Vintage lrc 10.9.16

Rejoice with those who rejoice;
weep with those who weep.
ROMANS 12:15 (NRSV)

When Mary came where Jesus was, and saw him,
she knelt at his feet, and said to him, “Lord, if you
had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who
came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in
spirit, and deeply moved…(and) Jesus began to weep.
JOHN 11:32-34 (NRSV)

“Lament is the antidote to denial.”
SOONG-CHAN RAH

- Job is largely an expression of lament amidst suffering/loss
- 40% of the Psalms are “laments”
(like “hospital visits,” w/a hope of healing/recovery)
- Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet”
- Wrote Lamentations; chapters 1, 2 & 4 =“funeral dirges”
(there is a “dead body in the room” that must be addressed)
LAMENT IN SCRIPTURE

“The American church AVOIDS lament.
The POWER of lament is minimized, and the
underlying narrative of SUFFERING (lament
requires) is lost. But absence doesn’t make the
heart grow fonder. Absence makes the heart
forget. The absence of lament in the liturgy
of the American church results in the loss of memory.
We forget the NECESSITY of lamenting over suffering,
and pain. We forget the REALITY of suffering, and pain.”
SOONG-CHAN RAH

Judah has gone into exile with suffering,
and hard servitude;
she lives now among the nations,
and finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
LAMENTATIONS 1:3 (NRSV)

When all the prisoners of the land
are crushed under foot,
when human rights are perverted
in the presence of the Most High,
when one’s case is subverted
— does the Lord not see it?
LAMENTATIONS 3:34-36 (NRSV)

My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees.
My eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all
the young women in my city.

Women are raped in Zion, virgins in the town of Judah.
Princes are hung by their hands;
no respect is shown to the elders.
Young men are compelled to grind;
and boys stagger under loads of wood.
The old men have left the city gate,
the young men, their music.
The joy of the land has ceased;
our dancing has turned to mourning.

Restore us to yourself, O LORD,
that we may be restored;
Renew our days of old –
unless you have utterly rejected us,
and are angry with us beyond measure.

1. DISENGAGE WITH THE SURROUNDING CULTURE
(Forbidden to God’s people – Jeremiah 29:4-7)
THREE OPTIONS TO CHOOSE…

2. ENGAGE IN IDOLATRY & PATTERNS OF THE WORLD
(Forbidden to God’s people – Isaiah 42:17, et.al.)

2. ENGAGE IN IDOLATRY & PATTERNS OF THE WORLD
(Forbidden to God’s people – Isaiah 42:17, et.al.)
3. LAMENT & PURSUE YHWH’S SOVEREIGNTY/MERCY
(a passionate expression of grief, or sorrow;
rarely about INDIVIDUAL GUILT…)

- @10,000 refugee children are currently unaccounted for,
believed to be potential victims of human trafficking
SO MUCH TO LAMENT…

- Over 54,000,000 reported abortions in US since 1970
(just over the entire population of South Africa)

- 23 people have been shot/killed by toddlers in 2016

- 23 people have been shot/killed by toddlers in 2016
- 1.6mill homeless US teens; 40% = LGBTQ

- Of the 500+ treaties between the US & Native Nations,
ALL have been either broken, nullified, or amended

- Due to sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, just under
1,000 catholic priests have been defrocked over the last 10yrs

- Due to sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, just under
1,000 catholic priests have been defrocked over the last 10yrs
- The current death toll in the 5+yr Syrian civil war stands at
@ 250,000; their leader is said to be responsible for just
under 140,000 of those deaths

- Committed violent atrocities against the
native peoples on land he “discovered”
- Post-Columbian induced disease/
starvation killed between 3-5mill people
- His greed/gold exports resulted in the
paralysis of the economy on Africa’s Gold Coast,
leading to African slaves being the dominant
commodity in the region, inadvertently making
him the father of the transatlantic slave trade…
COLUMBUS DAY (est. 193o)

{ Columbus } { Lincoln } { King }

- Income inequality for women, and people of color
- Injustice against black communities in the “War on Drugs”
- Crushing poverty facing many rural, white, working poor
- Destruction of immigrant families in a system that’s broken
- Sexual objectification/violence against women/children
- Myriad species lost to human carelessness/greed
- Explosion/proliferation of our “military industrial complex”
- Inability/unwillingness to take creation stewardship seriously
- American Christianity wedding itself to political parties, etc.
TO SAY NOTHING OF…

“Perhaps nothing about the history of mob
violence in the US is more surprising than
how quickly an understanding of the full horror
of LYNCHING has receded from the nation’s
collective historical memory.”
W. FITZHUGH BRUNDAGE

an unpredictable act of mob terror/violence, for any/all
imagined/interpreted offenses, originally meant to
systematically spread fear among the black population
(all over the US, not just in the South), serving the broad
social purpose of maintaining white supremacy in the
economic, social, and political spheres, especially at
the state/local level. Nearly 5,000 known lynchings
occurred between the late 19th & early
20th centuries…
LYNCHING

the belief that white people are superior to those of all
other races, especially the black race, should therefore
dominate society, and that this is backed by God/Scripture…
also the belief that the thoughts, preferences,
theological, and social perspectives of white culture
are inherently normative, and superior/preferable
to all others...
WHITE SUPREMACY

the belief that white people are superior to those of all
other races, especially the black race, should therefore
dominate society, and that this is backed by God/Scripture…
WHITE SUPREMACY
the God-given task white colonizers believed
they had, to impose their superior civilization
on the black/colored inhabitants of the
lands they conquered/colonized
WHITE MAN’S BURDEN

“Crucifixion was a Roman form of public
service announcement: do not engage in
sedition as this person has, or YOUR fate
will be similar…Crucifixion, first, and
foremost, is addressed to an AUDIENCE.”
PAULA FREDRICKSON

“As Jesus was an innocent victim
of mob hysteria, and Roman Imperial
violence, many African Americans were
innocent victims of white mobs, thirsting
for blood IN THE NAME OF GOD, and in
defense of segregation, white supremacy,
and the purity of the Anglo-Saxon race.”
James cone

“Theologically speaking, Jesus was the
first ‘lynchee,’ who foreshadowed all the
lynched black bodies on American soil.
He was crucified by the SAME principalities,
and powers that lynched black people
in America.”
James cone

“Our country’s national crime is lynching.
It is not the creature of the hour, the sudden
outburst of uncontrolled fury, or the
unspeakable brutality of an insane mob.
It represents the cool, calculating, deliberation of intelligent
people who openly avow that there is an ‘unwritten law’
that justifies them in putting human beings to death
without complaint under oath, without trial by jury, without
opportunity to make defense, and without right of appeal.”
IDA B. WELLS

“Often as many as 10k to 20k men, women,
and children attended (a lynching.) It was
a family affair, a ritual celebration of white
supremacy, where women, and children
were often given the first opportunity to
torture black victims – burning flesh, cutting off
(various body parts) as souvenirs. Postcards were made from
the photographs taken of black victims with white lynchers,
and onlookers smiling as they struck a pose for the camera.”
James cone

“In (the) formative years (of Martin Luther King’s life)
the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was as active as ever, striking fear
with their hooded marches, and burning crosses…
White MINISTERS sometimes served as MOB LEADERS,
BLESSING lynchings, or citing the stories of Ham, and Cain
(in the OT) to JUSTIFY white supremacy as a DIVINE right.”
James cone

“Before he was lynched in Oxford, MS (1899), Steven Allen
testified to his ‘peace with God,’ saying that, ‘Jesus died
on a Roman cross for me; through his mercy, all my sins
are forgiven. I am anchored in Christ.’
Before Charles Johnston, a black MINISTER, was hanged
in Swainbora, GA, ‘he preached his own funeral sermon,’
inducing the crowd to sing, kneel, raise
their hands, and pray along with him.”
James cone

Then Jesus said,
“Father, forgive them;
for they do not know
what they are doing.”
LUKE 23:34 (NRSV)

“Why is mob murder permitted by a
CHRISTIAN nation? The nation cannot
profess Christianity which makes the
Golden Rule its foundation stone, and
continue to deny equal opportunity for life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness to the black race.”
IDA B. WELLS

(in response to evangelist Dwight L. Moody’s willingness to
segregate his revival meetings to appease southern whites)
“Our American Christians are too busy saving the souls
of white Christians from burning in (eventual) hellfire
to save the lives of black ones from present burning
in fires kindled BY white Christians.”
IDA B. WELLS

“…the church today is the strongest seat of
racial, and color prejudice. If 100 of the best,
and purest colored folk of the US should
seek to apply for membership in any white
church in this land tomorrow, 999 out of
every 1,000 ministers would like to keep them out.
They would not only do this, but would
openly, and brazenly defend their action
as worthy followers of Jesus Christ.”
W.E.B. DUBOIS (1913)

“Yet Jesus Christ was a laborer, and black
men are laborers; He was poor, and we
are poor; He was despised of his fellow men,
and we are despised; He was persecuted,
and crucified, and we are mobbed, and lynched.
If Jesus Christ came to America, He would associate with
Negros, and Italians, and working people; He would eat,
and pray with them, and He would seldom see the interior
of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.”
W.E.B. DUBOIS (1913)

“It is exceedingly doubtful if lynching could
possibly exist under any other religion than
Christianity…Not only through tacit approval,
and acquiescence has the Christian Church
indirectly given its approval to lynch-law...,
but the EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS
have done much towards creation of the particular
fanaticism which finds its outlet in lynching.”
WALTER WHITE (1929)

“…it was white slaveholders, segregationists,
and lynchers who DEFINED the content of
the CHRISTIAN gospel (in America.) They
wrote hundreds of books about Christianity,
founded seminaries to train scholars, and preachers,
and thereby controlled nearly 2,000 years
of Christian tradition...(and their) white THEOLOGY
(as a whole)...did not affirm (the)
humanity (of black slaves.”
James cone

“In the wake of slavery, and the Civil War, there was so much
ugliness in black life that one would have to be blind not
to see it. And nothing, absolutely nothing, was uglier than
lynching in all of its many forms: hanging, burning, beating,
dragging, and shooting – as well as torture, mutilation,
and especially castration.”
James cone

{ His death sparked
the Civil Rights
Movement }

{ Church Bombing – Montgomery, AL – 9.15.63 }

{ black people are now 3x more likely to be
killed by police than white people }

“I believe that anything which makes
people think of EXISTING
evil conditions is
worthwhile.”
LANGSTON HUGHES

{ 892 hate
groups
in US}
{ 200+
“Christian
”
groups }

“I do not mean to say that white people are
evil, or anything like that…I do mean to say
that the bulk of the white...CHRISTIAN
majorityin this country has exhibited a really
staggering level of irresponsibility, and
immoral washing of the hands...I don’t suppose that...
(in the wake of the church bombing, that) all the white
people in Birmingham (AL) are monstrous people.
But they’re mainly SILENT...and THAT is a crime in itself.”
James BALDWIN

“When I was a rabbi of the Jewish
community in Berlin, under the Hitler regime,
the most important thing I learned under
those tragic circumstances was that bigotry,
and hatred are not the most urgent problems.
The most urgent, and most disgraceful, the most
shameful, the most tragic problem is: SILENCE.”
RABBI JOACHIM PRINZ

“The world suffers a lot. Not because of
the VIOLENCE of BAD people, but because
of the SILENCE of GOOD people...
There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”
MARTIN LUTHER KING

“For too long, the CHURCH has
gone about its business as though nothing
were wrong. Meanwhile, it has been a
racialized organism, not only fractured
relationally, but actually practicing,
prepetuating, or remaining SILENT
to the racial OPPRESSION of others.”
Drew g.i. hart

“From Ferguson, MO, to Charleston, SC,
communities are suffering the lethal
consequences of our collective SILENCE
about racial injustice. The Church should
be a source of truth in a nation that has
lost its way. As the dominant religion in the US, Christianity
is DIRECTLY implicated when we (especially) as
(evangelical) Christians fail to SPEAK more honestly
about the LEGACY of racial inequality.”
BRYAN STEVENSON

“In the wake of the white American Church’s
complicity with horrific violence – with the
‘biblically justified’ genocide of native nations,
and the enslavement, lynching, and ongoing
injustice towards black men, women, and
children – I am, in some ways, at a loss for words….
But I cannot be silent. So I choose to remember our
past, to acknowledge our present, and to… “
DEACON GODSEY

14-DAY FAST to PREPARE HEARTS &
MIND FOR ELECTION & BEYOND
Sunday, October 9th (after lunch) to
Sunday, October 23rd (after service)
* Two weeks of focused prayer:
- Lamenting (Oct 9 – 16; FP week; Arlyn to Uganda)
- Repenting (Oct 17 – 23; Arlyn returns)

Pray, and ask God to show you:
- What do you need to personally lament/grieve?
- What do we need to lament/grieve as a church family?
- What do we need to lament as a city/state/nation?
- What is hindering your ability/willingness to enter into
grief/lament, or your impatience w/others in doing so?
SOUL TRAINING EXERCISE

Most holy, and merciful God, we confess to You, and to one
another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven,
and on earth, that we have sinned by our own fault in thought,
word ,and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have
left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart,
and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors
as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been
forgiven. Have mercy on us, Lord. We have been deaf
to Your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not
been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved
Your Holy Spirit. Have mercy on us, Lord.

We confess to You, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness; the pride,
hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives. We confess to You,
Lord, our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our
exploitation
of other people. We confess to You, Lord, our anger at our
own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than
ourselves. We confess to You, Lord, our intemperate love of
worldly goods, and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life,
and work. We confess to You, Lord, our negligence in prayer,
and worship, and our failure to commend the faith
that is in us. Accept our repentance, Lord, for the
wrongs we have done; for the blindness to human
need, and suffering, and our indifference

Accept our repentance, Lord, for all false judgments,
for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for
our prejudice, and contempt toward those who differ from us.
Accept our repentance, Lord, for our waste, and pollution of
Your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come
after us. Accept our repentance, Lord. Favorably hear us,
for Your mercy is great.
And all the people said: Amen.

Vintage lrc 10.9.16

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (20)

Similar to Vintage lrc 10.9.16

Similar to Vintage lrc 10.9.16 (11)

More from Vintage Church

More from Vintage Church (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (18)

Vintage lrc 10.9.16