“Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles.”
— the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
You may not have realized this when you got up this morning, but we are in the midst of an incredible moment in history. Let me point out to you some of the events and the energy which is swirling and gathering around us.
Eleven days ago, on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th, the Capitol Building in Washington, DC was attacked and desecrated by insurrectionists. The Capitol Building had been stormed only once before by the British Army in1812.
Three days ago, on January 13, the President of the United States was impeached for a second time – this time for incitement of insurrection – the first time in history that a POTUS has been impeached twice.
Three days from today, on January 20th, there will be a transfer of power as Donald J. Trump, the 45th POTUS, leaves office and Joseph R. Biden, Jr., is inaugurated as the 46th POTUS.
It is yet to be seen whether or not that transfer of power will be peaceful as over 20,000 National Guard troops surround the White House, the Capitol Building and the Supreme Court, and, elsewhere, in State Capitol buildings around the country which also prepare for possible attack by mob insurrectionists more loyal to Donald Trump than to the constitution and law and order of this country.
History will also be made, three days from now, as the first woman, who is also the first biracial (Black and Asian) woman will be sworn in as VPOTUS.
In this moment in history, we observe two notable events: On Monday, we celebrate the life and work and witness of the great leader of the Civil Rights Movement, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Also on Monday, we observe the Confession of St. Peter, which begins the Week of Christian Unity, which ends the following Monday with the observation of the Conversion of St. Paul.
As Yoda might say, “There is a disturbance in the force.”
In the Star Wars series, The Force was a powerful energy field that bound all beings together. The source of the disturbance could be many things, from something new and light and good to something old and dark and dangerous.
It was a feeling sensed especially by Jedi priests and knights – like Yoda and Luke
Skywalker and Darth Vader – letting them know that something was happening
elsewhere in the galaxy.
One does not have to be a Jedi priest or knight or even an Episcopal priest or Knight of Columbus to sense the energy created by the convergence of all of these events.
I will say this, however: This is an amazing time to be a Christian.
Into these disturbing and anxious days, in the Season of the Epiphany, the scripture appointed for us to consider this morning asks us to listen to and reflect on the call of Samuel and the call of Jesus to Philip and Andrew and Peter and Nathaniel.
Note, please, that the call of Samuel is a quiet call, so much so that Samuel is confused by it; he thinks it is Eli calling to him. God has to call him three times and Eli has to instruct Samuel on how to discern the call from God.
In John’s gospel, Jesus decides to go to Galilee where he found Philip and said, simply, “Follow me.” We’re not privileged to know what was said before that; John simply cuts to the quick, leaving both the conversation and the character and nature of Philip to the religious imagination of those who would later hear the story.
Whatever was said must have been pretty convincing because when Philip went and found Nathanael, he told him that he had met a man named Jesus and that “we” – meaning, no doubt, he and Andrew and Peter – had “found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
To that, you can almost hear Nathanael scoffing as he said to Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” And, Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Come and see. That’s it. That’s all.
That’s the first example we are given of what I think is the best evangelism. “Come and see.” No hard pressure sales-technique. No Bible (or Torah) thumping. No threats of doom and gloom or hellfire and brimstone. No yammering about sin and perdition. Not even a real explanation – well, not one that John gives us. Just, “Come and see.”
Do not let the simplicity of the invitation blind you from the enormity of the challenge to accept.
In 1959, Joan Thatcher asked
Martin Luther King Jr. to compose a statement on his call to ministry. He wrote
these words:
My call to the ministry was neither dramatic nor spectacular. It came neither by some miraculous vision nor by some blinding light experience on the road of life. Moreover, it did not come as a sudden realization. Rather, it was a response to an inner urge that gradually came upon me. . . . It was not a miraculous or supernatural something. On the contrary it was an inner urge calling me to serve humanity.
“An inner urge, calling me to serve humanity.” An inner urge. That sounds to me like a little like what Philip said to Nathaniel “Come and see”. Nathaniel must have felt an inner urge which lead him to walk down to road to meet Jesus for himself.
Author Frederick Buechner puts it this way, “It was a lump in the throat. It was an itching in the feet. It was a stirring of the blood at the sound of rain. It was a sickening of the heart at the sight of misery. It was a clamoring of ghosts.”
I have this sense, this inner urge, that the “disturbance in the force” that many of us are feeling – those waves of anxiety and concern that beset us as we consider the many various things in our midst as we just try to simply live our lives – that inner urge is Jesus in our midst, and Philip is right beside him saying, “Come and see.”
I have this lump in my throat every time I watched the chaos at the Capitol Building last week that what we are in the midst of is the beginning of the end of something, something which has to happen in order for something new to begin. The barnacles are being scraped off the boat and we are being asked to set sail into new waters.
I have this stirring in my blood to say to you, my friends, that I can’t think of a better time to be Christian. I know. I know. That sounds crazy to say but it’s true.
This is the time for which we were baptized. This is the moment. This is the time to put our five baptismal vows into action, especially “to seek and serve Christ” in others and “to respect the dignity of every human being”.
Oh, I know. I know. You’re thinking to yourselves, Okay, she’s nice and all but she’s really crazy. She can’t be talking to me. I’m …. (fill in the blank – too old, too tired, not THAT religious, not that great a Christian . . . .).
Well, I want to give you a
few more words from Dr. King. In his sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in
Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. King gave a sermon called “The Drum Major Instinct” in
which he talked about everyone’s idea of leadership as being someone out in
front – someone who leads – someone who’s great. Here’s what he said:
Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness.
If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful.
If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among
you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.
And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.
If you hang around me long enough, you’ll hear me talk about servant leadership. It’s what is demonstrated in that story we heard from Bishop Quinton Primo*, who had a simple idea of calling together young people of all races to sing and worship God. It started with 100 kids and grew to over 500 young people who gathered together to talk about issues of race and commonalities of their humanity which affected at least two young adults he knew about and no doubt, countless more known only to God.
This is that moment – the moment that has the potential to call forth “Jesus greatness” in all of us. This is that moment that calls for servant leadership which, for Christians, comes from having a heart full of the grace of the sacrament of baptism and a soul generated by the love of Jesus deep down in our heart.
There was a story told by one of the Capitol Policemen who had been dragged out into the mob and beaten unmercifully with hockey sticks and the poles of American flags. Some in the mob were reaching to get his badge and others were reaching for his gun. He heard a few people chant, “Kill him with his own gun.”
And, he said he thought,
well, he could get his gun and fire and he would shoot maybe one or two, but
that would give them a reason to take his gun and shoot him.
So, he decided to appeal to their humanity. He started to shout, “I have kids.”
Suddenly, a few in the mob came to their senses and came to his rescue. They cleared a way for him, and his partner was able to help take him back into shelter.
That was, for him, his moment of servant leadership. That was for his partner, his moment of servant leadership. That was, for the people in that mob, the moment his humanity touched their humanity which allowed them to move through their anger and rage and find the grace and love of servant leadership.
This is that moment for us all – to push through our anxiety and anger, our frustration and concern and find grace and love which comes from sharing our common humanity. This is how the barnacles get scraped from the bottom of the boat so we can set sail in new, uncharted baptismal waters. This is how something new comes out of something old.
As it was in the beginning, the Holy Spirit comes and broods over the chaos and calls something new into being.
Dr. King said, “Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles.”
It all begins with an invitation: “Come and see.”
Amen.
*A reading from “The Making of a Black Bishop” by the Rt. Rev. Quintin E. Primo, Jr. [1913-1998]:
“Thinking of novel ways to serve the diocese (Rochester, NY) ...on behalf of St. Simon’s Young People’s Fellowship, we sponsored an annual diocesan-wide choral evensong service for Episcopal young people. The attendance grew from less than 100 the first year to more than 500. The event was designed to accomplish two purposes: to revive the beautiful and once popular sung evening prayer worship service held in many Episcopal churches during the 30’s and 40-s...; and, to provide safe, congenial, and non-threatening surroundings for black and white urban and suburban, small town and rural, middle-class and underclass, and sometimes ‘no class’ young people to socialize, discuss racial and social problems, and proffer practical solutions. Participating clergy persons, youth advisers, parents and the young people themselves benefited enormously from their open discussions and shared experiences.
“For example, one morning in Chicago, a young white priest came to my office and asked my secretary to see me “for two minutes. The thought-to-be- stranger identified himself by saying, ‘Bishop Primo, as a high schooler and teenager, I participated in your yearly choral evensong services for young people at Simon’s in Rochester, New York. I was so inspired by them and you, that I with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, decided to become a priest and professional counselor. I want to thank you again, and let you know that I am available to serve as a weekend supply priest should you need me….’
“A few weeks later, the incident was repeated. This time it was a U.S. Marine Chaplain form Virginia, who was in Chicago on business. Entering my office, he said, “I have little time as a taxi is outside waiting to take me to O’Hare Airport. However, I felt could not leave Chicago without seeing you and telling you that I was a teenager when you were at St. Simon’s…..Father Dan Bennett brought me up twice to your annual choral evensong service for young people. I learned a lot about racial understanding and tolerance, and now I am a champion of human rights for all.” I was deeply touched by the Chaplain’s surprise visit and testimony of what those evening prayer services, discussions and socializing had meant to him. I knew there were others who had had similar experiences that I would never know about; it supported the fact that if you reach diverse people in their attitude and behavioral formative years and bring them together for positive and enlightening interaction, the seeds of racial tolerance, unity and understanding can be models and references that impact the remainder of their lives and those with whom they come in contact.”
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