Last Sunday after Pentecost,
Yr. B, November 25, 2012
Daniel 79-10, 13-14; Psalm
93; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37
Sermon preached at St.
Stephen’s Episcopal Church
The
readings from Daniel and Revelation are part of the apocalyptic literature in
the Bible. We tend to think that this
type of literature is all about retribution and annihilation. It portrays a kind of end time that most of
us don’t particularly look forward to, an end that ushers in the victory of God
by means of a great war between the forces of good and the forces of evil. There have been times in my life when I felt
that these writings weren’t particularly helpful to my spiritual life.
But
as I look around in the world today, and I see so many of our young adult
males, particularly males of color, dying in our streets, and as I look up the
names of those killed in our military every week now, I find myself seeing
these stories from a different perspective.
These are stories of hope. They
are the epic stories of good triumphing over evil, stories born out of
suffering and oppression that proclaim God’s power and desire to create an
order where justice prevails, where evil is vanquished for all eternity, where
the good receive their reward. It’s a
world vastly different than the one the writers were living in. These are stories of hope proclaimed in the
midst of a despairing world. These are
stories of faith.
How
many of us still think we need this kind of story? These stories were written by people in
desperate times. Have we ever felt THAT
desperate, that powerless? Have I ever
found myself in a position where I was powerless to change my situation, either
because of oppression, or lack of resources, or lack of social connections that
could access resources for me? Have I
ever felt that powerless? Only once or
twice, and only for a brief period of time.
When
I was beginning my last year of college, I talked my mother into letting me
drive back to school in Indiana without a place to live. I kept telling her it wasn’t a problem. If I needed to, I told her that I could sleep
in my car. It all sounded like a great
adventure until it started getting dark, and I had to start thinking about
where to park the car if I was going to sleep there. The car was still packed full of my
stuff. Not only did I have to “sleep” in
the driver’s seat, but the car was packed so full that the seat back couldn’t
recline. I didn’t have money for a
hotel. There was no going back. Since it was my fifth year at college, most
of the people I felt comfortable asking for floor space had graduated the year
before. The darker it got, the more I
knew I didn’t want to sleep in that car.
For
me, it was just going to be one night, but for others it can be weeks or
months. About five years ago Steve
Brigham quit his job and founded Tent City in Lakewood, NJ on land that is
owned by the town. Brigham started Tent
City as a response to increasing homelessness due to the Great Recession. Brigham describes many of the residents as
the “’new homeless’, individuals who but for the bad economy, would be working
and able to live independently.” [1] Most are still looking for
work, but for now can’t afford the home they once had. Brigham says, “The cost of housing is
outrageous. It’s $21 an hour for an
individual in this area to afford a one-bedroom apartment, a used automobile
and the basic necessities of life. And
the government, the social services, won’t help somebody if they make over $7
an hour.”[2] Brigham lives in a donated school bus on the
land. Others live in tents, some for
more than a year. There is a common area
where residents gather to prepare food and eat together. They have a stove fueled by propane gas that
anyone can use. It’s a meager existence.
When you recognize the limits of
your own power, faith is the most powerful weapon you have. Faith has gotten people through countless
life threatening situations, through life in concentration camps, through deep
bouts of depression, through the loss of loved ones. It’s enabled people to live through slavery,
the crusades and other horribly abusive times in our history. It’s a part of living through many of today’s
troubles as well. A future with hope, is
a story that depicts a reality that allows life to flourish, but it doesn’t
have to involve the vicious end of the forces of destruction that snuff life
out like the flame on a candle. It can
be a gentler, kinder story.
Marilyn Berenzeig
moved to Tent City 18 months ago after she lost her job. She and her husband have already spent one
winter there. She’s 61. “I just feel so badly for the people hanging on by their finger nails
because that’s what we were doing” she says, “hanging on by our finger nails,
scared to death of the next day and what was going to happen”. But that’s not the way things
are for her now. Now she has a
community. She says, “If I’d realized that this would be the
alternative, I’d have been so relieved.”[3] I wonder if she would ever have imagined
that a tent city would be a story of hope?
I wonder if we see it that way?
Are
there other stories of hope that need to be shard, stories of belonging and
purpose, stories of dignity and community.
Who needs these stories today?
Our city school children, for one.
Malik
Evans, Rochester City School Board President said, “Our data is showing us we
have about 300 kids who are not showing up to school. School started the second week of September
and as many as 1,500 students aren't there half the time.” [4] Think they
could use some stories of hope? Maybe
they’re not there because they don’t have any hope?
How about
some of the people who come for fresh produce from Foodlink on Wednesdays? Like often happens, people start lining up at
our door around noon for the 1:30 pm give away.
The truck was about an hour and a half late this week. That means those who came earliest were
waiting about three hours to get food.
By that time, everyone was a little edgy. A few people have a bad habit of budging in
the front of the line. This week, one of
the men in line stood up to them, and told them to go to the back of the
line. He didn’t do it in a friendly
manner either. I was signing people in,
and I asked him to be patient, but he was beyond being patient. “It’s the same people. They come every time and budge in the
front.” I knew the one woman. I wasn’t surprised that she budged in. “Try to be kind”, I said. “She has a few issues.” “We all have issues”, the man yelled, “or we
wouldn’t be in this line.” He was right. Life wasn’t easy for any of them. They could all use stories of hope.
The Kingdom of God is more about what we share, then
about what we have. It’s more about how
we live than about where we live. It’s
more about building relationships than it is about building things. It’s about belonging and purpose and power. Look at the teachers and parents of School #16
students? School #16 is on the
superintendent’s list for closing if the school board approves the plan. This year the students are being housed at
Freddie Thomas School over on Scio St. on the east side of the city. 19th Ward leaders are trying to
organize people to bring the school back to the neighborhood. They see the value of having a quality school
in the neighborhood. They see the current
system creating even more distance between parents and schools, and putting up
more barriers to academic success.
They’re committed to a dream.
They have a story of hope. It’s
making a difference.
We have stories of hope to share too, Stories from
our own experience. I never had to spend
that night in my car. I ran into some
friends who were sharing a house. They
offered me a room for the night, and until I found place of my own. When they saw the place I was planning to
move into, they went and picked up my belongings. They offered me a bed in their house. Each of us has stories of being surprised by
joy, but tat’s not all. We also have
foundational stories, stories of justice prevailing, of love enduring, of good
prevailing. They’re apocalyptic stories,
end time stories, that guide our lives today … that lead us to act in loving
kindness and compassion. They remind us
of what is to come, so that we can choose our way wisely. God’s dream is our dream if we only believe.
Then we join others living today’s
stories of hope … so that we can share the enduring stories of hope that
are ours ... so that we can celebrate the reign of Christ together. That is our gift to the world.
Amen.
[1]
Melone, Katie, Tent City, Odyssey Network, http://www.odysseynetworks.org/video/tent-city, Tue. 11/29/2011.
[2]
Ibid.
[3]
Ibid.
[4]
Adams, Lynette
Adams, RCSD talks about truancy
problem. 11/09/2012
7:35 PM | Updated at: 11/09/2012 8:33 PM.
WHEC.com, http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s2829778.shtml?cat=565.
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