Midweek Musings for Sunday, August 14, 2016

MIDWEEK MUSINGS FOR SUNDAY, August 14, 2016

This Week's Reflection Comes From

Rev. John Saraka

Pastor at Atonement, Syracuse/

Synod Council

Racial Justice Team

Reflecting and Dwelling in the Word

Luke 12:51-53

⁵¹Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! ⁵²From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three;⁵³they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

MUSINGS

Loving Day is an annual celebration held on June 12, the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia which struck down all anti-miscegenation laws remaining in sixteen U.S. states. In the United States, anti-miscegenation laws were U.S. state laws banning interracial marriage, mainly forbidding marriage between non-whites and whites. Ironically, with a name picked out of central casting, Richard and Mildred Loving, were the couple at the center of this case. Richard and Mildred Loving didn't plan to alter the course of civil rights history. But they did just that to keep their family together.

The story of the Loving family traces this couple's transition from outcasts to a fully-recognized family that would pave the way for future generations. The Lovings lived in suburban Central Point, Virginia, but married in Washington, DC, in June 1958. They were subsequently arrested at home for violating a state anti-miscegenation law dating back to the 1920s. They pleaded guilty, and the judge agreed to set aside their conviction if they left the state.

The Lovings complied, living in exile in the nation's capital for several years and raising three children, but they were determined to move back to Virginia. They eventually did so after a 9 year legal battle.

I share this story with you because it is one that is close to my heart, as Shannon, my wife, who is African American, and I, who is white, observe or remember Loving Day every year. It gives us a moment to pause and think of this couple who was willing to risk being torn apart from their community for the sake of love. The truth is when we love one another, as God has called us to do as people of God, we risk entering into conflict within our homes, our communities and the world around us. Jesus knows of this conflict, and he isn't afraid of it for the sake of love and the sake of the world. He reached out to the outcast, the oppressed, and the often forgotten. This often got him into trouble with members of his own community. He reminds us to get ready, if you love like Jesus loved, the doo-doo will hit the fan, people will be uncomfortable, it will be tense, and with this promise of division, comes the stronger promise of resurrection that is following. This past Synod Assembly, I was proud and humbled to work with an amazing group of people on the Racial Justice Task Force and the Assembly Planning Committee, as we took on engaging in a dialogue surrounding Racial Justice. I pray that the Synod, our communities, and our churches, will continue this work of love in the world by entering into that process that was set before us at the Assembly. And remember, as Jesus reminds us, it will not be easy. There will be tension, but Jesus' story doesn't end in verse 53, but finishes with Good News as God meets us here in love for the sake of the world.

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