The Beatitudes and the
Politics of the Meek and Merciful
Preached by Pastor Matt Braddock
I
once heard someone say a sermon is like a drum solo; it’s a lot better if you
know when it’s going to end. You will need a roadmap to today’s sermon so we
can find our way to the end, because it started out as a continuation of my
series on the politics of the Beatitudes. Then Sam asked if I can say something
about temptation, and I said, “OK.” Then Adrianne reminded me that Pledge
Sunday was next week and asked if I could preach about Stewardship and I said,
“OK.” Then we had a local immigration crisis erupt this week which took a lot
of my time and energy, and I want to tell you all about that, too. So buckle
up. Today you get Charlie Daniels, forgiveness, stewardship, immigration, and
whatever else we can throw in there. We better pray together. I asked _____ to
lead us in prayer before our sermon today…
Humanity
vs. the Devil. It’s a tale as old as time. You might know one such story from
the South that starts like this: “The Devil went down to Georgia, he was lookin’
for a soul to steal. He was in a bind ‘cause he was way behind, and he was willin’
to make a deal.” Charlie Daniels’ song, The
Devil Went Down to Georgia, tells the tale of Johnny, who outplays the
devil in a fiddle contest and wins the devil’s golden violin. Except when I
listen to that song, I wonder if the devil really won. Sure, the devil might
have lost the fiddle competition with Johnny, but Johnny is quite arrogant at
the end. That’s not how you beat the devil – at least now how Jesus did it. In
the Bible, the devil appeals to Jesus’s ego, but, unlike Johnny, Jesus didn’t
take the bait. For our second reading, I asked John Wack to offer this
re-telling of the story of Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. Ladies
and Gentlemen, I present John Wack in “The Devil Went Down to Jordan”!
The devil went down to
the Jordan
He was lookin’ for a
show to steal
He was in a bind ‘cause
Jesus came to find
Those willing to make
it real.
And he came upon the
Son of Man
Who no vittles and was
prayin’ to God,
Then the devil jumped on
the chance to tempt Him
Said “Boy, let me tell
ya, it’s hot!”
“I guess you didn’t
know it but I’m a vittle-craver too,
“And kid I’m scared
this desert air might get the best of you.
“Now you ain’t been
eatin’ your vittles boy
“But, kid, your dinner
is due,
“So if you’re really
God’s Son, then turn these stones
To bread and I’ll
butter it for you.”
The Lord said, “I am
hungry, but that would be a sin,
“ ‘Cause it ain’t by
bread we’re man’s be fed
“But by the Word God’s
given him.”
John the Baptist washed
the Lord and there’s where it all starts
‘Cause Jesus left the
Jordan and the devil hit Him hard.
And if He wins we get
to walk on Heaven’s streets of gold
But if He sins, the
devil gets your soul.
The devil took Him up
in space and said, “Christ, start to throw
“Yourself off this
temple top as I’m watchin’ from below.
“Cause I’m sure You
know that God will bring
“All His angels to
assist,
“And then all would
believe You’re Him
“If they saw You did
something like this”
When the devil
finished, Jesus said,
“Well, you’re temptin’
God, old son,
And it’s written down
in that book right there
That thing shouldn’t
ever be done.”
Shout from the mountain
what God’s done
The devil ain’t a match
for the rising Son.
You can never tempt
God, did you not know
People don’t live by
bread alone.
The devil finally said,
“Jesus, if You’ll just worship me
Then I’ll give you gold
that glitters,
All these crowns, and
all You see.”
Jesus said, “Devil,
just turn on back
‘Cause I’m never gonna
buy your scam.
I love God too much, I’m
gonna resist.
I’d suggest you’d
better scram!”
Humanity
vs. the Devil. Our literature and music are all full of these stories. Many of
us here doubt the devil is an actual creature, but our culture and collective
memory still hold onto these stories. They talk about what is most important
about the concept of evil: it exists. The world is not perfect. We are only a
few bad decisions away from going back on promises, abandoning who we are, and
betraying all that we love, to gain something for ourselves.
There
is a broken part in me as an individual and in us as a society. We love
imperfectly. We are sometimes willing to sell our souls, even for good reasons.
We are tempted to go back on our principles — especially in extreme situations.
It’s
not that we’re bad people. It’s that we can make really bad decisions, without
much provocation. Temptation is anything that entices us to use a short-cut to
reach a desirable goal. Consider the news about the college admissions cheating
scandal that broke a couple of weeks ago. People with means bought their
children’s ways into elite schools. Good grades are desirable. They can open
doors. They can attract scholarships. They make parents happy. Students must
work hard to get good grades. But, the easiest way to get rewarded is to pay someone
else off do the work for you. It’s easier to cheat. We get the rewards without
having to earn them. Not every temptation is so obvious. Not every failure is
so embarrassing. But every temptation presents us with a decision about right
and wrong and whom we will serve. In our faith stories, not even Jesus was
spared this choosing
Again,
it’s not that we are bad people. Most bad decisions, even the horrible ones, do
not set out to be evil. I don’t want to be cruel, I want to be comfortable. I
want convenience and personal advancement. I want my family and friends to be
happy and successful. When we talk about greed, jealousy, resentment, or lust,
these are all stoked by self-interest.
I
am confronted with these choices every time I am asked to engage in public
activism. Honestly, I prefer not to be in the spotlight, and I’m not the kind
of person who runs toward a fight. I’m tempted to hold back, to let someone
else do the work. This past week I felt that temptation again. Wednesday night,
I learned that ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) threatens to detain
and deport a Montgomery County community leader and personal friend. Everyone
calls him Coach Fofo. He lives and breathes soccer. When he came to our country
20 years ago, he founded the Elite Soccer Youth Development Academy (ESYDA) in
Silver Spring. He also petitioned for asylum in the US. His petition and
following appeal were denied. Fofo stayed in the US, working in school systems
and mentoring the youth in Montgomery and Price George’s Country through his
soccer academy. Coach Fofo was targeted for deportation by ICE in 2013. ICE
allowed him to remain in Maryland, and Fofo checked in regularly with the
agency. Immigration authorities told Fofo to bring his passport to a check-in
last Friday. When Ice says bring your passport, it’s an indication that
deportation is imminent. Fofo has not lived in Togo for 40 years. He has a
14-year-old American-born son. He uses soccer to teach children and youth the
value of character and scholarship. He models citizenship and leadership. He is
the kind of person who will go out of his way to make sure no athlete misses a
game, even if he must pick up each player by himself. Fofo has taught an entire
generation of youth. Some of them are now grown and working on his staff. Fofo
is a good man who does good things for people – many of whom don’t have many
good things in their lives.
Coach
Fofo, members from Casa de Maryland, the Sanctuary DMV Congregation Network,
and I had a couple of conference calls together on Wednesday and Thursday.
Should our churches provide sanctuary? Should he go underground for a while?
What are the risks if he goes to his ICE check in? After weighing all the
options, Fofo decided to accept the danger and go to his appointment. We
organized a quick rally outside the federal building Friday morning. Thanks to
LJ Ingram and Allen Hill for showing up, as well as the 40 or so community
activists, public leaders, and clergy friends who came.
Fofo
is also a man of faith. I was honored to pray with Fofo and accompany him to
his check in with his son, his lawyer, and Jewru Bandeh, Director of the
Eastern Montgomery County Regional Center. Fofo was given one month to return
to ICE with a passport to Togo and an airline ticket. It’s not great news. ICE
at least allowed him to go home with his family. We are now activating a wider network
to free Fofo. Stay tuned for details about our next support rally in April to fill
Hopkins Plaza in support of Coach Fofo.
Fofo’s
story is an example of the Lord-knows-how-many cases like this going on all the
time. Our government continues its 400-year old practice of family separation
that’s been going on since the first enslaved Africans came to Virginia. We’ve
all seen the news about children taken from parents at the border. There are
now videos of immigrants detained behind fences beneath a highway underpass in
Texas. When I see this atrocious treatment, it’s easy to become numb and
inactive. It’s hard to give up my comfort to engage with injustice. My life is
relatively easy. I’m not being attacked by ICE and I don’t want to draw
attention to myself. I don’t want to give up a long-overdue day off to protest
in the streets. I convince myself there’s nothing I can do. I’m not trying to
be wicked. It’s just that I’m selfish and tempted to let my actions be determined
by my fears. Every temptation presents us with a decision about right and wrong
and whom we will serve.
I
feel badly when I cave into the temptations rather than doing what I know if
the better, healthier decision. I know most of us feel badly. How can we change
directions? How can we find the mercy and forgiveness we need to repair us and
help us do better next time?
If
you are the person asking for forgiveness, you express a promise: You can count
on me not to do this sort of thing again. If you are the one forgiving another,
saying “I forgive you,” lets the other know that your future actions toward her
or him will not be governed by the other person’s past behavior. Rather than
being burdened by the ongoing presence of anger and resentment, forgiving and
being forgiven releases us from hostilities so that we can begin to grow in a healthier
direction. In the grip of resentment, one remains a victim. So, when Jesus
says, “Blessed are the merciful,” he offers some hope that those of us who clutch
our disappointments and betrayals can find some release and ultimate happiness.
Forgiveness
is not just about individual temptation. Forgiveness has a collective dimension
… a political perspective … a systemic standpoint. After all, Jesus teaches us
to pray saying, “Forgive us our sins,”
not “Forgive me my sins.” Since the
late 1980s, the language of apology and forgiveness has appeared with increasing
frequency on the political scene. Nations, and religions like the Roman
Catholic Church, began asking for forgiveness for historic evils. Collectives can commit themselves to act in ways not
determined by the wrongs they have inflicted. Communities are capable of releasing wrongdoers from cycles of retribution.
Organizations can refuse to act on hostile motives grounded on revenge. When
one group shows mercy to another group, we find less hostility and more
willingness for people to work towards cooperative goals.
You
see, our faith challenges me to wrestle with my place in an “us” that needs God’s
forgiveness. Each of us inhabits larger webs of injustice that cry out for
mercy.
×
Do “we”
enjoy safety because we remain silent while our neighbors suffer, whether next
door, across the border, or on the other side of the world?
×
Do “we”
possess land that was stolen from others, years or centuries before?
×
Do “we”
have advantages in society due to a history of oppression?
×
Do “we”
let tons of food go into dumpsters while others go hungry?
×
Do “we”
buy and wear clothes that were made by exploited children in sweatshops?
When I
stop and think about the systems that “we” inhabit, I shudder. Our systems are
laced with the rat poison of injustice and evil. So, if we’re going to follow
this Jesus who resisted temptation in the wilderness, this Jesus who blessed
the meek and merciful, this Jesus who forgives those who cause him the most
pain … If we’re going to follow Jesus, then we must be ready to radically
expand our sense of responsibility.
So, do
you think an enforcement agency like ICE could every show mercy (Understood,
ICE is acting on the despicable immigration policies and methods of a merciless
administration). The over-criminalization of our law and the hamstringing of
judges who show too much leniency; the ill-conceived and ineffective “war on
drugs”; and our vast, expensive, over-crowded prison system convince me that
governors and presidents and those who have the power to do so should revive
the American tradition of mercy. Our national, state, and local leaders must
stop being silent, neglectful, irrelevant observers of cruel and unjust
processes, and show us a different way. And if they don’t, then we need to
remind them at voting time.
The truth is, we all want mercy. And
it’s there for us. God extends mercy and comfort to all. But mercy is not given
just so we can feel better. God offers mercy as a way for us to restore our
relationships. God offers mercy so we can extend mercy to others. Mercy is a
continual outpouring to others. That’s part of what churches are supposed to be:
communities of faith that give mercy before receiving mercy. The church is
defined by the quality of its mercy – our ability to restore and humanize those
who need to know kindness. It is time for us to be known in the community as
Defenders of the Poor. Hospitals of Healing. Refuges of Rescue. It is time. As
people of faith, we must be people of mercy, pouring the healing oil of
kindness, nurturing others in the womb of love.
That’s the church I want to worship
in. That’s the church I want to lead. As I talk with many of you, I get the
strong sense that you want that, too.
Now for the pitch…
If we want to be and do all of this,
then we make some sacrifices to our comfort and convenience. It takes a lot of
time and energy to organize for change. It takes patient and tenacious
activism. It takes money. Lots of money. For example, say someone comes to us
and needs to live in sanctuary until an immigration appeal is resolved. Say
that person is in sanctuary in a local church for a year. Or two. Or more. Who
will supply the food? Who will help financially support the person’s family?
Who will keep the person active and inspired? Who will help pay court costs and
legal fees when a person in sanctuary can’t work? Who will help with medical
when a person has no insurance? Who will coordinate safety? It’s easy to do
help for a week or a month. Who will do it for a year? Or two? By the way, we
have someone in our DMV Network living in sanctuary at Cedar Lane UUA. Her name
is Rosa. This is just one person. What happens when more people need the
support of the sanctuary network? Who’s going to step up?
Well, we are, of course! And it takes
a great many resources to make it happen.
I’m asking each of us to participate
in our pledge Sunday next week and make a financial commitment to CCC. We have
some internal aspirations this year. Yes, we are looking to increase some staff
hours and compensation. Yes, we need to cover our debt service for the social
hall and take care of other building maintenance issues. I believe you will all
contribute and help those issues. You know what else? I need your participation
in these outward issues of justice and activism. I need you on the streets and
in the public meetings with me. I need us to think about how we will stand with
immigrant families who might need our ongoing physical and financial support.
Please consider how much you can give. I mean really, prayerfully, actively
think before you commit. If you are new to our tradition, we do not get support
from other organizations. Whatever we pay for, however we set and fund our
priorities, it all relies on the generosity of our donors. The truth is, like
most public organizations, CCC does not have the money and volunteers to do the
things we say we want to do. We get stuck.
CCC, it’s time. Please. It’s time to
do more. It’s time to grow into the congregation we claim to be. And while I
want us to give more money, it’s not about money. I’m really talking about
choosing the way of gratitude. The way of hope. The way of mercy. The way we
show up, not just with our lips, but with our lives.
Ok … Charlie Daniels? Check. Temptation,
forgiveness, and politics? Check. Immigration? Check. Stewardship? Check. We
covered a lot of terrain in a relatively short time. This sermon will be online
so you can watch or read it again. And let me know what you think. I’m always
willing to keep the conversation going.
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