Readings

FIRST LESSON

The first lesson is an excerpt from "An Address to the Slaves of the United States America" by Henry Highland Garnet

(Henry Garnet was a nineteenth century Presbyterian minister in New York and a black abolitionist. He advocated a commitment to freedom as the duty of Christians and called on slaves to resist by all means possible in order to bring about liberation. This address to slaves was delivered before an abolitionist audience and was a daring and compelling part of the abolition movement.)

          "Two hundred and twenty-seven years ago the first of our injured race were brought to the shores of America. They came not with glad spirits to select their homes in the New World. They come not with their own consent, to find an unmolested enjoyment of the blessings of this fruitful soil. The first dealings they had with people calling themselves Christians exhibited to them the worse features of corrupt and sordid hearts, and convinced them that no cruelty is too great, no villainy and no robbery too abhorrent for even the enlightened to perform, when influenced by avarice and lust. Neither did they come flying upon the wings of Liberty to a land of freedom. But they came with broken hearts, from their beloved native land, and were doomed to unrequited toil and deep degradation. Nor did the evil of their bondage end at their emancipation by death. Succeeding generations inherited their chains, and millions have come from eternity into time, and have returned again to the world of spirits, cursed and ruined by American slavery.

SECOND LESSON

The second lesson is from the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 1, verses 29 through 39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. Jesus came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sunset, they brought to Jesus all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found Jesus, they said, “Everyone is searching for you.” Jesus answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And Jesus went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

This Week's Sermon

Date: SUNDAY, February 8, 2009

Title: Freedom Connot be Contained

Message Delivered By: Rev. Joe Mc Murray

I was proud and privileged to be asked to perform my first Key West wedding yesterday. The young couple is from Chicago, so needless to say, they were ecstatic to be in our mild Key West climate the past few days.

The young man had been married once before, but the young woman had not. Though they had been together for almost 15 months, there seemed to be a bit of uncertainty with regard to the impact in-laws might have on their marriage.

The grandmother came up to me and asked, “So what are you, a justice of the peace?”

I said, “No, ma’am, I’m an ordained minister. May I ask who you are?”

She said, “I’m the grandmother. What church?”

I replied, “Metropolitan Community Chuch.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“It’s a non-denominational Christian church—an active community church here in Key West.”

“Well, good,” she said, “I want to make sure they keep God in their lives!”

“Well, that’s up to them, I suppose,” I replied.

“No, that’s my job,” she said. “I’m gonna see to it that they do.”

Of course, I wished her well.

There was a man, who had just shared dinner with his wife and her mother, and left to attend the weekly Bible study group at his church. It seems they were discussing the unforeseen possibility of sudden death.

"We will all die some day," the leader of the discussion said, "and none of us really knows when. But if we did, we would all do a better job of preparing ourselves for that inevitable event."

Everybody nodded their heads in agreement with this comment.

"What would you do if you knew you only had four weeks of life remaining before your death, before your Great Judgment Day?" the leader asked the group.

"For those four weeks, I would go out into my community and minister the Gospel to those that have not yet accepted Jesus into their lives." one participant said.

"A very admirable thing to do," said the group leader. And all the group members agreed that would be a very good thing to do.

"For those four weeks, I would dedicate all of my remaining time to serving my family, my church, and all humankind with a greater conviction," one woman said enthusiastically.

"That's wonderful!" the group leader commented, and all the group members agreed that would be a very good thing to do.

Finally, after they’d gone around the circle, the man who had just come from dinner, spoke up loudly. "For those four weeks, I would travel throughout the United States with my mother-in-law in a Ford Escort, and stay in a Motel 6 every night." Everyone was puzzled by his answer. "Why would you do that?" the group leader asked.

"Because," the man smiled, "it would be the longest four weeks of my life."

Will you please pray with me:
_____________________________________________________________

Dear God, we appreciate each and every opportunity you have placed before us. We know that we accomplish more when we work together. And we know that without you in our lives, we would accomplish little. So we ask for your continued blessing on all we do, and for your help in all we accomplish together. May our work be worthy of your faith in us. May my words and all of our thoughts be filled with honor and praise to you. Amen.
_____________________________________________________________

We continue our exploration of African-American spirituality this morning with a stark and sobering message from Henry Highland Garnet. Despite the hardship faced by his people who were torn from their families in their native lands, despite the fact that they had been brought to this country against their will and forced into slavery, and despite the fact there was little, if any, hope for escape, Garnet described it as “sinful in the extreme” to submit to suffering of any kind, or even to slavery itself. He felt that African-Americans should take militant action against their captors and claim their own destinies.

He made it sound just as simple as that.

Freedom was not an avenue for most African-American slaves. But there was something in Garnet’s passionate invocation that made it seem as though something could have been done had the human spirit rallied enough, been strong enough, believed enough to overcome the hardships it faced. We wonder how this could possibly be. If it was possible, surely it would have happened.

Last week, Martin Delaney died. Martin Delaney founded Project Inform in San Francisco. It was one of the first organizations that got directly involved with the AIDS pandemic from the standpoint of those who were most impacted by the disease—people who lived with HIV. They met in those first days in 1985, in the Sanctuary of MCC San Francisco. Too many -uninformed HIV-positive gay men, they said, were taking unquestioned advice from doctors who knew little or nothing of the disease. Project Inform literally forced the medical community to talk to the affected community, which was the infected community.

Everybody said it couldn’t be done.

Inspirational stories abound from many quarters and many cultural traditions. Stories of individuals and movements that reached beyond what anyone thought possible provide a richness of experience and inspiration that give all of us hope that we can triumph over those issues and challenges that seem impossible to overcome.
Such issues faced Jesus in his young ministry. Jesus was a Jew – and the Jews were an occupied people. Yet he spoke of wholeness, of liberation, and of freedom for God’s people.

Now I want to assure you that I did not choose my opening remarks based on the fact that the Scripture mentions Simon’s mother-in-law.

Having said that, her healing was one of the first miracles Jesus performed, according to Mark’s gospel, after he drove the evil spirits from the man in the synagogue, which we heard about last week.

Not only was the woman healed, she was well enough to wait upon them. But as word spread of this remarkable incident, the floodgates opened. The story got out about this strange man who was healing people of their infirmities and driving demons from their bodies, minds and spirits. They lined up at the door, and around the block.

It was dark when Jesus went out to pray, and by the time the disciples found him, everyone was looking for him – this miracle worker – this man who made things change dramatically almost by sheer will.

But it was time to move to the next town. It was time to carry forth the message of healing and wholeness, of release for the prisoners, and freedom for the occupied and the oppressed.

Many of us cope with our own demons – demons of stubbornness, emotional sickness, selfishness, egotism, self-righteousness, and pride. We feel, at times, that it is impossible to overcome these maladies, these deformities of the spirit.

We turn to God, in faith, and ask that the veil of separation be lifted – a separation that divides our bodies from our minds, and our minds from our hearts. God yearns for the healing of the world, and God cries for the salvation of humankind from itself and the dangers that it poses.

But God relies on our resourcefulness. God relies on our wise use of the multitude of gifts we’ve been given. God depends upon our works in tandem with God’s Universe to bring healing and wholeness to ourselves, to save ourselves from the treacheries of division and war; God yearns for us to free ourselves from the limitations we have placed on each other.
We already have the answers. The solutions for all the world’s problems are within our reach. All we must do is resolve to put aside those things that divide us; resist the temptation to be jealous of each others’ gifts; fight the impulse that pits us against one another out of our own fear.

As I mentioned earlier, the BOD has been working very closely for the past three days with Kimberly Brown. We have worked together and talked about the things that have divided us as a congregation; we have searched our souls, honestly identifying the things that separate us from being the best we can be. We gave spoken directly and lovingly with one another.

And because of our work, we are better, stronger, and more committed than ever to achieve our calling: not only serving God’s people but rooting out those things that separate us from God and from each other.

We are only a handful of people. But I warn you to be prepared. We have been infused with the Holy Spirit in a way that has changed us, will change the way we work together, and that cannot help but offer you what we have learned, so that we all might benefit from how we can be more in tune with God’s will.

It is freedom that we seek. It is freedom that we shall find – a freedom that our spirits will let loose on a world that cannot resist the love of God.

May it be so. Amen.