Epiphany #3 - Liberation in Genealogy | @kaleophx
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JANUARY 23, 2022
For the third week of Epiphany, I spoke at Kaleo Phx on Sunday, January 23, 2022. On the weekend of MLK Day, my husband and I had the privilege of having dinner with one of our city’s matriarchs, Linda Morris, and this sermon was inspired by her. Below is a recording from that gathering and a transcript of my message notes.
EPIPHANY #3
“Liberation in Genealogy”
Luke 4:14-21 | Erin Dooley
Last weekend was monumental for me…well all of us. It was our third annual live reading of MLK’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Followed by the MLK March (the next day, Monday) which started at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church and ended right here at Grace Lutheran & Margarett Hance Park.
What makes last weekend so special was not only these events but also being able to finally have dinner with someone I would consider to be one of our city’s Matriarchs, Linda Morris.
”Linda Morris is the outreach director at First Pentecostal Church and a trainer of trainers with the Harvest Foundation. She has been a part of the congregation for over 33 years and leads several initiatives to help the church embody a biblical worldview and reflect Jesus in word and deed. Year-round, Linda trains church members to ‘move from a solely spiritual worldview to a biblical worldview that expresses God’s full agenda and plan for His creation.’”
I first saw Ms. Linda on a Zoom call book club bible study hosted by Kit Danley and our friends from Neighborhood Ministries. The first time I saw her I said to myself, I want to meet her…I want to get to know her. Her soft glow and deep wisdom reminded me so much of my late grandparents. Maybe this could be the start of a meaningful relationship.
Well, that was a year a half ago and we tried to get together a few times but couldn’t quite nail down an exact day. Also, there’s been a whole panorama going on and I think we all can agree we desire to keep our elders as safe as possible.
Well, somehow Kendall worked his magic and got us a date to have dinner with her and her husband on the evening of MLK Day.
I’ll be honest, at first, I was a bit nervous and intimidated to be in the presence of someone who has been doing the work of Jesus in this city for over 30 years. She and her husband shared stories with us about their experiences during the Civil Rights Movement; difficulties they had finding places to live and work because of racial biases; and what it was like for them the day Dr. King was assassinated.
What happened next I can’t fully explain to you except to say that I was swept off my feet by the deep passion and love the Morris’s carry for family history and genealogy. For she said to us…
Cain and Able are prime examples of what is happening today. Cain murdered Able and then was silent about it…but Able’s blood cried out and the truth of what happened spoke from the soil, from the earth, and caught the divine ear of the One who was quiet enough to listen.
Justice was brought to Able even after his death…because the Creator is just and hears and sees all. And in the same way, the blood of Native people and Black slaves is crying out.
Miss Linda reminded me that in our fight for justice, it is not that they SHOULD give us equality equal pay, equal housing, equal job opportunities….they MUST. They owe it to us…because our blood (like Able’s) is in the soil, the railroads, the coal mines, the cities, the crops, the cotton, the rice, the corn…our blood produced all of it. Because in America there would be no land without the Native people and there would be no functioning world without the forced labor of Black slaves.
So reclaiming your story, your history, your genealogy – devoting time to dig up the very stories America wants to cover up is like quieting ourselves enough and tuning our divine ear to hear the stories that will actually liberate us.
For we are a summation of the stories that come before us.
I also find it interesting that it’s not necessarily culturally popular to know about your family’s history and stories. For Black people, we know that most of us are descendants of slaves, but not many of us know where exactly we come from, what family-owned us, or where we were originally from.
When I tell you I was so inspired by this conversation that I went home that night and stayed up until 3:00 am on ancestry.com and gathered what little information I could remember from my parents to begin my own journey of discovering my deep family history.
A FORGOTTEN STORY
While searching, I found out that my family runs deep in the soil of Yalobusha County in Mississippi as farmers and cotton pickers. I haven’t confirmed it yet but old census records give my Grandmother the last name Carr when she was just 2-years-old. I also found out that there were 6-family members that owned slaves in Yalobusha County with the last name Carr. This means that it is possible and highly probable that we are descendants of a slave owner who had relations (more than likely rape) with one of my ancestors — then a slave.
How wild would it be to speak to one of the descendants from the slave owners, have a conversation with them, receive a public apology to our family, and receive reparations for the rest of my living days? Is it probable? I don’t know…but a girl can dream, can’t she?! We need more people that can imagine a society restored. Liberated. Free. What some call…prophetic imagination.
For there is something in me that believes I can see restorative justice between slave owners and slaves…and not just have a conversation…but make things right.
There is something in me – probably divine – that believes my people can see justice.
There is something in me – probably divine – that believes my people can sit at the table with the descendants of slaveholders and break bread with one another.
Not on the basis of overlooked actions. Not on the basis of comfortable, “beat around the bush – I want to say it but don’t want to make you uncomfortable” truth-telling. But on the basis of truth. On the basis of acknowledgment. On the basis of Shalom.
And part of me believes that this is all my ancestors ever wanted all along. To be unbought. Unpurchased. Unwavered in the truth that dignity and identity come from God and no form of oppressive White Supremacy in this county that can take that from them.
There is liberation in genealogy…in history…in story.
OUR PASSAGE TONIGHT IS…
Luke 4:14-21 (NIV)
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
JESUS WAS A LIBERATOR
This passage tells us that Jesus too went back to His roots. He went home to where He came from to declare his story and remind everyone and what His mission really was. Just stood in a synagogue and used his voice to speak on who He was and who He had always been. Voicing of his mission, his purpose, his calling…
In today’s gospel (Luke 4:14-21) Jesus comes to Nazareth, the town where he grew up, to the synagogue where he worshipped, and to people who know him. He reads from the Prophet Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Those words describe the politics of Jesus. Good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free, and declaring God’s favor are the building blocks of Jesus’ politics, his political platform. They are not campaign promises but a present reality, a reality made present in Jesus. “Today,” Jesus says, “this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Those words from Isaiah and Jesus’ comment on them are the first recorded words of Jesus’ public ministry. The words Jesus read from Isaiah are not an exact quotation of Isaiah. Jesus has intentionally and purposefully chosen and arranged particular portions of Isaiah’s text to create a specific message. This message is often described as his inaugural address. Jesus is outlining his politics. He is describing the character of his ministry. He is establishing his priorities and the direction of his work. He is casting his vision for the reordering of relationships – good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free, declaring God’s favor.
From here on out everything Jesus does will be grounded in a politics of good news, release, sight, freedom, and divine favor. His politics is revealed in healing the sick, casting out demons, forgiving sins, feeding the hungry, raising the dead. His politics stands at the center of and is the content of his crucifixion and resurrection.
So let me ask you this. How does the politics of Jesus compare with your own? How does it compare with our Republican, Democratic, and American politics? Good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free, declaring God’s favor. If that’s the politics of Jesus and we claim to be disciples, followers, lovers of Jesus, doesn’t it need to be our politics?
Jesus went home and quoted HISTORY which inside of it was HIS story, mission, and purpose. And those who stood near bore witness to a man who knew his story, spoke the truth, and lived out a liberating mission to be heaven on earth.
THE FILM: SHARED LEGACIES
On Wednesday, Kendall and I went to a showing of a film called, “Shared Legacies: The African American Jewish Civil Rights Alliance.”
In the film an older man was told by someone else that they loved him. He responded with, “Well, do you know what brings me the most pain?”
They replied no. He responded back, “Well, if you don't know what brings me pain, how can you say you love me?”
I can say with great confidence that I have been told numerous of times that I am loved.
But if we are not actively seeking to understand the Black female experience in America…what it is like to be Queer, to be an Immigrant, or Refugee. What it is like to go hungry, or to be poor, or to be without a home…and if we don’t love them from that vantage point…then is it truly love?
Jesus liberates and loves us from the vantage point of our lived experience and that is the invitation for us to join Him in that love…in that mission.
LIBERATION IN GENEALOGY
What Ms. Linda Morris has done for me – that she does not yet even fully know – is introduce me to the liberation that lies deep in the roots of my genealogy.
I come from a long line of enslavement, oppression, trauma, anguish, and survival in the county of Yalobusha, Mississippi.
But there is something in me that desires to keep digging into this truth…because I know that the story doesn’t stop there. Because before my people were enslaved…they were free.
And my identity is not in being enslaved. My identity is in being a descendant of a free people. Loved by God, Children of God.
If you are a descendant of slave owners…remember who your people were before they owned slaves. That they too were Children of God, loved by God. Equal with (not greater than) all of God’s other children…and loved with a love that at its core, is rooted in being an abolitionist. A liberator that desires that all people might experience love and freedom.
But if we keep ignoring our stories…and if we keep ignoring the history…and if we surrender to America’s desire to erase history…we miss out on the painfully difficult but necessary opportunity to liberate each other to who we once were…Children of God…loved by God…practicing the ways of Jesus together.
DR. JOACHIM PRINZ (MARCH ON WASHINGTON)
While watching the film (Shared Legacies) that I mentioned earlier, I was introduced to, for the first time (I had never heard of him) an American Jew named Dr. Joachim Prinz.
I found this to be quite fascinating that this American Jew said these words just before Dr. King came up to speak on the March on Washington. Here is an excerpt:
“It is for these reasons that it is not merely sympathy and compassion for the black people of America that motivates us. It is above all and beyond all such sympathies and emotions a sense of complete identification and solidarity born of our own painful historic experience.
When I was the rabbi of the Jewish community in Berlin under the Hitler regime, I learned many things. The most important thing that I learned under those tragic circumstances was that bigotry and hatred are not '.the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence.
A great people which had created a great civilization had become a nation of silent onlookers. They remained silent in the face of hate, in the face of brutality and in the face of mass murder.
America must not become a nation of onlookers. America must not remain silent. Not merely black America , but all of America . It must speak up and act…”
JESUS WAS AN ABOLITIONIST
What is an abolitionist?
A person who favors the abolition or abolishment of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or slavery. In simple terms, an abolitionist is one who wants to abolish anything that oppresses people.
If you are not an abolitionist your silence in the presence of my oppressor is a whispered invitation back into enslavement.
It is not too much to ask to be surrounded by abolitionists.
It is not too much to ask to be surrounded by people who are for your freedom.
It is not too much to ask to be surrounded by people who accept you fully as you are…who love you from the vantage point of your lived experience.
Who are for the peace and Shalom of your city and the holistic health of your well being.
It is not too much to ask…in fact…I would argue it is necessary…and it is BIBLICAL.
Jesus was an abolitionist.
Jesus is for your freedom.
Jesus accepts you fully as you are…and loves you from the vantage point of your lived experience.
Jesus is for the peace and Shalom of your city and the holistic health of your well being.
Jesus is and has always been for the freedom of all people.
Jesus is and has always been for the equality of all people.
Jesus is and has always been for the abolishment of anything that oppresses the marginalized under the power of Empire.
(INVITE THE BAND TO COME UP)
Just be still for a moment let Jesus speak to your heart and then I’ll lead us into a prayer practice together.
Imagine being with Jesus.
Surrounded by books.
Many books.
Each book is a story of your history, your genealogy.
Jesus begins to read with you stories of who you are and where you come from.
Some of the stories are inspirational. Some of the stories are happy. Some are difficult and sad. But Jesus is present with you in every word, in every memory, in every historical fact.
Then Jesus pulls out a book about you and your life.
What does Jesus want you to know about your life?
As you continue to sit with Jesus you see him turn the page and the page is blank. Symbolic of this present moment and rest of the days to come.
What does Jesus want you to do?
Sit with him in this moment…let Him speak to your heart.
Remember that you are loved…and you are a child of God.
ENDNOTES
More on Linda Morris: https://disciplenations.org/happens-american-church-walks-obedience-god/
More on Yalobusha county, MS: https://mscivilrightsproject.org/county/yalobusha-county/yalobusha/
The Politics of Jesus by Fr. Mike K. Marsh: https://interruptingthesilence.com/2016/01/25/the-politics-of-jesus-a-sermon-on-luke-414-21/
Film, Shared Legacies: The African American Jewish Civil Right Alliance: https://www.ajff.org/film/shared-legacies-african-american-jewish-civil-rights-alliance
Dr. Joachim Prinz’s speech on the March on Washington: http://www.joachimprinz.com/civilrights.htm