Pastoral Message from Pastor Keith on the Murder of George Floyd
June 3, 2020
Dear Beloved People of UDLC,
Yesterday morning I performed a baptism for a young man, who will be leaving for Army boot camp next month. As we gathered out in the memorial garden and I read the words of the baptismal rite, his mother poured water on his forehead, making the sign of the cross, and presenting him with his baptismal candle.
We recounted the commitments and promises that we make in our baptism. We said:
Do you renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God?
I renounce them.
Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God?
I renounce them.
Do you renounce the ways of sin that draw you from God?
I renounce them.
We were reminded that in our baptism, the moment we become Christians and part of the Body of Christ, we promise:
To proclaim Christ through word and deed, care for others and the world God made, and work for justice and peace.
As we face these difficult times, it is wise to return to the waters of baptism, to be reminded of our identity in Christ, and to hear again the mission that we, as Christians, are called to live out in the world, following the example of our Savior, Jesus.
In recent days, since the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, we have heard the pain and suffering of our Black neighbors, who daily suffer from oppressive and dehumanizing racist systems, the rhetoric of white supremacy, and the silence of their white friends and neighbors. They are calling out for our help and, out of Christian love, we must respond.
Yesterday, as we blessed the water in which this young man was baptized, we recounted stories of liberation in the Bible.
Indeed, the Bible is a collection of books and stories, inspired by God, which call for the liberation of all who are oppressed. In the story of the Exodus, God appears to Moses as a burning bush, telling Moses that he has heard the cries of his people, and instructs Moses to confront Pharaoh and lead those who have been enslaved to the promised land. The Hebrew Prophets called God’s people to hope when they were in exile. They also called God’s people to account with justice and righteousness when they did not fulfill their calling to come to the aid of the oppressed.
The Bible, which too often has been used as a symbol of division and domination, calls us to the work of liberation, of loving, serving, and ensuring the flourishing of our neighbor.
Jesus, as God’s Son, sought out those oppressed and suffering because of unjust systems and spoke the truth of God’s love and justice, which doesn’t permit for anyone to be forgotten, dismissed, or left to suffer. Jesus himself died on the cross, an instrument of state-sanctioned violence. Death by crucifixion, in fact, was a death by asphyxiation. Those who were crucified did not die because of their wounds; rather, they died because they could not breathe. Jesus himself died in the same manner as George Floyd, and Eric Garner before him. In his dying moments Jesus, like George Floyd, called out for his mother. Such is God’s solidarity with the oppressed.
Our church is a community that believes that every single person is a beloved child of God, made in the image of God, and therefore is worthy of love, respect, and dignity.
We seek to follow Jesus’ greatest commandment that we love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
Our church community is dedicated to serving those in need, the poor, the hungry, the homeless, and the forgotten.
While we do remarkable work meeting people’s immediate physical needs, it has long been my desire that we, as a church, also address the systems of injustice that lead to hunger, homelessness, and grave disparities in wealth, health, and education, all of which disproportionally affect our Black neighbors.
Now the moment is upon us to enjoin our work of service with an insistence on justice. For, both are necessary for the flourishing, safety, and well-being of our neighbors. Both are required to ensure peace. Both are expressions of our faith.
Events are rapidly evolving. There may be developments between when I write this and when you read this. Our hearts are indeed heavy as we see the destruction in our city, our nation and our world. We pray for those who are injured, those who are afraid, those whose livelihoods have been threatened of destroyed, even as we move in faith toward actions that will move us toward peace and justice. Know that we will continue to walk this journey together. Know that your prayers, your voice, and your help are vital in this time. For now, I am calling us to the following:
Repent
In our baptismal liturgy, we renounce the forces that defy God and we turn toward the Triune God, in whom there is life, forgiveness, and hope. This is repentance: turning our hearts away from evil and toward the love of God and neighbor.
Individually, we can repent for our participation, knowingly or unknowingly, in systems that benefit us and yet oppress our neighbors. Collectively, as the larger Church, we can repent for the historic wrongs done to people of color at the hands the Church and for the ways that Christianity has been used to justify injustice and prejudice.
Listen and Learn
Listen to the cries of the oppressed. Listen and seek to understand. This is not a time to ask our friends of color to explain racism to us, which would ask them to bear another burden. We must do the work of faith seeking understanding. We should also look deeply into our own hearts and reflect on the ways that we participate in or perpetuate systems that harm our neighbors. At the end of this message, you will find an initial list of articles, videos, and books we recommend.
Commit
These moments of national soul searching and widespread calls for racial justice have happened before following the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Freddie Grey, Tamir Rice, and too many more. Typically, we see an initial response, and commitment to seek justice, but then we too easily we go back to our “normal” life, because we have the privilege to do so. Let us commit ourselves right now to stay in this work together for the long-haul “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8).”
Help
Many of us watch the news and feel a profound sense of confusion and helplessness. The best way to overcome this paralysis is to do something to help. Pray. Write your representatives. Donate to a worthy cause. Reach out to your friends, neighbors, and colleagues of color and share your love and support. In the coming days, we will share information about more opportunities to help.
Finally, in difficult times I often go back to a quote from J.R.R. Tolkein’s series The Lord of the Rings.
Frodo says to Gandalf, “I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.”
Gandalf replies, “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the ring, in which case you also were meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.”
None of us would have chosen for this struggle for justice to have taken so long or be so difficult, but here we are. And we must decide what to do with this time that has been presented to us. Let us make the most of this opportunity to be God’s hands, feet, and voice in our world, to bear witness to the transforming, healing, and liberating love of God. Let us, above all, be faithful to the Gospel, and respond with care and compassion to our neighbors in need.
Finally, let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ, whose rage over injustice upended tables in the Temple, guide our anger and sadness over the murder of George Floyd. Raise up protesters who will be known not for looting and violence, but for effective pressure on unjust systems; inspire legislators to spurn partisan politics in favor of fairness and change; awaken police departments to end brutality; and may our discontent fuel the searching of our own souls, that we might put to death in us the things that led to George's death. This we ask of the One who brings life in every death. Amen.
I pray that you remain safe and well, and I pray that God will lead us in the paths of righteousness and peace.
In Christ,
Pastor Keith Anderson
Below is an initial list of resources that we recommend:
Articles:
Talking about Race with Children (article with resources)
White Fragility (video and book)
Videos:
13th (Netflix documentary)
Trevor Noah reflects on the confluence of events that have led to this moment
Systemic Racism Explained (a simplified primer on systemic racism)
Books:
How to be Anti-Racist by Ibrim Kendi
Dear White Christians by Jennifer Harvey
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the US (the ELCA) by Lenny Duncan