“Glory to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we could ask or imagine.”[1] I speak to you in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Good Morning Everyone! Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday! And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This is where we get the trinitarian formula for baptism. As I am thinking about our baptismal vows, I do not feel much like celebrating. Last Sunday with our New Bishop, Frank Logue, we renewed our Baptismal Vows. The very last question we are asked is “will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? I responded, “I will with God’s Help!”
My heart is breaking. While we are celebrating our Triune God, we have had a triad of murders at the hands of our authorities – George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. May they rest in peace. And there have been many more than that! I am at a loss; I am trying to figure out what to do. While the Racial Injustice issue has been going on a very long time, the COVID-19 has caused an overflowing to take place.
And perhaps we are noticing it, because of the overflow. This is not about me; it is not about you – but when one part of the body is insured the other parts galvanize and help prevent those parts from future wounding.[2]
I would like to ask all of us a question. What do we think the church’s response to this should be? And WE HAVE TO HAVE A RESPONSE! Please call me or email me your thoughts if you like. I have spent some time this week contacting our parishioners who are African American, and I asked them “what should their church, St. Augustine of Canterbury be doing?”
Henry Harris who is a long-time member of St. Augustine of Canterbury and African American said “we should continue to teach everyone to love and respect each other; regardless of race, creed or color. We were all created by Almighty God.” AMEN! Susan Walcott agreed with Henry that Education is the key. The Church needs to be evolved in this since we are a predominantly white church. We need an education program. Many others agreed with this education approach. The Diocese of Georgia had a group of folks go to a Racial Reconciliation Education program in Atlanta this year and we had people go from St. Augustine’s. Susan suggested to me that we have our very own Presiding Bishop Michael Curry leading the charge. He has been all along. He coined the phrase, “We are the Episcopal Branch of the Jesus Movement.
Bishop Curry met with the Clergy in the Diocese of Georgia on ZOOM prior to Bishop Frank’s consecration and I had the opportunity to hear him and to see him. The Clergy on the call wanted to know “How do we deal with the death of George Floyd? Bishop Curry suggested that we are fighting another kind of virus, the Corona Virus and the virus of the Spirit – a Pandemic of the Spirit. Until we learn to love each other we will live in a Spiritual Pandemic. But remember, we have an anecdote – we have the power of the Holy Spirit of God that overcame Jesus’ death. Apart from that anecdote, Jesus, we can do nothing.
Bishop Curry suggested three things we should do 1. we could mobilize our spiritual resources, specifically the power of prayer, 2. We should always be remembering God’s vision for human life as outlined in scripture and our Baptismal Covenant, and 3. preach the Gospel values to future disciples. This is helping others to see what following Jesus really looks like. Bishop Curry is an evangelist – we need to do that also. Our call is to help people with their relationship with God. We are in the “God business.” All of us are – YOU and me. And now, we are called to Evangelize a culture. I know, I am going to get this wrong, I am feeling very awkward, and I am not really sure what I am doing. But…...
“The bible teaches us “God is love.” Jesus of Nazareth taught, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The prophet Micah taught that the Lord requires us to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.”[3]
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” If we truly love God, then Jesus is the Lord of all. Are we living the values of Jesus? Are we obeying everything he commanded? So, you ask “what should we do?”
The Rev. Nadia Bolt-Weber suggests in her podcast that we white people need to get “curious” about what it means to be black in America today. We should start with realizing that we are all beginners. “We really don’t know what we don’t know until you know it.” And then do we really know it? We need to have some curiosity. Let’s dig in. We need to watch with our eyes, listen with our ears and speak with our mouths through our hearts. The Holy Spirit will be with us. The truth will set us free. We need to practice the Way of Love, The Way of Jesus.
LET US PRAY,
One God, in Three Persons, creator of one human species, in many hues: all who pray to you are descendants of Adam and Eve, all members of one race called “human.” Forgive the blindness that causes our eyes to notice and magnify those things we regard as different from ourselves in others. Teach us to see clearly, that we, your children, are far more alike than we are different. Help us to put aside the racial prejudices embedded within us, and to see within every person the Child of God you created, our sister or brother, destined for Glory. In the name of One who died for all persons, of all colors, Jesus Christ.[4] AMEN.
[1] Ephesians 3:20. [2] Sister Miriam Elizabeth, Spiritual Direction. [3] Our Presiding Bishop Curry tweeted [4] Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia
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