Have You Got Good Religion? - Luke 10:25-37
A sermon on social justice ministry
The following column is
a revised manuscript of a keynote address and sermon by the same title I delivered
on the occasion of The Fourteenth Annual African-American Church Day on the
Hill, 7 March 2006, at Legislative Plaza in Nashville TN.
The
story is told of a king who lives in a magnificent castle in one of the most
picturesque areas of Scotland. He takes
great pride in the beauty and breathtaking aesthetic of his home. However, he laments his lack of a wall to surround
the castle and blend with the marvelous landscape. The king summons his chief steward and
instructs him to search through all the land and locate the best stone possible
to construct a wall that will adorn appropriately the castle and the landscape. The king departs for a long and lengthy
journey. Upon his return, he finds a
glorious wall near the place where the castle once stood. Immediately, the king calls for the chief
steward so that he may inquire about what happened to the castle. The steward, in response to the king’s
inquiries, answers, “My Lord, did you not direct me to find the best stone in
all the land and build a wall? Well, the
best stone was already in the castle.
So, I tore down the castle and built the wall according to your
directions.” In utter sorrow, the king
says, “We have built a wall and lost the castle.”
That
story challenges us to evaluate what we are building in the Church. I fear that we are building walls of human
monuments while losing the castle, which is the Church, which is the
people. The Church is the people! It is not bricks and mortar. The recent church building projects in our
State probably equals billions of dollars.
I wonder whether we would raise comparable amounts of money for direct
service and social advocacy ministries.
Whereas we are willing to put extraordinary amounts of money into
buildings with lots of high tech equipment, are we equally willing and
committed to putting comparable amounts of money into people, seeking to
resolve many of the social dilemmas that plaque us? Will we maintain the castle, the people of
God instead of building walls of human glory?
My
primary question remains, “Have You Got Good Religion?” Many of us fondly remember that old Negro
spiritual in which the song leader raises this pivotal question. Then, the congregation replies with the
phrase, “Certainly Lord! Certainly
Certainly Lord!” The leader goes on to
ask other questions, “Have you been baptized,”
“Do you know Jesus,” and “Do want to go to heaven?” The audience responds the same to each
question as an affirmation of their confidence in the substance of their
religion. Yet, the main question of this
enduring spiritual leads to another significant question. What is good religion?
I
posit that good religion includes more than ritual, rites, rules and a
fallacious question for self-righteousness and personal piety. Instead, good religion necessitates a vibrant
and genuine relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. That relationship requires us to mature into
His disciples by unconditionally submitting our wills and lives to His Lordship
and care. Practically speaking, we
abandon our lives to His purposes. The
gospel of Luke speaks of our daily crucifixion.
Thereby, God in Christ resurrects us to new life so that we may live to
His honor and glory.
Again,
the question remains, “What is good religion?”
The contemporary American Church seems to value greatly worship. Hundreds of millions perhaps even billions of
dollars are spent each week to produce high tech and magnanimous worship
services. Some churches rival Hollywood,
Broadway, the major television networks and production companies as it relates
to the quality of their worship performances.
Second, we generally characterize churches with seven-figure operating
budgets as successes. Third, if a church
completes a multi-million dollar renovation, many people assume that that is
evidence of good religion. Again, the emphasis
falls upon the building rather than the people.
Fourth, should large numbers of people attend worship at any church,
then most believers attribute those numbers to the presence of the Holy
Spirit. Fifth, a minister’s or a
church’s presence on television, radio, the world wide web or some other form
of media automatically means that God is blessing that person or church in the
opinions of many folks. Yet, the sum of
the foregoing points do not necessarily equate with the Bible’s definition of
good religion.
Good
religion includes the spiritual characteristics of love, truth, justice, mercy
and grace, which are the eternal and enduring values of life. The Parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us
that good religion requires us to care for our neighbors wherever we find them. Good religion equals an endeavor to rightly
relate to Almighty God and treat all of His children with His love and justice
because of one’s relationship with Him.
In contemporary America, this parable challenges the Church to find the
compassion and commitment to stop for those brothers and sisters who are in
need. More specifically, the American
Church faces the crucial test of transforming its resources into bandages, oil
and healing instruments so that those who are broken may be made whole.
Lest we build walls of
human monuments to the glory and achievement of ourselves and not the genuine
castle of the Church, which is the family of God, we must focus specifically
upon the victim in the parable of “The Good Samaritan.” You recall that a man travels from Jericho to
Jerusalem. Along that road, he falls
into the hands of robbers who steal his money and property and leave him to
die. Interestingly, the victim is
traveling from a Gentile city to the city of God where the Temple is. Perhaps, he is on the annual pilgrimage to
observe the Passover in Jerusalem; maybe the architectural lure of the great
and glorious Temple captures his imagination.
Regardless of his reason for the trip, he appears headed toward a
possible life-changing experience with Almighty God. But, he falls into the clutches of thieves
and violent criminals.
As
he lies on the Jericho road and life ebbs out of him, he sees a priest. One imagines that this victim breathes a sigh
of relief. Quite possibly, he says to
himself, “My prayers have been answered royally. God has sent a caring and affectionate priest
to attend to my needs. He could have
simply sent anyone considering my dire circumstances.” The victim’s prayer may have been one of
those bargains with God, “If you get me out of this fix, I’ll serve You
forever.” Imagine the horror that came
over him when the priest looks upon his wretched condition, which shows the
victim’s obvious need of medical attention and help; crosses over to the other
side; and proceeds along his way.
Least
you believe that my presentation centers upon the melodramatic, please consider
the countless and daily ways in which we cross over the beaten victims in our
lives. Locally, in Metropolitan
Nashville and Davidson County, we have yet to commit fundamentally to funding
the public school system, which heals the wounds of the 70,000 children who
attend. Another local issue is the
potential closing of Meharry General Hospital which serves the most vulnerable
citizens, many of whom are indigent, economically disadvantaged and very
ill. To accomplish his TennCare reforms,
Governor Philip N. Bredesen expended $8.5 million in attorneys’ fees. Meanwhile, he reneged on a deal to
appropriate the necessary funds to prevent this critical hospital from closing.
On
the State level, we still have heard the cries of the 719,000 persons whose
lives have been adversely affected by Governor Philip N. Breseden’s “reforms”
in TennCare. Included in that number are
191,000 persons who have been dropped from healthcare altogether. Many others have had their prescription
benefits severely reduced notwithstanding their significant need for
medications because of transplant surgeries, cardio bypasses and invasive
procedures. These brothers and sisters
have been left on the Jericho road to die.
Actually, some of them have died due to these draconian cuts.
The
conflict in Iraq has resulted in the deaths of nearly 2300 American military
casualties. In the three years of this
debacle, we still await a reasonable explanation for this military engagement. No weapons of mass destruction have been
found! The country has already spent
$331 billion. Next year this time, we
would have expended $450 billion, nearly a half a trillion dollars. There is no social program in the history of
this country that we have ever committed that amount of money to. Those figures equal approximately $330
million a day! Imagine what we could do
with public education in the United States if we ever appropriated comparable
amounts of funds to it.
Then,
Levite comes along after the priest.
Perhaps, he was wearing some robes or identifiable clothing. At that point, I suppose that the victim
began to feel that God had immediately answered his prayer again. Again, imagine how flabbergasted that this
man must have been when this second clergyman passed him over also. Rather surprisingly, a Samaritan comes upon
this man. The victim might have thought
that this Gentile will probably finish me off.
But, contrary to his deepest suspicions and prejudices, the victims
finds that God answers his prayers through the presence and compassionate gifts
of this Samaritan. Contemporarily, we
describe this Samaritan as an “unchurched” person who may or may not believe in
the Lord. Perhaps, he is a secular
humanist who doubts the Lord because of the consistent and persistent failures
of the Church to live the gospel instead of merely preaching it.
Essentially the Church has
abdicated its responsibility to care for the least in society. Admittedly, we pay taxes and our government
on all three levels should use those resources wisely. Notwithstanding the fact that Americans are
the most prosperous people who have ever lived in the history of humankind, we
have not resolved one major social, economic or political dilemma that plagues
our society. We have not irreversibly
cured any diseases like breast cancer.
Poverty and homelessness greatly victimizes countless persons each
day. What a waste of the gifts,
abilities and talents that Almighty God has deposited within each of those
persons! Nevertheless, the Lord directs
the Church to care for the most vulnerable persons in society. It is our prerogative and responsibility to
speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Moreover, the Church must advocate for these
persons, endeavoring to eliminate the systemic causes and barriers that oppress
our brothers and sisters who resemble the victim on the Jericho road. Like him, they cannot get to Jerusalem to
experience the fullness of knowing God because of the wholesale socio-economic
and socio-political impediments that deprive them of inner healing and
wholeness.
Again,
it appears that an “unchurched” person, the Good Samaritan, fulfills the duty
of the priests. Likewise,
contemporarily, many people of good will with requisite morals and ethics step
into the gap that the Church leaves when we preoccupy ourselves with worship,
conferences, building funds, and multimedia ministries. The Church appears to lack bandages, oil and
wine with which to heal those who are wounded by the trials and challenges of
life.
The
destruction of Hurricane Katrina poignantly depicts the impotence and
indifference of the Church. Of the
fifteen thousand persons who once resided on New Orleans and came to the
Nashville area, not one of them has said that the Church evacuated him or
her. More significantly, I personally
detested the response of the African-American Church on a denominational
level. Whereas many individual churches
responded with immediate compassion and direct assistance, our denominations
merely criticized President Bush and FEMA.
One of the largest Black Churches in New Orleans, “One Church in Three
Locations,” did not evacuate anyone. I
stand to be corrected. Actually, I
understand that the Pastor of that Church flew out of town on a private plane
on the day before the storm.
Interestingly, he surfaced on national television later that week;
joining the foray of criticism of the Bush Administration, FEMA and the U. S.
Department of Homeland Security. More
unfortunately, that Pastor stood in a pulpit in Nashville, two months to the
day after Hurricane Katrina, and gave a check in the amount of $187,000 to a
local Pastor and instructed him to buy a Bentley with the money. Imagine how that money could have been used
to help survivors of the storm! Nevertheless, these dismal failures
demonstrate the colossal waste of the Church’s resources in the face of such
drastic human pain and suffering.
I
would like to offer a few suggestions for possible bandages, oil, wine that we,
the Church, can begin to use to heal others.
First, we should go to Capitol Hill and fight for Meharry General
Hospital. Should that facility close,
thousands of people, including many indigent babies and children, will be left
on the Jericho road. Second, we must
advocate on behalf of the 719,000 citizens whose lives have been adversely
affected by Governor Bredesen’s draconian TennCare cuts. We must reverse these cuts! We must lobby the members of the Tennessee
State Legislature and ask them not to pass a state budget that continues these
cuts. Third, we must prioritize the
funding of public education in Tennessee.
Grades pre-K to four must be a central priority. It is hard to accept that many
church-attending and God-fearing citizens voted for and play the Tennessee
State Lottery. We have the distinction
in this State of having the highest paid, legal numbers runner in the
country. What is more, working class and
poor residents of Shelby County are actually assisting middle-class and
affluent people in Knox County to attend college at a great discount. I favor eliminating the lottery and
reallocating state funds to expand the quality of public education in
Tennessee. The fourth bandage that I suggest
that we find is a period of personal meditation in which we ask God about
running for public office and against one of the incumbents in the Tennessee
General Assembly. Members of the
legislature have become very comfortable.
Some of them need to be removed from office. Accordingly,
I ask you to go home and pray about this possibility.
I
end as I began. I ask you, “Have You Got
Good Religion?”
