What God is doing in Selma 50 years later...
(1st half is theology of cross and empty tomb, 2nd half applies that theology to Selma in 2015)
Jesus calls out to the crowd and to his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
There is no doubt that the first followers of Jesus hear these words a little bit differently than we do today—take up your cross and follow me. While still sobering to us in 2015, we hear these words with the benefit of knowing that the movement of Jesus was a success. We hear these words knowing that there is life beyond the cross. The first followers did not have such a luxury.
Even more, the symbol of the cross to these first followers of Jesus was absolutely terrifying. Imagine of Jesus said to you today, take up your electric chair and follow me. The Roman Empire used a cross to execute its criminals. A cross was seen as the most inhumane way of killing someone and was reserved for the most notorious of criminals. Hanging on a cross resulted in a slow and painful death and because the cross was low to the ground your enemies could look you in the eye and ridicule you and spit on you and so on. No wonder Peter and others balked at this command.
But today, the symbol of the cross is celebrated. The cross appears in most every Christian church. We have entire walls dedicated to decorative crosses in our homes. We wear them as pieces of jewelry. Our children decorate them in Sunday school class or preschool. Imagine if Peter and his buddies transported through time and saw how we treat the symbol of the cross today.
In our defense, the cross is celebrated because it is a reminder of how far God was willing to go to show us how much we are loved. God was willing to go as far as to sacrifice his only Son so that we might know life. And the fact that the cross is empty reminds us that Jesus rose victorious from the grave.
God has turned the story of the cross, the story of death into something beautiful. As Christians, we believe God has given us this beautiful story through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ. In a very real way, God has changed the story of death into the story of life. But this is no fairy tale story. In order to know God’s new story, we must accept that God’s new story includes the cross and death. Before we know the story of life, we must own the story of death.
In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus tries to introduce his followers to God’s new story. For the first time in his ministry, Jesus tells his disciples that he must undergo suffering and death before he rises again. But Peter doesn’t hear the rises again part and complains against Jesus. Peter pulls Jesus aside and says something like, “Lord, why are you saying such foolish things? You are supposed to defeat the Roman Army! How can you be the king that finally brings down Caesar if you die?”
Well, Peter is kind of right. Until that point in time, no one knew a world where someone had lived beyond the cross. No one knew a world where someone had risen from the dead. In Peter’s mind, the only way to defeat the enemy was by killing them before they killed you. So of course, Peter is incredulous. Wouldn’t we all be if they guy who was promising life was now talking about death?
The part of the story that Peter doesn’t know yet is the part that says before Jesus can take his proper place on the throne of God as King of kings he must die first. Quite literally, Jesus has to give death to the broken and corrupt world he has come to save. Jesus has to put to death the old story of pride, injustice, corruption, greed and you can fill in the blanks.
As Christians, we believe that on the cross the old story goes down to the grave with Jesus. And when God raises Jesus from the dead, the old story remains vanquished forever because Jesus defeated death. Finally, Jesus is free from the old story of sin and death and he asks us to follow him. Jesus is calling us to a life where the old story of sin and death no longer has the power to tell us how to live our lives.
But accepting this new story is still hard to accept because accepting something new takes a lot of faith—at least we know the old story no matter how horrible it is. Like Peter, we still get stuck at the first part of Jesus’ announcement. We get stuck at the foot of the cross, at the idea of death. Like Peter, everything we have come to know in this world tells us that death is the end of the story. But the good news is that God is trying to get us to trust his new story of life through his Son who died for us and rose again. God knows this new story is hard to accept and will never stop reminding us of this good news.
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As you all know very well, what happened in Selma 50 years ago changed the nation and even the world. Ultimately, the events that transpired resulted in the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Even more, the events that occurred here resulted in a democracy where all people could participate regardless of race or color. While the nation was free to celebrate this victory, the city of Selma was mortally wounded.
Suddenly, a city that was a bright spot in Alabama became the red headed step child of the south and the nation. The images of Bloody Sunday have been repeated over and over and over again. And every year Bloody Sunday is commemorated. As many have said, when will we ever move past the bridge?
In a few hours, the city of Selma will gather on the Montgomery side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. We will gather as a community—black, white, Hispanic, Jewish, Christian, atheist, agnostic, whatever. We will gather as a people who are hungry to live by a new story. We will gather in a faith that believes that God is doing something special in Selma. And instead of marching to Montgomery in the name of Civil Rights, we will march into Selma in the name of One Selma and reclaim this beautiful place as our home—Selma for Selma. It is time to celebrate Selma again.
The banner that we will carry in procession will be the unity quilt that represents the rich diversity and beauty of Selma. We received a total of 176 quilt squares for this quilt—squares representing our community, our churches, our businesses, our people, and our history. All of them are now sewn together as one to create a symbol of unity.
Jamie brought the quilt to the most recent planning meeting for the Unity Walk to show it to the group. The presentation of this quilt was met by a standing ovation by the diverse and beautiful people of our city who gathered at Brown Chapel on Tuesday evening. I hope you understand the impact of this moment. This standing ovation is evidence that God is giving us a new story to celebrate.
One of the leaders of the Unity Walk made the comment, “Look what Selma has done together. Who would have ever imagined that Selma could do something like this?” While her question was certainly a rhetorical one, the answer is most definitively God. God is giving Selma a new story.
I, along with many of you, have been whispering about all the wonderful things that God is doing with our community. While we still have a long way to go to get to where we need to be, there are signs of new life with new businesses and new families and new initiatives. These signs are evident in our congregation and will be seen a little more clearly when we confirm 18 people on Easter Sunday when Bishop Murray comes to visit. Perhaps most significantly, signs of new life seen through our faith community coming together.
For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, the bridge was the cross we were called to bear. Ultimately, we would not have the opportunity to be talking about this new story if not for all the things that our city has experienced over the last 50 years. I’m not sure what Selma would look like today if Bloody Sunday didn’t happen. Some say that our economy would not have suffered like it has, that we would be a thriving small town. Others say that Bloody Sunday might have actually helped Selma stay relevant in a nation where small towns are dying.
I’m not sure either way. I can’t answer these questions. I’m not an economist or even a prophet. As your priest, preacher, and pastor, I am interested in answering these questions. What is the opportunity? Why does God care if the city of Selma has a new story? What does it matter that God is making Selma new?
I strongly believe that God is calling our city to be a witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe God wants Selma to be a reminder of the new story we are given through the good news of Jesus Christ. This is a great privilege and great responsibility. And I believe a part of this witness will happen on the bridge today.
While our walk will not replace or minimize those horrible images, our walk will give us permission to live by a new story—a story beyond Blood Sunday. Our walk will give us permission to celebrate the bridge, to look at the bridge in a new way. We can look at the bridge and see people of all colors and stories walking in a faith that believes God is making us one. Like the artist Common said at the Oscars last week, the bridge that was once a symbol of division is now a symbol of unity.
When we walk, instead of whispering about what God is doing, sing loudly, sing songs of praise to a God who makes us one. Sing believing that the world will hear you. Sing in the belief that God is drawing the world to look at Selma. Sing in a faith that believes that God wants the nation and the world to know that a city that was once mortally wounded is being raised to new life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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