Stories that Form Us - Sermon

(I delivered this sermon on Christmas Eve 2014. It is not verbatim since I use the barest of notes and my memory when preaching)

So many people get nostalgic at Christmas time. Every year, we watch the same Christmas movies. Will George Bailey save the Savings and Loan from Mr. Potter again this year? Will Bedford Falls be ok?  Will Rudolph lead Santa's sleigh this year? Of course we know the answers, but yet we watch them nonetheless. And if we are honest, we still even experience some suspense.

Christmas is a time some of us get with friends and family and share the same stories that we've shared for years...or we may sit alone and remember the private memories that we don't want to share.

Why do we do this?

The stories of our lives form who we are.  They explain who we become. We act certain ways because of what has happened to us in the past. If you listen to a person long enough, you will find out what is important to him or her...just by listening to the stories.

For me, Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. Once the clock strikes 12:00 on November 1, I'm technically allowed to put up the first Christmas tree in the house! (Yes, we have several). It's not the presents...In fact, I only remember a few gifts from when I was young. Christmas means so much more. I remember the experiences.

On Christmas Eve, we would go to my maternal Grandparents' house for supper. The whole family would be there. We kids would play, and then get anxious because that was the one night out of the entire year Grandma insisted on hand washing the dishes and not using the dishwasher. It's not like she used fine china...It was just her regular plates and silverware.

My sister, cousin, and I eventually worked out a spy ring. One would hide under the dining room table, one at the entrance to the kitchen, and another behind the fridge. We had hand signals to let each other know how much longer it would be until it was time to open presents.

On Christmas Day, we'd go to my paternal Grandma's house. She used paper plates! But she always made my favorite mashed potatoes! There was one year that I took it as a personal insult when she wanted to make a "lite lunch" and made potato salad. We spoke again a few weeks later.

But Christmas also meant snow, decorating, making cookies, sledding, and of course, stories!

There was the year my uncle told 5-year old me that he shot a guy wearing all read out in his back yard. I was scared the whole night that Santa wouldn't come. And there was my Grandma's Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. I was young and got to pick it out for her. She saw it and cried because, "The damn thing was so ugly." (My Grandma was not one to use strong language, so it must have been bad). My dad took her to the grocery store and my uncle and I decorated it. She came back and cried again because she had "never seen such a beautiful tree." My kids and wife endure these stories multiple times every year!

I remember the last Christmas with my Grandpa being alive. He had surgery that put him in a coma. After his brain waves stopped, we removed life support, but he hung on a few days. He was in a hospital 3 hours away on Christmas Eve. I remember sitting in HIS chair - the one he was VERY possessive of! I wouldn't leave it. It was the last connection I had to him. He died three days later.

It's normal for people to keep memories alive. It's even Biblical! In the Old Testament, when God did something amazing for the Israelites, something like the Passover, God commanded them to remember this day and do something to commemorate it. Depending on the tone of the holiday, it would be a joyous celebration or a somber remembrance.

The Bible is God's Story. The Christmas story is our entrance into God's story. Jesus came for all people - Gentiles and Jews. This is God's continuing story of God with us - Emmanuel (Hebrew - Im [with] enu [us] el God]). This Christmas story is where we - individually and corporately enter God's story.

We can now be part of God's Family!  In the words of Church Father Athanasius of Alexandria - "God became man so man could become god." He DID NOT mean we would be literally god, but rather we could share in God's promises because of God becoming human in Christ.

And now, with new eyes, read the Christmas Story:

Luke 2:1-20 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Blessed are the Peacemakers - More Reflections on Race

I honestly don’t know how to begin. I honestly don’t know where this is going. Lord, lead me as I write!

People rarely like to talk about race. Many people will say they are “colorblind” when it comes to race. That statement, as well intentioned as the person saying it means it to be, cannot and should not be.

God created us as embodied souls – or souls with a body. Either way, one cannot be separated from the other…at least in this earthly life. Part of our bodies includes our skin. My skin happens to be white.

What is white skin? To look at it, “white” may not even be the best description. My skin is more tan or pink than white, but yet people classify me as “white.” I have some brown hair on my arms, a few moles and blemishes, some scars, but that doesn’t change my classification as “white.”

Some people prefer that I describe my race as European-American because saying that I’m “white” implies that I consider myself “elite” in comparison to others. My ancestors came from Europe. European-American is my ethnicity. But race is different. When I say “white,” I am describing what I see in the mirror – or rather what others have termed my skin tone to be. I don’t use “white” as an inherent descriptor of power, though I will discuss that later.

Race is a human construction. Ethnicity is not. Humans have a need to determine what makes each of us different from others. Ethnicity is a descriptor of our ancestral origins. Humanity invented race to say that one color is better than another color. History has shown that people's minds consider “lighter” skin colors superior to “darker” skin colors.

Obsession with skin colors caused slavery – or at least American slavery. Obsession with skin colors caused colonization of the African continent. Obsession with skin colors caused segregation where blacks were forced into sub-standard institutions to keep things “pure” for whites. Obsession with skin colors is sadly alive and well today.

In just the past few weeks, we’ve seen the Grand Juries failed to prosecute police officer Anthony Baez who used a chokehold on Eric Garner, killing him. A previous Grand Jury acquitted another police officer, Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed teen Michael Brown. 

The issue, however, is not specifically about Garner and Brown – but do not, for one second, think that I am diminishing the importance of these lives!  The larger issue is the obsession with skin colors and the lack of justice in the history of America for black people.  If we could truly say that these were isolated issues, and if we could be assured that both Grand Juries gave full fairness to both cases, and if we could say that blacks were treated equally with whites, then there would be little issue. Maybe there would be some raised eyebrows. Maybe some would disagree with the decisions, but the issues would not reach national importance.

America suffers from a 400-year problem of obsession with skin color. That obsession is called racism. Racism can ONLY come from the powerful – the white skin.  Minorities can be bigoted, they can be rude, they can be hateful, but they cannot use a tool that belongs only to the powerful. Minorities cannot be racist.

Racism consists of more than disliking someone based on skin color – that is being bigoted.  Racism is a systematic disease. Racism is visible AND invisible. Racism exists in peoples’ actions and in the collective mindset. Racism prevents mobility of the minority that is being targeted – intellectual, spiritual, and physical mobility. Racism kills – it kills the mind, it kills the soul, and it kills the body. 

Jesus calls his followers to be peacemakers in the Beatitudes of Matthew 5.  A peacemaker DOES NOT throw up a “yeah, but…” every time an uncomfortable and tragic situation comes our way. Have blacks committed horrific crimes as well? Yes. All races have. But, such is not the point. The discussion at hand is about justice for God’s black children. Later, if needed, we can have a different discussion. A peacemaker does not use counter-examples to hold to the status quo.

A peacemaker reaches across uncomfortable spaces and extends the hand of peace. Most (if not all) who read this post did not serve on the Grand Juries in question. Most who read this are probably good people who love their neighbors. We don’t need “good people” right now.  We need peacemakers from the white community.  We need whites to stand in solidarity with our black brothers and sisters. We need white people who are willing to say, “I have never felt your pain. I have never had anyone look at me and question whether I am a criminal or not. I have never gone through any of that, and I want a world where you don’t have to either.”

Throughout the Bible, God, without exception, stands with the poor and oppressed. Again, now is not the time for whites to describe how we may be oppressed. It is true that others more powerful than us may oppress us. We will have time to deal with that oppression. If we are true peacemakers, we will be able to deal with all oppression with all people regardless of race.

America is in crisis. Crisis can end in a multitude of ways. People can choose how to handle a crisis. We can sit back and do nothing and let others fight the battle. That option is contrary to being a peacemaker. That option carries unknown consequences.  We can stand for the status quo. That too is not being a peacemaker. It is like one saying “peace, peace when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14).” We can be peacemakers. We all have different gifts and talents to do this. We can recognize that our black brothers and sisters are suffering. We may not be able to change every situation, but we can walk to road together. It will be difficult...It will be rewarding...It will be tiresome...It will be loving...

As everyone knows, in suffering, sometimes the best “medicine” is a companion.