In my reading this week, I came across a quote by Howard Thurman that I want to share with you.
“By some amazing but vastly creative spiritual insight the slave undertook the redemption of a religion that the master had profaned in his midst.”
There are so many times in Christian history - so many examples - of Christianity demonstrating to the world that it is not a religion of life, but a religion of death… a religion of oppression… a religion that holds people captive… So many times when Christianity has contributed to the brokenness of the world, rather than the healing of the world. So many times when the Christian religion gave good, loving people a multitude of reasons to leave Christianity behind.
The role Christianity played in instituting and defending slavery is one example. Today we celebrate Juneteenth, commemorating the day when slaves in the United States were given the freedom they had long sought and fought for; but we cannot forget how Christians used scripture to defend slavery; how slaveholders picked and chose Bible verses to argue that God approves of keeping people as property, and treating them harshly, as beings who are less-than-human.
For some of us, it’s hard to imagine how people could have treated fellow human beings this way, and to do so in Christ’s name. Yet slavery in the United States isn’t the only example of Christians inflicting violence, abuse, and injustice on others.
This abuse of power began in the fourth century, when Constantine, the emperor of Rome, made Christianity the religion of the Empire. It was a strategic move. Stories are told of his conversion to Christianity in the year 312, but I don’t think his conversion was sincere. He did it as a way to get the church to stop objecting to him and the ruthless way he exercised his power.
And it worked. Christian leaders aligned themselves with Constantine and the Empire. They saw this as an opportunity for themselves, to gain wealth and power.
But the more they aligned themselves with the Empire, the further they strayed from the teachings of Christ.
In every age since, Christians seeking power have aligned themselves with empires and powers of domination and intimidation. Donald Trump was very good at getting many church leaders to align themselves with him, and he was very good at using the church to get what he wanted - even though what he wanted was often contrary to what Jesus taught.
Yet in every age, there have been Christians who looked who resisted this marriage between the church and empire.
In the time of Constantine, there were the desert fathers and mothers, who established communities where they did their best to preserve a way of life they believed followed the way of Jesus.
In the time of the Crusades, there were people like Francis and Clare of Assisi. Do you know the story of how St. Francis began his work?
As a young man, Francis dreamed of being a heroic knight, and was even part of the fifth crusade. But Francis ended up risking his life when he crossed enemy lines to engage in dialogue with the Sultan of Egypt. The two discussed interfaith conflict, war and the search for peace.
After that, Francis began to lament the warfare between religions, and became disillusioned with Christianity’s tendency toward violence and warfare.
While trying to figure these things out, he became disillusioned. One day, he was wandering through the hills surrounding his hometown of Assisi, searching for answers. He came upon San Damiano, a little church that was in desperate need of repair. He entered and knelt down underneath a large wooden crucifix painted in the Byzantine style of an icon.
Looking at that image of Jesus as he prayed - his heart filled with conflicting emotions - Francis asked:
“Lord, what do you want me to do? Show me what you want me to do with my life.”
In response, he heard Christ say, “Francis, go and rebuild my church which, as you see, is falling down.”
Francis did physically rebuild the church at San Damiano; but Francis realized that Jesus was asking him to do more than that. It gradually dawned on him that his vocation was to rebuild the church, the human institution that was perilously close to falling apart. Christianity had lost its way, and Francis was being called to help restore the church to the way of Christ.
And because of Francis, the church got new life. The church had ceased to be what it was supposed to be, but Francis helped restore the church - and bring about a resurrection.
Many feel that the church today has also lost its way. We still have lasting effects of slaveholder religion within the church, and we have not fully dealt with those effects. White supremacy and Christian nationalism continue to lead many in the church away from the path Jesus showed us and called us to follow. And, contrary to the teachings of Jesus, many Christians embrace violence as a legitimate way to get what one wants.
As in times past, there are many today who want to align Christianity with the powers of empire, the powers of oppression. They want the Christian religion to be a religion of power and wealth. And they manipulate and pervert the teachings of Jesus in order to condemn anyone they see as a threat, or anyone whose lifestyle or very identity they don’t like.
In addition to white supremacy and Christian nationalism movements within the church, we’re seeing Christians influencing lawmakers to pass laws against gay, lesbian, and especially transgender individuals. And we’re seeing a rise in hate crimes committed against Asians and Jews and Blacks - even mass shootings! - with much of Christianity adding fuel to the fire.
And many are feeling the same disillusionment in our own time that Francis felt in his.
But we also hear the same command that Francis heard: “Rebuild my church.”
We hear God calling us to take the religion of the slaveholder - the religion that oppresses - and return it to the religion of Jesus that liberates and redeems.
We hear God calling us to take the religion of wealth and power, and return it to the religion of Jesus that brings good news to the poor.
We hear God calling us to take the religion that favors the mighty, and return it to the religion of Jesus that cares for the least of these.
We hear God calling us to take the religion that condones violence and which acts in violent ways, and return it to the religion of Jesus that practices nonviolence and works for peace.
We hear God calling us to take the religion that condemns people because of their race or their nationality or their sexual orientation or their gender identity, and return it to the religion of Jesus that affirms every person as a beautiful, beloved, child of God.
And in doing so, we recapture the power - God’s power - to bring resurrection into our lives and into our world.
We are given a new birth into a living hope, as the scripture says, all through the resurrection of Jesus; all through the new life that God promises us and which God makes present among us, again and again and again.
Are you able to imagine a world with more resurrection? A world filled with new life?
Have you seen the signs of this new life? Have you seen the resurrection? Have you seen the reawakening of a Christian church that is a liberating church, a saving church, a church of healing and wholeness?
I have; I have seen the signs of new life, the signs of resurrection and reawakening.
I’ve seen it because of our General Minister and President, Terri Hord Owens. She continues to call us to be a liberating church, a church of justice, a church that is who we say we are - a church that follows the way of Jesus.
She has brought to our church a powerful prophetic voice. She leads us in confronting the hypocrisy and the timidity that prevents institutions like ours from being faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I’ve seen signs of new life in the church because of William Barber, and the Poor People’s Campaign, which yesterday held a Poor People’s and Low Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington. Empowered by individuals from every state - people of every race, every religion, every sexual orientation and gender identity - the Poor People’s Campaign continues the work started by Martin Luther King Jr., to bring justice to the millions of Americans who struggle and suffer under our unjust economic system.
I’ve seen signs of new life in the church here at Bixby Knolls Christian Church. As much as we all dread meetings, I see signs of new life in God’s church every time we have a church board meeting and every time our elders meet. As the leaders of our congregation discuss and debate how we can best carry out this ministry which has been entrusted to us, they always keep the mission of the church first and foremost in their minds. The finances of the church and the use of our property are discussed with an awareness that money and property serve the mission, and not the other way around.
And every time a child feels loved instead of condemned; every time someone experiences joy and freedom instead of fear and captivity; every time the church remembers the forgotten and empowers the weak, resurrection occurs.
And God’s church is reborn once again.
