4/13/2008                                                         John 10:1-10

“The Beloved Gated Community”

Rev.Jonathan Rumburg

Introduction

            Sheep are interesting animals. 

            On the one hand they are fairly intelligent.  Sheep will learn the voice of their shepherd, and will follow it wherever that voice leads them.

            But on the other hand, sheep are pretty dumb animals.  They will follow the lead sheep in whatever it does, even if it were to jump of a cliff.  It’s this herd instinct, to act and react like the rest of the sheep, that can often cause a lot of problems for the sheep.  I know this is true because as one who worked on a farm that raised sheep, I saw first hand both the intelligence and stupidity of these animals.

            And so with the understanding of sheep as both intelligent and dumb, it is understandable that Jesus likens humanity to sheep.

            In this parable for today, Jesus talks of himself as a gate, a gatekeeper, and a shepherd who will protect, take care of any and all who wish to find such through him.  But he is also warning the people he is speaking to, and even us today,  that there have been, and there will be again, others who will come, with a different voice, that seek to steal, kill, and destroy for their personal gain.

            What Jesus is offering, is access to a community where there is safety, acceptance, love and abundant life.  And the only requirement is to come into this community through him, Jesus, who is the gate.

Move 1

            Central to the thinking of Martin Luther King Jr. was the concept of the “Beloved Community.” Broadmindedness and acceptance provided its theological and philosophical foundations, and nonviolence the means to attain it.

            The concept of this Beloved Community can be traced through all his speeches and writings, from the earliest to the last.  In one of his first published articles he stated that the purpose of the Montgomery bus boycott was to bring about reconciliation and redemption that would lead to the creation of the Beloved Community.

            And in his last book he makes a powerful declaration about the Beloved Community stating, “Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation.”

            King’s was a vision of a completely integrated society, a community of love and justice wherein brotherhood and sisterhood would be an actuality in all of social life.  In his mind, such a beloved community would be the ideal corporate expression of the Christian faith.

            It was King’s vision that the Beloved Community include all of humanity—white, black, Christian, Muslim, Jew, male and female.  This type of community is what King believed God, not only wanted, but intended for the world.  King never believe God created humanity to live as autonomous individuals, to be separated from one another, but rather God created people to live together, work together, help each other, and love one another.

            A little more than a week ago we remembered the forty year anniversary of King’s assassination, and in light of that anniversary, I can’t help but ask, has such a beloved community that Dr. King preached about and worked for been created?

            Some would say yes because we don’t have segregation like we did decades ago.  And yes it’s true; we have made significant strides away from Jim Crowe laws and segregation.

            But when we truthfully answer this question— has the Beloved Community of God been created? — The answer can be nothing but no.

            Rather what has happened is that we have created Beloved Gated Communities.  Communities where we don’t have Jesus as the gatekeeper, but rather we have lifestyles, class, sexual orientation, and language as the gatekeepers.

            Look like us, act like us, have money like us, live like us, talk like us, and you are free to come in.

            Don’t look like us, act like us, have money like us, live like us, or talk like us, and we ask that you don’t come in.

            Humanity has put up walls around those who are alike, and we stand at the gate of our communities and decide who’s in and whose not.  And the result is abundant life, for only a few.

Move 2

            This past week I was in Phoenix, Arizona with a group called the Bethany Fellowship.  It is a group of early career clergy that gathers together twice a year for retreat, continuing education, and spiritual direction.  The continuing education part comes when we do various site visits to churches and/or ministers that are doing unique and thriving ministries. 

            For one of our site visits we went to Templo Cristiana Central, a Hispanic congregation whose minister is Job Cobos.  Job is an amazing man, who at age forty has seen and done more ministry than all the thirty plus ministers who make up the Bethany Fellowship.

            Job revitalized a church in his native Mexico at the age of seventeen, after having attended Bible College.  He served churches in Mexico and then in Tampa, helping them to grow and thrive before he went to Lexington Seminary and earned his Masters of Divinity.

            While in Lexington, Job had to serve as a chaplain at a psychiatric hospital because the Director of Field education at the time, who is no loner their now, told him that the Disciples churches in that region would not be open to having a Latino serve as their pastor because he looked like the men who were working in their tobacco fields.  Job would, however, later serve at a Lexington Methodist church

            Currently Job is serving a white Anglo church just outside of Phoenix, as well as a Latino church in Phoenix.  He goes to his Anglo church in the morning, and then drives to his Latino church for Sunday afternoon services.   Our group of thirty plus ministers, who are predominately white, asked about race relations in the community, and between his two churches, and if the two churches ever did any combined ministry since they share a pastor.

            He admitted that they did not do any shared ministry, and then explained why and what the situation was when it came to races and classes in that area.  It was during this explanation of race relations that Job said something that struck a chord in all of us, and will perhaps forever haunt me.

            In talking about Latinos and their relationship to Anglos, the Rev Hob Cobos said to this group of predominately white ministers, “Don’t you know?  We are afraid of you.”  We are afraid of you.

            The air in the room changed dramatically upon hearing those words.  We are afraid of you.

            Job continued, explaining that Latinos are afraid of Anglos because the Latino community is well aware of the views and opinions of the white community they live around and with.  The Latinos are aware of legislation being written and laws being passed by local, state, and federal governments because of them.  They know what people are thinking and how people are reacting towards them because of their presence in this country.  And all that is happening causes them to live in a state of constant fear.

            And it should be clear that Job wasn’t just speaking for Latinos in Phoenix.  His statement, “Don’t you know, we are afraid of you” was for all Latinos in the United States. 

            They are afraid of the white community.

            How does that make you feel?  How does that make you feel to know that there are people who are afraid of you?

            Actually, let me put that question to you differently— How does it make you feel to know that there are other children of God, other Christians, other members of the body of Christ who are afraid of us.

            Pose to people the question, ‘How does it make you feel that the Latino community is afraid of you?’ and assuredly you will get a variety of answers.

            Some would find it empowering to know that there are people who live in fear of them.  They might say something like, “That’s right!  They should be afraid of me.”

            Some, I’m sure, would find contentment in knowing this.  They might say, “Good, then my work here is done.”

            But I have to hope that many of us would find neither empowerment nor contentment in knowing that other children of God are afraid of us.  I have to hope that we would be filled with disbelief and grow terribly uncomfortable with the understanding that there are people who are afraid of us.

            How does it make you feel to know that there are people who are afraid of you?  How does it make you feel to know that there are people who are afraid to come into this church on Sunday mornings?

            During a group discussion following our visit to Templo Cristiana Central, someone from the group asked, “How can we be a church in the basic sense of the word, if people are afraid of us?

            The group of thirty plus ministers didn’t have an answer.

Move 3

            A friend of mine recently revealed to me that he was tired of calling customer service numbers and getting the automated voice recording that asks him to press one for English or two for Espanola.  His argument was that if you live in a America you ought to speak American.

            I was shocked by such a statement.  Shocked that he was so enraged because he had to push a number on his telephone. 

            But then I realized it wasn’t about having to push a number on a telephone.  It was about him being afraid.  He is afraid of others because they are different than him, and somewhere a strong, smart, seductive voice told him that he should be afraid of those who look different, act different, live different, and speak different.

            When we feel afraid, something inside of us changes, and we are immediately put on the defense.  And so to defend ourselves, we put up walls and barriers.  We put up figurative walls, and we put up physical walls.  All so that we are in control and are no longer afraid.

            There is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to be safe and not be afraid.  In fact, it is a fact of life that we have to do things to keep ourselves and our families safe from those who want to do us harm. 

            But putting qualifications or requirements on people who are different before we will accept them isn’t how we should protect ourselves.  Forcing people to live, act, and sound like us isn’t what Jesus taught as the means to abundant life.

            The Beloved Community King dreamed of, and that God wants for God’s children, isn’t a gated community that is for some and not for others.  The Beloved Community is abundant life for any and all who wish to come through its gate, through Jesus.

Conclusion

            In our time, in our pluralistic society, there are many voices competing for our attention, and it is easy to lose the voice of our shepherd and go astray from time to time and fall into danger.  It is easy to fall prey to, and follow a voice that sounds strong and smart and seductive, and tells us we should be afraid of those who are different.

            But what happens if we do fall prey to such a voice is far worse than just one sheep going astray.  If one follows a false voice down a path that leads us away from Christ, then it’s very easy to incite a following of others down that same path. 

            Whose voice do we follow and with what voice do we speak?  What gate do we enter?  What gate do we lead others to enter?

            The Christian faith has become, in too many places, a gated community. 

            The purpose of the Christian faith is not to exclude or even to judge.  It is not to live in fear or in segregation. 

            The purpose of the Christian faith, as Jesus says, is to have life and have it abundantly.  That is the Beloved Community that God wants all humanity to have.

            If a Beloved Community, one that is not gated by judgments of race, language, gender, sexual orientation is to truly exist, then allowing someone to live in fear of the other members cannot be a part of such a community.

            We cannot live in fear of those who are different than us simply because they are different.  And we cannot perpetuate the fear that others have for us.

            For if we do then we become the thieves and bandits Jesus warns of in his parable.

            So consider the voices you hear, and the voice you speak with.  Are they voices that lead to a beloved gated community, or are they voices that lead to the Beloved Community of abundant life found in Christ Jesus.

            Amen.