.”
She explains that at the beginning of this narrative, Paul discusses how Christians are to express love toward those in their inner-circles. But later in chapter 12, he goes on to discuss how one should interact with their enemies. In the last few verses of chapter 12, Paul urges his audience to not seek vengeance against their enemies and then concludes the chapter by saying: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
And that’s when we get to this morning’s passage in Romans chapter 13. And this is where – according to Bock – Paul starts to discuss how one should live an ethic of love toward the State.
Now, just to give some context here: – in Paul’s time – the State was incredibly oppressive and was under the rule of an emperor who claimed titles deeming himself divine and Lord over all… (So, you can just imagine how threatened this emperor would have been had he heard that someone like Jesus was given the titles Son of God and Lord of Lords.)
*****
In the book we’ve been reading, Rev. Jennifer Butler points out that we need to look more closely at the first verse in Romans 13. While in the translation that we read today, Paul says: “be subject to the governing authorities,” this verse has often been translated as “obey” or “submit to” governing authorities.
Yet, this word is actually best translated as: “participate in the order of governing authorities” or – as Christian author Craig Greenfield explains in his reflection on this text: “arrange stuff respectfully in an ‘orderly manner underneath.’” In other words, according to Greenfield, this word focuses on “social orderliness,” and “reflects God’s concern for order and respect,” which is not the same thing as “submitting to” or “obeying” those who are in authority.
Greenfield points out that there is another Greek word that actually does mean to “submit to” or “obey,” and it should be noted that here in Romans 13 – Paul intentionally chooses not to use that word.
*****
What is often omitted by those who have and continue to misquote and abuse Romans 13 is what comes after these two famous clobber verses.
In verses 3-4, Paul says: “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but (rather) to bad conduct. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; 4for it is God’s servant for your good.”
Then he goes on to say in verse 6: “for the authorities are God’s servants busy with this very thing.” Rev. Butler explains in her book that this is more accurately translated: “the authorities are God’s servants only to the extent they are busy doing this very thing.” Or, in other words, as Butler explains: “Christians give the authorities the respect they are owed only to the extent that the authorities are acting in appropriate ways in the first place.”
Now, another part of Paul’s longer narrative on the ethic of love that’s often been omitted by those who misuse and abuse Romans 13 – is what he says in verses 8-10:
“Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law…And any other commandment, is summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 10Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”
What we find here is Paul proclaiming that we do not owe any one – no ruler, no authority figure, no one – anything except to love one another. For the law must be centered on love. And the only way to fulfill (or be subject to) the law of God is by loving our neighbor. But if the law is not centered on love and seeks wrong toward our neighbor, then it is not law according to God. And Christians are no longer “subject to it.”
And this – then – helps make more sense of why Paul wrote many of his letters while sitting in a prison cell. For he – himself – participated in civil disobedience, and was arrested and imprisoned for choosing to disobey oppressive rulers and resist unjust laws… As did Jesus and many other followers of his.
I think that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks to the questions we often have about Romans 13 in his letter from Birmingham jail to his fellow clergy: “One may well ask: ‘How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?’ The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’”
*****
I think it’s appropriate that in a few weeks, we will come to the very last Sunday of the church calendar, which is often referred to as Reign of Christ or Christ the King Sunday in many Christian traditions and is celebrated the week before a new church year begins with Advent.
Now, several Christian leaders have chosen to drop this feast, change its name, or struggle over whether or not they should do either. And I can totally understand why we might do so or live in this tension. King, Lord, ruler, reign, and kingdom are all titles that refer to worldly and often exclusive and oppressive governmental systems.
And I also think it’s important that we look at why Christ’s Lordship has been emphasized and why Christ the King Sunday was established in the first place so we have a better understanding of why it’s rooted in our traditions.
While the Church has upheld the belief that Christ is King and Lord throughout much of its history, Christ the King Sunday is actually very new to the church calendar. The first feast was instituted in the Roman Catholic Church in the 1920s and soon thereafter was celebrated by many other Christian traditions.
It was not only established in these traditions in response to the Church’s concern with the rise of secularism, which led many to deny that Christ was central to all parts of peoples’ lives. But this feast was also instituted and began to be celebrated in a time when dictatorships were on the rise in Europe. And it was during this time, when many within the Church who rejected such dictatorships began to strongly reemphasize Christ’s Lordship over all things.
We can hear an example of this in the Barmen Declaration, a document that was written in Germany in 1934 by theologians Karl Barth and Hans Asmussen. The document was a statement that refuted the dangerous teachings of the pro-Nazi “German Christian” movement, which glorified Hitler as a leader and – in the name of Christianity – justified his exclusionary and violent actions both inside and outside the Church during his early rise to power.
Part of the Barmen Declaration states:
“We reject the false doctrine that there could be areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ but to other lords, areas in which we would not need justification and sanctification through him.
‘Let us, however, speak the truth in love, and in every respect grow into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body is joined together.’ (Eph. 4:15-16)
The Christian Church is the community of brethren in which, in Word and Sacrament, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ acts in the present as Lord.
With both its faith and its obedience, with both its message and its order, it has to testify in the midst of the sinful world, as the Church of pardoned sinners, that it belongs to him alone and lives and may live by his comfort and under his direction alone, in expectation of his appearing.”
You see, many churches and Christian leaders at that time reemphasized Christ’s Lordship as a means to oppose such oppressive worldly governmental systems and to remind Christians that it is Jesus Christ – and no other worldly leader – who has authority. It is the Kingdom of God (or as many of us like to say: kin-dom of God) – and no other worldly government – that reigns over the heavens and the earth.
Yes, Jesus is indeed King of Kings and Lord of Lords, whose reign does not only last four to eight years, but lasts for all eternity.
But our scriptures remind us that this King and Lord is not the kind of ruler our world expects, celebrates, or uplifts. And our Gospels show us that our King and Lord is not the kind of leader who would have won an election… or even a popular vote.
Rather, we find a different kind of king in which we are to follow.
We find a king who is wearing a crown of thorns rather than a crown of jewels and gold. We find a king who is arrested and tortured for proclaiming that the Kin-dom of God is not just for those on top, but rather is for all.
We find a king who shows up in the midst of great suffering and fear. Who hangs on a cross between two criminals on death row – offering forgiveness and compassion to those who are most vulnerable and even to those who put him on the cross in the first place.
We find a king who chooses to save the entire world rather than to save himself.
With his arms outstretched, he cries out to us: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me…Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
And in his final breaths, he reminds us: “Who is the greatest of all? Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
You see, for the one who we proclaim is Lord of all, the way to greatness is not to be first, but rather it is to put others first.
To put the well-being and basic needs of others in front of our own wants, our sense of security, our concerns of offending others or being rejected, and our temptation to want to get ahead.
Jesus’ path is not about climbing the social ladder and befriending and caring for only those who have something to offer us.
Rather, Jesus’ path to greatness is tearing down all walls that divide and welcoming and walking alongside those who suffer, including and especially those the world deems the last and the least.
When we proclaim Jesus’ Lordship (whether we use the word “Lord” or not), we are pledging our allegiance to Jesus Christ and all he proclaimed – and only to him – in all areas of our lives, no matter how difficult this might be. We are choosing Jesus’ way of radical love – which did and will always continue to trump hate.
Chicago mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson speaking at the Bring Chicago Home People’s Hearing
Today I joined other Chicagoans from across the city – including some elected officials and candidates – for the Bring Chicago Home People’s Hearing.
Bring Chicago Home is incredibly important to keep in mind as we gear up for the upcoming Run-Off Election. Not all of the candidates will support it, and 26 alderpeople need to vote for BCH in order to get it on the ballot. We were unable to get BCH on the February ballot because only 25 alders supported it.
A big shout out to our leaders who attended the People’s Hearing today to voice their support for BCH (sorry if I missed anyone):
Alderpeople and Alder candidates:
Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) Andre Vasquez (40th Ward) Julia Ramirez (12th Ward) Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) Desmon Yancy (5th Ward) Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward) Rossana Rodríguez (33rd Ward)
Newly elected Police District Council Member Rev. Marilyn Pagán-Banks
Mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson
WHY SUPPORT BRING CHICAGO HOME:
In the Christian tradition, we look to the teachings and commandments of Jesus, a homeless refugee who said the GREATEST commandment is to Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself.
Bring Chicago Home seeks to put this commandment into action:
65,000 Chicagoans experience homelessness.
1 in 4 are children. 1/2 are families. 3 in 4 are People of Color.
Many are veterans and survivors of domestic violence.
Many are CPS students and college students.
Many are refugees from around the world and Asylum Seekers who recently arrived in Chicago from the border.
LGBTQIA+ youth are twice as likely to experience homelessness than their non-queer peers.
People who experience homelessness live on the streets, stay in shelters (if they can find ones that have space), couch hop, live in cars, or are in doubled-up households.
Doubled-up households are not included in HUD’s definition of homelessness. This means if you are doubled-up, you are not eligible for some federal housing assistance programs.
Most shelters in Chicago only house men, do not house families, children, or youth, and/or are not safe for queer folx (especially trans folx.)
Many of the college students I work with who are housing insecure struggle to find a shelter that feels safe or that can house their children. Many of these students are doubled-up and thus are not eligible for assistance programs. Some of them are living out of their cars with their siblings.
Imagine trying to get a college degree or trying to focus in class (K-12) when you don’t know where you’re going to sleep at night or if you’re going to eat that day.
Currently, Chicago’s annual budget that’s dedicated to homelessness prevention is $26 million compared to LA’s annual budget of $636.9 million and New York’s annual budget of $1.4 billion.
Bring Chicago Home offers a solution to help increase our annual budget to $160 million for affordable housing and homelessness prevention. This steady revenue would come from a 1.9% increase on the one-time Real Estate Transfer Sales Tax for homes that are over $1 million.
This would only affect 4.2% of Chicagoans, but the revenue would be able to house and provide wraparound services (job training, mental health services, youth programs, safety initiatives, etc.) to more than 12,000 houseless families over the next 10 years.
We all benefit when more people are housed and receive wraparound services. As 1 Corinthians 12:26 reminds us: “If one member (of the body) suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”
Learn more about BCH, join the movement, and help spread the word!
This weekend, I had the honor of witnessing and being a part of the beautiful multireligious, multilingual, multicultural, multigenerational, queer wedding celebration and joining of the families of two of my dear friends and their kiddos. In many Christian traditions, we emphasize that we are called to help bring in the Kingdom of God here on earth. My friends’ wedding was a glimpse of this bringing in of God’s Kin-dom.
At the beginning of the Prayers of Community, I shared these words of welcome (Scott Reiter’s adaptation from Congregation Sha’ar Zahav):
“How good it is to gather, In a rainbow of affections and sexualities, In the house of a God Who loves each of us as we are created, Without limit and forever.
How sweet it is to gather, In a spectrum of gender identities, In the house of God Who transcends human limits and categories.
How pleasant it is to gather, People of all faiths and of no faith, In the house of a God Who listens to the prayers, joys, and heartaches of all people.
How fine it is to gather, People with firm beliefs, Together with people with questions in our hearts, In the house of a God Who values deeds of caring and justice Far above the recitation of creeds.”
Then during our prayers, I led these petitions:
Loving Creator, God of many names, as we gather today to celebrate love, we acknowledge that this opportunity is both a gift and a privilege. We know there are many who are excluded and rejected, who can neither gather nor celebrate.
So – as we gather today – we take this time to offer our prayers for the world.
We pray for our LGBTQIA+ siblings – both near & far – who experience unwelcome and rejection in their faith communities, schools, neighborhoods, and homes. And we lift up those who are gravely impacted by harmful anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation.
Loving God, while so many seek to exclude, you are a God who welcomes us with loving arms. Hold all our queer siblings in your tender care, offer healing to those who seek communities of support, and help them remember who they are and whose they are: beloved children created beautifully in your image just the way they are.
We give you thanks, Mother God, for all communities – whether faith, familial, collegial, or social – that affirm and celebrate the belovedness of queer bodies and queer love. We celebrate and pray for the love that does not fit into the boxes that our heteronormative society has created. May the love that is beautifully queer burst through the confines with shining colors, vibrant sequins, and very sparkly glitter.
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May we not only pray these petitions through our words, but may these prayers be embodied through our actions: as we shut down harmful rhetoric and speak out against all forms of hate & intolerance; as we seek to change inhumane legislation and dismantle all systems that oppress; as we work to create welcoming, safe, and brave spaces for all to live fully as their authentic selves and as we learn how to love & celebrate our siblings for who they truly are.
Yesterday, I came home from an ELCA camp in Michigan called Living Waters Ministries. For the last 8 days, 1 of our youth group members joined the middle school camp and the other 6 of our youth attended Bridge Builders, a Camp that offers youth antiracism training and leadership development. This was a beautiful experience, and yet it was also very challenging at times. And this experience reminds me of our scriptures this morning.
In our Gospel, Jesus has been appointing disciples and commissioning them to continue Jesus’ work in the world.
And now today – in both Luke and Galatians– we find what it actually means to be a disciple.
A disciple bears another’s burdens and whenever there is an opportunity, she must work for the good of all. He must make personal sacrifices and let go of the things that get in the way of following Jesus. They bring healing to those who are suffering and proclaim the peace that Jesus offers the world.
This past week, our youth learned more about how to be disciples of Jesus and they lived this out as they cared for one another when things were difficult, as they stood up for themselves and for their friends when they experienced microaggressions, and as they learned how they can continue to stick up for themselves and others and fight racism when they get back to Chicago. When our youth noticed that the antiracism Wall of History was missing some very important events of racism and resistance that took place in the LatinX community, they told their small group leaders, wrote their own cards about these events, and added them to the Wall.
When they noticed that the worship did not have any songs in Spanish, they asked the worship leader if he could lead some songs they knew in Spanish and Zulu, and they ended up leading all the campers in worship! Manny, one of our youth, who said he didn’t think he could sing, even ended up singing a solo!)
Although our youth were incredibly nervous at the beginning of the week when they were not all placed in the same small groups and cabins, they took a chance and got out of their comfort zones. This was painful and challenging at times. But by the end of the week, they had grown tremendously, and they had gained courage to speak up and to share their gifts with the other campers. And by the end of the week they said they were so grateful to be able to go to camp and some even cried about the camp ending.
Manny, an incoming 10th grader stated on Friday as he processed his experience of the week: “I know at first we all just wanted to be together and to have fun. And it was hard for us at first. But as we learned this week, we were not here just to have fun. We are here to learn how to fight racism and to change the world.”
These young people are disciples of Jesus, and we can really learn so much from them.
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To be a disciple of Jesus is far from easy.
“Go on your way,” Jesus says to the seventy as they go on ahead of him in pairs to share the good news. “I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves.”
You see, the good news that Jesus proclaims is subversive and it disrupts. It challenges the status quo and is a threat to the Empire and those who hold power in it.
And the thing is: Jesus was not a keep-er of the peace – no matter how much we may wish he was. When he saw injustice, he did not tiptoe around those who tried to justify it so that he could avoid conflict. Rather, Jesus came into this world as a peace-maker.
Because for Jesus: when there is no justice, there is no peace.
And so being a disciple – a student and a follower of Jesus – is risky. It requires us to do some heavy lifting and a lot of difficult work. As Jesus reminds us this morning, a disciple does not quietly share Jesus’ good news to only those who are willing to hear it.
Rather, she is required to persist… To proclaim it loudly for all to hear… no matter how people might receive it and no matter how they might respond when they do hear it.
Jesus’ good news involves tearing down systems that oppress and bringing down the powerful from their throwns. It uplifts the ones who have been cast down and centers those who have been pushed to the margins. And so when this good news is being proclaimed, there are going to be a lot of people who will find it threatening and who will reject and resist those who proclaim it…
And – as we find throughout the Gospel of Luke: Jesus’ good news will lead to divisions and broken relationships. Even sometimes within one’s own household… and oftentimes with force.
“But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you,” Jesus says: “go out into its streets and say: ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet, know this: the Kingdom of God has come near.’”
In other words, persist and resist, for the truth will set us free.
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Now, there are a lot of truths that need to be brought out into the open right now.
The truth about how our country was founded on white supremacy and that throughout its history it has continued to reinforce this white supremacy through social and political forces.
The truth about how racism is still alive and well, running deep within all of our country’s systems, institutions, textbooks, media, and entertainment.
The truth about how these systems and institutions have and continue to shape the way I – a white, cis, able-bodied woman – perceives, experiences, and interacts with the world around me.
The truth about my own white privilege, biases, and – yes, racism.
And that no matter how much I wish these truths did not exist and no matter how much I work to shed them, they are still there. Because the sins of racism and white privilege are deeply engrained in us and in the systems that we participate in and that we are conditioned by.
And so, to be a disciple of Jesus, we must choose to be actively against all forms of injustice. And we much choose to be actively anti-racist.
For me – a white, cis, able-bodied woman – this means that I must continuously learn about and become more aware of my own white privilege and how I can work to dismantle it and the racist systems of which I am a part. I need to constantly confess and repent of my own biases and racism and then be moved to take action.
I need to listen to, learn from, and amplify the voices of my trans and non-binary siblings and siblings of color, to show up, and to grieve and stand with them in their pain and anger. I must choose to speak up about transphobia, ablism, white privilege, and interpersonal and systemic racism… And to shut down all forms of hate that I find around me – especially among those in my close circles. I need to participate in actions – in the ways that I am able – that call for the dismantling of unjust systems.
And I must choose to not allow my discomfort, guilt, defensiveness, fragility, or the mistakes I have made (and will continue to make) to take over me and to hold me back from doing this important good news work.
*****
Jesus urges us to not allow our fear – about how people will respond if we proclaim his good news – to overcome us.
Instead, he wants us to focus on how God perceives us.
Because – as Jesus tells the crowds only a few chapters after today’s reading: God loves even the sparrows. And yet, to God: we are far more valuable than many sparrows.
We are beloved. We are worthy. We are beautifully and wonderfully made, in God’s image, just the way we are.
And we have a God who cares for us so much that God invites us to be Jesus’ disciples and to join him in this crucial work.
Because we are capable and because God believes in us.
Now, this is not easy. But as Christians, we believe that when Jesus died on the cross, he freed the world from its bondage to sin. This does not mean we are no longer sinners… Because we are human. And humans are far from perfect. Humans are not binary beings. We are both/and. Both sinner and saint.
But this also means that we no longer have to be bound to sin.
When we confess our sins in the presence of God and one another, our sin loses its power over us. Confession leads us toward repentance, where – by the grace of God – our hearts, minds, and thoughts begin to be transformed and we start to turn away from our sins and toward a new way of life.
“So,” as Paul says in his letter to the Galatians: “Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ… Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up.
So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all… And may [we] never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!
And as for those who will follow this rule–peace and mercy be upon them and upon God.”
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood"
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