Jesus Our Liberator
Lisa Sharon Harper (LSH), whose book The Very Good Gospel we’re in conversation with on Sundays right now, posted this in her blog about 6 months ago:
“… recently, I had a moment that shook me to my core. I thought about the Bible and I felt repulsed. I had no desire to come close. None at all.
Disturbed, I saw for the first time that layered on top of the Bible text is a thick pillowed layer of whiteness. Even though I know it is not true, in my Christian imagination Mary is white. Jesus is white. Moses is white. Peter is definitely white. Paul is most definitely white. David is white. Everybody is white. God is white—and male…
But something in me is not allowing myself to let go of The Bible without first correcting my view of it. So, I am making it practice to lean into the text; to push through the white illusion lain atop the brown and black text. On the other side, I am finding physically brown, politically black Jesus and physically brown, politically black Mary and physically brown, politically black Moses and David and Nehemiah and Ruth and Esther and Peter and Paul and Junia. And I am drawn in…again.
My relationship to the Bible is not dead. It is changing. No longer is Jesus my boyfriend. He is my liberator.”
(Maybe you’re wondering what she means when she describes Jesus and other heroes of the faith as “politically black.” Maybe you’ve got a pretty good idea. Without putting words in LSH’s mouth, I wonder if she would resonate with James H. Cone’s definition of the gospel in The Cross and the Lynching Tree as: “a story about God’s presence in Jesus’ solidarity with the oppressed, which led to his death on the cross… that God snatches victory out of defeat, life out of death, and hope out of despair.” I wonder if she’s pointing us to the way Jesus consistently centered the margins and up-ended the power structures, insisting the the last will be first and that those who would be great must first of all learn to serve.)
With LSH’s words in mind, let’s read one of the Bible’s great hymns together, Mary’s song of response when she’s learned she will bear Jesus:
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
Can your soul sing this along with Mary? What emotions do these words and images bring up for you? Talk with Jesus for a few minutes about these things. And then let’s end once again with our prayer for the week. Black lives matter. Black lives matter to God. Black lives matter to me.