Guest Author Rev. Dr. Gennifer Benjamin Brooks

Preaching Notes

Epiphany 5.B.2015

February 8, 2015

Guest Author Rev. Dr. Gennifer Benjamin Brooks

Isaiah 40: 21-31

In this first chapter of Second Isaiah, the prophet begins by offering a word of hope to an exiled, hopeless people. The prophet knows the situation of the people, may have even lived through the trials of exile and destruction of a society that was part and parcel of their capture by foreign powers. Not only have their society and culture been taken hostage and destroyed, but they have also forgotten the history that enabled the people of Israel to claim their identity as the chosen of God. Babylon had not only destroyed their community, but with the destruction of their temple, their place of worship, the location that represented their connection to God, the God of their ancestors, their captors had put the first nail into the coffin that would bury their faith. For these exiled people, their reality had led them to doubt both the presence and the power of YHWH.

To their minds, the gods of Babylon have prevailed and in fact YHWH has withdrawn from them and at best sits at a distance, unconcerned with the reality of their situation – one of destruction, devaluation, decay, and death – of life, as they once knew it and also of their hopes and dreams. Being a people subject to the vagaries of a culture and society not their own put them in a place that saw them as subordinate, of less than equal worth to the people who had captured them. Even their humanity is in question because their God is in question. For Israel, injustice is the order of the day and the prophet who brings the message of restoration from God has a difficult task. The people are too downtrodden and dejected to hear the words, and to believe that God is either present with them, cares about their situation, or offers a believable promise. In their own eyes, they are a people without value; their captors have decried their humanness and over generations of captivity, they have come to accept the prevailing notion that they are less than those who wield power over them, who have determined what value, if any, is to be placed on their lives.

The prophet understands the plight of the people; has probably lived the life of his community and knows the challenge of leading the people back to a place of belief, of trust, of faith in God. The people have forgotten their history, and the prophet believes that the beginning point of their total restoration is memory. Within memory lies hope as the people are challenged to remember their history and most importantly the working of God in creation and in the lives of their ancestors. Not only does memory bring hope, but it also revives faith. First of all the power of God in creation is described poetically but realistically to people who lived closely to the earth and who looked to the heavens as the dwelling place of the eternal one. The prophet also reminds them of God’s liberating power that brought their ancestors out of the situation of captivity and slavery in an earlier time. These reminders by the prophet are meant to encourage faith in the hearts of these captive people.

This text is often heard at funerals. In fact I have even used it during my time in the pastorate and the focus in most cases has been placed on the last four verses, in an attempt to encourage the grief-stricken congregation to believe in God’s sustaining power as a source of comfort. But the directive of the text has also to do with restating or even reframing the substance of our faith. Who is this God that we serve? Why is God worthy of our faith? In the midst of life that seems hopeless, one where our dreams continue to be unrealized or have been destroyed, how do we trust in divine care when God seems absent? As stated earlier, within memory there is hope. The text makes clear that God is far beyond humanity with respect to both power and presence. God is the creator of all things “great in strength, mighty in power” God is the everlasting source of power omnipotent, omniscient and above all, to the benefit of humanity, compassionate and caring of God’s creation.

It is this all-powerful God who not only gives life to the people that the prophet of every time presents to the people as worthy of worship and faith. The prophet Isaiah reminds Israel and us that there is no comparison between the God of creation and the gods of the earth. That message is as true today as it was for those exiled people of Israel. The gods of the earth deal in oppression and injustice as their source of power, but YHWH, the God of creation, our God of redemption empowers those who are weak. Our God comes with the promise of freedom for those in captivity to the powers of this world, whether as oppressors or as oppressed. God gives strength to the faint, the faint-hearted, the downtrodden and those who tread on others as a way of proving their invulnerability. The strength that God gives trumps whatever the world has to offer so that there can be greatness that depends on the true source, God and God alone. And that is the good news that is worthy of being preached from this text.

For many in the Black community in the United States, the situation of Israel has many symbolic parallels. Theirs is a history of a people who were stolen from a homeland that many generations would never see again, taken into captivity under the rule of powers that stripped them of their culture, society and even life itself. They suffered abuse and death at the hands of their captors and that suffering continued beyond slavery through Jim Crow laws and the fight for civil rights. More recently that suffering has been experienced in the breakdown of Black life, financially, culturally, through lack of proper education, unemployment, poverty, and mass incarceration to name a few, and the general demeaning of Black life and the humanity of Black people. A popular slogan in the recent protests says, “All life matters and Black life matters.” And although the celebration of Black History Month does not often reach deeply into the history of the contributions of African Americans, the idea of memory leading to hope espoused by Second Isaiah is one that could be claimed or reclaimed by U.S. society and the Christian Church and could perhaps help to make a difference in society’s understanding of the humaneness of Black people and almost certainly help current and new generations of Black people to stand up for justice for themselves and for all people. The preacher that approaches this text within the context that connects to Black History Month cannot but speak out against the injustice that prevails in society. That leads naturally to a call to the congregation to live a life of justice through their faith in Christ, who gives new life and offers total life to all people.

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

How often in the course of our pastoral ministry do we find it necessary to proclaim the source of our authority or to justify our right to be a leader in Christ’s church? As a Black clergywoman, the challenge to my pastoral authority was often and varied during my thirteen years in pastoral ministry. And this text has been a source of encouragement to me and perhaps to other pastors whether women or minorities, as we face the challenge brought by others. But that is not the only piece of encouragement that this text provides. Like Paul, I was a second career pastor, and there were many days when in the face of direct and indirect challenges I had to fall back on Paul’s words as a source of encouragement, “For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will. I am entrusted with a commission.” My previous career in corporate systems development was very rewarding financially, but being convinced of God’s call and commission to an ecclesiastical life, leaving those financial rewards behind was relatively easy, even if it was not my original choice of career.

In other words, Paul is clear that his apostleship was not a matter of choice, but a divine commission. As such he is willing to give up any benefits that he has accrued because of his identity and position in order to be faithful to the gospel that he has been called to proclaim. But there is more than personal sacrifice involved in Paul’s testimony. His willingness to “become all things to all people” is so that all might have the full benefit of the saving grace of God offered through Jesus Christ. It offers a vision of the beloved community that the church is meant to become. Paul is not concerned with a legalistic representation or even morality that supports a particular social construct. His focus is offering the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people equally, so that each and every person claims their rightful and free share in the blessings that Christ offers to everyone. That is also the focus for the preacher of this text. In fact, the preacher should be convinced of this call and commission in order to offer the gospel message faithfully to all people, regardless of their situation or location.

In this month that celebrates Black History that is an important and welcome message for African Americans, and it should be for all people who are given a subordinate status in a world where white male normativity has been claimed by U.S. society. The language of slavery that Paul uses may be problematic to African Americans given the history of slavery in the USA. However contrary to the oppression and injustice that were part and parcel of that hegemonic servitude, Paul willingly submits the rights of his individualism so that he could justly respond to and engage others based on their particular situation. The purpose and result of Paul’s action and that of all who seek to offer the gospel of Christ is total transformation of individuals into the image of Christ for the sake of freedom for people. It is the gospel message of Christ that gives new life and blessings to preacher and peoples through the gospel.

Mark 1:29-39

Jesus has come from the synagogue where an unclean spirit has broadcast his identity as “the Holy one of God.” As scholars have noted, in Mark’s gospel Jesus’ identity seems to be hidden only from the disciples and this early recognition by an unclean spirit soon becomes typical as Jesus moves through the towns and cities. There is a theme of restoration that runs like a thread through the lectionary readings for this week, and is made visible in this gospel text as Jesus cures many who demonstrated physical, mental or spiritual representations of diseases. Given that such person were sidelined or separated from their culture and community, Jesus’ action of healing meant their restoration to community and perhaps more importantly to its worship life.

For those who have been relegated to the sidelines, or who have been denied equal access to their God-given rights as human beings, such as African Americans in the present US culture, Jesus’ action of restoration is a welcome theme for gospel preachers. Jesus is clear that his message is not intended for a selected few, but that it must be proclaimed wherever people are in need of healing and restoration – and that is everywhere. And although it seems strange that Jesus “would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him,” perhaps, as it has been often suggested, Jesus was trying to avoid the adulation of the crowds because of his action, but instead wanted the credit to go rightfully to God.

Similarly God calls us to do the work that brings transformation in a way that keeps the gospel message central and directs the praise and glory to God – not to our actions. Human transformation and healing comes only from God, and those of us who are called to proclaim and to engage the work of the gospel in a way that touches the lives of those who are on the fringes, the borders, or even outside the boundaries that humans have created to keep some persons and groups outside, must do so in a way that glorifies God rather that to bring human reward or praise. This text connects with this week’s passage from 1 Corinthians in that the call and commission of the preacher is to proclaim the gospel message in a way that invites transformation to individual lives, to the life of the community, and the world.