The Gospel reading for this coming Sunday (for those of you who follow the Revised Common Lectionary) contains the movement of the “Sermon on the Mount” where Jesus confronts some of the violent structures or power and privilege in his day.
We pick up with Matthew 5:38-4.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”
Jesus engages the old “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” practice with a call to “not resist an evil doer.” It has been pointed out by Walter Wink (Engaging the Powers; Fortress Press, 1992) that this phrase is not as radical in the English translation as it is in the Greek text. The spirit of the statement recorded in Matthew’s Gospel is more radical. The call from Jesus is to not act violently to the evildoer, but not to be a doormat either. Jesus is not calling us to be cowards. He is calling us to actively, and nonviolently engage the oppressor/wrong-doer.
With this phrase guiding the conversation, Jesus moves into the triad of turn the other cheek, give the undergarment, and go the extra mile. It is the first of these that I want to engage.
“But if anyone strikes you on the right check, turn the other also…”
For a long time this verse has been interpreted rather weakly. It has been used to tell children to turn the other cheek to the bully, women to turn the other cheek to spousal abuse, and Christians to be passive (non-active) against violence of any kind. This could not be more wrong.
The power of Jesus’ statement is that it calls people to claim their dignity in the face of oppression. To be struck on the right cheek, with the left hand (a backhanded slap), was a statement of insult by the one in power. By offering their left cheek, the one struck in an attempt at humiliation would challenge the oppressor to strike them again with a right hand (literally a punch one would only use with peers), claiming their dignity. The call to turn the other cheek is about claiming dignity and power in the face of oppression.
Privileged folk (like me - white, straight, educated, etc….) are the ones who initiate the scenario that attempts to humiliate. While it may not be a backhanded slap, the metaphorical action can be seen throughout our society.
Take our justice system for example.
On Saturday night, February 15, 2014, the justice system in Tallahassee, Florida delivered a backhanded slap to another African-American family. Jordan Davis, an African-America teenager, was murdered by Michael Dunn, a privileged man. The story in a nutshell - an African- American teen was killed and a family was brought to agony over music that was deemed "too loud" by a white, privileged man.
In the trial dubbed the “loud music trial,” the jury was overwhelming made up of people of privilege -four white men, four white women, two black women, one Hispanic man and one Asian-American woman. The defendant was a white male - a person of privilege. Yes one could argue for a “jury of his peers,” but when has that worked an the united states when a white man is on trial for killing an African-American?!
Yes Michael Dunn was found guilty on a charge of three counts of second-degree attempted murder and is facing a potential 60 year prison sentence, but let’s be blunt: he got away with murdering an African-American teenager over loud music. And the privileged folk turned a blind eye.
There was no justice for Jordan Davis. There was no closure for his family.
This event comes on the heels of the also controversial verdict of the George Zimmerman trial where another person of privilege got away with murdering an African-American teenager. Trayvon Martin's life and character were torn apart and Zimmermann was set free while privileged folk turned a blind eye to the reality of the situation.
There was no justice for Trayvon Martin. There was no closure for his family.
Both of these cases involved Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law. A law that seems to be written by the privileged, for the privileged, in an attempt to protect only the privileged.
I could write for days in an attempt to record cases just like these. It’s disgusting and heartbreaking. The justice system in this country, a system of power driven by people of privilege, has continually humiliated people of color in the backhanded slap of a thwarting of justice.
Over and over again the privileged justice system has dealt left-handed blows to the right cheeks of people of color.
Over and over again people of color have turned the other cheek, displaying the broken system of justice, driven by power and privilege. They have peacefully protested - nonviolently resisting the system of oppression. They have called privileged folk to act to undo the broken system of justice. They have actively and nonviolently resisted, unmasking and engaging a broken system of privilege.
And still they wait. Offering the other cheek. Claiming their dignity and humanity. Exposing the fallen power system of privilege in this nation.
So when will we privileged people wake up? When will the church - the white, privileged church - wake up?
If we claim to follow Jesus - his commands, his call, his radical life of neighbor love and justice - when will we see that his statements do not enforce stable, peaceful life for privileged folk, but a radical reshaping of the community of the kingdom of God where “justice rolls down like waterfalls” and all people are given a place at the table.
Privileged people - our attempt at humiliation has been exposed for the fallen system of power that it is. It is time to realize what is happening. It is time to claim our responsibility for the damage done by a fallen system of power and privilege and to go to work for justice and reconciliation. It’s time to ask for forgiveness and move forward with dignity - all people together.
As I struggle with my own privilege, I can now understand the injustice done. I can now hear the empty echo of a silent white, privileged church when a community in our midst is suffering. I know there is work to be done.
I do not have all the answers, but I want to understand the issues and ask the hard questions. I want to use my power to bring justice and not division.
The journey can be a struggle - but Jesus calls us forward.
Peace,
Travis
Showing posts with label Power. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Power. Show all posts
Monday, February 17, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
The Beatitudes and Privilege - Confronting Powerlessness
I have been blessed to be part of a conversation that engages privilege. I am not sure that some would see this as a blessing. I struggle with engaging this topic because it is truly a hard look in the mirror for me - a person of privilege. But it is a blessing for me because it has caused me to engage the world in a different way - a way that I trust is in line with what Jesus has called us to do with his invitation, “Follow me.” A life that engages the world as God engages the world - through love and mercy. It's a journey to be sure.
This week Dr. David Creech continued this conversation by writing a response to his initial 5 minute blog post.
This most recent post can be found here - Privilege Revisited.
He responded in two ways; Using power and privilege in the small acts of life, and the sense of powerlessness that can overcome those confronted with their privilege, namely the act of giving up power.
I want to address the second.
I too struggle with a sense of powerlessness. When confronted by systems (racism, homophobia, sexism, immigration) that seem too big to name and engage, I tend to shrug my shoulders and give away my power as a privileged person to name the injustice that I see. But this does not match up with the call to be a disciple that I hear from Jesus in the Gospels.
Enter the Beatitudes, the first movement of Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount.” We are beginning a sermon series on this teaching moment from the Gospel of Matthew at the church I serve. I am preaching this weekend on these famous statements from Jesus. With the conversation of privilege rattling around in my mind, two of them jumped off the page at me in a entirely new way.
Here is something foundational. I understand the Beatitudes as a vision of how God encounters the world, not as a list of moral maxims or a set of rules by which to live. The Beatitudes, this series of blessings, is a glimpse of how God encounters the world through the kingdom of heaven. Jesus shows us what God sees, who God blesses, how God engages the world. God has already blessed these people - how will the community respond? I am thankful for Hauerwas and Willimon and their book Resident Aliens; A provocative Christian assessment of culture and ministry for people who know something is wrong. This book brought this new understanding to light.
With this understanding in place, I saw two of these “blessings” anew.
Matthew 5:5 - “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
I have always had a misguided understanding of the work meek. It registered in my vocabulary with an overtone of cowardice and fear - a bad understanding of “turn the other cheek” (we’ll get to that in a few weeks).
In seminary I learned that this word had a different nuance, that it pointed to a state of being that was gentle and humble. This week I came across this definition from Matthew Skinner; “Meek: those who are gentle and unobtrusive, who refuse to use power over others as a tool to make things happen.” I was struck by this. With the concept of privilege in my mind I began to understand meekness with a great sense of power - but power un-abused. A meek person understands their power, but does not use it to further systems of injustice and oppression, but to work against them.
For a privileged person, I think we can push it a little further. It’s not that privileged people are to “refuse use their power as a tool to make things happen” - I think this may only further a sense of powerlessness. I think that meekness points to a way of life that uses power and privilege in a way that is a critique of the system of power and privilege. I, as a privileged person, can understand meekness to be a state of being that recognizes its privilege, learns the effects of that privilege, and becomes a critical voice of that privilege, on behalf of those who are oppressed. Meekness is direct action to undo privilege, by the privileged, on behalf of the oppressed. It’s a way of life that encounters and engages the world based on God’s kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:7 - “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
Mercy has also been interpreted anew. Skinner writes; “The merciful: people who willingly surrender their privileges or otherwise go out of their way to improve others’ well-being.”
Mercy understands power and privilege. Mercy can seen the difference between the haves and the have-nots. Mercy knows of inequality. And mercy is a state of being that critiques and combats these systems of injustice.
I also want to push Mr. Skinner’s definition a little. I understand mercy as a willingness to use privilege to go out of one’s way to improve the well being of another. Again, this is to combat the sense of powerlessness. The state of being that is mercy is an active force. It understands privilege. Mercy is a way of life by which the one with privilege names and engages that privilege in a critical manner, in an effort to end injustice and oppression. Surrendering privilege does not help in this instance. The privilege needs to be named, critiqued, and used as an avenue of renewal - always on behalf of the other.
Perhaps there is a nuance of surrender here that I am missing. This is after all a work in progress. A journey. A way of life.
God has blessed both the meek and the merciful. They are not powerless. They are blessed, already and forever, to be workers in the kingdom of heaven. When the meek and merciful are confronted with their privilege and power they know they are called to action, to work against the injustice and oppression brought on by fallen systems of power and privilege. They are blessed to be a blessing. And to live out God's radical vision for community that is the kingdom of heaven.
I want to keep the conversation moving. How do these definitions help the conversation? What are your thoughts? Do you encounter the tension of privilege and powerlessness? What do you do when you see it?
Blessings on the journey. Now it’s back to sermon writing.
Peace,
Travis
This week Dr. David Creech continued this conversation by writing a response to his initial 5 minute blog post.
This most recent post can be found here - Privilege Revisited.
He responded in two ways; Using power and privilege in the small acts of life, and the sense of powerlessness that can overcome those confronted with their privilege, namely the act of giving up power.
I want to address the second.
I too struggle with a sense of powerlessness. When confronted by systems (racism, homophobia, sexism, immigration) that seem too big to name and engage, I tend to shrug my shoulders and give away my power as a privileged person to name the injustice that I see. But this does not match up with the call to be a disciple that I hear from Jesus in the Gospels.
Enter the Beatitudes, the first movement of Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount.” We are beginning a sermon series on this teaching moment from the Gospel of Matthew at the church I serve. I am preaching this weekend on these famous statements from Jesus. With the conversation of privilege rattling around in my mind, two of them jumped off the page at me in a entirely new way.
Here is something foundational. I understand the Beatitudes as a vision of how God encounters the world, not as a list of moral maxims or a set of rules by which to live. The Beatitudes, this series of blessings, is a glimpse of how God encounters the world through the kingdom of heaven. Jesus shows us what God sees, who God blesses, how God engages the world. God has already blessed these people - how will the community respond? I am thankful for Hauerwas and Willimon and their book Resident Aliens; A provocative Christian assessment of culture and ministry for people who know something is wrong. This book brought this new understanding to light.
With this understanding in place, I saw two of these “blessings” anew.
Matthew 5:5 - “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
I have always had a misguided understanding of the work meek. It registered in my vocabulary with an overtone of cowardice and fear - a bad understanding of “turn the other cheek” (we’ll get to that in a few weeks).
In seminary I learned that this word had a different nuance, that it pointed to a state of being that was gentle and humble. This week I came across this definition from Matthew Skinner; “Meek: those who are gentle and unobtrusive, who refuse to use power over others as a tool to make things happen.” I was struck by this. With the concept of privilege in my mind I began to understand meekness with a great sense of power - but power un-abused. A meek person understands their power, but does not use it to further systems of injustice and oppression, but to work against them.
For a privileged person, I think we can push it a little further. It’s not that privileged people are to “refuse use their power as a tool to make things happen” - I think this may only further a sense of powerlessness. I think that meekness points to a way of life that uses power and privilege in a way that is a critique of the system of power and privilege. I, as a privileged person, can understand meekness to be a state of being that recognizes its privilege, learns the effects of that privilege, and becomes a critical voice of that privilege, on behalf of those who are oppressed. Meekness is direct action to undo privilege, by the privileged, on behalf of the oppressed. It’s a way of life that encounters and engages the world based on God’s kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:7 - “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
Mercy has also been interpreted anew. Skinner writes; “The merciful: people who willingly surrender their privileges or otherwise go out of their way to improve others’ well-being.”
Mercy understands power and privilege. Mercy can seen the difference between the haves and the have-nots. Mercy knows of inequality. And mercy is a state of being that critiques and combats these systems of injustice.
I also want to push Mr. Skinner’s definition a little. I understand mercy as a willingness to use privilege to go out of one’s way to improve the well being of another. Again, this is to combat the sense of powerlessness. The state of being that is mercy is an active force. It understands privilege. Mercy is a way of life by which the one with privilege names and engages that privilege in a critical manner, in an effort to end injustice and oppression. Surrendering privilege does not help in this instance. The privilege needs to be named, critiqued, and used as an avenue of renewal - always on behalf of the other.
Perhaps there is a nuance of surrender here that I am missing. This is after all a work in progress. A journey. A way of life.
God has blessed both the meek and the merciful. They are not powerless. They are blessed, already and forever, to be workers in the kingdom of heaven. When the meek and merciful are confronted with their privilege and power they know they are called to action, to work against the injustice and oppression brought on by fallen systems of power and privilege. They are blessed to be a blessing. And to live out God's radical vision for community that is the kingdom of heaven.
I want to keep the conversation moving. How do these definitions help the conversation? What are your thoughts? Do you encounter the tension of privilege and powerlessness? What do you do when you see it?
Blessings on the journey. Now it’s back to sermon writing.
Peace,
Travis
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