Justice ~ Engaging the Powers The Rev. Rose Ann Vita

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1 SERMON on March 17, 2019 Signposts of Renewal: JUSTICE Scripture Luke 9:28-43 (NLT) About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. And as Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus glory and the two men standing with him. As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, Master, it s wonderful for us to be here! Let s make three shelters as memorials one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. But even as he was saying this, a cloud overshadowed them, and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them. Then a voice from the cloud said, This is my Son, my Chosen One, Listen to him. When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. They didn t tell anyone at that time what they had seen. The next day, after they had come down the mountain, a large crowd met Jesus. A man in the crowd called out to him, Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child. An evil spirit keeps seizing him, making him scream. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It batters him and hardly ever leaves him alone. I begged your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they couldn t do it. Jesus said, You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you and put up with you? Then he said to the man, Bring your son here. As the boy came forward, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a violent convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and healed the boy. Then he gave him back to his father. Awe gripped the people as they saw this majestic display of God s power. Sermon Justice ~ Engaging the Powers The Rev. Rose Ann Vita I have been trained as a community organizer. That means I helped organize communities of ordinary citizens to do extra ordinary things. Namely, make a difference in their community to build a better neighbourhood, a better society... How does one do that? Simply, one-by-one. More specifically, by one-on-ones.

2 Basically, I would make an appointment to meet with a person for about 45 minutes and in that time get to know them, to know who they are, what they do for a living, what they love, but more importantly, what makes them angry. I discovered what in their neighbourhood caused their passions and energies to rise up. And as I interacted with each person, I found the places where we both shared something in common; we found a way to build a bond, a common bond. And where we shared a common anger, we discovered that shared a passion and a energy to bring about positive change in our community. For example, when a child loses their life because there is no traffic light at the corner and the child gets hit by a passing car, the community grieves. But when the citizens approach the traffic authorities and request a traffic light and hear in response that there must be at least fatal or near-fatal incidences at that intersection before it is considered important enough to invest in a traffic light, citizens get angry. This is where a community organizer helps the citizens learn how to express their anger and energy in an efficient way in order to get the change needed. Whether they act by a letter writing campaign, or by visiting their elected representatives, or by informing local newspapers of their concerns and making them public... their anger has motivated them to act for change. In today s scripture, we hear a man had asked Jesus disciples to cast out an evil spirit from his son, but the disciples couldn t. They couldn t or they wouldn t? Were they being too nice, too obedient, too complacent to act? Were they being too apathetic to care about the boy s condition, or too absorbed in their own every day affairs to 2

3 have the time to be aware of what is happening in the world around them? Were they too busy making a living to make someone else s life worth living? Were they just too nice... after all Christians (and Canadians) don t get angry. Are we like them? How many children must be hit by a car at the intersection before we mobilize to put in a traffic light? How many children must be silently trafficked in prostitution circles before we say something about what goes on at the Super Bowl Games? How many children are we allowing to suffer posttraumatic injuries as they are separated from their families and stripped of their own culture and force-fed Western ways at the US Southern border? How many Indigenous children have suffered the same horrific injustice within our own native land in residential schools? It is a fact, the disruption of the bond of a caring family actually affects how a child s brain forms. There is a study on the effects of adverse childhood experiences on health and brain development. (Click here for more information on the long-term affects of Adverse Childhood Experiences: ACE ) These abused and deprived children who were kept from bonding with their caregivers suffer post-traumatic stress and attachment deficit disorder. In later life they may not develop a capacity for empathy and compassion. They often become serious killers, committing crimes without a conscious or remorse, raging against others and self-destructing themselves. They often become 3

4 alcoholics and addicted drug-users. Why? --- because their brains did not develop the neural pathways that foster care and kindness and self-development. Are we like the disciples? Maybe, like them, we are too weary from too much tragedy? Too much TV bad news. Maybe, like them, we are just struggling to get through yet another day? Struggling to provide financial as well as emotional support for our own family members. Maybe, like them, we are just too worn out to be angry about the way others are and have been treated? In this particular scripture passage, Jesus is quite clear that he is unhappy with the disciples lack of claiming their own power to cast out evil. Jesus doesn t seem to have a kind or compassionate word for them. You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I put up with you! Engage your power! Makes me a bit scared. Especially, since I, and I believe you too, are trying our best to be good Christians... What shall we do? First, we must attend to ourselves and rest and let go of doing everything and being overwhelmed. Today s scripture passage begins with Jesus going up the mountain to pray. Taking time out to be with God. That is where Jesus was affirmed in his own Divinity, where Jesus heard the words that he is chosen. We too must take time to be with God and be affirmed in our own divine 4

5 calling as beloved and chosen. As someone said, you can t pour tea from an empty tea pot. We need the grace of God to fill us. And then, may we can simply start with one-on-ones. This week, might we each make an appointment to talk to one other person just to get to know them... to listen wholeheartedly to them... to find out what they do during their day... who they love... what they value... and what stirs their passion and righteous anger. Then discover where the two of you overlap in your values and hunger for justice. Perhaps you will discover one small thing that the two of you might do this week to cast out the evil spirit... it can be as simple and profound as making a cake and bringing it to a Muslim neighbour... or becoming an advocate for reconciliation for the damage done by residential schools... or... Who knows where your shared righteous anger for justice might lead you in Jesus name. Be surprised! Amen 5