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wings
Black History/Women's History:
The church's response
The months of February and March are respectively designated as Black History Month and Women's History Month. I celebrate that the church recognizes the achievements of African Americans and women whose contributions to the history of this country have been ignored or co-opted.
Yet I realize that for some people, the difficulty is not in recognizing these contributions within the secular world, but in understanding why the church should participate in the celebration. Here is the rationale.
First, we should do this to acknowledge that our Christian journey includes contributions from women and African Americans. The very first sermon preached on the Resurrection was given to and delivered by Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other unnamed women. We are aware that Simon of Cyrene, the man compelled to carry the cross of Jesus, was of African descent, and that the first to be baptized by a lay preacher was the Ethiopian eunuch. This is not to say that men and others were not a part of these great moments, but we must affirm the presence of women and those of African birth during these times.
Second, the church must correct the mistakes of its past when women and African Americans were treated as second-class citizens at best, and inconsequential at worst, within the Christian community. These two specially designated months provide the United Methodist Church with opportunity to practice through actions what we declare with our lips. That is, in Christ there is no east or west, no male or female, no bond or free, but we are all one in Christ Jesus. It must be very clear to the world where we stand on the issues of women and people of color.
Third, we must set the agenda for our church's future to be led by women and people of color. The church needs to lead the world in being likeminded. I realize that we lack a universal vision and acceptance of women, African Americans, and people of color within our world - and sadly, sometimes in our own churches. Nevertheless, we are called to share this vision with all.
It is so easy for us to allow the world to revolve around people who look like, think like, act like, and talk like us, but John's vision in Revelation calls us to be greater people than that. After telling us of his vision of 144,000 from the tribes of Israel, John writes in Revelation 7:9:
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ìSalvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the lamb.î
It is a vision that after our collective journeys we will stand together with no more divisions between us. But we are not expected to wait until then, for Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
We are living into this heavenly vision as we journey together.
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Bishop James Swanson
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