One Heart and Soul April Rev. Stephanie Ryder

Transcription

1 One Heart and Soul April Rev. Stephanie Ryder Acts 4:32-35: Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 1 John 1:1-10: We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. A colleague was studying a passage during Lent to write a devotional for publication. The passage was Isaiah 58:1-12, which describes the people of Judea crying out to God, Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice? God replies through the prophet Isaiah that though the people bow their heads and lay in sackcloth and ashes, they continue to serve their own interests, oppressing their workers, quarreling, blaming and fighting with one another. God desires, Isaiah says, that we loose the bonds of injustice, to share bread with the hungry, bring homeless poor into our houses, cover the naked, and be available to our own family members in need. This is how you will know God s ways and draw nearer to God. This is how light shall break forth and rise in the darkness and healing shall spring up, how the Lord will guide and protect you and answer you when you cry for help. This is how God will satisfy your needs, make you strong and like a well-watered garden, and rebuild and restore. My colleague realized in studying the passage that she walks by people without homes every day, while she lives alone in a three-bedroom house. She came to the conclusion that we do not have a housing crisis in the Bay Area, but a distribution 1

2 crisis. There are enough homes for everyone to have shelter, there are just not enough people willing to share their resources. The passages today describe the early Christian communities and their beliefs and practices. In the epistle reading of 1 John, the writer states that as Christians, our words and actions ought to correlate: in other words, If you can t walk the walk, then don t talk the talk. When what we say and do are compatible when exposed in the light, then this is the basis for true Christian fellowship where joy is complete. The passage from Acts describes the first followers of Jesus in the days after his death and resurrection. The people are of one heart and soul they share what they have in common and they care for the needy by distributing all that exists among them so that there are no needy among them. They are able to do this because they are empowered by God s grace. What is best for the community is what is best for all. Their lives are a testimony of Jesus resurrection. Likewise today, when we proclaim the resurrection truth, we are called to embody it by being empowered ourselves by God s grace that sustains our vision of wholeness for one and all. I read some of Martin Luther King s writings this week as April 4 marked 50 years since his assassination. I was struck by the similarities in his writings and today s lectionary passages. Themes of unity in diversity, walking in the light and denying our sins caught my attention. In his article, Pilgrimage to Nonviolence written in 1960, King describes the path to his ideology of peaceful resistance. The more I observed the tragedies of history and man s shameful inclination to choose the low road, he writes, the more I came to see the depths and strength of sin. The more I thought about human nature the more I saw how our tragic inclination for sin causes us to use our minds to rationalize our actions. King was convinced that humanity s essential nature was neither a capacity for good, nor a capacity for evil, but a synthesis of the two that reconciles the truths of both. Humanity s essential nature, King discovered in his study of existentialism, is an estranged state, a state of separation, filled with anxiety and threatened with meaninglessness from the world s history of unresolved conflicts. This understanding led King on an intellectual quest for a method to eliminate social evil. King began to question the Christian power of love in solving social problems, believing that turn the other cheek and love your enemies philosophies may be valid for individuals but not groups and nations in conflict. Then he came upon the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and nonviolent resistance. King saw that the Christian doctrine of love, when operated through Gandhi s method of nonviolence, was one of the most potent weapons available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom. 2

3 His experience with the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama convinced him of the power of nonviolence. He saw through continued activist encounters that though the nonviolent approach may not immediately change the heart of the oppressor, it does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage they did not know they had, and it eventually stirs the conscience of the opponent so that reconciliation becomes a reality. He saw that the choice of group, national, and international conflicts is not between violence and nonviolence but between nonviolence and nonexistence. King writes, In the midst of outer dangers I have felt an inner calm and known resources of strength that only God could give. In many instances I have felt the power of God transforming the fatigue of despair into the buoyancy of hope. Every crisis has both its dangers and its opportunities. Each can spell either salvation or doom. He concludes the article, In a dark, confused world, the spirit of God may yet reign supreme. In another of King s writings, when responding to criticism from clergy when in Birmingham Jail, King wrote a letter in 1963, to explain his actions of being imprisoned. Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas, he began, If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence, and I would have no time for constructive work. But I feel you are men of genuine good will and so I want to try to answer your statement that my actions are unwise and untimely. I am in Birmingham because injustice exists here. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative. Birmingham is the most segregated city in the US. Its record of police brutality is widely known. Its unjust treatment of Negroes in the courts is a notorious reality. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts. The city leaders consistently refused to engage in good-faith negotiation, and we had no alternative but to present our bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and national community. We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we asked ourselves, Are you able to accept blows without retaliation? Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail? Nonviolent direct action seeks to foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. I earnestly oppose violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth. King s commitment to nonviolent resistance reminds me of 3

4 the ways groups are organizing and gathering in our current era for equality and social justice issues. Likely his work as a young man had great influence on our youth today who are empowered to seek change. Lamentably, King says, it is a historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may, but groups tend to be more immoral than individuals. We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. Human progress comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God. The time is always ripe to do right. My colleague who realized she had more than enough space to live while others have none was presented an opportunity soon after her revelation. The next Sunday, someone at her church mentioned there were students coming from the Philippines to the Bay Area for the summer in need of housing. My colleague volunteered to house them. During communion today, let us consider our own individual and corporate opportunities for purposeful and meaningful change, a time of intentional confession where our weaknesses may be strengthened and our actions and transformed to those that are most pleasing to God. May God s light, in which there is no darkness at all, overcome our darkness and bring us into the light. God s grace is always available to us. Let us walk the walk. 4

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