by Marjorie D. Grevious, Evangelist for Spiritual Healing
Watch the sermon recording on YouTube
My black baptist church upbringing is ingrained in my being, as deep as the marrow of my bones. The older I get I realize what a strong foundation it set for my life as a Christian and as an American Citizen as the civil rights movement was born in the black church. I was exposed to many different faith traditions as a child because my mother wanted us to be respectful, knowledgeable, curious and open citizens of the world, not in observation, but fully active and engaged in the world around us and beyond. One of the things I remember is how black preachers would use Luke 19:40 when Jesus says to the Pharisees “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out!” Black ministers from my youth would use this verse along with a hearty ‘Say Amen Somebody!’ When the church grew awkwardly silent during a sermon that hit folk hard in the places they were trying to avoid, hide away, ignore, dismiss, deny or repress. It was sometimes used as a prelude, a trigger warning-if you will- to a word that they knew would be difficult for the people to hear and receive into their hearts, minds, and life practice. I find myself there today.
Today’s gospel focuses on the Beatitudes as found in Luke, chapter 6. These differ from the more often quoted ones in Matthew. In Matthew the beatitudes are more inwardly focused and poetically written. A self study on things like being poor in spirit. These beatitudes from today’s gospel in Luke are more real, tangible and down to earth as they focus on real life issues of being poor, hungry, or deeply saddened by life. They are not Minnesota Nice. It is interesting that we never make beautiful posters, carvings or artwork out of the corresponding Woes, or what some call curses, found in Luke which come right after the beautiful often-quoted Blesseds. As we pass through All Hallows Eve, into All Saints day yesterday and honoring All Soul’s Day today I think it is fitting to review the tricks and treats of the season in which we find ourselves.
A year ago on the first Sunday in November 2024 I stood before you one week after losing my mother and on the eve of one of the most nationally contentious and fraught elections in our country’s history. Here we are this year facing our local elections, in the midst of a federal government shut-down. This has our country’s largest employer, the government itself, at a near financial standstill. There is so much going on in our world and the world at large that it is easy to feel overwhelmed, stagnant, or frozen in place. This time of year will forever cause me to think about my Mama and what it has meant for me to be a literal and spiritual Child of Grace.
I was born to an unwed teenage girl who was catapulted out of her own profoundly traumatic childhood into motherhood. My mother was brilliant, beautiful and terribly naive. She was eager to create a whole new life for us. Needless to say the road to healing her wounds, creating a new life for herself and newborn baby girl-and later on- three more children, was filled with many glorious highs and devastating lows. I was raised on what we used to call welfare. My mother relied on government subsidies to provide food, shelter, and medical services for us. She came from what appeared to be a good home, with two parents, who were successful and highly respected business owners, and she was raised in the church. Because of her extraordinary intellect, Mama graduated from high school early and was accepted to Howard University-a prestigious historically black college in Washington DC. But when she found herself pregnant with me at just 17 years old, life took a sharp turn. You see, in the late 1960s it was not okay for a young woman to find herself in a family way outside of marriage. She was expelled from college and her pregnancy was filled with guilt, shame and ridicule, not just towards her, but the family at large. Through all of that, and so much more my mother earned her college degree and raised four college educated children all on her own.
As a child, I was embarrassed to be poor and on food stamps, wearing second hand clothes and sometimes eating the same meal several times a week. At one time our government gave out large bricks of cheese, canned commodities of meat, peanut butter, and packages of farina porridge to those on food support. If you know about government cheese then you know it made the very best grilled cheese sandwiches and a great base for creamy macaroni and cheese. The beauty of soul food is that it is made-up of the scraps from the so-called master’s table and is turned into something even more delicious than the prime selections claimed by the oppressor. Mama could make a lip-smacking meal out of meager goods and a pot of beans cooked with a bit of smoked meat and cornbread would last us for days, keeping us filled and warm.
In our country today the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, In Minnesota the minimum wage is $11.13 per hour. 1 in 8 Americans relies on SNAP food benefits provided by the federal government. In the state of Minnesota over 400k depend on these food benefits. Of that 400k, about 180k are children under the age of 18. Of that 400k over 60k are seniors. That means that over half of those in our own backyard that are dependent on these food benefits are what the Bible calls’ the least of these’ those most in need of our loving care and attention. Grocery prices already had our food banks overwhelmed with need from working class and middle class families even before the government shutdown that has stopped benefits to the most vulnerable among us. Did you know that our air traffic controllers are not getting paid and that our MSP airport was one of the first in the country to begin a food drive just for them? It is time for us to pay attention to the woes found in today’s gospel in Luke 6:
Jesus looked up at his disciples and said:
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
Last year, Rev. Jered asked me to speak a good word as we prepared to head out to the polls to do our duty as American citizens. I told you that we as Disciples, followers, believers in Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour- We who call ourselves Christians are being called to a time such as this! There is no one more patriotic than the oppressed, the immigrant, and the refugees in our country who hold us accountable to our highest ideals as a country, while surviving the worst treatment in a whole-hearted belief that ”that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.
I can not always make the message poetic, ambiguous, or wrap it up in a cute homily. We need to feed our fellow citizens, for what the Bible calls the least of these, We need to do the most. We must buy up those $9-10 bags of groceries at the Cub Foods that go to feed those in need. We must drop off all that we can to our local food shelves. We do not need to wait for the church at large to act, or come up with a special program. We are called as individual disciples to take care of those who need us.
- We can call that single parent we know to drop off a gift card from HyVee, Aldi’s or any local grocer near them.
- We can text someone who is too embarrassed to speak of their need: that we saw chickens were on sale and we picked them up one and all the fixings that we will drop off to them on our way home.
- Call a hardworking couple and say to them, “I got too much of everything on my Costco run today and I want to drop off some stuff for you and the kids that I don’t even have storage for because nobody needs this much peanut butter and jelly.”
- Help someone run errands who ain,t got no car.
- If you are a single person, or a couple whose big-family cooking skills are going to waste, make a big hot-dish casserole too big for you and give it to someone who is facing feeding their children in between working 2-3 jobs.
- Where I come from we would call the sick and shut-in and simply say, “I’m gonna drop a plate off to you when I get done cooking this Sunday afternoon.”
My dear siblings, brothers and sisters in Christ, The time for mourning last year’s elections is over. As we bring new souls to Christ through baptism and welcome, let us show them what it means to not just call ourselves christian, but to BE a Christian in the world today. We are the ones we are looking for. We are the ones we need and what the world needs NOW! – Say Amen, Somebody!!
So I end today with this remaining passage from today’s gospel in Luke:
“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
