Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is a public matter. It is out in the open, for all to see. And Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, into the capital city, is also and absolutely a political matter. And—this is important—it was no informal, unplanned, spur of the moment, happenstance. Jesus planned it out, mapped it out, orchestrated it … down to the last detail.
Danced the last dance. Bit the dust. Bite the big one. Counting worms. Give up the ghost. Join the great majority. Kick the bucket. Kick the oxygen habit. Buy the farm. Going home. The big sleep. Be at peace. Turned up one’s toes. Bought a one way ticket. Pushing up the daisies.
It is downright astonishing just how many ways we humans have invented to skirt, to laugh at, to avoid saying: die. To avoid saying: He died. She died. I’m going to die.
Jim Wallis is a white, evangelical Christian who believes this: that racism is America’s original sin. He wrote a book by that title.
I agree with Jim Wallis. I believe racism is American’s original sin. And more than that, I believe that racism is a calamity, a catastrophe. With respect to this country and this soil, racism has visited untold horror upon American Indians and enslaved Africans and their descendants … to the nth generation.
I believe racism is a sin for two reasons: biblical and personal. First, the personal.
It is not by accident that Pentecost – the fire and wind of it, the sound and the fury of it, the wildness and wonder of it, the stunning loquacity of it – occurred in a city. It is not by accident, it is no fluke of fate that Pentecost occurred in a city, in a great city of the ancient world. It is not without meaning, without design that the Day of Pentecost, as Christians call it, the day the church was born in wind and flame and multilingualism – erupts in the holy city of Jerusalem.
It’s a cold, cruel, dog-eat-dog, red in tooth-and-claw world out there. A world of partisanship, tribalisms, and terror. A world of competition, acquisition, might-makes-right and the rich are at the top of the heap.
Am I right?
It’s a cold world out there. The streets are mean. There’s competition between pedestrian and cyclist; between automobile and skateboarder. The streets are means with horns and sirens, drug deals and needles, stemming and addiction.
It’s a hard world out there.
Perhaps the most important question at the heart of the Bible, at the heart of the church, at the heart of our nation is this: How do we live together? How do we organize ourselves into society? How do we live with nature? How do we coexist and intermingle on this planet with all the other peoples, with the creatures of the earth, and with earth and air and sea?
Here’s the question: “Is Old South Church called by God to provide sanctuary to an individual or family threatened with deportation? Are we prepared to act in violation of Federal Immigration Law?”
The Christian Service and Outreach Committee and Church Council, together, are asking the members of this church to consider this question and, in the fall, to take it to a vote. There are weighty matters to consider as we enter into a season of discernment.
Liberty, freedom – the idea of it, the sweet, fragrant feel of it and, conversely, the dreadful, bitter, fetid absence of it – is among the main preoccupations of theology. Liberty or freedom is among the main preoccupations of theology because it is among the main preoccupations of God.
Back in 2009, Old South Church held a quite wonderful evening auction to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. Habitat was determined to save a Dorchester neighborhood by purchasing and rehabilitating foreclosed properties on Blue Hill Avenue. It was a good cause and just about every member of this church put their shoulder to the plow of this auction. We had a grand dinner, a master of ceremonies, a multitude of interesting items to auction … Harry Huff provided musical entertainment. We raised over $20,000 for Habitat and had a lot of fun.