Rhetoric Race and Religion
On January 17, 2016, drawing from John 2:1-11, my King Day sermon focused on King’s prophetic activity and the “new wine” from Black Lives Matter. Below is a portion of that sermon. Hear the entire sermon here.
…….I don’t know about you, but I am glad that God sends prophets. God sends prophets our way to speak truth to power. God send prophets to remind us of who and whose we are. God sends prophets to touch those hidden spaces that we try to hide from. God sends prophets to move us from the pitiful to the promising, from the pathetic to the purposeful. God sends prophets to speak on those things we don’t want to mention. God sends prophets to help transform our minds and renew our hearts. God send prophets to shake us at our very foundations and to remove anything that doesn’t belong there. Thank God for the prophets!
And when God sent King, it was a time in America that for a lot of people, the wine was all gone. In fact, it could be argued that for many, there had not been any wine at all. But King came preaching and he came within the Black prophetic tradition. Yes, he came to remind America of what they said on paper—we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men, all women, all people are created equal. He came to remind America that we should not let fear rule in our hearts, but love is the most powerful force in the universe. He came to remind America, that an eye for an eye would leave us all blind. He came to remind America about a dream that eventually gets anchored in the Beloved Community—a place where King saw all of God’s children dwelling at the banquet table of sister and brotherhood. King came to remind America, that even in one of its most frustrating times the country had ever known, that there was a glimmer of hope; because God will usher in a new day.
But he grounded that hope in a pessimistic lament as well, because he also said that “America was the number purveyor of violence in the entire world.” He also said “that the nation who would spend more on their military than programs that would help the poor would fast approach a spiritual death.” He also said, “What good is having the right to sit at a lunch counter if you can’t afford to buy a hamburger?” He also said, we need to shop in places that respect us and called for a massive economic boycott to reign in the abuses of folks in power. The sermon that he planned to preach Sunday if he had live was titled, “Why America May Go to Hell!” King was part of that long black prophetic tradition.
And for the people in our text, that new day was some new wine; wine tasting better than the one they served before. And I just stopped by to tell somebody, that there is new wine always being served and it is better than before. And if we can see it and if we can feel it; if we can get past our prejudices and woeful and inadequate theological presuppositions; the new wine for this season is Black Lives Matter!
I hear somebody asking, “Why do you say that pastor? I heard how divisive Black Lives Matter is. I heard how they just stand up to the powers and demand their voices be heard. I heard that they shout, yell, cuss and fuss. I heard they don’t protest right, they don’t sing the same songs we did and they even challenge our friends. So how is the new wine Black Lives Matter? Well, to all of that I ask, have you read the story of Jesus?
This same Jesus, who turned water into wine, was seen as a divisive person. He even said, either you with me or against me. This same Jesus, would later stand up and call the leaders of his day, a brood of vipers and white wash tombs. This same Jesus, would later shut down business at the temple by turning over the tables and saying to crooked preachers, this is a house of prayer for all nations, but you have turned it into a den of thieves. This same Jesus, called out even his friends when they got out of line. You remember what he told Peter, “Get from behind me Satan!” So those who say Black Lives Matter cannot be the new wine just have not read Jesus!
Black Lives Matter is about all black lives mattering! Queer Black Lives, Trans Black Lives, Incarcerated Black Lives, Women Black Lives, all black lives matter. By centering Black Lives, BLM is a liberation movement that includes the liberation of every humans echoing the African traditional proverb, “none of us are free until all of us are free!” BLM is visionary—it talks about thriving instead of surviving—living instead of merely existing. BLM is also about love and that love includes loving of self. It’s also about self-care and self-reflection. BLM honors the work and sacrifices of its elders. It honors the wisdom from the elders.
And if this sounds familiar, it should—because this sounds to me as the gospel that Jesus preached!! By centering the lives of his people, Jesus was able to go to the margins and serve all people. That’s why Jesus was always navigating the margins and going over to the other side. He also understood that if one was bound, all were bound. That’s why his first sermon recorded in the book of Luke is our foundational scripture for this church—the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, it has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. To release the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruise and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord!
Jesus taught his folks to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. It is almost as if Jesus understood that in order to authentically love others, I must first love me some me. If I can’t love me, my hair, my curves, my lips, my nose, my everything, then I can’t authentically love others. Jesus recognized the sacrifices of those who came before him. He always operated out of the wisdom of the prophets that preceded him and told folks that I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law. That’s why I believe that if he walked on earth today in the flesh, Jesus would yell, “Black Lives Matter!” “Black Lives Matter!” If God operates in time and space, if God operates in seasons, if God is moving today, if God calls us to a time such as this, I believe the new wine for this season is Black Lives Matter!!
And with this new wine, thieves can’t take it, people can’t fake it; enemies can’t defeat you, trouble can’t beat you; mountains can’t hide it, the world can’t provide it; sickness can’t sicken it, old age can’t weaken it; fires can’t burn it, the enemy can’t turn it; storms can’t shake it, people can’t make it; the grave can’t hold it, the church can’t mold it; lighting can’t strike it, and some folks don’t like it, but it’s the new wine that opening up possibilities for all who would come, taste and see that the Lord is good.
I came to remind somebody here today there is new wine being served—and its name is Black Lives Matter!
Andre E. Johnson is the Managing Editor and Founder of R3
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