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The Art of Protest, Part 4: MobilizationHaggai 1:15-2:9On the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month. In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of God came by the prophet Haggai, saying: Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says God; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says God; work, for I am with you, says the God of Hope, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. For thus says the God of Hope: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the God of Hope. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the God of Hope. The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the God of hope; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the God of hope.
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Catch up |
This is Part 4 of a sermon series called "The Art of Protest." In Part 1, we met a protester in the body of the Persistent Widow. From a place of faith she found the strength to petition an unjust judge, and won her case! In Part 2, through the prayers of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, we looked at understanding the issues from an individual vs. systemic perspective. Part 3 helped us view the art of community organizing a la Jesus through his encounter with Zacchaeus. For a link to the entire series, click here. The Art of Protest Series
Part 4 Begins with a brief history of activism and social justice work at FBC Moorestown- we need to remember our past in order to mobilize in the future. I'll post an audio link after Sunday. |
Part 4: Mobilization |
Hopefully since we are on our final part of this series, we've moved to a place where we are ready to mobilize- to do something. What, remains to be seen. We are two days from Presidential Election Day in our country, and tensions are so thick you can slice them with a knife. We can agree on at least two things as Progressive Christians:
1. We stand on the side of justice, mercy and peace. 2. We have a responsibility to stop injustice, oppression and hate. Whatever happens on Tuesday; whether our candidate wins, or whether the person we have spent the last year demonizing and fearing wins, people on either (maybe on both sides) will be upset. This has not been a typical election cycle. There has been nothing ordinary, or gracious, or presidential about it. Our candidates have not "gone high" as Michelle Obama continually suggests/entreats. There is grave disappointment throughout our major political parties, great fear that the end of society as we know it is upon us. Some of us have taken to cocooning, some have deflected, some have flown the coop until after this whole thing is over, and still others have plans to leave the country if they don't get their way. We all have made choices during this election campaign, individually and as a community of faith, to act in a certain manner and display the parts of ourselves we would like others to see. We've thought about it, talked about it; we've wrung our hands in worry and fist-ed them in anger. We've shaken them at the heavens, and folded them in prayer. Today, we need to talk about how to open them, because it's only when a hand is open that it can take the hand of another. Today we join our hands, join our hearts and minds and prepare- together- for whatever may come next. To live in whatever new reality is created based on the results of this election, (and I don't know what will be any more than you do) we need to figure out how to live in the future- together. No matter who wins, our country needs healing. No matter who wins, our country needs people willing to rebuild; to stand up for human rights, environmental protection, and rebuild in the way of peace. |
The Prophet Haggai had addressed a people in a similar situation. The Israelite's were tasked with rebuilding their broken homeland. What had happened to get the nation to this point, no one was exactly sure. but they did know it had something to do with negligence on the part of the people. They weren't watching. They weren't ready. They had become distracted, complacent, individually focused instead of community focused. They had stopped practicing the ways of justice and mercy and peace, and so they found themselves in exile from their land, from their ideals, and estranged from neighbors, friends and in some cases, families.
So God sends the Prophet to go to the people who could not longer cocoon, or deflect, or leave- but who have come face to face with the state of their nation- the remnant, God calls them- and God says:
"Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage... take courage, ...priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says God; work, for I am with you, ...according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear."
God addresses that small but specific group of people who remembered a time when things did not look so bleak, and says, 'I know it looks like all hope is lost- that there is nothing left- yet... in spite of how things look- in spite of how dark they seem- in spite of how hopeless they appear- take courage... do not fear!'
Now, at first glance 'take courage,' and 'do not fear' may seem like the same thing. Both imply an active tense- something we have to do, God says, in order to rebuild. But to 'take courage,' means that we need to acquire something and 'do not fear,' means we need to let go of something. I wonder when i read those words, what other things might the people have had to acquire and let go of in order to live out courageous and fearless.
Perhaps they needed to let go of negative speech, or negative thinking, or saturating themselves with negative messages of doom. Perhaps they needed to acquire positive, thoughtful speech patterns- those must have been so difficult to learn. Perhaps they needed to retrain their minds to stop the negative thoughts in their tracks and replace them with something life giving. And listen, this is not a case of the people keeping their head in the sand, or putting on a false sense of optimism. Courage knows exactly what they are courageous against. Fear knows exactly what has created it. But changing one's thinking from fear and worry, to courage and hope is no small task. And it does take intentionality, and focus, and in most cases, training.
And God says once courage is acquired and fear is let go, work. "Work, for I am with you, says God. My spirit lives in you, my promise to remain with you never ends, don't be afraid." God's promise to God's people remained- God's plan for God's people was to work, together, to rebuild a nation from the ground up, and God would be with them.
My friends, just as the prophet Haggai addressed a people who were returning to their home after it had been decimated, I speak to you today. Not with a false sense of optimism, not with an inflated ego about having the answers, and definitely not with my head in sand about what may or may not happen as a result of this election. I speak to you as your pastor- and as the one God has charged with leading this congregation in the ways of Christ.
Who is left among you who remembers the times in this congregation's history depicted in Leslie's presentation- when social activism and standing for justice meant the church was a participant in working for peace? God calls to you today- take courage- do not fear. Who among you can look upon the brokenness of our land and doesn't like what you see now? God calls to you today- take courage- do not fear. And work!
Our responsibility as the Body of Christ on earth is to work- to work to stop oppression in any form, work to stop injustice even when we don't agree with someone's theology, work to protect our planet even when it's easier not to. God gave us this community of faith, this specific remnant- with a long history of peacemaking, so that we could work- together- to rebuild from the ground up.
And I know it seems hopeless- I know it seems dark, and scary, and the task seems insurmountable. The thought of opening our closed fists to take the hand of another to walk in protest leaves one feeling vulnerable. But in order to mobilize we need to begin to trust each other again... it's the reason we do one-on-ones- the reason we spend so much time building relationships with people- because some of those people will be walking right next to us as we protest.
We need to learn to trust each other again- and, in order to mobilize we need to learn to trust God again- because God's promises have not failed- and the Spirit of God abides in each one of us... it is only that Spirit that will enable us to trust each other.... I know that trusting God may be more difficult- I know that for some, it seems like God has turned away, or given up on us. But listen- God has a plan... God has a future...
or thus says the God of Hope: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the God of Hope. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the God of Hope. The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the God of hope; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the God of hope.
The thing is, God has entrusted the tasks of building and planting to us- to the people in this room and the people around the world that God is calling at this moment to mobilize- to look upon the brokenness and devastation and take in the enormity of the task, to take courage, and let go of fear- open your hands- and take the hand of the person next to you- together, lets put our trust in the God of hope.
So God sends the Prophet to go to the people who could not longer cocoon, or deflect, or leave- but who have come face to face with the state of their nation- the remnant, God calls them- and God says:
"Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage... take courage, ...priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says God; work, for I am with you, ...according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear."
God addresses that small but specific group of people who remembered a time when things did not look so bleak, and says, 'I know it looks like all hope is lost- that there is nothing left- yet... in spite of how things look- in spite of how dark they seem- in spite of how hopeless they appear- take courage... do not fear!'
Now, at first glance 'take courage,' and 'do not fear' may seem like the same thing. Both imply an active tense- something we have to do, God says, in order to rebuild. But to 'take courage,' means that we need to acquire something and 'do not fear,' means we need to let go of something. I wonder when i read those words, what other things might the people have had to acquire and let go of in order to live out courageous and fearless.
Perhaps they needed to let go of negative speech, or negative thinking, or saturating themselves with negative messages of doom. Perhaps they needed to acquire positive, thoughtful speech patterns- those must have been so difficult to learn. Perhaps they needed to retrain their minds to stop the negative thoughts in their tracks and replace them with something life giving. And listen, this is not a case of the people keeping their head in the sand, or putting on a false sense of optimism. Courage knows exactly what they are courageous against. Fear knows exactly what has created it. But changing one's thinking from fear and worry, to courage and hope is no small task. And it does take intentionality, and focus, and in most cases, training.
And God says once courage is acquired and fear is let go, work. "Work, for I am with you, says God. My spirit lives in you, my promise to remain with you never ends, don't be afraid." God's promise to God's people remained- God's plan for God's people was to work, together, to rebuild a nation from the ground up, and God would be with them.
My friends, just as the prophet Haggai addressed a people who were returning to their home after it had been decimated, I speak to you today. Not with a false sense of optimism, not with an inflated ego about having the answers, and definitely not with my head in sand about what may or may not happen as a result of this election. I speak to you as your pastor- and as the one God has charged with leading this congregation in the ways of Christ.
Who is left among you who remembers the times in this congregation's history depicted in Leslie's presentation- when social activism and standing for justice meant the church was a participant in working for peace? God calls to you today- take courage- do not fear. Who among you can look upon the brokenness of our land and doesn't like what you see now? God calls to you today- take courage- do not fear. And work!
Our responsibility as the Body of Christ on earth is to work- to work to stop oppression in any form, work to stop injustice even when we don't agree with someone's theology, work to protect our planet even when it's easier not to. God gave us this community of faith, this specific remnant- with a long history of peacemaking, so that we could work- together- to rebuild from the ground up.
And I know it seems hopeless- I know it seems dark, and scary, and the task seems insurmountable. The thought of opening our closed fists to take the hand of another to walk in protest leaves one feeling vulnerable. But in order to mobilize we need to begin to trust each other again... it's the reason we do one-on-ones- the reason we spend so much time building relationships with people- because some of those people will be walking right next to us as we protest.
We need to learn to trust each other again- and, in order to mobilize we need to learn to trust God again- because God's promises have not failed- and the Spirit of God abides in each one of us... it is only that Spirit that will enable us to trust each other.... I know that trusting God may be more difficult- I know that for some, it seems like God has turned away, or given up on us. But listen- God has a plan... God has a future...
or thus says the God of Hope: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the God of Hope. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the God of Hope. The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the God of hope; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the God of hope.
The thing is, God has entrusted the tasks of building and planting to us- to the people in this room and the people around the world that God is calling at this moment to mobilize- to look upon the brokenness and devastation and take in the enormity of the task, to take courage, and let go of fear- open your hands- and take the hand of the person next to you- together, lets put our trust in the God of hope.
Photo from Matt From London
