Sermons from Park Hill Congregational UCC Denver, Colorado Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] May 10, 2020 “The Economy, Freedom, and Whiteness: Worthless Idols” Psalm 31 – Common English Bible See the whole Psalm at the end I take refuge in you, Lord. Please never let me be put to shame. Rescue me by your righteousness! 2 Listen closely to me! Deliver me quickly; be a rock that protects me; be a strong fortress that saves me! 3 You are definitely my rock and my fortress. Guide me and lead me for the sake of your good name! 4 Get me out of this net that’s been set for me because you are my protective fortress. 5 I entrust my spirit into your hands; you, Lord, God of faithfulness-- you have saved me. 15 My future is in your hands. Don’t hand me over to my enemies, to all who are out to get me! 16 Shine your face on your servant; save me by your faithful love! That’s nice. No disrespect meant for the Word of God, but after reading that scripture passage, my response is “That’s nice.” The lectionary committee did a good job of choosing a nice easy psalm for the 5th Sunday after Easter in Year A. They’re the group decades ago, across a wide array of denominations, who decided our 3-year cycle of readings – always a gospel reading, always a New Testament Letter, always an Old Testament (or Hebrew Scripture) reading, and always a Psalm. Psalm 31 for today is nice. But they chose the absolute least interesting part of the Psalm. We heard verses one through five before it skips to verse 15. I guess they skipped over verse 6 because it isn’t very nice. It says, “I hate.” “I hate those who embrace what is completely worthless.” That’s not nice. But, if we’re honest, that’s real. How many times a day in Trump’s America is that the God-honest truth. This Psalm attributed to King David sounds bleak: 11 I’m a joke to all my enemies, I scare my friends, and whoever sees me in the street runs away! 12 I am forgotten, like I’m dead, completely out of mind; I am like a piece of pottery, [broken and] destroyed. We could say, “Well, he doesn’t really hate. He’s just depressed.” In fact, in verse 9 he actually said, “Have mercy on me, Lord, because I’m depressed. My vision fails because of my grief,” We could say, he’s just depressed. Or, “He doesn’t really hate people. He just hates what people are doing. Or what they stand for. Or something like that. That’s what you should hate.” But why must we insist on controlling what people feel? I’m totally guilty of that. Just this week I told someone, “You don’t hate so and so. You really just hate what they are doing to everything you hold dear.” …I apologize for diminishing your grief. If what you feel is hate, you can feel what you feel because whether or not it’s nice, it’s real. And if someone says, “That’s not very Christian of you,” you can reply, “I’m just quoting the Bible. Psalm 31, verse 6, ‘I hate those who embrace what is completely worthless.’” Of course, then we must ask, what is worthless? Eugene Peterson often makes things really simple. His translation in The Message is, “I hate all this silly religion.” Silly, yes, but the truth is, more than silly, there’s a lot of dangerous religion out there. For example, preachers willing to endanger congregants, telling them to trust in the healing power of God and downplaying the power of the virus to kill. And spread. And spread. Psalm 31 has something to say in response, in verses 17 and 18, which the lectionary committee also left out. Maybe because it’s also not very nice: Let the wicked be put to shame; Let their lying lips be shut up whenever they speak arrogantly against the righteous with pride and contempt! Or, as The Message simplifies it: “Gag those loudmouthed liars. Sometimes the Psalms are like mood swings, just like Psalm 31 which is not afraid to name hate and depression, but also swings with us between hate and love, depression and trust. Back to the question of what is worthless. Eugene Peterson speaks of silly religion. The New Revised Standard Version speaks of worthless idols. As long as we don’t limit idols to little statues or golden calves, thinking in terms of worthless idols might actually help us make sense of our world. What are some obvious worthless idols right now? How about the economy, freedom, and whiteness? Earlier this week, the president pleaded for Americans to think of themselves as ‘warriors’ in his bid to ‘reopen’ the country. (Militarism is another one of those idols.) Like war, he said, there will be more deaths. But those deaths are justified for the sake of The Economy. Rev. Graham Ashcroft from Pray the Resistance said, “Let that sink in. Trump is not debating that because of relaxed social distancing an estimated 134,000 people will die by August. He’s not denying it. He’s justifying those deaths as a sacrifice for The Economy.”[1] A train conductor agrees. Sujatha Gidra wrote in the New York Times this week that she isn’t an essential worker. She’s a sacrificial worker.[2] She’s had a hundred fellow co-workers in the New York transit system die “in the line of duty.” Sacrificial, just like all those meat packing workers. We don’t have enough swabs for testing but by God, speed up the chicken nuggets. Sacrificial, like restaurant servers in Texas told they can’t wear masks because it would frighten customers. Risk your health or lose your right to unemployment. Rev. Ashcroft asked, “Why would Trump take this risk? Because he believes white [Christian] America will buy it.” It’s strategic. He is trying to “normalize further catastrophic death because he now knows most of that death will not be white.” Yes, the evidence proves that white America is not experiencing COVID at the same level as people of color. You know who else knows it? The anti-maskers. Those mobs of gun toting “freedom for me, not you” know it. Someone said this week that the old KKK didn’t mind wearing masks. Why not their children? Busy throwing tantrums, vandalizing the health department, threatening public health workers with “civil war”? For those who don’t live in Colorado, that’s been our reality this week.[3] Rev. Ashcroft concluded, “Trump has reasoned that white Christians didn’t have a problem when enslaved black people died to build the economy. Why not let black and brown people die of COVID to reopen it?”[4] “I hate those who embrace what is completely worthless.” It’s OK, though. The Bible tells me so. Verse 6 of Psalm 31. We can hate “worthless idols.” Or silly religion. But let’s make sure we understand. This is not an excuse to hate. It’s not a rationale for hatred. This is not a virtue, or a way of life dedicated to hate. This is a sane reaction to the insanity of living in Trump’s America. And then we breathe. To be clear, I don’t hate the economy, freedom, or being white. But they are worthless idols. Compare them to protecting life, public heath, and our gloriously rich shared humanity. Pursuing those things are what give value to our life. That’s what brings worth to the world. That’s what I hope for. I hope for vibrant life and health for our whole human family. The God-honest truth is that not all of the emotions we feel every day are nice. I appreciate that Psalm 31 doesn’t judge us. It simply allows us name hate as an understandable emotion. A sane reaction to the insanity. But again, hate is not a virtue nor an excuse and not a rationale for more. It doesn’t lead to actions of hatred or justify vigilantism. I don’t have enough time to express my rage over the death of Ahmaud Arbery – killed because of that worthless idol of whiteness by “freedom loving” cowards – and covered up by a state built on the backs of slaves. Because whiteness doesn’t allow for jogging without suspicion.
This fills me with so much grief. The Psalmist said, “I hate those who embrace what is completely worthless.” And then, in the same verse, said “I myself trust the Lord.” What? In the same verse, he said, I hate and I trust. And then continues, “I rejoice and celebrate in your faithful love.” Before going back to depression and gagging loudmouthed liars. Feel confused? That’s grief. I understand. Competing and complex emotions. But naming a feeling isn’t the same as embracing that feeling. Again, in the same verse the Psalmist spoke of both hate and trust and went on to choose love. “I rejoice and celebrate in your faithful love.” I feel pity for those who embrace false idols. Bigots and narcissists are a pitiful bunch. But I don’t want to join their pity party. Will you join me to choose the worth of human lives and a greater purpose to protect lives? (Say yes) Will you join me to choose love for the Common Good and joy in public health? (Say yes) Will you join me to revel and celebrate our gloriously rich shared humanity – of every nation, every race, every language, every… everything. (Say yes) And bring worth to the world. I trust that light will defeat the shadows. Goodness will defeat evil. Love will defeat hate. (Yes?) The very last line of Psalm 31 is “Be strong and let your heart take courage.” Amen Psalm 31 in full: I take refuge in you, Lord. Please never let me be put to shame. Rescue me by your righteousness! 2 Listen closely to me! Deliver me quickly; be a rock that protects me; be a strong fortress that saves me! 3 You are definitely my rock and my fortress. Guide me and lead me for the sake of your good name! 4 Get me out of this net that’s been set for me because you are my protective fortress. 5 I entrust my spirit into your hands; you, Lord, God of faithfulness-- you have saved me. 6 I hate those who embrace what is completely worthless. I myself trust the Lord. 7 I rejoice and celebrate in your faithful love because you saw my suffering-- you were intimately acquainted with my deep distress. 8 You didn’t hand me over to the enemy, but set my feet in wide-open spaces. 9 Have mercy on me, Lord, because I’m depressed. My vision fails because of my grief, as do my spirit and my body. 10 My life is consumed with sadness; my years are consumed with groaning. Strength fails me because of my suffering; my bones dry up. 11 I’m a joke to all my enemies, still worse to my neighbors. I scare my friends, and whoever sees me in the street runs away! 12 I am forgotten, like I’m dead, completely out of mind; I am like a piece of pottery, destroyed. 13 Yes, I’ve heard all the gossiping, terror all around; so many gang up together against me, they plan to take my life! 14 But me? I trust you, Lord! I affirm, “You are my God.” 15 My future is in your hands. Don’t hand me over to my enemies, to all who are out to get me! 16 Shine your face on your servant; save me by your faithful love! 17 Lord, don’t let me be put to shame because I have cried out to you. Let the wicked be put to shame; let them be silenced in death’s domain! 18 Let their lying lips be shut up whenever they speak arrogantly against the righteous with pride and contempt! 19 How great is the goodness that you’ve reserved for those who honor you, that you commit to those who take refuge in you-- in the sight of everyone! 20 You hide them in the shelter of your wings, safe from human scheming. You conceal them in a shelter, safe from accusing tongues. 21 Bless the Lord, because he has wondrously revealed his faithful love to me when I was like a city under siege! 22 When I was panicked, I said, “I’m cut off from your eyes!” But you heard my request for mercy when I cried out to you for help. 23 All you who are faithful, love the Lord! The Lord protects those who are loyal, but he pays the proud back to the fullest degree. 24 All you who wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage. [1] https://mailchi.mp/30436f4885fd/knowing-black-americans-will-suffer-the-most-trump-tries-to-militarize-the-pandemic?e=ea7850c69f [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/opinion/coronavirus-nyc-subway.html [3] https://www.denverpost.com/2020/05/06/tri-county-health-threat-coronavirus-covid/ [4] Ashcroft
1 Comment
Judith Mitchell
5/11/2020 12:36:05 pm
Wow. This was a very hard one to experience. Truth to power. Thank you for stimulating this painful awareness. What do we do now? Love and gratitude. Your Sister.
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