Sermon for Sunday after the Ascension
What will you say to your grandchildren?
By The Rev. Eric Christopher Shafer -
My first call as a pastor was to Holy Trinity Memorial Lutheran Church in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, a small, old industrial town just north of Allentown, Pennsylvania. I was ordained in June of 1976 and began as pastor at Holy Trinity in July. My first sermon was on Bicentennial Sunday, July 4, 1976!
1976 was just one year after the War in Vietnam had finally ended after 20 years. The end of the war resulted in thousands of so-called “boat people,” refugees from southeast Asia, Vietnam and Cambodia mostly, refugees who were fleeing the new communist regime there and seeking refuge in the USA and other nations. They got the name “boat people” from the ships of all sizes and shapes, and seaworthiness, in which they attempted to escape. The news was filled with images of desperate individuals, couples and, mostly, entire families fleeing their former home in search of a new, safe home somewhere else, anywhere else, all crowded into often over-flowing boats.
Many wanted to come to the USA, a logical choice since so many had fought in Vietnam on our side of this war or supported our war effort there in other ways. They were our US soldier’s compatriots and supporters in this war effort and were eager to experience the freedom here that our soldiers had spoken with them about.
Shortly after I began my ministry in Catasauqua, I received a telephone call from our local Lutheran social service agency. A Vietnamese family was already in the USA as legal refugees. The agency had found them an inexpensive apartment just down the street from our congregation. The congregation which had sponsored them for their US arrival and helped them first get settled here in the USA was now just too far away to help with any day-to-day needs they might have. Would Holy Trinity be able to take them on, to help them find work and with their other needs?
I struggled to answer this request. I had just started. Things were going well. We were already experiencing some growth, some new, younger members. But I was just beginning and had no experience myself yet working with refugees. Would there be anyone in the congregation interested, willing or even able to help?
Around that same time, I shared this request with my older brother Byron. Byron listed to my concerns. And then he said something like this, “Eric,” my brother Bryon said to me, “Eric, this is one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our generation. Your grandchildren are going to ask you what you did for these refugees. What will you say to your grandchildren?”
In the years since I have often reflected on my brother’s words to me that day, “What will you say to your grandchildren?”
Now, Kris and I do not have children or grandchildren, but Byron’s question still sticks with me whenever I am confronted with a truly major decision, one that might have implications far wider than Kris or me, “What will you say to your grandchildren?”
I share all of this background because I believe we are living in one of those times, a time about which our grandchildren, your grandchildren, will ask.
There is now a lot of pressure across the USA to reopen our economy, to get business back up and running again as soon as possible. Some churches have even started to meet in-person for worship again, even singing and hugging as if there is no longer any threat from this terrible virus.
And then there are the protests against stay at home orders in states and cities. Too many of these have added racist and anti-Semitic signs and actions to these protests, plus threats against government officials.
I believe that our grandchildren will ask us about all of this. They will ask us what we did in the face of this virus. Did we stay home and shelter in place? Did we wear masks when we had to go out in public? Did we avoid gatherings larger than ten people? How did we respond to all of the hate that came out during these times?
They will ask us these questions because I believe history will show just how what we did or did not do in these days and weeks and months affected the numbers of those who have died and will die of this disease.
Were we selfish like the protestors with their signs that say, “my freedom is more important than your health?” Or, did we follow the science and practice social distancing for as long as it was necessary to slow down the spread of this disease until a vaccine is available. What will we say to our grandchildren about our behavior?
My friend Pastor Susan Sparks suggests that there is an even bigger issue than this physical virus. This is a rare chance for a second chance for all of us.
Just look at current events – the terrible growth of racism, hatred, and prejudice of all kinds. A young man goes jogging in his neighborhood and a medical worker comes home after a long day of helping others. Both end up dead only because they are black. These are certainly the worst recent examples, but, sadly, they are not the only ones, far from it. The steady rise of white supremacism and hatred aimed at non-whites, Jews and Muslims only give proof that these are times of hatred and prejudice and it appears to be much more out in the open than ever.
You see, COVID-19 is not the only virus we need to flatten. We are in a time of history when collectively the human heart has become hardened, unclean – hatred fills our airwaves from the President on down to too many others.
So, what do we do? Well, Pastor Sparks suggests that one way is to flatten the curve, so to speak, the flatten the curve of hatred and to distance ourselves from hateful rhetoric, to quarantine our hearts and then search our souls of a way to cleanse ourselves and our nation of racism and hatred of all kinds.
Sparks quotes an author named Arundhati Roy who wrote recently that this time of global suffering can be a “portal,” a gateway, for us. Roy explained that we can choose how we will walk through this portal. We can go through this gateway dragging our hatred and prejudice with us or we can walk through it more lightly, leaving the “luggage” of hate behind us, ready to imagine another world and ready to fight for a new world in which hatred and racism and prejudice begin to fall behind us.
Back to my question – What will we tell our grandchildren about these times?
Make no mistake, your children and grandchildren, they will remember these days. They will remember the big things of school not in session, of visits from family and friends cancelled and of so much more time at home. They will remember that and more.
And, what will we tell them about how we reacted to the pain in our society in these times? Will we say we stood aside and watched a return to business as usual, especially the “business” of hatred and prejudice and “me over my neighbor at any and all cost” behaviors?
Or did we take these time of suffering and try to be part of a solution, to consecrate these times, to help try to change the world in these times, to cleanse our hearts and give up racism, hatred and prejudice of all kinds.
Now I know this is not easy – these behaviors are so inbred in our culture. Things will not change overnight. However, this is a rare time for second chances.
So, let’s take advantage of these times while we are safer-at-home to change our language and hearts and stand up against hatred of all kinds.
This is a time for us to make changes, changes in our language, changes in our political leaders, changes in our behaviors, changes in our hearts. It is a rare time for second chances.
Will you join me in this time?
Dump hatred. Call out racism and anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. And just stop listening to any who advocate hate.
Jesus suggested that loving God and loving neighbor is the essence of faith.
So, the question is how do our actions in these and all days reflect loving our neighbors, especially those most vulnerable in these and most times – the poor, the elderly, the homeless, the refugee.
COVID-10 gives us a new chance to change ourselves, our community, our nation and even our world, a rare chance for second chances.
Oh, back to where I began. Our little congregation did take on support for the Vietnamese refugee family. We found the Dad a job at a local box factory and he became one of their best workers. The congregation grew, became known for its community activities, and grew some more. At least two more refugee families were sponsored.
And everyone had something to tell their grandchildren.
Amen.
(With thanks to the Rev. Susan Sparks, pastor of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City).
The Rev. Eric Christopher Shafer
Senior Pastor - Mt. Olive Lutheran Church
Santa Monica, California
Sermon for:
May 24, 2020
