On How History Matters

Note from the Hunger and Justice Advocate: A history lesson about racist America may feel out of place during the Advent and Christmas season. Many Christians may feel like it's too terrible a story for a time that celebrates the arrival of Christ as a sign of God's love for humanity. This story of racist America may feel out of place even for many secular people, for whom Christmas still has a kind of "magic" in it that they don't find in other celebrations. But this is also true: when Jesus was born, he was born into a world in which millions of people had been enslaved by others. It might be good to remember that the majority of people living in the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus would  have been enslaved people, considered the property of those wealthy enough to own other human beings. Slavery wasn't dependent on ideas about what skin color meant in the Roman Empire or other ancient empires, but it was nonetheless a destructive, dehumanizing system. When we remember that part of the story about Jesus' birth, maybe remembering our own ways of oppressing people at Christmastime isn't really out of place after all.

-DRB

400 years ago white people in America enslaved black people. And sold them. And raped them. And made it illegal to be taught how to read anything, even the Bible. And taught Christians in churches of all kinds, including Lutheran churches, that God had sanctioned this brutality and treatment of people as property, as less than human. This continued to be part of American history for 250 years, while white people started businesses and created laws and systems of government. This happened while generations of white families flourished and made choices that made their lives better.

150 years ago Americans killed each other in a war so white people could "free" black people from slavery. But then angry white people in many places created laws that made it impossible for black people to vote. Or to own land. Or to marry white people. Or to have the same rights as white people. Or to live in small towns throughout the country, but especially in the Midwest, Northwest, and Southwest. White people created laws that made it easier to imprison black people for even minor infractions, using them in fields and factories as legally enslaved people. White people even erected monuments glorifying men who had fought to keep black people enslaved. And all of these things happened while generations of white families continued to accumulate wealth and gain land and get an education.

60 years ago white people made it fully "legal" for black people to vote, and to be "free" from discrimination. But many angry white people still fought to keep schools segregated. And neighborhoods segregated. And taxpayer subsidized suburbs surrounding American cities segregated. White people demolished Black communities in urban areas - like in Minneapolis - in order to build highways for white workers to commute back and forth to their jobs from their suburban homes. And white people made it harder for black people to get bank loans, get quality education, and health care. And all of this was done while another few generations of white families passed their wealth down to their children and their children's children.

And then we entered an age where people had the technology to make PUBLIC many things that had been happening in PRIVATE – the harassment of black people shopping in stores, the treatment of black people interviewing for jobs, the use of stop and frisk laws, the profiling of black drivers when seen driving the wrong kinds of cars or for driving in white neighborhoods, the unequal application of justice during trials and sentencing, and police brutality [Uncomfortable Historical Fact: Professional law enforcement started out in America as patrols designed to catch runaway slaves].

And only now, only because what has been invisible has become visible, only after 400+ years and 20+ generations of a head start for white families, are white people STARTING to be ready to engage in a dialogue about what it means to be black in America.

White privilege doesn't mean white people haven't suffered or fought or worked hard. It doesn't mean that white people living today are responsible for the sins of white ancestors. It doesn’t mean white people can’t be proud of themselves as individuals and what they have achieved.

It DOES mean that white people need to acknowledge that the system created by the founding fathers and their political descendants was built FOR white people.

It DOES mean that white churches need to acknowledge that their theology and institutional practices directly support or indirectly tolerate systemic racism.

It DOES mean that black people are at a disadvantage because of the color of their skin.

It DOES mean that white people need to acknowledge all of this history when listening to neighbors – of all colors – in order to find out what those neighbors need white people to do as anti-racist allies, so that walking and working together, we can make our country and our world more equitable.

Breathe deep. Have courage. Be bold, confident that we are all in God’s hands.

Deacon David Rask Behling, Hunger and Justice Advocate, NW Synod of Wisconsin

Adapted from a Facebook post by Anonymous

Love, Unity, and Forgiveness in a time of Civil Conflict

The election has come and gone and left in its wake a country at war with itself. In community after community, Americans on all sides don’t appear capable of listening to each other let alone maintaining healthy relationships with each other. And those divisions are in our churches, whether we acknowledge it or not.

Unfortunately, the Bible may not provide an easy way to get out of this predicament. Just read these three quotes from the New Testament:

Matthew 5:43–45: “You have heard that it was said, you must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you so that you will be acting as children of your Father who is in heaven. God makes the sun rise on both the evil and the good and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Mark 6.11: If a place doesn’t welcome you or listen to you, as you leave, shake the dust off your feet as a witness against them.

1 Corinthians 1.10: Now I encourage you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Agree with each other and don’t be divided into rival groups. Instead, be restored with the same mind and the same purpose.

So, do we listen to Jesus and love our enemies despite what they have done to “harass” or harm us? Do listen to Jesus and shake the dust off our sandals, withdrawing our care and support for people we see as enemies of the Gospel? Do we listen to Paul and shut ourselves up in our churches to pray and listen to each other until we are able to see our enemies as our sisters and brothers? What are we supposed to do when loving and forgiving each other no longer seems possible?

In this current reality of civil conflict, what will our preaching and prayers focus on? Unity? Forgiveness? Loving and serving each other? And will our actions be aligned with what we preach and pray? Will we sit down at the table again with those who appear to hate leaders we support or violently oppose actions that we see as God’s work of prophetic justice?

In an earlier blog this fall I quoted lyrics from a song written by Jay Beech: I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together!/All who follow Jesus, all around the world!/Yes, we're the church together! And we are strongest when we are the church together. But I am still trying to understand HOW to be the “church together” right now, especially in the middle of an epidemic that has become a partisan issue.

Covid 19 is a disease that can infect, sicken, and kill anyone regardless of who they are or where they live. What we now know after many months of this pandemic is that people who die from COVID 19 do not sleep peacefully away. They struggle to breathe and live with pain, while those who love them and those trying to treat them can only watch.

In the face of that reality, however, there are far too many Christians who appear to be ignoring the need to serve others. Instead of doing what they can to protect others [and themselves!], they talk about “religious freedom” and treat good health and disease as the result of individual behavior, not something which requires collective action. So why is any Christian expected to love and forgive people who make it clear they have no intention of either changing their behavior or admitting that they have done anything to harm their neighbors?

From my perspective, whether the issue is COVID 19, systemic racism, immigration, or economic injustice, language from rostered and lay leaders about unity, love, and even forgiveness are well-intentioned but naïve. Rebuilding relationships within our communities will not be easy, and it won’t happen automatically because of who won the presidential election or because of a worship service focused on reconciliation. It will require repentance, compassion, and humility. It took decades to get us to where we are, and it’s going to take sustained work on community-building and transformed perspectives on the relationships among faith, church, and society.

According to Martin Luther, God calls Christians to serve our neighbors when they are in need, regardless of who they are, what they have done, or whether we like them. There are many neighbors right now who need us to help figure out how to end the civil conflict in our communities instead of adding to it. Are we willing to listen to God’s call to mend and heal? Are we willing to learn what we can do to listen to each other and learn from each other instead of calling each other names and keeping away from each other?

Breathe deep. Have courage. Be bold, confident that we are all in God’s hands.

Deacon David Rask Behling, Hunger and Justice Advocate, NW Synod of Wisconsin