July 5, 2020
Wisdom and Courage
- Jeremiah 29:1-7
- Rev. Carol McDonald
Focus Hymn: “God of Grace and God of Glory”
Let’s deal with the hard stuff first. This is July 4th weekend, our annual observance of red, white, and blue, fireworks delighting young and old alike, yet scaring all the animals in the neighborhood, flags flying vigorously in celebration of independence and freedom. I’ll be honest – the 4th of July feels different this year. We’re deep into a re-escalating pandemic never experienced in our lifetime. We’re embroiled in a season of politics reminiscent of 1968 – which many of us do remember. The tensions in our city, our country, and around the world make us nervous, fearful, and insecure. July 4th weekend, 2020, is complicated and complex. It has occurred to me over and over again in recent weeks, that it is time for us as Christians, and as a church, to rethink and reclaim what it means, truly, to be, or become, a political people.
Stay with me, here – it’s still hard stuff. I don’t mean “politics” as we see it spewing around us – on television, social media, and in heated exchanges of diverse opinion. I want us to think about the word “political’ with its root word from the Greek – “Polis” meaning “city” or, sometimes expressed as, “body.” Political is an adjective that describes the way people living together make decisions – agreements between and among people so they can live together as communities, cities, countries. To be political is to care about how people can live together equitably and fairly and safely.
Preeminent Christian Educator, Maria Harris, in her pivotal book Fashion Me a People, suggests the church is called to be a political people – called in baptism to the vocation of designing ways of being together that enhance the proclamation of the gospel and empower the living out of the gospel in the world. As baptized disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to challenge not only the church, but also the institutions and systems around us to enable and empower the life on this planet.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is political. Jesus was political. Everything he said and did throughout his ministry was an encouragement, a challenge, a summons to care about how people can live together in community. By commanding us to “love our neighbors as ourselves,” Jesus challenges us to be a political people.
The prophet Jeremiah reminds us that being political people is not easy. The Israelites are living in exile. They’re shocked and terrified – their condition might go on forever. Has the world as they’ve known it come to an end? In the midst of their turmoil, Jeremiah sends a pastoral letter … a kind of “bad news gram.” Guess what, exiled friends, you’re not going anywhere!
Plan on staying in Babylon for the foreseeable future, Jeremiah says. Build homes and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce, settle down, get married, have children, and watch your children get married. Enjoy your grandchildren.
Then comes the hard stuff – the zinger -- of Jeremiah’s letter in verse 7 – “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” – seek the welfare of those who have conquered you … your futures are inextricably bound up together. You’re exhausted and shattered, but now you must be political, Jeremiah is telling his people – you must seek ways to live together in community with those with whom you disagree, those you see as your enemies and those who have changed your lives forever. For in the city where you find yourself, and among those with whom you are living, you will find your welfare – you will find your future, even a future with hope.
Our focus hymn for this Sunday was written by Harry Emerson Fosdick. Ordained by the American Baptists, Fosdick served both American Baptist and Presbyterian churches in New York City. In 1930, he was called to pastor The Riverside Church, an ecumenical community funded by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in the Morningside Heights neighborhood overlooking the Hudson River. Fosdick wrote “God of Grace and God of Glory” in the summer of 1930. The text took shape as he reflected on the construction of the magnificent new building, as he pondered the events shaping the “hour” and the “days” of the hymn’s context. The hymn was written while the United States was in the throes of the Great Depression between the two World Wars. Fosdick was a champion of the social gospel, a movement that recognized the plight of the poor, especially in the urban Northeast during the Industrial Revolution. “God of Grace and God of Glory” was first sung as the processional hymn at the opening service of The Riverside Church on October 5, 1930, and again at the dedication of the church on February 8, 1931. When it was suggested to Fosdick that he must be very proud of such a grand and glorious church, he reportedly replied, “It remains to be seen just how grand and glorious this church will be.” I hear that as Fosdick’s political hope for The Riverside Church – a future of working in and with the City of New York to create a fair and equitable and safe life for all – a place where ALL would be welcome.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the facing of this hour.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the living of these days.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
lest we miss thy kingdom’s goal.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
serving thee, whom we adore.
Now comes the really hard stuff! What does it mean for us, as Christians, as Presbyterians, as members of this congregation, to claim our vocation as a political people – as those called to seek the welfare of our city, our country, our world? I can tell you what it means for me. It means staying continually aware of the reality in which I live – in a city with the highest rate of housing evictions in the nation … a city ranked in the nation’s top 20 for death by gun violence … a city where over 200,000 residents live in food deserts … a country with the largest number of incarcerated individuals in the world … a country with the world’s most reported cases and largest number of deaths from COVID-19 … a country with racist structures so deeply imbedded that we claim to be colorblind … a world ravaged by drought and storm and climate change … a world where nations seem more and more determined to stand alone rather than collaborating and cooperating to address global issues.
Jeremiah’s words have hit me especially hard this July 4th weekend … for noticing and acknowledging the reality around me is simply not enough. Jeremiah’s directive and the challenge of the gospel of Jesus Christ demand that I do any small thing in my political power to seek the welfare of the places and people where and with whom I find myself. I am determined to pray … to speak up … to seek and share resources … to ask questions … to convene conversations … to learn … to speak up … to pray … I. Am. Determined.
What about you? What calls to you from Jeremiah’s words? What is the gospel demanding of you this day? And how will you respond?
May this be our prayer:
“Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
… for the facing of this hour …
… for the living of these days …
Grant us wisdom, grant our courage
… lest we miss thy kingdom’s goal …
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
… serving thee whom we adore.”
May it be so. And to God be the glory.
Resources:
Fashion Me a People: Curriculum in the Church by Maria Harris.
Working Preacher.com – commentary on Jeremiah 29: 1, 4-7 by Wil Gafney.
Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church – History of Hymns.
Anecdotal story about Harry Emerson Fosdick – from David L. McDon