Homily, SMMCC
14th OT, and Independence Day
7/4/21
Ezek 2: 1-4, 7, 5; 3: 7, 11-16
Ps. 46: Be Still and Know
Gal 1: 1-2; 10-12
Mark 3: 20-22, 31-35; 6: 1-6
What is a prophet and what does one look like in 2021? I think a prophet is someone sent by God to speak the truth that God’s love for all is unlimited and that God wills that all should thrive in justice. Perhaps a prophet today looks like the late Congressman John Lewis, who, along with MLK and other anti-racist heroes, fought racism, non-violently, his whole career. As you recall, he was injured so severely crossing the Edmund Pettis Bridge in 1965 that he spent several days in the ICU. And then in May of 2020, he was still in the middle of the prophetic struggle, appealing via speeches and Twitter posts for non-violence in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder.
Maybe a prophet looks like Jeanne Manford and Adele Starr, mothers of gay sons and co-founders of the oraganization PFLAG, which stands for Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. At the 10th anniversary of the beginning of PFLAG, Adele Starr said, “We did it out of love and anger and a sense of injustice, and because we had to tell the world the truth about our children.” PFLAG has grown to more than 400 chapters with 200,000 members.
Perhaps prophets look like the Catholic sisters and other activists and advocates working to help immigrants, like our friend Sr. Tracey Horan. The statement, "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution," is enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These advocates recognize that people fleeing for their lives deserve help and dignity, not legal prosecution. Let us remember that the book of Leviticus says, “Don’t mistreat any foreigners who live in your land. Instead, treat them as well as you treat citizens and love them as much as you love yourself. Remember, you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:33-34). I think Rachel Carson was a prophet, standing up in defense of the earth, publishing Silent Spring in 1962, pioneering the environmental movement by advocating for legislation to outlaw the insecticide DDT.
Prophets are often unpopular, even persecuted, because they call for radical change, bringing attention to injustice and the suffering of the disempowered, and questioning those profiting from or empowered by unjust, biased systems. Our first reading tonight portrays God as telling Ezekiel right up front that no one would probably listen to him. But Ezekiel delivered God’s message anyway, telling the people in exile in Babylon, in a later chapter, to act nonviolently, to not worship idols, to honor their relationship commitments, to engage in business ethically, and to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Paul, likewise, in our second reading described being called by God to proclaim a message not his own, calling himself a servant, one obligated to speak whether his message was received well or not. He urged the people of Galatia to love one another and care for the poor, and not worry about forcing new Christians to observe the details of religious law. And then we read in the Gospel that even Jesus met suspicion and skepticism when he returned to Nazareth. He preached that God’s family includes everyone, even calling the women his sisters, just as he called the men his brothers, and he was accused of being in league with the devil. Those in power felt threatened by his huge following, and his teaching that all are equally loved by God, and that everyone deserves a voice in the community.
So it seems that all these prophets delivered similar messages: that all are created equal, that all deserve to make a living wage and live a decent life. Sounds very similar to the message of the Declaration of Independence, approved by the Continental Congress of the US on this date in 1776, doesn’t it? And so we circle back to the idea that none of us are free until all of us are free. True freedom, the liberty to live in peace and be treated with respect, is what all these prophets have proclaimed, and is what all people desire. We are all part of God’s family, and we are all called to prophetically work to dismantle unjust systems so that all our family members can be truly free. So here’s to freedom, and to prophecy, and to continuing to live out the connection between the two.
14th OT, and Independence Day
7/4/21
Ezek 2: 1-4, 7, 5; 3: 7, 11-16
Ps. 46: Be Still and Know
Gal 1: 1-2; 10-12
Mark 3: 20-22, 31-35; 6: 1-6
What is a prophet and what does one look like in 2021? I think a prophet is someone sent by God to speak the truth that God’s love for all is unlimited and that God wills that all should thrive in justice. Perhaps a prophet today looks like the late Congressman John Lewis, who, along with MLK and other anti-racist heroes, fought racism, non-violently, his whole career. As you recall, he was injured so severely crossing the Edmund Pettis Bridge in 1965 that he spent several days in the ICU. And then in May of 2020, he was still in the middle of the prophetic struggle, appealing via speeches and Twitter posts for non-violence in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder.
Maybe a prophet looks like Jeanne Manford and Adele Starr, mothers of gay sons and co-founders of the oraganization PFLAG, which stands for Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. At the 10th anniversary of the beginning of PFLAG, Adele Starr said, “We did it out of love and anger and a sense of injustice, and because we had to tell the world the truth about our children.” PFLAG has grown to more than 400 chapters with 200,000 members.
Perhaps prophets look like the Catholic sisters and other activists and advocates working to help immigrants, like our friend Sr. Tracey Horan. The statement, "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution," is enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These advocates recognize that people fleeing for their lives deserve help and dignity, not legal prosecution. Let us remember that the book of Leviticus says, “Don’t mistreat any foreigners who live in your land. Instead, treat them as well as you treat citizens and love them as much as you love yourself. Remember, you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:33-34). I think Rachel Carson was a prophet, standing up in defense of the earth, publishing Silent Spring in 1962, pioneering the environmental movement by advocating for legislation to outlaw the insecticide DDT.
Prophets are often unpopular, even persecuted, because they call for radical change, bringing attention to injustice and the suffering of the disempowered, and questioning those profiting from or empowered by unjust, biased systems. Our first reading tonight portrays God as telling Ezekiel right up front that no one would probably listen to him. But Ezekiel delivered God’s message anyway, telling the people in exile in Babylon, in a later chapter, to act nonviolently, to not worship idols, to honor their relationship commitments, to engage in business ethically, and to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Paul, likewise, in our second reading described being called by God to proclaim a message not his own, calling himself a servant, one obligated to speak whether his message was received well or not. He urged the people of Galatia to love one another and care for the poor, and not worry about forcing new Christians to observe the details of religious law. And then we read in the Gospel that even Jesus met suspicion and skepticism when he returned to Nazareth. He preached that God’s family includes everyone, even calling the women his sisters, just as he called the men his brothers, and he was accused of being in league with the devil. Those in power felt threatened by his huge following, and his teaching that all are equally loved by God, and that everyone deserves a voice in the community.
So it seems that all these prophets delivered similar messages: that all are created equal, that all deserve to make a living wage and live a decent life. Sounds very similar to the message of the Declaration of Independence, approved by the Continental Congress of the US on this date in 1776, doesn’t it? And so we circle back to the idea that none of us are free until all of us are free. True freedom, the liberty to live in peace and be treated with respect, is what all these prophets have proclaimed, and is what all people desire. We are all part of God’s family, and we are all called to prophetically work to dismantle unjust systems so that all our family members can be truly free. So here’s to freedom, and to prophecy, and to continuing to live out the connection between the two.
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