In the same way Jesus took an inventory of the temple in Jerusalem by driving out livestock with a whip of cords and turning over tables, an inventory of our political system in America took place 50 years ago on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Ultimately, that great and horrible day led to the passage of legislation that allowed all people regardless of race or color to participate in democracy.
This past weekend an estimated 120,000 people from all over the world traveled to Selma to celebrate this momentous occasion and to commemorate the men and women who were courageous enough to stand up to an exclusive political system. For the most part the mood was celebratory. It was truly a Jubilee in the Hebrew sense of the word.
(Photo by Selma Times Journal - Sunday Jubilee)
Selma residents who had not embraced this commemoration in the past showed up this time. They showed up because they had permission to be proud of their city again due in part to a Unity Walk that was held last weekend on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Selma residents were eager to show the world the true character of our beautiful city.
At St. Paul's visitors packed into Hammonds Clos to enjoy rest in the shade and FREE bottled water and snacks. Earlier in the day one of our volunteers set up a television in the courtyard so she could watch the President speak. Due to the overwhelming crowd that showed up, over 100 people ended up watching the President's remarks with our volunteers in the courtyard. People were exceedingly grateful for the hospitality especially since the secret service banned bottled water in the restricted area.
(Some 100 people gather in Hammonds Clos at St. Paul's)
Scenes like this were happening all over Selma. Those who came to Selma with preconceived notions that Selma was still stuck in 1965 certainly went home with a different idea (check out these two articles: MADE and WSJ). Unfortunately, some of the media was bent on painting a negative picture of Selma but those who did their research discovered a different story. Thanks be to God!
Please don't hear me saying that things are perfect. They aren't. We still need to address education and employment. However, there is something that the city of Selma (and cities everywhere) needs that politicians and government officials cannot offer. As Pastor Strong said last night at the City Council Meeting, Selma needs to rally behind a spiritual vision of who God is calling Selma to be.
While this weekend marked a wonderful celebration for our city, country, and nation, I was left concerned by how much faith we put into our government. We all know that our political system is not perfect. The reality is that it will never be perfect.
This weekend was another reminder that our salvation cannot and will not come from our political systems no matter how good and fair they are. Our government will never be good enough. Yes, we should as a society work toward fair and just laws, but I believe our city and country is hungry to see something more than simply fair and just laws--something beyond an inventory of a political system.
(Picture at Brown Chapel of the Faith and Politics Panel)
Jesus did not leave the tables overturned in the temple. He didn't leave the temple a mess and go home. No, he promised that he would rebuild the temple in three days. God's plan is bigger than changing an unjust and political situation in Rome (and USA).
We see the truth of God's plan unfold in the passion of Jesus Christ, a passion that shows us how the persistent mercy and love of God is changing the world. As someone said, the law cannot produce love only love can produce love. Love, the kind of love we need, the kind of love that transforms our hearts and changes the world depends on the kind of love that God pours out into the world through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As we remember the events that changed the world 50 years ago in Selma, Alabama, let's celebrate those who had the courage to stand up for what was right, for those who stood up to the unjust laws in our society. Let's ask God to continue to give us and the church the courage to be a voice in the wilderness. Give thanks for a God who is willing to turn over tables in the name of justice.
Above all, give thanks for a God whose love we get to experience through Jesus Christ, a love that doesn't take sides, a love that seeks to find everyone, a love that has changed the world. Give thanks for a God who wants all his children: black, brown, white, rich, poor, gay, straight, state troopers, protest marchers, the Martin Luther King, Jr.'s and even the Sheriff Clark's of the world to know the promise land.
(Sunday Jubilee Bridge Crossing)
The good news is that the promise land isn't some future reality created by laws, it is not something we are still working for, the promise land is available now in Jesus Christ. The good news is that the promise land doesn't depend on human ways. The promise land depends on God's way and God's way is a way of compassion and mercy and justice for all. The promise land is right in front of us through a life lived in the way of the one who fulfills the law, in the way of the one who loves without condition or restriction, in the way of the one we call Jesus Christ our Lord.
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