Fr. Kevin Miller shares:
This Saturday we start a new sermon series for Savior; I’ve entitled it “Becoming People of Justice: 5 resources for the lifelong journey.” Let me talk about those phrases and how each one speaks to us at Church of the Savior.
Becoming People of Justice
Sometimes white evangelicals have viewed racial justice as an option. There’s a way of thinking that can go like this: “Prayer is not an option. Worship is not an option. Giving is not an option. But when it comes to racial justice or economic justice, well, some churches do that; ours just doesn’t happen to.”
As Christians we can never see justice that way. There is no way forward in Christian formation without squarely making justice part of the journey. We follow this God: “… all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4). We follow the Savior who said, “The Spirit of the Lord … has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And from front to back our Scriptures say things like “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:17).
So “Becoming People of Justice” is almost a shorthand way of saying, “Becoming People of God.”
The Lifelong Journey
What a year it’s been! Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. George Floyd. Mike Ramos. Asian-owned stores defaced with racist graffiti. Yet for Christians, becoming people of justice is not merely a response to news. We must never stop working on our bias and fighting for justice: this is not an event, it’s a journey.
In our regular and recurring life at Savior, even if the news cycle moves on, we will be having sermon series like this one, book studies (White Awake, by Daniel Hill, coming soon) and giving (our Vestry has donated over $10,000 this year to help minority communities). The fact is, “Loving Others” is deeply part of our hearts, and it’s part of our mission.
Does all this mean that Savior will become a more diverse church? That’s an excellent question, but for me, it’s not the first one to ask. Sometimes groups start working on diversity before they’ve worked on listening, awareness, humility. So here’s what I’ll be looking for instead. Do we, as St. Benedict taught, continue to welcome every person as if he or she is Christ? (I love how you do that, friends of the Savior!) And when people come to Savior, are they increasingly able to say of us, “They are working on their stuff”?
Let us not despise the day of small beginnings. Let us take just one small step after another, praying that God’s kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven.
Resources
And finally, the word “resources”. As our culture awakens to its 400 years of racism, what can Christians uniquely bring to the longing for justice?
We bring only what we have received from God: “Freely you have received; freely give.” But God has given us much: his Word, his Spirit, his hope, his people. I hope this sermon series will be prophetic and positive: if we join with God’s heart, He will bless us. As Isaiah promises:
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourself in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness
your night will become like noonday.
The Lord will guide you always,
He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
And will strengthen your frame."
I pray that through this series we will be given encouragement, and language, for our journey together, and that we will grow in our capacity to “Love Others.”
PS
And finally, a request for prayer. Please pray for the preachers in this series (Linda Richardson, Esau McCaulley, and Al Hsu) and me. There is an emotional and spiritual weight that comes when we speak on matters of racial justice.
Compounding that for me, as an “old skinny white guy” (wink), I feel my inadequacy: I’m starting later than many of you in learning about, and working for, racial justice. Much of my life experience and education did not prepare me. I’m finding comfort in Paul, who knew full well, “I’m the least of all the apostles; I don’t even deserve to be called an apostle” but that didn’t keep him from preaching; in fact, he said, “woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.”
Cover Art: Sherry Anast © August 2020
