Return to Beauty | @kaleophx
Illustration Black fetus in womb by Chidiebere Ibe
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September 18, 2022
Over the next several weeks of Ordinary Time, we are preaching from selected homilies by Archbishop Oscar Romero out of his book, "The Violence of Love." These selections from the sermons and writings share the message of a great holy prophet of modern times.
In this sermon, we’re in Psalm 146:5-10 and covering portions of his homily from December 11, 1977.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
With that being said, I’d like to once again begin with a land acknowledgment to honor the Native people that existed here before us. This land we dwell upon today (Grace Lutheran Church in downtown Phoenix) is the ancestral land of the Tohono O’odham (Thaw-naw-Awe-Thumb) Nation. We acknowledge their historical roots in this place and the many generations who were stewards of this land before it was stolen from them.
Let’s have a moment of silence to honor the Native people and their history.
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THE VIOLENCE OF LOVE
You may have heard that these next several weeks leading up to the season of Advent, we are preaching from selected homilies by Archbishop Oscar Romero out of his book, "The Violence of Love." which is a collection of bite-sized homilies organized by theme.
Tonight we’ll be in the chapter theme “A History of Salvation” and reading a homily from December 11, 1977. But before we get there, let me brief you a bit more about Oscar Romero.
HISTORY OF OSCAR ROMERO
Oscar Romero was the Archbishop of San Salvador from 1977 until he was assassinated in 1980. He was initially regarded as a conservative choice as archbishop, but he became increasingly outspoken about human rights…after the murder of his close friend in March 1977.
A month before he was assassinated, Romero wrote to President Jimmy Carter urging the US to stop backing the Salvadoran government and supplying it with arms and military advisers. And on the day before his assassination, he urged soldiers and police not to follow orders to kill civilians, and stop the repression:
"The peasants you kill are your own brothers and sisters," he preached. "When you hear a man telling you to kill, remember God's words, 'Thou shalt not kill’. In the name of God, and in the name of this suffering people, whose laments rise to heaven each day more tumultuous, I beg you, I beseech you, I order you in the name of God: stop the repression!”
ON DECEMBER 11, 1977
9 months after his dear friend was murdered, Oscar Romero’s lectionary passage was…
Psalm 146:5-10
God lifts up those bowed down
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!
As Oscar Romero reflected on this passage, and the state of the people of El Salvador, he wrote this – a portion of his homily on December 11, 1977.
What beautiful coffee groves, what fine cane and cotton fields, what Farms, What lands God has given us! Nature is so beautiful. But we see it groan under oppression, under wickedness, under injustice, under abuse, and the church feels its pain.
Nature looks for a Liberation that will not be mere material well-being
but God’s act of power. God will free nature from sinful human hands and along with the redeemed It will sing A Hymn of joy to God the Liberator.
One day, on my FOR YOU TIK TOK page this video popped up by Indigo Bruno talking about the science of earth as a living entity. I thought it was interesting how he pieced it together so I want to read you a portion of it.
I want you to listen to this in light of Psalm 146 and Oscar Romero’s homily – and how he connects the liberation of both earth and humanity:
THE GROANING OF NATURE
“...Some scientists actually believe planet Earth is a living being. In the 1970s James Lovelock discovered that Earth behaves much like any other living entity. He discovered that in the same way our body maintains homeostasis through its cells and organs, the Earth maintains homeostasis through its organisms and environment. Basically, in the same way that your body tries to keep itself alive through its internal processes, the Earth also tries to keep itself alive through its own internal processes.
This means that the Earth is actually a living organism that we are a part of it like cells inside our body. (Although this concept is not new to Indigenous people) Lovelock later called this idea the Gaia Theory.
Which states that every living creature is not just on the earth, it IS the Earth. Every living thing is the life the breath and the consciousness of the planet including ourselves.
Now I know what you're thinking… if the Earth is a living organism made up of many other living organisms which work together to create greater Harmony and balance, then why is our Earth such a mess? Well logically, it's because something has fallen out of the natural…balance of the greater whole.
The ancient people knew that we were one organism one interconnected web of life and that whatever we did to nature or the web we also did to ourselves.
Modern humans tend to forget that because we don't see ourselves as part of nature. If we want to save the planet we must first remember that we ourselves are the planet.
And then like our ancestors did and like all the other organisms on the planet do we must find ways to remain in natural…balance and in harmony with (ourselves and the world around us).”
One Native American proverb says, “Regard Heaven as your father, Earth as your Mother and all things as your Brothers and Sisters.”
SYMPATHY VS. EMPATHY
Earlier this week I was invited by my mentor to attend an online Bible study facilitated by a Black female new testament scholar, Dr. Raquel Lettsome.
She was talking to us about the difference between sympathy and empathy and the way that Jesus cares for people embodied in the biblical Greek word: (σπλαγχνίζομαι / feel compassion) splagchnizomai. splock-neezo-mi.
This word literally means to be moved so deeply by something that you feel it in the pit of your stomach. It is a visceral gut reaction that requires the participation of your whole body.
She was talking about this word in light of how Jesus was moved with compassion to care for others.
Sympathy is how I feel about you.
Empathy is how you feel.
Sympathy can mean that I've gained an understanding of how another feels but it can also have an air of condescension (or pity) and drives separateness. “You're over there feeling that way and I'm over here.”
Empathy however is about feeling with and centering how someone else feels.
Empathy carries a willingness to enter the story from the perspective of another. To place yourself on equal footing without judgment. "It drives connection. It says that, 'We are right here feeling this way...together.'"
If sympathy and empathy were trying to help someone out of a dark hole in the ground, sympathy would look down from the top of the hole and say, “Are you okay down there? Do you need anything? I’m so sorry that this is your fate in life.”
Empathy on the other hand would throw a rope down the hole, not to beckon one to climb out but lower itself down and climb into the black hole and be with them. And from that place of shared experience liberate them both when ready.
Both sympathy and empathy are good things and I do not mean to in any way shame you into feeling that you must have empathy over sympathy. Both are good.
But I simply mean to give you a picture of what Jesus does for us when He is moved with compassion for those whose backs are against the wall.
JESUS’ ACT OF EMPATHY
Jesus didn’t just figuratively stay up in heaven and look down upon mankind and say, “Are you guys okay? I see there’s a lot of violence happening down there? Are you okay? Do you need anything? Can I send something down for you to relieve you of your pain?”
Jesus came down to where we are. He put himself in the black hole to sit with us in the darkness of despair.
He came close and joined us and from that place of proximity…closeness…togetherness…He liberated us. From that place, Jesus spoke and lived by a new way – a way of love. He invited those who followed Him to prophetically imagine liberation as a result of empathetic love.
RETURN TO BEAUTY
What Oscar Romero had hoped for the Salvadorian people is that those in power would see and understand that, like the earth, we are one people and belong to one another. And like Jesus, have empathy for our country’s most vulnerable (the poor).
Romero wanted his listeners to see that as God’s good creation we are responsible for our neighbors. So, to bring harm to someone else is actually bringing harm to ourselves.
His constant call for rulers of government to end the violence was a cry to go back to the beginning and remember what God intended for all of creation the moment he spoke life into existence.
Remember, that Genesis was written by Moses who God used to liberate the Children of Israel from the oppressive rule of the Egyptians. The very first thing Moses writes for God’s people after a divine act of liberation was a call to return to our original beauty and purpose.
That we are God’s creation and should act in harmony with one another and the earth around us.
AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
Romero’s reflection of God’s good creation groaning under oppression is a call that beckons us to resist the things that oppress and rob us of life…and step into acts of love that liberate.
Our bodies tell a story when it resists disease by fighting against dangerous chemicals, pathogens, and cell alterations that might make us sick.
Creation tells a story when it resists greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel burning, and nonrenewable energy through the increase of natural disasters.
And we tell a story when we resist oppression…and stand up to abusive power…and use creative justice to tear down systems that oppress…we are using force – the great force of love…in an act of non-violence…we resist violence by beckoning all of creation back to its original beauty and intent.
Return to beauty!!
Return to love!!
This is the violence of love that flushes out diseases and restores health and harmony in all things.
IT TOOK 29 YEARS
29 years after the assassination of Oscar Romero, March 15, 2009, the new president of El Salvador announced that his government would be inspired by Romero and the "option for the poor" (choosing to put the most vulnerable people first). 29 years after Oscar Romero was assassinated.
SLOW AND STEADY
What this communicates to me is that the development of flourishing community is slow and steady. So slow, at times you may feel like nothing’s happening. So slow, you may pass on and never see the fruit of your labor in its entirety.
The ways of Jesus that Oscar Romero preached and practiced were resilient enough to withstand “natural disasters.” Tiny, like seeds, but powerful enough to influence the new government 29 years later. Seemingly insignificant, but non-violently violent enough to correct a spiritual imbalance in society.
Communally, we must understand that the ways of Jesus we hold dear…are the very things that will save the lives of those who believe…and the lives of those who doubt. We may not see the earth’s complete restoration in our life-time. Oscar Romero didn’t…but be not discouraged.
For Psalm 146 reminds us…
Our hope is in the Lord our God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The Lord’s way of love will reign forever…
Even if we don’t live to see it…His love will reign
for all generations.
Praise…the name…of Lord!