Worship
for the Lord’s Day
June 7,
2020
A Note
before we begin this day’s worship:
My heart has been heavy this week. Just laying it out there so that you know and
understand where some of today’s message may come from.
This
month, I’ll will be featuring the gifts and talents of Black artists for the
weekly Anthem, particularly Negro Spirituals.
This week it is one of my favorite female acapella groups, Sweet Honey
in the Rock singing Wade in the Water.
Next week, Hold On by a trio of talented young black men called Dem
Singers. The God Who Sees on June
21 is a departure from the slavery-era inspired hymns, but is sung by an
amazing black female artist and tells an incredible story through the biblical
narrative. And finally, the last Sunday in June we’ll hear The Fisk Jubilee
Singers, sing Steal Away.
Although I’ll give respectful tribute
to the underlying and hidden meanings of each of the negro spirituals, I’ll
also be using the songs in the sermon message, outside the bounds of those
hidden meanings. I don’t want to be accused
of misappropriation, so I’m trying to make it clear that these songs were
written by slaves in order to teach their children, to undermine their owners,
often to help them escape to freedom, and to subjugate their own experiences at
the hands of a cruel system. In the 20th
and 21st Century, having predominantly grown up in the 80’s, it is
unfathomable to me that slavery EVER existed – let alone the treatment blacks
received at the hand of their owners.
However, we still participate, both overtly and covertly, in the current
treatment of Black Americans.
I
bring this up now in light of where we are today in America and will talk about
it all month long because we, as white folk, can do better. We MUST do better.
Let’s
begin:
Opening
Prayer
Lord,
we come to celebrate the great good news of Your love from the joy at creation
to the commandment given to Your disciples to go forth into the world. Let this love be wrapped in justice and peace
for all. AMEN.
Prayer
of Confession
Holy
and merciful God, in perfection You created the earth, fixed the course of the
sun and seasons, and populated the earth with plants, fish, birds, and animals
to live in an intricate, balanced web of life. In perfection, You created us in Your own image
and gave us the responsibility to care for the world and one another. We confess that we have failed to live up to
our responsibilities. We pray Your
forgiveness and beg that You would create a right heart and mind within us,
that we may consume according to our need instead of our want and that we may
begin to heal Your creation from human injury. We confess this day, O merciful God, that we
have not always acted in just ways nor sought justice for our friends and
neighbors. We have found it easy to turn
our backs on problems rather than seeking to be a solution to them. We have given only sporadic attention to the
cause of justice, particularly for our black sisters and brothers. Forgive us, Lord. Heal our selfishness and brokenness. Cause us to be witnesses to Your great love as
shown to us in Jesus Christ. AMEN
Words
of Assurance
This
is the good news: Christ died for us that we might have life. We are called to give our lives to ministries
of justice. God is with us in this and
all righteous endeavors. Thanks be to
God. AMEN
Affirmation
of Faith – The Apostles’ Creed
I believe
in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His
only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the Virgin
Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He
descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended
into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence
He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of
saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life
everlasting. Amen.
Pastoral
Prayer
God of Love and Mercy, You have given
us stewardship to care for this wonderful planet and to care for our neighbors.
We have been blessed with a variety of
gifts and talents and You call us to use them to help others. Open our hearts today to ministries of peace
with justice. Embolden us to become part
of this great cloud of witnesses who were unafraid to be Your disciples. We think of so many in our lives who have gone
before us, braving the difficulties presented by life. We name them in our hearts before You,
grateful for their lives.
Name
those who have cared for and nurtured you and have gone to the Church
Triumphant.
Name
those who have been in the news lately, having lost their lives simply for
being black, brown and people of color.
We also
name in our hearts those people who are ill, who mourn, who feel lost and
alone, those who are part of cultures of oppression and indignity. Help us to be those people who, by our
example, break the chains of poverty and burst the doors that imprison their
spirits. Be with the church that it may
be a true witness to Jesus Christ in all that we do.….
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, forever.
AMEN.
Scripture
Readings
Old
Testament: Genesis
1:1-2:4
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the
earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of
the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
3Then God said, “Let there be
light”; and there was light. 4And God
saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the
darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And
there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6And God said, “Let there be a
dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the
waters.” 7So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under
the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8God
called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second
day.
9And God said, “Let the waters
under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.”
And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered
together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11Then
God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit
trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was
so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of
every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God
saw that it was good. 13And
there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14And God said, “Let there be
lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them
be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15and let
them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was
so. 16God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day
and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17God set
them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18to rule
over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.
And God saw that it was good. 19And
there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20And God said, “Let the waters
bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth
across the dome of the sky.” 21So God
created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every
kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God
saw that it was good. 22God
blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the
seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And
there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24And God said, “Let the earth
bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild
animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. 25God
made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind,
and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it
was good.
26Then God said, “Let us make
humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creeps upon the earth.” 27So God
created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and
female he created them. 28God
blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
29God said, “See, I have given
you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every
tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30And to
every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that
creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every
green plant for food.” And it was so.
31God saw everything that he had
made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was
morning, the sixth day.
2Thus
the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2And on
the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the
seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3So God
blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the
work that he had done in creation.
4These are the generations of
the heavens and the earth when they were created.
New
Testament: Matthew
28:16-20
16Now the eleven disciples
went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some
doubted. 18And Jesus came
and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me. 19Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching
them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you
always, to the end of the age.”
Sermon – Wade in the Water
(based on Genesis 1:1-2:4, Matthew 28:16-20)
This morning’s sermon is part of a
month long series on African American spirituals, born out of the slavery era. Along the way, we’ll discuss some extremely
uncomfortable moments of history regarding slavery. We’ll also discover what the Bible has to say
about oppression, freedom and liberation. The purpose of this sermon series is to give
voice to those long-silenced, to wake our sensitivities to the plight of people
of color even in the 21st Century, and to gain a broader and deeper understanding
of the God of scripture we read about every Sunday, if not daily, in our own personal
devotions.
The account of Creation and the call
to Christ’s followers to spread the good news to make disciples of all nations
may seem like an odd choice for the beginning of this sermon series, but I’m
hoping that you’ll see today’s connections as we go.
First, a little bit about the history
of the African Slave and their music, often referred to as Negro Spirituals. On August 13, 1619, (now over 400 years ago) the
first group of 20 plus Africans set foot on the American soil of Virginia. They arrived on a Pirate ship called the
White Lion, having been seized or captured from their homes in present day Angola
from a slave ship called the Sao Joao Bautista bound for Mexico by the Portuguese.
Slaves had been traded across the Mediterranean
for centuries, but enslavement had never been based on race or skin color. The arrival of Africans to the Americas
changed all that with a system of slavery that became commercialized,
racialized and inherited. Enslaved
people were seen only as commodities to be bought, sold and exploited. They were not seen as people, or even human,
but sub-human. Over the years, many more
would arrive in America to be put to work in the fields or raised to serve in
the large plantation homes of the south.
Slaves came from a number of African
nations, all speaking different languages.
Although they were not permitted to learn to read or write, they quickly
adopted the spoken language of their captors in order to communicate with one another
and to understand the instructions of their masters.
Some preachers encouraged slave owners to allow
their slaves to attend worship services — though only in separate gatherings
led by white proslavery preachers. They
had to be seated in the back or the balcony of a segregated church. Those men of God argued that the sermons on
the injunction in Ephesians and Colossians, “slaves, obey your earthly master,”
would promote docility among enslaved workers.
Washington’s Museum of the Bible displays a “slave
bible” published in 1807, which removed portions of Scripture including
the Exodus story that could inspire rebellious thinking.
Some ministers promoted the idea that Africans
were the descendants of Ham, cursed in the book of Genesis, and thus their
enslavement was fitting. There’s no
historical record of any seriousness to back it up. It’s made up for the sole purpose of
justifying slavery.
Not taught to read or write, these Africans
learned the word of God by hearing. They often
memorized scripture and discerned its meaning upon first reading. But in their own traditional style, they added
flesh to the word, made it into song, always strengthening the influence
of divine power on the living because god was personal and to know his power
you had to relate to him. From the old
days, in the myths and folktales that observed the ways of people and animals,
the story telling in song, of the poetry of natural symbols, was right up their
alley. The idea of a god who entered the
world and stirred things up, the power of a god to conquer death, change form,
and make round trips between heaven and earth while still being divine, and
then leaving behind a little of that spirit for everybody, who was also a god
whose light and mercy and love were present in the midst of trouble, was one to
whom they could relate.
On close listening, this was a god who not only
saved and protected, who made the wish for the immortal eternal, but one who
returned faith and courage, provided strength for the journey, and made his own
kind of trouble.
The Africans immediately took a liking to what
they heard about Jesus, a god-in-the-flesh, not far removed from their own
ideas about how god intervenes in the world and assists and is known within the
affairs of the community. They admired
that he was a rebel; if there was something to do, he did it. If it were right, he didn’t worry about pleasing
anybody. They liked how he was soft
spoken and took time for everyone, no matter their condition.
The Africans knew that in this world god might
not cure everyone, but he poured out simple gifts. He touched enough souls and changed enough
lives for all to have faith in him as a sense of hope, and to remember his
promise of big things to come.
Now let’s get to our scripture lessons this
morning and to the spiritual, Wade in the Water. There are many references to water in the scriptures. Our Old Testament reading this morning speaks
of the ruah of God – another name for the Holy Wind, Breath or Spirit of
God – which swept over the face of the waters.
And creation was born. The Holy
Breath of God stirred the waters of creation, took chaos and made order out of
it. There’s a similar reference to this
stirring of the waters in the Gospel of John chapter 5 - 2Now
in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, (Bethesda)
which has five porticoes. 3In these lay many invalids—blind,
lame, and paralyzed. 5One man was there who had been ill for
thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and knew
that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made
well?” 7The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put
me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way,
someone else steps down ahead of me.” 8Jesus said to him,
“Stand up, take your mat and walk.” 9At once the man was made
well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a
sabbath. 10So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It
is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 11But
he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and
walk.’” 12They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you,
‘Take it up and walk’?” 13Now the man who had been healed did
not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was
there. 14Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him,
“See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse
happens to you.” 15The man went away and told the Jews that it
was Jesus who had made him well. 16Therefore the Jews started
persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath.
The Holy Spirit of God came to the pool at
Bethesda and “troubled the waters”, God stirred up the water for healing, to
bring order out of chaos in the physical, emotional, psychological body of the
first person to enter the waters.
Here is the refrain for the song, Wade in
the Water.
Wade in the water, wade in the water children
Wade in the water, God’s a gonna’ trouble the
water.
The hidden meaning of this song, adopted by
Harriet Tubman in order to rescue runaway slaves, was that the slaves were to
enter into the water and travel along the rivers in order to escape the scent
of the dogs that were unleashed to find them.
But the songs also carried the story of the scriptures, the history and
the plight of those enslaved, the children of Moses and that we are all
descendants of the God that made us.
Taken on their own terms, their songs
celebrated the powers and witness and instructions of the god they embraced. In a shorthand, the song admonished the
community not to be like the paralyzed man, who seemed unable to seize
opportunity and who betrayed to the authorities the one who saved him!
So Wade in the Water is more than
instructions for running away, which only a small number of border state slaves
were able to do. It is a song text of a
dramatic story of god’s ability to restore and redeem. The African songs known as the spirituals are
witness and memory. They are a text
for the inner heart. They express its highest calling.
As to reference for our reading out of the
Gospel according to Matthew; Jesus commissions his followers to go and make disciples
of all nations. In the greatest
religious conversion ever witnessed—certainly, the most startling and
unusual–Africans appropriated the god of the slaveholder and planter. They heard the good news, they became witness to
that good news, they embraced it and made it their own. They found Jesus not only saved, he delivered.
I chose
this hymn because it is the first time that people from both Northern and
Southern Ireland (a deeply divided nation) came together to sing a song of
blessing, not only for their beloved land, but for all of us!
Benediction
May
God’s creative Spirit help us to see with new wonder the splendor of Your
creation all around us and inspire us to preserve and protect it. May God’s creative Spirit fill us with
boldness and courage to speak the truth of God’s amazing Good News to all those
in our sphere of influence. AMEN
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