11/23
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| Jeremy mage, Roland Burks, Thomas Bo, Bob Brashear, Jon DiFiore, Josh November |
Thomas is the first to
arrive. Then his accompanists, Jon DiFiore the drummer (http://www.jondifiore.com/)
and Josh November, bass.
( http://storage.cloversites.com/rmcstudios/documents/Josh%20November.pdf) And finally the baritone, Roland Burks. (http://operaexposures.org/roland-burks/) There’s no question that Thomas’ ensemble will be ready, but will we?
( http://storage.cloversites.com/rmcstudios/documents/Josh%20November.pdf) And finally the baritone, Roland Burks. (http://operaexposures.org/roland-burks/) There’s no question that Thomas’ ensemble will be ready, but will we?
I have to hold my breath
for these kind of experiments. Our natural draw is not great. Priska has made a
beautiful poster, but I’m not sure of distribution. And we're still learning
our social media ropes.
We’ve got to take down our
usual circle of chairs in anticipation of a larger turnout. Faithful Dion is
there right on time to help. And Pat K is here to decorate with her husband
Larry. And Marsha will arrive with a Tex-Mex casserole to share.
The idea is to explore the
intersection of arts and social witness to build a faith community. Thomas has
been challenged to build his program around the themes of Matthew 25: 31-46.
When a critical mass has
arrived, Roland starts from the balcony with Sometimes I feel like a motherless child descending the stairs and
walking through the congregation with City
called heaven. He will later sing Gershwin’s I got plenty a nothin’ and then
Thomas’ premiere of Prophecy from the
refrigerator box, from the poem by Jake Schneider.
As we get ready to move
into the service itself, I am glad to see Mim and several friends of the
musicians.
Our first shared hymn is the
traditional Thanksgiving hymn, For the
beauty of the earth. We do Psalm 100 responsively and then I read the
Gospel, MATTHEW
25:31-46/
31When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the
angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be
gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats, 33and
he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to
those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed
by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world; 35for I was
hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I
was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was
in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer
him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or
thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And
when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you
clothing? 39And when
was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer
them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who
are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 41Then he will say to those
at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for
I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to
drink, 43I was a
stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing,
sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we
saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did
not take care of you?’ 45Then he will answer them, ‘Truly
I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not
do it to me.’ 46And these will go away
into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
As a reflection on the Gospel, we hear Thomas’ setting of
another Jake Schneider poem, written specifically for this occasion, Anesthesia.
Then I begin my own reflection.
When I came to church last Sunday, I’d been setting up,
getting ready for awhile, when opened the doors and literally found a young man
asleep in a refrigerator box.
I am very thankful for our music today…This all came out
of a conversation with Thomas about
Matthew 25. I thought of telling the
young man, you have to move this morning, but be sure to come back next week…
Today is the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We’re focused on gratitude. On family. Consumption…..of food….of football…shopping. This used to be the beginning of the holiday
season…but that boundary is long gone. (We were talking in the office about what Thanksgiving songs do you remember?
Of course , Over the river and through
the woods? We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessings? Come ye thankful
people come? Any others? They are disappearing as Thanksgiving is engulfed
by a Christmas shopping season that takes over like global warming sea level
floods… )
In the church year, this is Christ the King Sunday. Or in the new PC version, Reign of Christ. I always thought this was an ancient tradition. Actually it was 1925. Pius VI. To inspire the laity not to fall into secularism.In 1970, Paul VI gave the holy day an upgrade in the terms of obligation. But enough history. Our concern is how we live today.
We live in a post-Christendom
day. Here in the Upper West Side, we
live in the heart of what Harvey Cox called the
secular city. (Our two closest zip codes are to of three most secular in
the US, the third is Berkeley. …) But it is also a neighborhood resident to
many who claim to be spiritual, not religious.
So there are questions. If we’re talking kingdom, what kind?
Let’s talk about Jesus’ categories:
If you close your
eyes, what do you see?
Let’s start with
1. Thirsty.
More than 3.4 million people die each year from water, sanitation,
and hygiene-related causes. Nearly all deaths, 99 percent, occur in the
developing world. Lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills children
at a rate equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every four hours.
2.Stranger
There are 11.3 million undocumented persons in the US
including 2.85 million parents and over 650,000 children
3. Naked (? Didn’t have
one for that…unless we think of those who are vulnerable and unprotected in any way...)
4. Sick
There are currently
more than 45 million uninsured in the US and an additional 16
million under
5. Prison
A.
65%
arrested for drugs are African-American
B.
75% brought to trial
C.
85% convicted
D.
If you're a young black man without a high
school degree, there is an 85% chance
that you will be incarcerated
E. There are more black men between 18 and 25 in
prison than in college
F. The US #1 in total population incarcerated
and number 2 in total percentage (behind
the Seychelles?! What’s going on there?)
Enough . And so what.
Old-school Christians say everything will be OK when Jesus
returns.
Old-school lefties (last week at Riverside, nearly 1900 turned out for a dialogue with Bob Avakian,
the Revolutionary Communist Party chair, and Cornell West) when capitalism is
gone.
For most Republicans when Obama is gone
And for Democrats when they get the Senate back
Are most people cynical? I am reminded that Sharon Welch has
said that cynicism is the prerogative of privilege. If you are truly oppressed,
you cannot afford to be cynical or despair will follow.
What Jesus is saying is that it is the job of the church to
see the face of Christ in all who come and to share that same face in
response. And to be honest, this is hard…
Can you remember the faces of the last three people who asked you for money? How did you
feel? We get calloused.
For this Sunday, let me start with this. When we first moved
to the city, I and my children were overwhelmed by people asking for money. I
asked my friend Marc Greenberg of the
Interfaith Assembly on Housing and Homelessness how to respond. He said that
more important than giving money is to acknowledge their humanity. Again, it is
not easy. There is a risk of vulnerability. But I challenge us to try this as a
spiritual discipline….
What else? There is the West Side Campaign Against Hunger’s 1000 turkey challenge…(better than an ice
bucket challenge…) And our concert coming here in December to benefit the
Assembly.
Thomas through Jake’s poem took us inside the refrigerator box…How can you use who you are, what gifts
you have to engage the challenges of Matthew 25?
We are seeking to create a community here where beauty and justice, ethics and esthetics
come together…we invite you to help us shape that and make it real…
For our Prayer of Thanksgiving, Thomas and Roland Burks gave us the traditional Witness….
We finished with the traditional setting of Psalm 100 (the
old hundredth) All people that on earth do dwell.
We gathered
this time, not in a circle, but in an extended ellipse for our final blessing. The only way we could include everyone. Then stayed awhile with each other, sharing Marsha’s casserole and coffee and
each other.
And then,
unavoidably, the session met with a long agenda. Important work, but took away
from what had been a moving Sunday for everyone. The West-Park community
wonderfully surprised by what they had just experienced. Beauty and justice, ethics and esthetics….
We will persist.
We will persist.
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| Roland and his (3D) vest of many colors |
