\n\tgood news to the oppressed,<\/li>\n
\n\tup the broken-hearted,<\/li>\n
\n\tliberty to the captives,<\/li>\n
\n\tto the prisoners;\n\t<\/li>\n
\n\tthe year of the Lord\u2019s favor,<\/li>\n
\n\tcomfort all who mourn;\n\t<\/li>\n
\n\tthe ruined cities,
(etc)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
and
\nLuke notes, right from the get-go, that this vision of God and being
\none called upon to enact it is DANGEROUS work.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In
\nthe end, Jesus’ untimely death was initiated by the powerful
\nreligious authorities, who thought that his movement threatened the
\nwell-being of the entire Jewish population. \u00a0It feels like a
\nparallel to this story, where it seems that the hometown
\nfaithful were terrified by the implications of what Jesus was going
\nto do.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They
\nwould all have been saying to Jesus, \u201cDon’t rock the boat!\u201d \u00a0Now,
\n\u201cDon’t rock the boat,\u201d is very good advice for getting ahead in
\nlife, moving up ladders of institutional power, being generally
\nwell-liked, and… in lots of cases… surviving. \u00a0However, it turns
\nout that it is not the Jesus way, and that means it isn’t the way of
\nJesus followers either.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jesus
\nfollowed the path of nonviolence. \u00a0That one is a difficult path, but
\none that is abundant in grace and hope. \u00a0If we think about the work
\nnamed in Isaiah 61, it becomes clear that this is profoundly
\nnonviolent work. \u00a0Not only is the work itself NOT violent (a good
\nstarting point) but it is aimed at disentangling the power of
\nviolence that disrupts life itself. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It
\nis far too easy to ONLY take notice of direct, visible, physical
\nviolence \u2013 and miss all the other kinds. \u00a0Those of us who have been
\ntrained in Safe Sanctuaries were reminded that abuse itself can look
\nlike physical abuse, OR it can look like sexual abuse, OR it can look
\nlike emotional abuse, OR it can look like neglect. \u00a0Furthermore,
\nviolence can also look like the simple threat of violence that is
\nused to keep people in check, even if it isn’t regularly used. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And,
\non top of that, violence can also be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. \u00a0
\nViolence includes allowing people to be hungry when there is abundant
\nfood \u2013 because some people don’t \u201cearn enough\u201d to eat. \u00a0That’s
\na violence that looks like societal neglect. \u00a0Violence looks like
\npeople not being able to get health care, or get access to necessary
\nmedication, or get life-saving treatment because of who they are or
\nwhat they have. \u00a0That’s a violence that kills, but more out of LACK
\nof access than direct attacks. \u00a0Violence looks like campaigns to
\ndoctors to prescribe opiates, knowing they’d lead to addiction,
\nknowing they’d lead to death \u2013 but choosing profit over lives.
\nViolence looks like the laws we have that prevent people with
\nconvictions from being able to have places to live, or food to eat,
\nor jobs to provide for their needs \u2013 even when convictions
\nthemselves have more to do with our \u201cjustice\u201d system than they do
\nwith individual actions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Or,
\nto make this a little bit more concise, all forms of inequity and
\nhierarchy are less visible forms of violence. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So.
\n Violence is a lot.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Which
\nmeans that non-violence is a lot.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And,
\nfor those of you tuning in for the first time, Jesus led a movement
\nof NON-VIOLENCE and to choose to be a Jesus follower is to choose the
\nways of NON-VIOLENCE. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There <\/p>\n And, <\/p>\n One PRINCIPLE I <\/p>\n For <\/p>\n I <\/p>\n This <\/p>\n Although, We <\/p>\n Violence <\/p>\n The As <\/p>\n 1<\/a>I’m <\/a>2<\/a>\tBruce 3<\/a> 4<\/a> Rev. Sara E. Baron February 6, 2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nwas a fun note in the Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic
\nGospels1<\/sup><\/a>
\nthat said, \u201can over-quick resort to violence is often an unintended
\npublic admission of failure. \u00a0In honor challenge, the party that
\nfirst resorts to violence loses the exchange: a resort to violence
\nindicates that wits have failed and bully tactics have taken over.\u201d2<\/sup><\/a>
\n So part of what we’re seeing in this story is that violence tries to
\ntake Jesus down, which itself proves Jesus right, and he does NOT
\nresort to violence, but rather walks away from it.<\/p>\n
\nthen he spends his ministry as a non-violent religious leader who
\nattempts to CHANGE the systems of oppression that are less visible
\nforms of violence. \u00a0And then he invites us to follow him.<\/p>\n
\nof the most visible nonviolent religious followers of Jesus in recent
\ntimes was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and The King Center
\ncontinues to teach the principles and practices of non-violence. \u00a0I
\nregularly reread them, and seek further education on nonviolence as a
\nway of following Jesus and respecting the movement Dr. King was a
\npart of.3<\/sup><\/a>
\n The King Center states, \u201cThe Triple Evils of POVERTY, RACISM and
\nMILITARISM are forms of violence that exist in a vicious cycle.\u201d
\nand expands on what that means, as well as naming the principles of
\nnonviolence and steps in nonviolent social change. \u00a0For example:<\/p>\n
\nONE: Nonviolence Is a Way of Life for Courageous People.<\/p>\n\n
\n\tis not a method for cowards; it does resist.\n\t<\/li>\n
\n\tis active nonviolent resistance to evil.\n\t<\/li>\n
\n\tis aggressive spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nhighly recommend the teachings of the King Center as further reading,
\nfor good living.<\/p>\n
\nthis moment, however, I have a very pragmatic suggestion about
\nnonviolence. \u00a0I have seen that there are HIGH levels of angst and
\nanxiety pretty much everywhere right now. \u00a0I’m told others have
\nnoticed this too, and it is often being seen via emotional outbursts
\nat strangers (particularly ones who work in some form of customer
\nservice) or at loved ones (because that’s where we most often let go
\nof steam). \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nbelieve that one of the most powerful tools of nonviolence is
\nCOMPASSION, and I believe it is needed in TWO directions. \u00a0One
\ndirection is towards others who are struggling, with a hope that we
\nmight respond with calm, caring, empathy when others need it. \u00a0The
\nother is towards ourselves \u2013 which is BOTH how we gain the capacity
\nto respond with calm to others AND how we work towards fewer
\noutbursts of our own.<\/p>\n
\nweek a fellow clergy person asked for help in dealing with her pent
\nup anger, and asked clergy sisters how they do it. \u00a0The responses
\nwere so helpful: \u00a0exercise! \u00a0Therapy! \u00a0Throwing things that are safe
\nto throw and not at anything living! \u00a0Medicine! \u00a0Screaming! \u00a0\u2026. and
\nalso self compassion. \u00a0(I was asked, I answered.) \u00a0To deal with
\nanger, for me, means I need to know what is under it \u2013 what value I
\nhold or need I have is being violated, so I can figure out how I want
\nto respond.4<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n
\nsometimes before I can get to dealing with the anger, I have to do
\nthe work of admitting that I’m angry, and to do that I take the
\nadvice of Thich Naht Hahn, and breath in \u201cI’m angry\u201d and breath
\nout \u201cI’m angry\u201d until I get the sense that the anger has been
\nacknowledged. \u00a0Then I can look at the why under the anger. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\ncan’t build God’s kindom without doing it nonviolently. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nisn’t going to get us to nonviolent justice. \u00a0And to be nonviolent is
\nWORK. It takes INTENTION, and PRACTICE, and COMMUNITY, and heaps of
\nGRACE. \u00a0It means we are constantly working on it, in ourselves and
\nwith each other. \u00a0It means every moment is an opportunity to try
\nagain.<\/p>\n
\nworld responded with violence to God’s vision of nonviolence, and to
\nJesus’ teachings of justice. \u00a0But Jesus responded with the power of
\nnonviolence anyway, and it turns out that was enough so that we’re
\nstill here, following in his way, 2000 years later. \u00a0Nonviolence
\nisn’t the fastest way, but it is the only way. \u00a0May God help us along
\nour way. \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n
\nwe all grow and learn, we’re trying to learn how to listen to the
\nlessons of our emotions AND learn how to allow our emotions space to
\nbe our teachers WITHOUT letting them hurt us or others. \u00a0May God help
\nus learn those lessons. \u00a0Amen <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/64.media.tumblr.com\/cc7a1c529e08d88f6b50b8b862e4733b\/d43752469d7b51ef-57\/s540x810\/0642832ed94e6605a3d1813df02a4ef974ef404e.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
\n\twell aware that my sermons could be set up as Bingo games, with this
\n\tbook being one of the squares, Walter Brueggemann being another,
\n\tetc. \u00a0Just acknowledging reality here.<\/p>\n
\n\tJ. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh Social-Science Commentary on the
\n\tSynoptic Gospels (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003) \u201cTextual
\n\tNotes: Mark 1:21-34\u201d p. 244.<\/p>\n
\n\t \thttps:\/\/thekingcenter.org\/about-tkc\/the-king-philosophy\/<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t https:\/\/workcollaboratively.files.wordpress.com\/…\/wc…<\/a>)<\/p>\n
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n