On the Sunday after.....

11/16

We gathered slowly, as if slowly awakening too a new reality. We open with Tutu’s words, more 

meaningful than ever now…

Goodness is stronger than evil;

love is stronger than hate;

light is stronger than darkness;

life is stronger than death.

Victory is ours, victory is ours

through him who loved us. 

Victory is ours, victory is ours

through him who loved us.

Our first hymn was “Today we all are called to be disciples of   the Lord…”  

and following threading of the Gospel, we shared this song by Leonard Cohen: 

The world we are in this Sunday is a very different world than we were in last Sunday and is a place none of us imagined we would be in. If you are like me, you are still somewhat in a state of shock, of disbelief.  I’ve been struggling all week to come up with the right words to share with our community. 

Tuesday night, I kept waiting for the tide to turn, it never did. At 1:30 AM, I watched an episode of “Gotham”, a Batman origins series. The Penguin had somehow managed to get elected mayor of Gotham City. I realized that we were like Gotham City with no Batman around to save us. My friend pastor Heidi said that she felt like she did when she watched the towers come down, like something horrible was  happening and that there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. My son Dan said that this was the most historic thing that had happened in his lifetime. I said that he had been alive for 9/11. And he said that this felt worse. And I understand that. I do feel that our country will never be the same.  Something about our very core has been called into question. Or brought to light. Something that goes to the core of our identity as a people. It’s that serious. 

There has been an unceasing outpouring of analysis and lamentation and exhortation on every media and especially social media. That is understandable.There is a deep felt need to try and make sense of this, it’s a coping mechanism. It’s why I’ve held back for awhile. Trying to feel where i need to be. There’s been outpourings of people into the streets …today I joined them…but there is no achievable demand we make …it’s only an expression of our anger, our fears, our commitment…but…

There are voices calling on us to “come together”…to “reconcile…” Not so fast. 

First, allow yourselves to grieve and mourn awhile. Let yourselves feel that. You don’t need to “move on..” or “get over it…”.….Not yet. Secretary Clinton and President Obama are saying all the right things, acting as if this were simply a transfer of governance, a transition. But there is a danger here of normalizing this process.  But this is not normal. Not in any way. Not at all

Michael Moore has daily 5 point to do lists…they are helpful but…

Draw close to people you care about and let them know you love them. That’s first.

We need to be in prayers of compassion and solidarity as well…

Politics aside, I feel deeply for Hillary Clinton…I’m sure that she went to bed Monday night fully believing that she would be President and calling Mr. Trump must have been the most difficult thing she’d ever done. 

And for President Obama, at the peak of his approval ratings, ready to leave a lasting legacy, To see it all called onto question if not outright rejected..

And I pray for my generation of women…my sisters…the ones who go back to the coat hangar abortion days…who fought for  choice…the ill fated Equal Rights Amendment…who accompanied women through gauntlets of Project Rescue militants …they saw in Hillary an affirmation of their lives and embodiment of their struggle, they saw Hillary’s presumptive presidency as breaking the glass ceiling, as a sign as significant as Obama’s election.Their sense of betrayal is personal and profound. I understood their support of Hillary in a way my boys never could.

And we must pray for all those who feel threatened and vulnerable, left insecure by this outcome…for immigrants, people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ persons…and given some of what has been unleashed, their fears are real…

Scriptures have an uncanny way of intersecting with our lives…Luke 21: 5-19 has the apocalyptic vision of the destruction of the  temple…perhaps a symbol as vital to that people as the presidency  is to us….I have a feeling that politics as we have  known them are over…the republican party has gone to where it has been headed and a venerable Democratic party has found its days over…

….the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down….

As Michael Moore put it, Donald Trump is a human Molotov cocktail…inspired by conversations overheard in a homeless encampment, my friend Catherine Feeney wrote these words on her  post-Occupy “America” album..

I  wanna make some loud noises 

Set something off 

Light it on fire and then 

Watch it blow up 

I am the whistle before the explosion 

I am the heat that makes powder expand 

Some days I wake up lucky 

Today I am the queen of the damned 

Something to empty 

Something to swallow 

Something to burn out 

Someone to follow 

I wanna make some loud noises 

Piss someone off 

Get a fight going and then 

Watch it blow up 

Make it blow up 

Something to empty 

Something to swallow 

Something to burn out 

Someone to follow

I’m not sure whether that represents Trump voters or how I feel right now…

Luke is very aware of what the consequences are of faithfulness in such times:

12"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your souls.

We have NO idea what the days ahead of us may require..Luke’s  description of “betrayal” truly touches me…it is common…familiar…we’ve been there..remember the House UnAmerican Activities Committee hearings? Or the Harvard Secret Court of 1920 where friend and family turned against each other  in the homosexual trials ? Or the German Democratic Republic  where perhaps a half million or more  turned  informers?…..or what happens to Palestinian prisoners today?

and will lose your lives…

By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Thankfully, Isaiah  gives us a vision of an new creation….IF I have HOPE at all, it is  that a new creation will emerge…

Here is the Vision: The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent-its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

It’s an image that hat has been special for my Quaker relatives. Their meeting house has the peaceable Kingdom Paintings by Hicks on the walls. It’s an image that comports me. 

Speaking ONLY of the CHURCH…I believe that we are called to be a community of resistance. 

WE are now called to define what Cornell West calls REVOLUTIONARY CHRISTIANS…a visible counter-cultural community…

And we must be absolutely committed to MAKING SAFE ALL WHO FEEL VULNERABLE. We also need to grow in understanding of the  forgotten people who supported Trump…like those from my my hometown…former mill towns and factory towns and mimic communities…left beside the road and treated with condescension by the liberal elite…

But we must never compromise with the other supporters, the voices of hatred and rejection…of misogyny, xenophobia, islamophobia, racism..

We need to engage in local projects…last Friday, Pastor Heidi and I met with the National Mobilization Against Sweat Shops  people…a new campaign is rising  to end wage theft through a Secure Wages Earned Against Theft bill…sin this campaign we walk shoulder to shoulder with those who have been made to feel threatened, the most vulnerable among us…the undocumented immigrants from Mexico, China, West Africa…

And friends, this is just the beginning…

Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

We shared our reflections with one another. Russ sees us at a new day needing a new prophetic way too be church. Pat is still in shock and disbelief. Leila surprised that we were surprised given the fear we had expressed last week. It is good to be together.

Our final hymn was “ O Day of Peace”:

Then we held  hands .Prayed. Sang Amen. And went back into the world…

Thank you Leila....

                                Oh...and Russ reminded us,"Now we must be Batman..."

                                                                     ****

First Reading Isaiah 65:17-25

17For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. 19I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. 20No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. 21They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD-and their descendants as well. 24Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent-its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Gospel Luke 21:5-19

5When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6"As for these things that you see,

7They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" 8And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them.

9"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." 10Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

12"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Undefeated

10/25

Session meets early. Anxieties rising. It’s easy to look ahead and see the wall. Like the one on the Mexican border or between Israel and Palestine. Or at the 20 mile mark of any marathon. That’s what it feels like. We have resources. The question is how to use them wisely to build towards a future. We all feel a bit done in by meeting’s end.

The cast of Othello is hard at work preparing for next week’s workshop performance.

My son is heading to Phoenix for a week so there’s a family brunch before he goes.

The NMASS band

Tonight the National Movement Against Sweatshops NMASS) , the SWEAT campaign, Sweat Shop Free Upper West Side and Justice Will Be Served gather at West-Park for a party celebrating their recent victories against Domino’s Pizza and Indus Valley. Even though that last one took six years, the reality is that NMASS and the SWEAT coalition is undefeated against the big corporate players.  It’s a pretty impressive record for a group of grass roots workers in an exemplary Chinese- Latino coalition to have never fought a losing battle. The focus now is on Governor Cuomo.

Gov. Cuomo

When I get up to speak,

JoAnn  tells me to watch my time because everything has to be translated into Spanish, Mixtecoe Fujian Chinese. You have to love it. The table is laden with Chinese and Latino foods. The evening begins with the NMASS band playing some original protest songs. When I speak, I welcome them to our church, our house, nuestra casa es su casa…and remind them that they are undefeated…and will be undefeated because the cause is just and right.

Pastor Heidi and I laugh about when Domino's went after us. And we talk about the next steps in our community wide food justice work . I watch the people dancing, all shapes and sizes, that wonderful spirit that transcends class, shape, age or color. Then dj’s lights are flashing. The Latin beat pulsing…la lucha sigue…

 

Carlos and the NMASS leadership and Pastors Bob and Heidi

Together to community: Strong communities work together

9/7

Our friends from the National Movement Against Sweat Shops and the SWEAT Campaign joined us for worship

This is the weekend New York City celebrates labor. And so will we. Today begins a new series on Together to Community. And today’s theme will be a strong community works together.

Right before the service, Sean wheels up in front of the church. Apologetic. He’s called BRC to apologize. Apologized to Danielle the social worker. Doesn’t want to lose his placement. Looking for another chance. Today he just wants to swap out some clothes. A fresh change.

I talk about our history of honoring labor. And how our first conversation about community will focus on working together. And we’ll start with some words form Jesus in  Matthew 18: 15-20.

¹⁵If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. ¹⁶But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.

Today we’re talking about work….and working together….and later, when we come together for our communion, we will lift  up and give thanks for our work…

These next few weeks, we will be talking about what makes for a healthy community...what our church can be…and today we’re talking about working together. I’ve learned over the years that we will disagree with each other. And anger each other. And hurt each other. What can make it different is how we deal with it. And Jesus lays out an early step by step process…

1     1.   Start with one to one. Go directly to the person who you are upset with. Share your concern.

2     2.  If that doesn’t work, take 1 or 2 others with you …to listen, hear, help communication. To make sure that each party truly understands what the other is saying. All too often we respond before we’ve really heard what the other is saying. We talk right past each other. Another person is a witness, not against anyone, but to listen. Make sure the other has heard.

3    3. We have learned a process through the Mennonites that can be used to resolve conflicts, so long as the parties want to resolve the conflict. That is the critical point.  It’s rooted in this process outlined by Jesus. We can commit to using that process here.
4    4.   Ultimately, If one party refuses to enter into reconciliation, fellowship is broken.  The only way we can be a strong community and work together is if we are committed to resolving our issues as a community.

Imagine, if to become a member of a church, you would promise to resolve all issues through a community, accountability based process…and we kept to that commitment…no talking behind anyone’ s back, no strategies to defeat one another…. What might happen? That is the beginning.

What about loosing and binding?…I believe that what Jesus  is saying here is that what we do has implications….and consequences….what we let go of we will be freed from, but what we hold onto, what we bind to ourselves, will continue to go with us…stay with us…

And we have this…   ¹⁹Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.

Do you believe that?  This is working together….If even 2-3 people are of one mind about something, the possibilities open up.

John R is quick to point out that it needs to be in the right spirit. In the wrong spirit, even 2-3 agreeing together can cause a lot of damage. It’s the spirit we’re talking about here, shared values and commitments. When we disagree, we need to continue the conversation until we find that deeper place where we are in the same spirit. My friend Father John and I disagree on  public policy regarding abortion. But when we go one level deeper, we can understand how in the same spirit, shared values and commitments can lead us to different conclusions, limited human beings as we are, and we can continue to work together .

Finally, We often  worry about numbers but there is this …²⁰For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them….where we find God is in the intersections between us, in that Venn diagram of shared spiritual space. With more and more intersections, the power begins to grow. That’s where it begins…2 or 3, in agreement, mutually accountable…working  together, anything is possible…

As part of our preparation for communion, I explain how our neighbor congregations agreed to work on food justice as an issue of shared concern. One that can be entered into at so many different levels.  First, production…migrant workers in the farms and fields of Long Island and Jersey and Upstate. Distribution, undocumented workers in the back of our kitchens, on delivery bikes, in service lines. Consumption, what we choose to eat, where we buy it. And so today,we have as our guests friends from the SWEAT campaign.

Our guests come to us from Fujian province China. And Oaxaca, Mexico. And Chiapas. They share their stories of exploitation. Of fear. And then of resistance. Coming together in unity. And of victories won. Boycotts and picket lines work.

Boycotts brought Domino's to a successful legal conclusion. And as John R says, even now that it’s settled, it will be hard to go back to Domino's. We remember the farm workers. And table grapes. And lettuce. And the Nestles boycott.  And the Department of Labor only took notice of their unconscionable backlog of cases when we put upon the picket line in front of their midtown office.

Our friends share their campaign goals of closing the loop holes in enforcement.

As we prepare for communion, I ask that we reflect on how many people, how many hands were involved in bringing to our table this small loaf of bread, this small carafe of unfermented wine. We are somehow in communion with all those laborers as we share in this meal. And we bring our own work as med techs, salesmen, workers in the pharmaceutical industry, nurses, artists, caregivers, pet care takers, we bring all this to the table. Some of our friends join us in the breaking of bread.  

In our final circle, we bless our friends in their work.  We join hands. We say Amen.