Reflections on the Reign of Christ, 2018

11/24

With Father Clyde and Ecclesia in Marcus Garvey Park

After two days of freezing cold and another drenched in rain, it's a beautiful day again as I head to Marcus Garvey Park to lead worship with the gathered Ecclesia congregation. Precious and Marcos go out into the park looking for others to invite to break bread with us, liturgically and in a real meal. Father Clyde uses the asperges to bless the ground as holy

Holy ground

and the service begins. Here is my reflection on Christ the King Sunday...

So it's the end of Thanksgiving weekend...a holiday that seems to bring out something good in people. As usual, churches I know like my neighbor First Corinthian Baptist, Broadway Presbyterian, Trinity Lutheran...all putting on fine meals. On Tuesday I saw a truck form the New York Giants delivering turkeys to 116th street in Harlem.

the Giants deliver food

On my way to my sister's I saw a sign advertising Sweet Mama's  soul food restaurant on 145th offering a free Thanksgiving buffet from noon until 3. And my musician friend Paul, like he does every year, took his accordion to play for the folks waiting in line at Goddard Riverside for their dinner. Something about the day! And some of that remains with us even today.

In the church year, today is Christ the King Sunday, or Reign of Christ Sunday as we hear now these days. It marks the end of the year, the crown of the year, you might say. And it's a door we walk through to get to Advent. It's the one of the few church holidays I know that is named for a theological  idea not an event.  

And we are introduced to the day today through the story of Jesus' encounter with Pontius Pilate who interrogates Jesus about kingship. In the end, Jesus claims his kingship but not in a way Pilate could understand. Jesus maintains his is not a geo-political kingship. Not

 about territory. (At the  end of the day, he is crucified as a political revolutionary...)

Jesus has a strange claim. His kingship is about truth. "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." he says. But what is truth? (Well, that's another conversation with Pilate I'm not getting into today. )I don't want to get deep and philosophical. I'm looking for the heart of the matter. And for that, I recall that in another place on this scripture Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life..and for me, that's pretty much it. If we walk in Jesus' footsteps, if we follow his path, we will walk in truth and we will come  to know what is true. As we walk with him day by day, it will become clear. 

What this kingship is about is authority, not geography.  Who has the ultimate authority in your life?  That is the question. And it has profound implications. In a conversation, I used the expression in this day of Trump....and my friend said, NO, it is not the day of Trump, it is the day of Jesus. It is always the time of Christ. Trump may be the President, He may be the elected leader of the US. But he does not control our time. Or our hearts. Or minds.

It is simple to say, not so easy to do. We don't want Jesus to rule our country, we want him to rule our hearts. And we declare that all creation is under his dominion.

It's a cliche, I know, but we always need to ask ourselves, what would Jesus do?  As we live in his kingdom, we begin to receive the wisdom and courage we need to begin to change both ourselves and the world around us. 

Amen..

Following the sermon, we share the Eucharist,  and then a lunch, prepared by our friends at Riverside Church. One by one the congregants slip away, out from the park, back to wherever we live our lives.  

The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to John

Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (Jn 18:33-37)

Last Sunday with the Work center and Open Choir: Of Kingdoms and Kindoms

11/22

Work Center and Open Choir

^{Today is the last day of the residency of our Work Center friends at West-Park.  And today they will be joining us in worship once more. They are joining us for the Sunday that has traditionally been the last Sunday of the church year, Christ the King Sunday, or Reign of Christ Sunday. As well as the Sunday before Thanksgiving.}

^{Before the service, Felicita stops by to see me. She had not been able to be part of our shared vision conversation. She’s aware that changes are taking place at West-Park. That the building  is greatly improved. And improving. And that financial needs are great. One thing you must never lose, she says, this can never just become a rental space.  You cannot lose the spirit that has been here. This place is holy. Every time before we perform here, we sweep and mop the floors. We clean the pews, the cushions. It connects us with the space, like our home. It upsets me when I see people who just rent. Who come in, use, pay their money and leave. I can’t imagine this in a church in Italy. (I say something about government support…) She says, No, that is not what I mean. I am an ex-Catholic, I don’t know what I believe but I know the holiness of this space. What if all your renters, long term I mean, would take turns cleaning different spaces? Would that change how they feel? What if you gathered for a once a month meal, after working together? Is that too crazy? To care for the house you live in together and to share together. Like a community?  OK, those are my thoughts…}

^{Mario knows that I am opening the service with these words from Revelation:}

4bGrace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

⁷Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.

⁸"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

And has chosen their songs accordingly, songs from the American South, African-American work songs,field songs, call and response, spiritual, early gospel.  Weaving their bodies in a circling motion as they sing. 

The singing begins

When its my turn, I ask everyone to sing Come Ye Thankful People Come, and We Gather Together, traditional American Thanksgiving songs.

Then we reads the gospel, JOHN 18:33-37 and shared this reflection:

^{Do you know what a Caliphate is?  The group we know as ISIS calls the territory they already control the caliphate, a geographic territory.  Under their control in which Islamic law in its most extreme form. There are maps on the internet that show a territory that runs from Spain  and Portugal all the way across the Balkans, North Africa, the Middle East and into China. All the territory the Muslims once controlled reunited.  After that the Mahdi will arrive and the Messianic age will be ushered in with Jesus’ help.  That is the dream. Bear with me. This is not another anti-Muslim}   rant.

Next we get Greater Israel…all the land promised to Israel by God. The first, found in Genesis 15:18–21, seems to define the land that was given to all of the children of Abraham, including Ishmael, Zimran, Jokshan, Midian, etc. It describes a large territory, from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates, comprising all of modern-day Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon,Syria, Jordan, and Iraq, as well as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, Oman, Yemen, most of Turkey, and all the land east of the Nile river. Seems crazy. Obviously in direct conflict with the ISIS vision. But…for now, all of mandate Palestine seems to enough of a first step.

We’ll take a brief detour for the crusaders’ campaign to recapture all the territory that had once been Christian. They actually did create the empire of Jerusalem ruling over 350,000 Jews, Muslims and Eastern Christians…

And how can we forget the Holy Roman Empire? That lasted almost 1000 years and ran from the Baltic and North Seas to the Mediterranean? Prague, Rome, Budapest? The last remaining gasps of the original Roman Empire now under the sign of the cross? The emperor elected but needing the sign off of the pope to be official.

Or the Treaty of Tordesillas where the pope divided up the world between Portugal and Spain? The Spanish arriving with la cruz y la espada…the cross and the sword….it’s not a far leap from that Philippians passage….. ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

And before I stop, let’s throw in the plan supported by US and Australian fundamentalist Christians  to blow up the dome of the rock in Jerusalem so that the Third Temple can be built.

Empires. Kingdoms.  How can we even talk about Christ the King in 2015? Years ago, I wanted to explore this from a feminist perspective which is how Katherine Kurs came here to work with us for 10 years. Now it’s the kingdom part that worries me.

Those who have been in our Bible Study know that Wes Howard-Brook in his Come Out my People….says that there are two religions in the Bible…not Judaism and Christianity but that of Creation and Covenant and that of Empire. They are in constant tension from beginning Genesis to Revelation’s end.

And that’s the conflict we look at today in the storyof Jesus’ conversation with Pilot. The emperor asks of Jesus,  "Are you the King of the Jews?" ³⁴Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" ³⁵Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?"³⁶Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." ³⁷Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

Bottom line…Jesus says his kingdom  is not of this world…if it were armed rebels would be in the house…

So what does he mean? More and more, I’m thinking he’s asking us not to sign up for rebel armies..but to create communities of resistance….what does that mean? Like the African- American communities that created the music our friends sing, communities of liberated space where the kingdom, no kindom, already exists. A community in, but not of the world…

What would that look like? Feel like? I’m not completely sure but I know that anyone walking in would immediately feel so that’s what this place is… How would we build that? Create that? It would begin by believing it was possible and by beginning to act as if it already existed..

So how then would we relate to the kingdom of this world, this empire? I’m not exactly sure…..to black lives  matter and refugees and migrants and income inequality?

Still working on that…I suppose if we got the first part going, the second part would follow…and I know this…it means not allowing any other power or authority to command our ultimate  allegiance.. it’s a way of life, not assent to a theological proposition…knowing you don’t get to the empty cross of resurrection without the embodied cross of the crucifixion.. it is ultimately that act of solidarity that welcomes in  new reality, it is humility, not triumph…

AMEN

The Work Center Open Choir leads us in more songs, singing, weaving, …

and as I watch Jenna, I understand that at it’s highest level, several of the choir members are creating and embodying characters, that character allowing for a deeper level of experience than even the singing and dancing. Having them with us again has been as always a moving experience. In more ways than one.

Felicita, Bob, Mario, Jeremy and Myrto

We stand together in a circle. Make our blessings and sing Amen. Until the next time….

Mario, Rachel and John

Reign of Christ Sunday: Communities of resistance and new creation

11/24

Presentation from Bread & Puppet

Today is Christ the King Sunday. Or Reign of Christ Sunday. Or Reign of God Sunday. And the Sunday following the 50^th anniversary of the assignation of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. And the Sunday before Thanksgiving. And we have so much to be thankful for.

Feeling blessed by the presence of Leslie at our service. A Presbyterian minister in her own rite and also wife of our new exec, Bob. And the presence of our Bread & Puppet friends one last time. And we worship with the full array of puppets filling our sanctuary.

Our first lesson comes from Jeremiah. And we talk of his prophetic witness, how his name came to be associated with unrelenting critiques of corrupt governments and institutions. (As in jeremiad.) Today he’s after bad shepherds, those who lead the people astray, who try to manipulate their fears and anxieties into supporting politics of power and domination. It’s almost too direct and apparent to warrant lengthy conversation.

We sing together the Benedictus, the song of Zechariah. And then a look at the Epistle,COLOSSIANS 1:11-20. So clearly we’re dealing with a cosmic Christ theology here. A theology with echoes of Gnosticism. But we’re not here to spend long time in discussion of theology. We are most drawn to this verse,

¹³He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son

And there the conversation begins. We talk about how Christ the King Sunday became a day of resistance during the Hitler era in Germany. A catholic version of the Confessing  Church’s Barmen Declaration. If Christ is king, Hitler cannot be. If we live in the kingdom of Christ, we cannot give allegiance to the Reich. It’s that simple.

But transferred..what does that mean? Again resonance with B&P’s shattered world and parody of a customs officer interview. Many transfers are not voluntary. Where are we? It’s being able to envision the beloved community and live into it before it exists. To imagine a community of welcome, acceptance, inclusion living lives dedicated to justice and harmony with creation…to seek to live that even before to exists so that it can exist. Like worship gatherings of antebellum slaves. Tutus’s pre-fall of apartheid declaration that we have already won. King’s mountain top vision and speech.  That’s what it is.. Yes, and Bread and Puppet in their northeastern kingdom home. Communities of resistance and new creation.

Finally we come to the Gospel. And the greatest paradox of all. This  is the crowning moment of the church year. The moment when Christ is enthroned as sovereign of creation. And where do we find ourselves? On the cross.  In what was intended as a political execution of humiliation. And it is there where we find the triumph, as we discovered in our year long study of Mark. Not the resurrection. The resurrection is a bonus. It is not a proof. Perhaps a consequence. It is in the willingness to follow to the end, even to the cross, where the powers of death and domination are ultimately defeated. It is the ultimate defiance. It defeats manipulation, threat and intimidation. Robs the empire of any power at all. And in this is victory.

Is there not fear? Of curse there is fear. I recall Rabbi Marshall Meyer’s defiance of the Argentine junta. Standing naked in the police station until they gave in, turned over the one he came to find. They could have simply killed him. But his complete vulnerability defeated them. When asked if he was afraid, he replied, Afraid? I was scared shitless…But he stayed steadfast. And in that willingness to go to the end, the powers were defeated. They had nothing else to threaten. And in that we are saved. Delivered from the powers of death and domination.

The dialogue continues with our friends from B&P. Why are you part of B&P? What does it mean? And the answers all have to do with a sense of making a difference. Of  transformation.  Of self. And world. A relentless, tireless resistance. And the experience of joy that comes from community. Can we the church find that? Create that space? That is our challenge as we begin again.

In the offering part of our service, our B&P friends present us with banners to keep in a sign of our ongoing connection. And the proceeds of their passing the hat. (Over $800.) And we thank them for their gift of presence and for standing in solidarity when the chips were down. And Katherine makes a personal presentation. And we bless them as they prepare for their final performance and return to Vermont.

Katherine's presentation

We end with songs. And embraces. And then our session meets. Approves an overture for General Assembly regarding current oppressive drug laws. And work on our strategy for moving forward.

And so we come to B&P’s final performance. Another full house. Ted and Asya and Jonathan back one last time. My neighbor Ric. And Jeremy. And my friend Milica joins  me. And I see our new exec Bob and Leslie are here as well. I want it all to slow down. Not end. But it must.

And as soon as the standing ovation is  over, as soon as the final bows are done, the dismantling, deconstruction of the shattered world begins.

I don't miss the kingdoms, but ahhhh....the kings...

11/25

Muddy Waters

Weekend after Thanksgiving. Teddy waiting, everything ready, as usual. Arrange chairs in a circle, but we grow beyond and into the pews. Son Daniel is here. He always comes when he’s home. Andre recognizes. How do you reconcile that? He says with a smile. And I say, What? And Andre says that boy is mannish....and laughs which leads James into a whole discussion on Muddy Waters. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5IOou6qN1o )

I tell Deacon James that Andre tells me he’s been sweeping the steps again. Yes, I feel up to it...got to take my old job back....

Today is Christ the King, or Reign of Christ Sunday.  So I ask what people think of when they hear the word king.

 Royalty. Riches. Unjust power. (That was Anna.)

Names?

Tut. Cole. Nat King Cole. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort

I ask how many remember the movies Harold and Maude? In it, Ruth Gordon plays an octogenarian holocaust survivor eccentric loved by a young man, Bud Cort. She says, I don’t miss the kingdoms, but ahhhh.....the kings....

So it’s Christ the King Sunday. It’s a gateway Sunday. One of those Sundays that open a door from one season to the next. From the long green season of Pentecost, ordinary time, into Advent.The culmination, the crowning of the church year before we begin all over again. The year ends with Christ enthroned as King. But what does that mean to us now?  

Wondering what to do with this Sunday led to my questions of Katherine which led to her years of working with us as our ecumenical associate and now with the Center. When I heard what she had to say about this from a feminist perspective, I said Rather than me say your words, you come say them yourself...and then week after week after year after year the dialogue continued. 

We start with Revelation. The Alpha and the Omega. A few weeks ago on All Saints night, we came together and read the book the whole way through. Can’t say I understood it any better. Anguished plea, hallucination, revenge fantasy, final word of affirmation and comfort all in a time of intense persecution. If Christ is King, Caesar cannot be. If Christ rules, Caesar cannot. We choose his realm over empire.

The Tower of Babel, by Breugel

In the gospel...kingdom....king...confrontation with Pilate. In Leila and Berik’s new show, upstairs, there is that painting by the Russian Nick Marci. There’s Bruegel the painter with his Tower of Babel painting on his easel, sketching a child. In the near foreground, an anachronistic biplane.  Off in the far distance is the Tower itself. As if it were there, in Renaissance Belgium. 

That painting of the Tower serves as the cover art for the book Come Out my People, by Wes Howard-Brook. You keep hearing me refer to it because it’s central to a lot of my thinking right now. Two theologies in the Bible from Genesis through Revelation. One of Creation (and Covenant) and one of Empire. In his confrontation with Pilate, Jesus is making it clear...his is not an empire, will not be won or defended by military might and violence, his followers (a word meaning armed defenders) will not use weapons.

That is what he means by his kingdom is not of this world. It’s not about a far off realm of heaven but a different way of being here. Not over there, not up there in heaven somewhere, but right here but with a different understanding of how reality works.

What does that mean for us to live in Jesus’ realm?

You can come here and be assured of acceptance. Unconditional acceptance. 

You can come here and not be talked about behind your back, in fact we’ve got your back

Where we are sustained by being together. What would it take t create that kind of community?To not just say it, but be it?

Last Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, I was privileged to be invited to a meeting to discuss Presbytery’s action turning back the subdivision into four parts. It wasn’t just a no. It was a yes, to affirming one church in one city. We think of ourselves as without resources. But we have been gifted by God with a amazing diversity of people from literally all over the globe. Our children grow up truly living in the world...therefore we are rich...

We have the opportunity to give to our broader church the gift of a church that is willing to engage the powers, the empire, the issues of race and class while seeking to discern what it means to follow the path of Jesus, the way of the cross...It’s not about what we don’t have, but about what we do have...

We have so much to be thankful for. As I’ve said before, doxology is the beginning of resistance. (Brueggeman) 

It begins with thanks....

And Andre sings He is Lord of Lord, he is King of Kings, Jesus Christ the first and last, no man works like him....and we sing Eres digno....(you are worthy)....and we gather in a circle and sing Amen.

At the  end of the service, Marc has us stay and sing together Any day now, any way now...I shall be released...to add as a chorus behind his recording of Shannon Beck at her house concert. 

Our Session stays after. To get the details of a tough week. To hear how we’re still alive and with hope. Thankfully, Jamie is there to fill in the details, explain the strategy. And we talk about making our Sandy relief deliveries. And planning to celebrate Purisima, the Immaculate Conception, at church with Hugo and Arcadia.

I go down to Marc’s workshop to hear what he’s been working on. He;s added our just recorded chorus. And some guitar color and bass. It’s coming together. I enjoy and appreciate his work on this.

I think about the week. All that happened. This community. And I give thanks.