Lectionary Help for Eastertide from
the Race and Justice Task Force
How does scripture help us to think about the inherent
diversity of creation? What do the
stories of Jesus tell us about engaging oppression? What does the “beloved community” look like? These and other questions prompted the
comments and questions that can be found for each of the Sundays in Eastertide,
Year B, 2006.
Lectionary Help for Eastertide from the Race and Justice Task Force
“The Sundays after Easter often can feel anticlimactic. We follow the events of the last week of Jesus’ life and celebrate with great joy his rising from the dead, but what then?”
---Sojourners, April ’06, p. 48
Members and friends of the Race and Justice Task Force considered the lectionary selections for the upcoming season of Eastertide to ask that question, “What then?” We choose to use the lens, or hermeneutic, of liberation and inclusion. How does scripture help us to think about the inherent diversity of creation? What do the stories of Jesus tell us about engaging oppression? What does the “beloved community” look like? These and other questions prompted the comments, questions, and other items that can be found for each of the Sundays in Eastertide, Year B, 2006.
April 23, 2006
Second Sunday of Easter
April 30, 2006
Third Sunday of Easter
May 7, 2006 Fourth Sunday of
Easter
May 14, 2006 Fifth Sunday of
Easter
May 21, 2006 Sixth Sunday of
Easter
May 28, 2006 Seventh Sunday of
Easter
We strongly suggest continuing the reading through Mark 16:11, which
includes the fact that the men did not believe the women’s story.
· In this story, it is clear to see that the gospel is revealed to an oppressed group: women. Is it possible that today the gospel continues to be revealed in unique ways to oppressed communities? Do we know what African American churches are hearing as the word? Is it hard to believe what those of other races are telling us about oppression in the world?
· Do not be afraid. Many people think that racism is essentially about our fear of difference. Perhaps we are afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing to a person of a different race or ethnicity? Sometimes fear paralyzes us from action. What is the gospel direction for dealing with fear? Is it worth it to risk saying or doing the wrong thing?
· Who will help us to roll away the stone that keeps us from our hearts desire? Is racial justice dead and inside a tomb? Are we afraid we are too weak? What was the power that moved the stone in this story?
· When new possibilities are revealed, do we run away?
· Do we feel like that we are in communities who share? The communities behavior described in this pericope has a contemporary parallel today. We have a propensity to look at our own community first. To look at ourselves critically we need to ask: 1) who is here? 2) who is not here?
· How much of our self, both in possessions and in social capital, are we willing to share with the rest of our community? Who are we willing to draw into the circle of people with whom will share everything we have?
· Sometimes our belief that God is guiding our lives leads us to the idea that God intends for racism and other forms of oppression to exist. Psalm 4 sounds like a desperate plea to see the goodness of God’s face (v. 6). When you are living with oppression, how do you find greater joy (v. 7), peaceful sleep (v. 8) and safety (v. 8)?
· What is it that makes one group turn another group’s glory into shame (v. 2)?
· Sometimes we honestly are afraid, and so cannot stand up for ourselves, or for someone who is oppressed. What does this text suggest we should do with that fear?
· Is God more on one person’s side than another’s? If two people are afraid of each other, how does God walk with them both?
· Is the commandment to love our neighbor a broad concept, or are we actually called to love others specifically? This text says that the sign of love is the willingness to die for them. Are there some people you would not choose to die for?
· Often in discussions on racial justice, some point out that we could achieve equality by bringing everyone “up” to the same level of power and privilege, and therefore avoid taking power or privilege away from anyone. How does this fit with Paul’s statement that we should lay down our life for our brothers and sisters in faith?
· Ask, who is the shepherd and who is the hired hand? Look at this as a way to identify how people deal with race. While many claim to work to ease racial tensions and divisions, we need to look past rhetoric and examine actions.
· Consider the recent (February-March 2006) brouhaha over the ports deal. Those objecting to allowing a company from the Arab Emirates to manage port operations claim their motivations are improving the port defense of the United States. Those willing to allow the deal to proceed point out that similar management deals already exist for most U.S. ports. In the conversation, are the points made about port security heartfelt and valid? What questions do people pose about the management company and its home country?
· Now consider the shepherd, whose ownership of the sheep means that their well-being and his well-being are one – and the hired hand whose commitment is not so bound up with the well-being of the flock.
· Do the voices using stereotypes and inflammatory language in talking about the ports deal sound sincere? Is there political advantage to be gained by doing so?
· Who is asking these questions: 1) Why is it that four and a half years after 9/11/2001 almost 95% of the containers entering the US are not scanned for nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons? 2) If we believe ports are so vital to the security of our nation, then why have we let so many foreign companies operate them in the past? 3) How serious are we as a nation when we make treaties to establish alliances?
· I would venture to guess that almost all the people raising a stink over the port deal citing Arab management as an opening for terrorism would be appalled to have their argument challenged as racist. They would defend themselves by citing their work for reconciliation. So, from this pericope I would ask, are they shepherds or hired hands?
This is a story of a Christian disciple leaving—with the Spirit’s leading—the comfort of his familiar community to take a “wilderness” road to bring in to the faith a geographical and racial outsider.
· Why are we so homogenous in our church communities when Scripture clearly asks us to go way out of our way to bring people of other racial groups in?
· To what lengths are we willing to go to notice, witness to, invite, and to include outsiders in the life of our churches?
· Where might God be calling us to when we read, “Get up and go” in verse 26? What might God be asking us to get up and do about racism?
Our relationship with Christ is one of “abiding in Christ.” That might mean “living in” or being “part of” Jesus Christ and what he stands for, rather than simply “believing in” Christ. If our faith is in the participation, into what places could we find ourselves walking with Jesus?
· You might use the example of advocating for the posting of the Ten Commandments on the wall of every classroom. Is that the test of Christian values, or is the real test the actual deeds, habits, and practices of individuals who profess Jesus Christ?
· In 2006 and beyond, we owe the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King more than a feel-good tribute as benign and photogenic symbols of a once-upon-a-time struggle. This letter in the Boston Globe appeared on January 10, 2006, after the death of Mrs. King. Note the action verbs:
“The best way to honor Coretta Scott King’s memory is to recognize that the struggle for racial and social justice still remains and that we all have an obligation to stir our basic longing to do what is right and to defy injustice whenever and wherever it lives.”
We strongly suggest
continuing the reading through Acts 11:9
The Holy Spirit surprises all the good apostles and circumcised Jewish believers by “falling on” not only them but on the gathered and listening “others” as well—the uncircumcised Gentiles. If this was God’s doing, Peter declares, who are we to deny them baptism in the name of Jesus Christ? Peter then goes on to explain his inclusion of the Gentiles as a direct order from God that what God has named as “clean” not be profaned by the human community.
· Here, as in last Sunday’s reading from Acts (Easter 5 Year B: Acts 8:26-40), the themes of crossing boundaries, opening ourselves to a new way of thinking, and remembering Who is in charge are made crystal clear. Where are the places in our lives that we find ourselves deciding who is in and who is out; who is deserving and who isn’t—based solely on our own predilections and prejudices?
· There are many instances in history of “good” Christians taking it upon themselves to judge, curse, persecute, exclude, and oppress. What might God have God said about these behaviors? For instance, you might use these examples: the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Amistad incident and slavery in general, the Holocaust, Jewish and Armenian pogroms, the Ku Klux Klan, the Moral Majority, racial profiling, the Rev. Pat Robertson, and so forth.
· If you could play God, who would have been in the sheet that Peter saw in his vision? Then imagine the dialogue between you (God) and Peter.
The essential nature of God is disclosed in love—our love for God and for other human beings, and not just within the community. These verses lift up the centrality of Christian love for all persons.
· Love for God is preceded by love for one another. Assuming we all love God, how do we back up and name the locations of people and places outside of our “diversity” comfort zone that we have loved in order to qualify us to be lovers of God?
· What do we “fear” (verse 18) in loving unqualifiedly? Loss? Betrayal? Mistaken trust? Injury or death? How does understanding that God’s love intends only love and life (and that abundantly) for God’s people affect the risks we are willing to take toward radical and extravagant hospitality?
·
A good source of inspiration and images could
come from almost any of the stories in Anne LaMott’s Traveling Mercies. The civil
rights movement can yield multiple and dramatic examples of both blacks’ and
whites’ fearless risk-taking in the name of love.
(If Ascension not observed here)
· The passage describes an attempt to choose a disciple in a faithful way. As noted in the Seasons of the Spirit commentary, “There are so many details missing from this account that it is inadequate as a model of leadership selection for today.[1]” What is missing from the account? Why has casting lots disappeared as a recommended way to make a decision? Who is included in the “candidate pool” and who is missing who might have been included? Why only choose one new disciple, which is to say, what is the significance of ensuring that the number of disciples is twelve?
· Our UCC Still Speaking Initiative asserts, and the film shorts prepared for television illustrate, that we don’t sort through the people who come to our churches. We don’t disallow some groups access. We want to be associated with the extravagant welcome of God. We practice warm greetings on Sunday morning and follow up later in the week in order to live out this welcome. What choosing takes place in your church below the radar? How does your church location, time of worship, and nature of worship end up making choices without anyone taking any special action?
· In our time, we have recaptured the word disciple so that it is available to many more than the twelve! Perhaps you have considered your congregation’s “discipling” process. How does your faith community define a disciple? Are all committee members disciples? Are all baptized people who have confirmed their baptismal vows disciples? Do you have a formal spiritual growth program?
· When, in our church or outside our church, consider employment choices, we have to deal with equal opportunity rules and the concept of affirmative action. Organizations may choose to pursue diversity by hiring or attracting people who differ with respect to apparent race, ethnicity, language fluency, gender, and sexual orientation. Typically, they soon learn how difficult that can be. One can hear the complaint that “no one applied” from certain socially significant groupings. At that realization, an organization may go with Option A: shrug its shoulders and tell itself that best efforts were made in good faith. There is also Option B: the organization frowns, scratches their corporate heads, and goes back to the drawing board to consider what they missed. Option A leaves one feeling good about having tried. Option B leaves one dissatisfied with outcomes. Digging deeper, Option B organizations discover that the outcomes result from systemic oppression, such as de facto segregation, from internalized oppression, such as the belief in people from those socially significant groups that certain neighborhoods, jobs, or organizations are off limits, and cultural ignorance, such as how to go about publicizing a job in unfamiliar communities. Jesus was clearly a dissatisfied observer who chose Option B. If you want good disciples, you have to go and get them (at least some of the time!)
Copyright 2006,
Massachusetts Conference United Church of Christ Race and Justice Task Force
[1] “Seasons of the Spirit: Multiage: Lent & Easter RCL Year B: March to June 2006.” (Wood Lake Books, Kelowna British Columbia Canada, 2006.) Page 99.