sunday message 8 15 21
Walter Coleman
Gathering Strength From One Generation to the Next
Seventh Week in the Time of Seeking the Reign of God
We are deep into the year of 2021. When you look back on this year I hope that you can say “I did not stand still. I did not waste the summer months.” I hope you can say that “I was ready for the Harvest in the fall.”
The Scriptures provide a path for us to walk each year, a path of renewal and new growth as we seek to become strong in mind, strong in body and strong in spirit. Those who stayed on course through the year began to really feel that God was intervening in their affairs and in their lives. By the time we hit the spring of the year we could feel in scripture as the 12 disciples prepared a people for their dispersal from their homelands to nations in an empire which was hostile to them, which treated them with disrespect and distrust, which treated them as illegal and as criminals. The 12 taught them to become disciples themselves and to form small communities of disciples wherever they were. They promised that from these communities of disciples a new people would be born again in these lands.
Through the summer we have been in the season of Seeking the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom which can live among us bringing spiritual power and unity to our lives. We recall today that in the last days of preparation with the disciples of Jesus they focused on the role of the next generation, the role of young people in organizing a Kingdom community in the land in which their parents or grandparents have been planted. Remember it was Stephen who picked up the movement begun by Peter and the other disciples. Stephen was young, born not in the homeland but in the heart of the Empire. He knew his tradition and the history of his people. Yet he brought a new courage and a new energy to the renewal of the people of God.
Jesus told us the parable of the workers who came at 10 at 2 and at 4 - but who were all paid the same at the end of the day. We look to a new generation, all equal to the former generations in God’s sight and in God’s purpose. We recall that when John the Baptist came to make the way for Jesus, he came to turn fathers towards their sons and sons towards their fathers. Through each new generation God is making a great people here in the north, greater in numbers than any other group in the nation.
So today, the seasons of the year call us to focus on the next generation of Latinos, the youth of our communities. Many in our movement were the first or second generation to make the dangerous journey north. They did not come for the American Dream but because of what the North American Nightmare had done to their countries. We have been long in the struggle against the deportations, the movement to keep our families together and build strong communities. We have seen babies grow into children and children grow into young men and young women. Yet the test of our movement already has depended on the strength and unity of the next generation.
When we look through their eyes, we see that so many of them are caught in the double barreled shotgun of mass incarceration and mass deportation. They are treated as walking targets for the police. Many find themselves picked up and forced to plead guilty to minor offenses – only to find that those convictions will lead to their deportation. We have seen young people born in this country take up the struggle for their undocumented parents. Together we won the victory of DACA and we witnessed the transformation of young people who then took on the struggle of their parents and families for legalization. We saw them resist the effort that was made to get them to turn their backs on their parents. And we saw Latino youth join with African American youth to challenge the tendency of police to treat every young person of color as a potential criminal.
What does Kingdom time - the time of actively seeking the kingdom of God amongst us – what does it mean for this next generation? How does the scripture lead them to grow spiritually strong? I want to suggest to you today that these times offer the way to a “Disciple Lifestyle.” In turn, this Disciple lifestyle opens a path to unity and strength – and to the servant leadership our movement needs this new generation to provide.
It is hard to keep yourself motivated and hard to motivate those around you if you don’t feel the power, the purpose and the progress you are making as a people. If you feel like you are under attack; if you feel that your friends on either side of you are failing and are being picked off, it is hard to meet the challenges you face or to take the opportunities that are offered. On the other hand, if you can find your place in history and your place in God’s purpose, you will find an inner strength growing in you. You find yourself in history and God’s purpose when you commit yourself to a “Disciple Lifestyle.”
A Disciple is one who is committed to learn from the past and from the present, committed to grow stronger each day, perfecting themselves in service and spiritual discipline.
The Life of the True Disciple concerns itself with building a strong foundation. Jesus teaches that you don’t construct a building that will last until you have built a strong foundation. You don’t go into battle until you have organized and trained and equipped your troops. So why should you think you can be successful in life without first building a strong foundation? You have to work to improve yourself, to make yourself strong in body, strong in mind and strong in spirit.
Scripture teaches to be humble before God and to serve God and God’s people in all things. If you humble yourself before an Almighty God then you never have to bow down or be embarrassed before the arrogance of men. You know who you are because you know who you serve. No one can confuse or intimidate you.
If you think first about yourself, you will be a slave to your desires and you will be kicked around by those in power, by those who want to use you and then throw you away. But if you seek a life of service to your own people, to God’s people, then you will be able to set a clear direction that cuts through the manipulation and false promises of others. Remember Jesus said “He who is greatest is he who serves all.” If you serve a righteous God and you serve your people, you rise above selfishness, self-delusion and self-destruction.
Scripture teaches you not to live in fantasy, saying to yourself or your friends that you are going to go somewhere or try something in the future that will make you rich and famous. Live in the moment with an eye to the future. Construct a foundation in yourself now that you can build on.
Don’t go it alone. Spiritual discipline is important: to study, to pray, to meditate. These things make you strong. Yet you need to bring this strength to a collective of like-minded people who have a common purpose. The miracle of the Kingdom of God, the presence of a mighty spirit that goes through the history of a people, will come to you in your relations and your unity with a group of people committed to serve their people and the cause of righteousness. Choose them carefully – and just as you make a commitment to lift them up - be alert not to be dragged down by those who lose their way. Choose carefully but don’t judge those who are not ready – their time will come.
Spiritual strength comes to those who seek it. Look at church on Sundays as your day with family, the family of families that expresses the tradition of your people. That is a good thing. We need to be united from one generation to the next. But don’t think you are through with your spiritual journey by going to church. Our greatest leaders – like Malcolm or King or Caesar Chavez - practiced their faith every day with times of prayer, meditation and study. Don’t be fooled by religion. Religion often compromises spiritual development to establish itself in the world, corrupting the message of the prophets. Look for the truth that must be lived and renewed each year. Seek the truth that only an honest search will reveal.
You may be young but you can still develop wisdom. Who do you respect among you? Isn’t it the person who shows wisdom, who gives good counsel, whose advice turns out to be correct over and over again? Listen to James, the brother of Jesus. “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
We seek the spiritual ground of righteousness to stand on together. When we seek it and we hold to it, we invite transformation. I know that sometimes it is frustrating. You determine to set your own life on a righteous course. Then you find yourself tempted by old habits. You find that your partner or members of your group fall into self-destructive behavior. You feel like giving up and just letting the world carry you along.
Be patient. The harvest is coming. God will act to make the change in you and in your relationships in due time. Just as the farmer waits patiently on his crop you may not see the change you seek day by day – but if you are determined and patient, the harvest will show that the change was happening all along.
It will come in your own life and it will come in the life of the people of God. Your long struggle for equality and dignity has forced a decision across this nation. You have endured the deportations and separation of families and you have persevered. You have endured being treated as criminals. You have developed a new and powerful unity among people who came from all the nations of Latin America, among those who just came and those who have been here for generations, between those with and those without papers. Those who once rejected you now seek to embrace you - because you are the future. Now the nation must decide between hate and respect for life, between what is old, dying, full of fear - and the new majority that is being born.
We are blessed with a new generation which has taken up the struggles of our people. They have led the way in defending us against the pandemic, buildimg on the 5 plus 1 to get 20 program to test and vaccinate thousands, They have joined with African American youth to confront the police and the system of mass incarceration. They have tapped into the creativity of the arts and murals and poetry and music to reconstruct the message of justice among the people.
Today we salute the next generation for what they have already done and we trust that they will lead us through dark times. We have faith in them.
Next week we begin the seven weeks of this year’s Harvest. Have faith that through you God has been acting to change the hearts of the nation. During this time God asks us to persist in our struggle and to prepare to gather up the fruits of the harvest, to assemble the new seeds for the next year. The struggle did not end with the defeat of Donald Trump; it has only entered a new phase. That is why we are preparing now, gathering the force that will end the wickedness of mass deportation, mass incarceration and the evil forces of white supremacy. Have faith that God is gathering a new generation of fighters that will hold their people in their hearts – on both sides of the border.
Make yourself ready – this year’s harvest time is coming!
The Holy Scriptures for the Seventh Week in Seeking the Kingdom
James 4: 10-12 Humble Yourself Before The Lord
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Matthew 20: 8-16 The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
James 5:7-11 Patience in Suffering
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.