Truth is Powerful and it Prevails

Matthew 28:16-20    (CEB)

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. Jesus came near and spoke to them, “I’ve received all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.”

I was reminded this week of the tremendous responsibility that having a pulpit to preach from is.

I hope you know, I never take this responsibility for granted.

But I also hope that you realize that I am more often than not preaching to myself.

I am a work in progress --- I am far from achieving sanctification

          I have been known to sin

          I have prejudices

          And as hard as I try not to, sometimes I judge

My guess is you are pretty much the same way.

These last few weeks have been hard for me because once again, places I wish to ignore are no longer possible to ignore.

As a follower of Jesus, sometimes --- even when I do my best to stick my head in the sand --- the "hounds from heaven" seem to chase me down.

I personally have become convinced, that to say NOTHING --- in this moment --- is giving tacit approval to the ongoing evil in our society. 

It is time we all stand up and show our desire for the kindom of God rather than the kingdom of our own making.

I need to confess something to you

While we are preaching on the Cloud of Witnesses that surround us, many of the heroes that we are sharing were present, but not always seen or recognized by me.

The desert Mothers and Fathers, Lea Joyner, Elizabeth Anne Seton, Father Damien --- some of them I had more knowledge of than others, but they would not have been a part of my White Male list of privileged heroes. 

I thank Mary for helping me to learn about some amazing people who surround me and are cheering not only me but all of us on.

And I cannot imagine the coincidence of the hero I want to look at today.

I am a student of the Civil War --- I have hundreds of volumes in my library, and have read hundreds more --- while I was at Duke I began working on a book on the role of the Chaplain during the war. 

I spent many a sunny afternoon, in the rare books room at Duke Library reading the diaries of chaplains and taking notes --- all by hand --- (this was way before the advent of computers or smart phones).

And I have always wondered what it was that made me give up that project --- and once again it was the incidents of these past weeks that reminded me once again why I abandoned it.

I became disgusted by the justification of slavery by many of the "chaplains" in the south and the disregard of the worth of persons of color by many of the "chaplains" in the north. 

And if you still believe that the War was about State's Rights I would say: Yes, it was about the state's right to enslave people. 

          If you don't believe me, explain the rise of Jim Crow and the KKK

It is a battle that still rages today in subtle and insidious ways.

Sure, we have made progress --- but let's not pat ourselves on the back and forget about the hard work that is still to come.

          Remember --- this problem started with slavery

Isabella Braumfree was born in 1797 to James and Elizabeth Baumfree, slave parents in Ulster County, New York.  It was a very rural county about half-way between Albany and New York City.

When she was about 9 years old ---- Isabella (and a flock of sheep) were sold at a slave auction to John Neely for $100

Neely is reported to have been a cruel and violent slave master who beat her regularly.

Isabella was sold two more times by age 13 and ultimately ended up at the West Park, New York, home of John Dumont and his second wife Elizabeth.

As was the case for most slaves in the rural North, Isabella lived isolated from other African Americans, and she suffered from physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her masters.

In 1826, inspired by her relationship with God --- she was known to have conversations with God in the woods ---- Isabella left Dumont and escaped to freedom.

What I found fascinating is what led her to leave.

Dumont had promised Isabella he’d grant her freedom on July 4, 1826, “if she would do well and be faithful.”

When the date arrived, however, he had a change of heart and refused to let her go.

Isabella had completed what she felt was her obligation to Dumont so she left walking as fast as her six-foot-tall frame could --- with her infant daughter in tow.

She later said, “I did not run off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be all right.”

But she was forced to leave her other children behind. 

          The story of her experience is powerful and heart wrenching.

By 1829, Isabella was in New York City --- about 80 miles south of West Park --- and became a preacher in what we would call the Pentecostal tradition.

In 1843, with what she believed was her religious obligation to go forth and speak the truth, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth

She became renowned for her powerful sermons --- preaching for abolition, woman's rights and against other forms of oppression.

Quite possibly her most famous speech took place in 1851 at a women's suffrage convention in Akron Ohio.

It seems that during the meeting a bunch of male ministers attempted to take over the convention and do some man-xplaining.

An article in The New Republic sets the stage this way:

"Everything seemed to go wrong with the meeting. A number of ministers had invaded the hall uninvited and monopolized the discussion, quoting Biblical texts to the effect that women should eschew all activities except those of child-bearing, homemaking and subservience to their husbands. Alice Felt Tyler in Freedom’s Ferment tells how Sojourner Truth delivered the baffled women from their adversaries. She had sat for several hours on the pulpit steps listening patiently to the masculine filibuster. Suddenly she boomed out of the hushed audience:

Wal’, children, where there is so much racket there must be somethin’ out of kilter. I think that ‘twixt the Negroes of the South and the women in the North, all talkin’ ‘bout rights, the white men will be in a pretty fix pretty soon. But what’s all this here talkin’ ‘bout?

That man over there say that women needs to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman?

I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well. And ain’t I a woman? I have borne five children and seem ‘em mos’ all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman? Then that little man in black over there, he say women can’t have as much rights as men, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman. Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothin’ to do with Him!”

The white male clergy didn't know what to do!

But perhaps Sojourner Truth’s life of Christianity and fighting for equality is best summed up by her own words:

“Children, who made your skin white? Was it not God? Who made mine black? Was it not the same God? Am I to blame, therefore, because my skin is black? …. Does not God love colored children as well as white children? And did not the same Savior die to save the one as well as the other?”

It has been almost 170 years since Sojourner Truth stood in front of a crowd and proclaimed that black lives matter.

Unfortunately, many of us still struggle to hear that message.

          We do our best to drown it out --- and then quickly change the subject.

I am fascinated by our Gospel text this morning.

I have preached on this text many, many times over the years.

It is known as the GREAT COMMISSION, and it sets the stage for everything that the church is supposed to be doing.

It begins with Jesus explaining, to make sure we understand the authority that he has to be commissioning his followers.

The Message translation says: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you"

So this isn't JUST from Jesus, this is God letting us know what we are to be doing.

And what are we to do?

GO

"go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you."

That is our marching orders --- we are to go out into the world

           we are to go into our neighborhoods

                   we are to go downtown

                             --- but did you catch what we are to do?

Generally when I have preached on this passage --- and I read numerous sermons on this text this week --- they all focus on only part of the text --- and let me be clear --- I am guilty of doing this as well

When we read this passage most of us tent to think that it says that we are responsible for: "teaching them to obey”

          and hey, that is not a bad thing.

Although I have often said OBEY is the nastiest four letter word in the English language.        

          I don't think it is such a bad thing IF I am telling YOU to do something

But that is not the message of Jesus here.

Listen again

"go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you."

Let me share it in another translation --- this is from The Voice

"disciple them. Form them in the practices and postures that I have taught you, and show them how to follow the commands I have laid down for you."

Did you hear it that time?

Jesus isn't saying go and make them obey these things, these ideas, these morals.

Jesus is saying go and show them --- don't tell them --- because the assumption that Jesus is making is that WE are already following those instructions.

          So don't tell --- SHOW

It is much more difficult to do that.

          It is much easier to tell someone what to do

So instead of showing them how to love their neighbor --- we argue about WHO is our neighbor

Instead of showing them examples of us loving the other --- we argue about WHO included in the call to love

Instead of giving away all our money --- we argue over whether the tithe is before taxes or after --- and somehow never get around to giving it away

Jesus simple says: GO and LIVE IT

          Live the faith that Jesus has commissioned YOU to obey

Sojourner Truth lived her faith --- while her words were powerful --- it was because her actions reflected those words that made them so powerful

Almost every day I am asked --- when are you going to get your hair cut?

A few of you have asked it out loud, and I imagine many more have thought it to yourself.

Don't worry; I am not offended by the question.

But I think you are asking the wrong question --- instead of asking why I don't, maybe the more important question is why I haven't.

          Because I could

                   I could get out my beard trimmer and use it to cut my hair

or now that businesses are opening back up I could make an appointment at a barber shop (although my barber shop never took appointments . . .)

But why HAVEN'T I?

Go back with me to how I started this sermon.

Do you remember?

I take my responsibility seriously.

And I try not to say one thing and act another.

Now that the world is opening back up we CAN go out and do things --- it doesn't mean that we should.

I am technically in the high risk group.

          In a couple of months I will turn 60

          But I also have an auto-immune disease

          And I suffer from asthma

While I COULD go get a haircut --- it is more prudent for me not to --- and I believe Jesus is calling me to model that behavior to our Christian family.

And if you join the peaceful march of lament and repentance that is being held tonight in Butler Tarkington --- I will not be there physically.

          I have struggled over this mightily this week

But I have become convicted that I need to stay away so that I can be available for any pastoral needs --- like going to pray with General Jones tomorrow before his surgery on Tuesday

And so I will let Mary lead the folk from Meridian Street who decide to join in this protest of lament and repentance

GO, Jesus says --- and be my disciple --- and through the life of Christ that lives in you --- invite others to experience that same grace.

And may, as you encounter situations that will be uncomfortable and challenging --- may you sense the Cloud of Witnesses that surround you --- and may they give you strength so that you too may live the kindom of God.