by Katie Geneva Cannon
1998 Voices of Sophia
General Assembly Breakfast
Charlotte, North Carolina
Introduction by Rebecca Reyes
Introduction:
I have attended over 18 General Assemblies. The very first one I attended was held here in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the campus of Queens College. I remember telling my family of the news and their excitement. One particular memory is sitting with my family and talking about my trip to Charlotte. My grandmother was present and I remember her face looking at me and in her gentle yet firm way gave me the following advice. She said, as you go to give homage to the church remember the church is not God. Your soul belongs to God not the church. Those words have been instrumental in my journey with this denomination. And what a journey it has been. She also advised me remember to look out for the prophets in your midst. Seek the prophets as you attend your meetings. I have tried to be true to such a call of discernment and grouping. One such group has been this group. You all have been faithful in holding the denomination accountable to the gospel of justice and mercy.
Another prophet that has helped me has been Katie Cannon. I first met Katie in an event that was sponsored by the denomination for racial ethnic clergywomen. Katie and I use to meet and have wonderful discussions, debates and reflections. Katie and I have had opportunities to agree, disagree, cry, laugh and nurture each other in our journey. Katie has been faithful in her faith journey. Katie has been diligent in reminding us to our calling of justice, in particular to the calling of economic and social justice.
It is a pleasure to introduce you to Katie. A friend, colleague and sister in the faith.
FAITHFUL LIVING IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN 1
Old Testament: Joshua 7: 6-9
New Testament: Matthew 7: 2l~29
Throughout this nation and from coast to coast across this great denomination of ours, we are finding that the reality of faithful living in the public domain is causing some church-going folk to feel extreme dis~ease, so much so, that more and more women and men who have joined the body of Christ, youth and adults who have come forward and received the right hand of fellowship, those of us who have put our hands to the Christian plow of mission, evangelism, and stewardship we are now the exact same Christians who are becoming slack. We are the sisters and brothers in the household of God who have become relaxed. Yes, we are the clergy and laity, the church officers and choir members, the ushers and Sunday School teachers who are laid back, so much so, that in some cases, it appears as if we are lying down, when it comes to authentic Christian living in this larger civic society in which we are situated.
By this I mean that in the past, in the days gone by, the question that theologians raised most often was WHY DON'T YOU GO TO CHURCH? But now a days, as we approach these latter days of this 20th century, the question that religious scholars ask to young and old alike is, WHY DO YOU GO TO CHURCH?
Thus, what we find is that far too many women and men in the commonwealth of God are willing to make all kinds of contributions to the Church, in terms of donating some of our time, giving some of our money and sharing some of our talents, but far too few of us are willing to make a total commitment to faithful living in the public domain.
Now, Dr. Rene DuBois, a bio-ethicist at Stanford University in California says that in a polluted environment all life
forms adapt downward in order to survive. And it could
be that in these times in which we live that many God-
1 This sermon was adapted and expanded from Dr. John Kinney's sermon, "Messing With the Wrong Stuff."
fearing women and men, Christian youth and adults, who traditionally have been on the frontline of prophetic, progressive justice work as disciples of Jesus Christ, that we are now adapting downward in order to survive in the polluted moral environment of our contemporary society.
And, no matter where we go into the highways and byways of life, we find Christians suffering from cultural crisis. Christians paralyzed by social disruptions, Christians traumatized by escalating uncertainties. Dearly Beloved, what I am saying here this morning is that a whole lot of folks can give our own testimonies of how the increase of hate crimes makes us victims in our own households. Others of us, can bear witness to the growing disparity between our personal power to shape the future and the institutional powers and principalities that force us to conform to spiritual wickedness in high places. Yes, sister and brothers, with all the downsizing going on which means that there is less and less money to support our families and with the upsizing of technology so that people who are members of the information class can travel at supersonic speed on the internet and hang out in cyberspace all day if they want to, the accumulative result is a new kind of social panic, full of chaotic tensions wihin the corporate body politic.
And, at the very same time, each of us must stay conscious of the paralyzing effects of the religious war that is being fought around us, among us and sometimes within us. This theological war is now being described as a "Cultural War."2 Not only is this theological hostility being expressed in the form of the theory of evolution and social Darwinism, but this God-talk confusion, this doctrinal strife, this negative strategy of attack and smear is being used to support so-called divine revelation for a whole set of banner waving, flag lifting positions from total denial of bodily integrity issues that deal with marital rape, spouse battering, and incest to full blown opposition to women's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
These church warriors try to condemn and control everything from the various orientations and expressions of human sexuality, to what textbooks are ordered from grades K
2 The National Council of Churches has generated several research/study papers on this subject.
through 12, to what is aired on television and what is
funded and exhibited in museums. In subtle and devastating ways they provide underpinning for the cultural hegemony that focuses on the rightness of whiteness, the rightness of maleness and the rightness of those who have over those who have-not. And, in our religious context, so much of this is done under the guise and in the coded language of being a Reformed Church, in a Reformed Tradition embracing a so-called Reformed Biblical Theology. This theological polarization that is being manifested throughout the religious world is real, it is vicious, it is vindictive and it is violent.
And when this kind of social anxiety, hooks up with a siege mentality, wherein we are prisoners of war within our own faith community, that gets exacerbated by a dangerously crazy-making fear, moral pollution becomes the order of the day. IN A POLLUTED ENVIRONMENT- ALL LIFE FORMS - ADAPT DOWNWARD - IN ORDER TO SURVIVE. Which means that Christians in our homes, Christians in our schools, Christians in our workplaces and Christians in our churches, Christian in the public domain start to act just like the three monkeys-- we hear nothing, we see nothing and we say nothing. Each of us need to ask ourselves, WHERE IS THE POLLUTION IN MY LIFE? We need to take a personal inventory as to when, where and with whom are we adapting downward in order to survive? In essence, the ethical standards for Christian living end up being determined by how well we measure up to pollution rather than how well we actualize our covenant commitment, that Yes, God will be our God, and that Yes, we will be God's people.
So, let us now turn to our Scripture lesson for the morning that is found in the Book of Joshua, the 7th Chapter. Here, we find a powerful story, a glaring example, convincing evidence as to how this type of moral pollution effects the people of God. For Chapter 7 in the Book of Joshua tells us that Joshua and his troops defeated the people of Jericho. Joshua and his troops marched around the walls of Jericho and they didn't stop marching until the walls came tumbling down. But, Joshua and the troops turned around to go up against the people of Ai, the Israelites got beaten up, they were smashed to smithereens. The children of Israel who had won a series of successful battles, they could no longer defeat their enemies.
So in our story for the morning, we find Joshua, the fearless leader crying. Joshua is beating his chest. Joshua has fallen down on the ground, wailing and crying out before Almighty God. And that is when God says, Joshua get up! Why are you crying? And in the King James Version of the Bible the text says that God told Joshua that the reason Joshua lost in battle, the reason that Joshua and the people got smashed to smithereens by the enemy is that God's people had taken the stuff of the enemy and mixed it with their stuff and therefore they were messing with the wrong stuff. God continues on by saying to Joshua, you can't defeat the enemy anymore because you got too much of the enemies junk mixed up in your own household.
See, what had happened is that one of the captains of the Lord's army named Achan, went into the city of Ai. When Achan entered the city of Ai, Achan saw the silver and gold that God warned the people against bowing down to when they entered the city. The specific commandment that God gave to the Israelites on this particular mission was that the people of God should not attach themselves to any of the things that they found among the enemy. In other words, God said do not lift up the enemies' standards, do not embrace the enemies' values, do not take hold of the enemies' idols but instead, whatever the people of God take out of the city of Ai, they should dedicate each and everything that they take from enemy territory to the service of the true and living God.
But Achan said to Joshua that when he entered the city of Ai he saw their stuff and that he liked what he saw. So Achan, one of the captains in the Lord's army, took the enemies' silver and the enemies' gold, he took the stuff of the people of Ai and mixed it among his own stuff. Yes, Achan, one of the captain's in the Lord's army started messing with the wrong stuff.
Achan buried these items of idolatry, the silver and the gold, those things that he had taken from the house of the enemy, and he placed these idols in the bottom of his tent. And for these wandering, bedouin, nomadic people, their tents were their homes. So what Achan did was that he placed the stuff of the enemy into the very foundation of his own house. His house was rooted in the very materials that he was trying to overcome in the enemy. None of us can fight powers and principalities, none of us fight against spiritual wickedness in high places if our own ethical foundation is contaminated, if our own morals are corrupted and if our Christian living is polluted.
Now, if we understand this biblical story then it means that many Christians are trying to live as authentic Christians in today's world by dealing only with the cracks in our walls without addressing the faultline upon which our house of faith is built. That is to say, that for many people, for far too many God-fearing women and God-fearing men, faithful living in today's world has been reduced to patching cracks, tinkering with light bulbs, sanding down walls, putting up sheetrock, re-arranging furniture, painting and repainting. And, the next week there is a new problem somewhere else and we busy ourselves doing the same old six and seven over and over again. The problem is not in the wall. The problem is in our foundation.
Now, according to our text, the first concept we must embrace related to "faithful living in the public domain" is that we must remember from whence we have come. In other words, I invite, I challenge, I caution each one of us to pay attention to our point of departure in life Each of us need to be conscious of where, how, and with whom we travel and where, how, and with whom we spend our time. Our understanding of authentic Christian discipleship cannot be decided by the drumbeat of the so-called moral majority nor can it be decided on by the offbeat sounds of the minority opinion But rather, each of us must recall the initial moment when we surrendered our all, when we surrendered our life and our will to the care of God.
When I was a child we used to sing a song in church that carried this message, IF SATAN SAYS THAT I DON'T HAVE GRACE, I'LL TAKE SATAN BACK TO MY STARTING PLACE.
How many fine and promising people do we know in our families, in our churches and in our neighborhood communities, talented and gifted sisters and brothers who started out with us-- sisters and brothers who attended church camp with us, sisters and brothers who were active in the Westminster Youth Fellowship, sisters and brothers who participated in work camp, band camp, youth triennium, but, they are now sisters and brothers who have toppled over. I am talking about our sisters and brothers who continue to place themselves in no-win situations, sisters and brothers who are stacked with others on the junk piles of life because they refuse to keep their memories green with what it means for God to be the captain of our fate and for God to be the master of our souls.
Yes, there are people who have great dreams. Colleagues and church members who inspire us, who challenge us and who bring out the best in us, and at the same time there are other folk we know who constantly get caught up in the trade winds of our time and they drift from pillar to post and whenever we see them they are waiting for their number to hit, they are waiting for the other shoe to drop, they are sitting around waiting for their ship to come in.
What I am saying here is that if we no longer want our houses of faith to be contaminated by pollution, wherein, we in turn, find ourselves adapting downward, moving away from radical, authentic Christian teachings in order to survive, then we need to remember, we need to recall, we need to recollect the time and place when all the votes in our lives began to say one thing, when in the core of our beings we said yes, yes to the truth of God's grace and yes to the truth of God's mercy in our living.
Now, some of us may sense that simply remembering the first steps that we took along this Christian journey is a selfish dimension and to that I must say that yes, there is such a thing as rational and healthy self-interest. Each one of us gathered here this morning we must have a concern for ourselves in order for us to have the commitment to discover the true mission that God is specifically calling for us to do. God has given to each of us an individual God-given birthright and by remembering our specific divine purpose, we can grow in faithful living morning by morning and day by day.
Now, according to our text, the second concept we need to embrace, related to "faithful living in the public domain" is that we exercise self-control in all things.
Officers and choir members, Sunday School teachers and ushers, those of us who worship every Sunday and those of us visiting just for today, what our scripture lesson is saying to us is that when we are halting, reluctant, procrastinating; when we have a wishy washy attitude about the specific work that God is calling for each of us to do; we risk taking other people's stuff and mixing it among the foundation of our house of faith and in turn, we end up messing with the wrong stuff.
There are alarming numbers of young and old folk alike who are blowing out our life fuses; young and old alike who are short circuiting our days; we are adapting, accommodating and trying to please everyone around us, whereby we end up rushing ourselves to premature graves.
But if each of us can remember our encounter with God as the beacon for the journey and next, if we practice self-control then maybe; just maybe we will heed the teachings of Jesus when Jesus said, "Enter by the narrow way because the road is wide that leads to destruction. There is plenty of room on the wide road and many people go that way, but the road that leads to life is small and narrow and those who find it, are few."
Dearly Beloved, the point I am making is this: some Christians never get beyond remembering that old time religion. By this I mean that we may be creative, we may be talented, we may be dedicated people who can share powerful testimonies about our past, but here in the present, in today's moment we are running through life, blinded by ambition, locked in our personal desires.
People like the ones I am describing are ministers and church officers, seminarians and lay leaders, youth and adults who box the wind, we try to manipulate others by hook and by crook to do our will, endangering the safety of all who come in close contact with us. If we truly want to live faithfully twenty-four hours and seven days each week, then each of us must practice discipline in our daily devotional life which will enable us to live in right relations with ourselves and in right relations with each other.
So, Dearly Beloved, let each one of us move forward in living faithfully by staying focus on the specific task that God is calling for us to do in this place, at this particular time, so that our living will not be in vain.
Now, according to our text, the third and final concept that we must embrace related to "faithful living in the public domain" is developing a God consciousness . We must take time out to think and reflect on the perishable as well as the imperishable trophies in life.
In other words, let us remember our point of departure. Next, let us practice self-control so that we not polluting others nor are we being polluted by any and everyone who comes into contact with us. And third, each of us need to pray, we need to reflect, we need to think on things that are everlasting. Far too many church-going people who start off making a total commitment to Christian living, stop short. We end up missing the mark. We become so earthbound that we seek to live without a sky.
For the story 3 is told of a wise old preacher who delivered a college baccalaureate sermon. Upon finishing the sermon, the preacher decided to walk around the campus and talk with some of the members of the graduating class.
A young man named Robert, who had graduated with highest honors, as summa cum laude, walked up to the Baccalaureate Preacher and introduced himself. It was at this point that the two gentlemen engaged in a conversation.
The preacher asked, "Robert, what are your plans for the future?"
Without missing a heart beat, Robert answered, "Well, Reverend, I plan to go immediately to Law School."
The preacher inquired further, he said, "what then Robert?"
"Well," answered Robert, "after Law School, I plan to get married, buy a house, start a family, and get myself securely established in a prestigious law firm."
"What then?" continued the preacher.
Robert replied, "Well Rev. I must frankly say that I plan to make a lot of money and thereby retire early so that I can spend a great deal of time traveling to various parts of the world. You know, Rev, traveling around the world is something I have always dreams of doing."
"What then, Robert?" asked the preacher with almost an annoying kind of inquisitiveness.
"Well," said Robert, "you have just heard all of my plans. I have no other plans beyond the ones I just shared with you."
3 I have heard this story preached numerous times in the Black Church Community.
Looking at Robert with the countenance of a wise person expressing both pity and concern, the preacher said, "young man, your plans are far too small. They can extend only to three score and ten and by reasonable health maybe to four score and a few years more." " Robert," the preacher said, "you must make your plans big enough to include God and large enough to include eternity."
This is wise advice for all of us who have chosen to build our houses of faith on the solid rock instead of on shifting sand. WE TOO MUST MAKE OUR PLANS BIG ENOUGH TO INCLUDE GOD AND LARGE ENOUGH TO INCLUDE ETERNITY.
I suspect that all too many of us are still dillying and dallying with personal fears and social anxieties that are big in quantity, but fears and anxieties that are small in quality. By taking time out to pray means that we can rest, we can meditate and we can communicate with God, the Alpha and the Omega, our beginning and our end.
So all in all, what I am saying here at this Sophia Breakfast is that the first thing we must do in Faithful Living in the Public Domain is that we must remember, which in essence means that "we love ourselves."
The second things that we must do in Faithful Living in the Public Domain is that we must practice self-control, which boils down to "loving our neighbors as we love ourselves."
Let us never forget that the third and final things that we must do in Faithful Living in the Public Domain is to communicate with God regularly so that we meditate on things eternal which can be summed up in the greatest commandment which is that we "love the God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength," morning by morning and day by day.
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