Hands Up, Don't Shoot Sunday: Deacon James brought his sign

10/12

Deacon James brought his sign

Our friend and brother Rev. Osagyefo Sekou is in Ferguson, Missouri.  It is, in his words, a movement moment. He’s there on behalf of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. They’ve asked for people of faith from around the country to come and be with them as they call for justice for Michael Brown and an end to violence against young black men. I have thought about it and can’t go. But we can answer the call to have a hands up, don’t shoot sabbath.  Everything in the service will be in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Ferguson.

Russ is back. And there’s a couple from Brisbane, Australia. And I’m very happy to see Victoire from Open Mic and her friend Henri show up. It feels like a good morning already.

We open our service with words from the Belhar Confession:

We gather to worship believing that God has been revealed as One who wishes to bring about justice and true peace among people. In our worship we are strengthened so that we can do what is good and seek what is right.

I explain how the Belhar Confession came out of a South African Reform church struggling against apartheid. How our own Presbyterian Church has now twice recommended that the Belhar Confession be approved as an official confession of the Church. It was defeated in tbe Presbyteries the last time around because those afraid of lgbtq inclusion saw it’s emphasis on inclusion an open door. How truly sad. We’ve got another chance to right that this time around. (https://www.rca.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=304)

I explain that it is Columbus Day and that even though John Oliver has raised the question why is this still a thing?, it’s still important.  I understand why some states have gone to calling it indigenous peoples’ day, but I can’t go there. A little too politically correct. When I was in Central America in the 1980’s, the day was called el dia de la raza, the day of the race, because most Central American campesinos are mixtures of indigenous Indian and Spanish. They call the coming to the western hemisphere of Europeans el encuentro. A new people was born. Beyond the genocide ( and that’s a big beyond...) it is true that the peasant class is indeed a mestizo people. Where the indigenous have been wiped out, they remain present in the faces of la raza nueva.

 We sing Micah 6 (what does the lord require of you?) together and somehow are able to do it in three parts! We never pulled that off before.  Our psalm of the morning is 106 and we use Happy are those who observe justice as a refrain. Before we read our lesson for reflection, I sing By the Rivers of Babylon again. And then we read Exodus 32: 1-14. Otherwise known as the golden calf story.

The question of course is what does this passage have to do with Ferguson? For me, simply this. It is about substituting for God something of our own creation. Our racism, our honoring of one race over another, is a form of idolatry, of making a false god of a made up reality, ie, race. For those of us who are white, our race…We make a golden calf out of whiteness. If we do not do it explicitly, as most of us would not, we do it implicitly by the devaluing of black life.

And the data is raw. From the drug statistics we learned when West-Park brought to Presbytery the action on the drug laws. With 12% of the population, people of color make up 65% of arrests, 75% o those brought to trial and 85% of those incarcerated. A black man between the ages of 18-25 without a high school diploma has an 85% chance of being in prison.  More black men in  that age cohort are in prison than in college. And in this morning’s Times,  Nicholas Krstof had similar statistics on traffic arrests on the Interstate. (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-when-whites-just-dont-get-it-part-3.html?_r=0)

Two weeks ago we talked about who is the authority in our lives. Last week, we talked about the Ten Commandments and Thou shalt have no other gods before me…This discussion follows in that line. Racism is idolatry.

We have to be able to see the image of God in every human face. I ask around the circle where people are from. French, middle European, Scots Irish and French, Japanese and Italian, English, Puerto Rican and African-American. And if we all did that DNA test, ain’t none of us pure. We need to be able to look around the circle and see the very image of God on every face. If we could do that at work, on the subway, wherever, it would be a step towards being an anti-racist congregation.

We finish our reflection by singing once more He’s got the whole world in his hands…

And as we prepare for our prayers, we sing in Latin,

Confitemini domino, quoniam bonus,                                                                                                 Confitemini domino, Alleluia!  

 (Come and fill our hearts with your peace, you alone are holy, come and fill our hearts with your peace, Alleluia!)

 And this Sunday, given our solidarity with Ferguson, we do a special prayer of confession, again from Belhar:

We confess that in a world full of injustice and enmity, we have not proclaimed enough that God is, in a special way,the God of the destitute, the poor, and the wronged; that God brings justice to the oppressed and gives bread to the hungry;that God frees the prisoner and restores sight to the blind that God supports the downtrodden, protects the stranger, helps orphans and widows.

We confess that we have not prayed enough that the church would stand by people in any form of suffering or need, which implies,among other things, that the church must witness against and strive against any form of injustice, so that justice may roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

We confess that we have not celebrated enough the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist so as to learn that, as the church of God we must stand where God stands, namely against injustice and        with the            wronged; that in following Christ the church must witness against all the powerful and privileged who selfishly seek their own interests and thus control and harm others.

We confess.

God have mercy and hear our cry to you. Amen.

Our final song is Canta de Esperanza:

Dios de la esperanza, danos gozo y paz.      

Al mundo en crisis, habla tu verdad. 

Dios de la justicia, mandanos tu luz,       

luz y esperanza en la oscuridad.

Oremos por la paz, cantemos de tu amor. 

Luchemos por la paz,fieles a ti, Senor. 

May the God of hope go with us every day,

filling all our lives with love and joy and peace.

May the God of justice speed us on our way, 

bringing light and hope to every land and race.

Praying, let us work for peace;      

singing, share our joy with all;     

working for a world that's new,      

faithful when we hear Christ's call.

I point out that for those who don’t speak Spanish, our translator has softened the language. In the original Spanish, it actually says:

The God of hope gives us joy and peace

To a world in crisis, you speak your truth

God of justice, you are sending us your light

Light and hope in the darkness.

We are praying for peace, we are singing of your love

We are fighting for peace, faithful to you, O Lord.. 

Don’t understand why someone felt called to do that. We are fighting for peace…may we be strong enough. Brave enough.

As we are finishing the service, Deacon James asks us not to leave. A few minutes later, he returns with his sign, We stand with the community of Ferguson. He is proud that his church has been there in a cause important to him. The sign will remain in the front of the church throughout the day, to be seen by all our Open HouseNY visitors.

The complete Hands Up, Don't Shoot liturgical tool kit can be found here: http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/2115/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=14895

                 

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Stephen leading a tour

One last day of Open House visitors. Once again, a steady stream from 1 PM until 5. Actually, when I get back to the church after a break, Stephan is finishing the last tour of the day. He’s done the whole building. He’s got a visitor from 5^th Avenue Presbyterian and a group from the Korean UN office arts and culture department. We would love to host one of their events here.

Last tour of the day. 

Thanks to Don, Leila, Dion, Stephen, Danielle and Marsha for all their help with the tours. Good to have more trained docents for the church. Our story si a rich one.

Do not be conformed to this world

8/21

And George  is still there as I open the doors this morning. I’m in too much pain to deal with this as I walk (Limp? Shuffle?) down  the street to pick up the bulletins. When I get back, people are arriving, Luis and Alma, Hope, Samantha, James, Marsha, Arcadia, Stephen, Lilly...I reached out, they all               showed up and came through. That’s how it’s supposed to be. And Andre is sitting at the piano.

Today I’m thinking about Romans 12: 1-8 and what it means to not be conformed to the world. These are tough questions. It depends from whose point of view you are looking at this. For example, those in ther church who have opposed opening up ordination for lgbtq people say that those of us who fought for that were conforming ourselves to the world, not scripture...

What dos it mean? For many of us here, conforming is an impossibiity. Because of who we are, our color, our cuture, our language, orientation, economic situation,  it’s not possible to join the elite. BUT, the way of the world is not simple...it’s complex...

It begins with confession. Not admitting our faults and shortcomings to God, but saying out loud what we truly believe like Peter's confession that Jesus was the Christ. (Matthew 16: 13-20)

Sometimes the church has been a critic of the world, a witness like in the 1930‘s, the German Confessing Church over against the German Christian Movement when the government equated following the Nazi  regime with Christianity and the majority of the church went along. Bohoeffer, Niemoller, others made their confession that their only true authority was Jesus. In that day and time a politically radical statement to make which would cost those who made it.

Following in that tradition, confessions like the Accra Confession from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in Ghana and the Belhar Confesson in South Africa carried that theme forward into new days. But putting these words into action is not simple.

Argentine pastor Roberto Jordan, one of the drafters of the Accra Confession and a consultant for WARC’s Covenanting for Justice in the Economy and the Earth Project, was speaking at the 2007 Witherspoon Conference of the Presbyterian Church (USA). He said:

“The people of the South need you to stand up to the powers of the time and say ‘no’ when the world is presented as an enemy simply to support privileges gained at the expense of the rest of the world.

“Be suspicious of the power structure today but don’t withdraw – participate, learn, get involved, commit to change even if it means less comfort for some. And vote when you have elections. Be informed of the issues that are left out of the political debates and do your best to include them.

“The part of the world which insisted on the need for a statement such as the Accra Confession expects from the churches and the Christian women and men of the North to choose to be part of a new way of being church and being Christian,” Jordan said. 

Participate...that’s the hard part when withdrawal seems so much simpler and pure. But such is not our, the Reformed tradition.

I remember taking part in a discussion of Accra held in Berlin. In Martin Niemoller’s very house. With surviving members of the Confessing Church and their children. Trying to discern the meaning of their confession, the Barmen Declararation, for our own day and time. My friends were shocked to learn that in the PCUSA, a reactionary group of pastors and churches had declared itself to be the Confessing Church Movement, implying that those of us on the progressive side were the equivalent of German Christians. That they were the true descendants, the authentic expression of the Confessing Church.

Sometimes church has taken a leading postion. In the US Civil Rights movement, the anti-Vietnam and anti-nuclear proliferation peace movements, in the 1980‘s movement to resist the US poicy in Central America. But just as many times the church has dragged behind, with regards to women and the vote, lgbtq inclusion and orientation, etc...Even the US military was ahead of us on the lgbtq inclusion issue. And state governments are ahead of us on the marriage equality issue.   And we refuse to take responsibility for what our theology has sanctioned in the secular world against lgbtq people. Including violence. 

So who do you work with? And how? 

Paul says: but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. That’s what we’re after...transformation. How?

I love the story of the Hebrew midwives in today’s lesson from Exodus. (1:8-2:10) The examples of Shiprah and Puah how they refused to cooperate with the powers of domination. Refused to take the lives of male children. How they resisted with cleverness and even humor.

The reaity is here we need different people playing different roles....honoring the gifts,the unique gifts that each has ...believing that we can call forth those indivual gifts, insights, wisdom, action into a collective expression of faithfulness.

As Paul says, For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ⁷ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; ⁸the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. 

Yes, even cheerfulness.

It’s not easy, it’s not clear. And as Reformed Christians, even when we have come together and made a decision, set a strategy, moved forward with passion, we live with the reality that we could be wrong. But that is our call. Now and always.

We pass the plate. Andre sings On Christ the solid rock I stand. And we all sing I’m going to live so God can use me. Say our alleluia! and amen!

Taking a break I see that George has left. James spoke with him two hours yesterday. And Luis today. For me its a tough question. The rule is no sleeping on the steps during the day. But he’s not sleeping. But he’s virtually camping out. Not easy. But gone for now. 

The Session discusses Christian and his Melting Pot Orchestra. The boiler crisis. Letter to Councilmember Brewer. Possible necessity of having to sell things. Of course, some want to sell nothing. Time grows short....

The Dark Lady Players arrive for rehearsal. 

Dark Lady Players in Rehearsal

Twenty-fifth day of Lent: Needs work,but a start

4/6

A large yellow caterpillar digger is chewing up the earth and making a pit right beyond the cut  lines Tom showed me yesterday. Right in front of our steps.

I meet Rochone at Popover’s to talk about the June week, our 100th Anniversary, an open house, the concerts Amanda is planning. We’ve got two months. Time is short. Anxious to see what she can do.

Three blocks north of the church, I drop by the apartment where Samir lived.  Leila shows me the Beckstein he brought from the church when we moved out. A beautiful instrument. Formerly the rehearsal piano of Jens Nygaard and the Jupiter Symphony all those years they rehearsed in our sanctuary. 

Jens was a great musician who had struggled with bipolar disease and had even been homeless for a time. He never forgot those days. And was always ready to support our work with the homeless. I’ll never forget his surprise for me when I turned 50. He drew me into the rehearsal. Then the whole symphony played Happy Birthday. When Jens died, his wife, Mei Ying, donated the Beckstein to West-Park. I’m honored to have known him, had him as a part of our life. 

So Leila and I are trying to work through the process of getting the piano back to the church. I look around. Haven’t been here since the day Samir was found dead. I remember the salons  he used to hold with music, poetry, food and drink. I see a flier from Perimplin, the opera he had worked on for decades before he finally produced and performed  it at West-Park. Yet another part of our story. 

Head back to the church where Jane Galloway is waiting with her advisor and  friend from southern California, Angel Perreia. He sees my Forbes Field groundskeeper jacket and says, “Bill Mazeroski,” yes, Maz who hit the homer in the bottom of the 9th in the 7th game of the 1960 World Series to defeat the invincible Yankees and imprinted my young life with the dangerous idea that anything can be possible.

We do the litany of the 1960 Pirate lineup:                                                                                          “Smoky Burgess behind the plate..”                                                                                                          “Backed up by Hal Smith, who hit who hit  should have been the winning homer in the 8th...”                                   “At first base, Dale Long?”                                                                                                                       “No, he was earlier, it was Dick Stuart and the pinch hitter supreme, Rocky Nelson..”                                     “I saw Stuart play for the Hollywood Stars...and of course  Maz at second...”                                                           “And Dick Groat at short...”                                                                                                                   “Don Hoak at third...”                                                                                                                               “The Tiger...and Bob ‘the dog’ Skinner in left...”                                                                                     “Bill Virdon in center...”                                                                                                                         “Yes, ‘the Quail’....and utility man Gino Cimoli...”                                                                                  “Bob Friend and Vernon ‘the Deacon’ Law on the mound.”                                                                  “And in the bullpen...”                                                                                                                                           “El Roy ‘the Baron’ Face..”                                                                                                                          “With his..” Angel holds up his hands, separates his first two fingers widely.                                                            “Forkball”                                                                                                                                                “Yes, forkball...”                                                                                                                                      “And the greatest of all, the Great One, el incomparable, Roberto Clemente...”                                                     “Ah yes....”                                                                                                                                                    “I would sit in the right field grandstand, you could almost reach out and touch him..that was my childhood...” I think of Marty. The unique configurations discussion.

Jane looks at us and smiles.."I knew you two would connect...”

I prepare them for the raw space they will see. Tell them the story of the water damage, the failed vision. We tour the church. Jane sees several spaces she would love for an office. 

We talk about what true collaboration might mean. A covenant relationship of shared values, not just rental space. The new thought religious movement has always been hard for me to warm up to. Too ethereal, too...spacy? Yet Jane strikes me as authentic. A groundedness that comes from struggle, experience, life in the world. I feel we could work together.

It’s raining harder. After a late afternoon visit with Jack, I’m back to open the doors again. To go back into Belhar. Uli with us one last time. Reading its words, we think of its birth in the midst of apartheid. Uli wants to know why the Presbyterian Church felt the desire to consider this as one of its official confessions. I realize I don’t really know.

Hope suggests it may have to do with the history of division in the church. We talk of the segregated church that came from the civil war split of northern and southern churches. The almost absurd specificity of twentieth century Jim Crow laws in the South. How that legacy affected the church. What was left unresolved in the 1983 Reunion. Reconciliaiton without reconstruction... 

Belhar’s witness against division or discrimination  of any kind. As being antithetical to the gospel. A denial, in advance, of reconciliation. We reflect on these words:

...that God by his life-giving Word and Spirit has conquered the powers of sin and death, and therefore also of irreconciliation and hatred, bitterness and enmity, that God, by his life-giving Word and Spirit will enable His people to live in a new obedience which can open new possibilities of life for society and the world; 

How can we believe this based on what we still see around us? “It’s a statement of faith,” Hope says. I say, "Like when Tutu said, we have already won...” “This is even harder,” Hope replies.

We realize that in our own context, reconciliation that does not engage seriously the divisions of not only race, but class, can only be another false reconciliation. Liberals can be just as elitist as conservatives. 

Walking up the street, I’m thinking, maybe this is our mission as a church:

To be a community of global discipleship, lived out locally. Where our community is not just context but calling. Where we celebrate our city, our cultures, questions. Where our differences create both an obligation and an opportunity for blessing. Where, as followers of the path of Jesus, we welcome as partners all who would join us in the work of building a more just, humane and sustainable world.

Needs work. But a start.


Walking home up Amsterdam, the Saigon Grill workers are on the picket line again. Uli flashes his No Sweatshops button. I raise a fist in solidarity. They smile and cheer. Beside the doorway of the restaurant, glaring at the pickets, at us,  two large, ominous looking men, like extras from The Sopranos or a Scorsese film stand silent sentry.