Sixth Sunday after Epiphany - February 14, 2021
Deborah Laforet Revelation 7:9, 15-17
A World Without Boundaries
On February 4th, I had the opportunity to be a part of an interfaith event hosted by the Interfaith Council of Halton. The Interfaith Council of Halton has been in existence since not long after 9-11. I joined a couple of years ago, making St. Paul’s a paying member of this Council. This interfaith event fell during the World Interfaith Harmony week and we hosted Prachi Choudhary, a 12 year old from the Hindu community in Oakville, who had won an award for her speech entitled, “A World Without Boundaries.” After sharing her speech, a member from each faith community in the Council, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Bahai, and Hindu were invited to explore this topic through their own faith lens. I was invited to share from the Christian faith.
I chose to share a passage from the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is filled with poetry, visions, symbols, and metaphors. It was not written in plain speech, partly to avoid being arrested and killed, but also because this visual and poetic kind of writing can say so much more than a more literal style. Unfortunately, because of its symbolic and poetic writing, it has been misunderstood and misinterpreted for years. The book of Revelation is not a story about the end of the world. In fact, the word apocalypse means revelation, not the end of the world. It’s a story about the end of the current world order, and the birth of God’s kingdom on earth. It’s not the end of the world, but the beginning of what Christians pray for all over the world in our Lord’s Prayer: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
The passage read for us today is a glimpse of that new kingdom on earth. In this kingdom, there will be no hunger or thirst, no pain or suffering, and God will wipe every tear from every eye. It’s a utopic vision, a world we will never see in our lifetimes, but a world for which we strive every day.
And the most beautiful part is that this utopic kingdom is for everyone, “from every nation, from all tribes and languages,” a world without boundaries.
It’s hard to even imagine this world when indigenous people still do not have clean drinking water, and their children are sent away to school, far from their families, and often go missing and are sometimes found dead. It’s hard to imagine when the streets are crowded with protesters crying out that “Black Lives Matter,” and shouting the names of black people killed unjustly by law enforcement. It’s hard to imagine this world when we see protests against military dictatorships in Myanmar, protest against the repression of free speech in China, and the single largest protest in human history in India by farmers. Look it up.
There is so much change going on in our world right now, and if there is one thing I know about change, it’s that people don’t like it. People will try to claw their way back to the way it was before. Change is uncertain and scary. Another thing I know about change though, is that it’s inevitable and that you can’t go backwards.
And so here we are, celebrating Black History Month and I know some of you are wondering why. We are a church. Shouldn’t we be learning about our faith ancestors in the bible, not black history? First, although Christian artists throughout the ages have portrayed our biblical ancestors as white or European, they were most likely from the Middle East and northern Africa, with dark skin. Second, our faith ancestors have followed us through biblical times to now and Christianity has played a large part in world history since it became a world power, early in its history, and we need to be able to understand that power and how it affected people all over the world.
Some might also wonder why we have a month focused on Black History. Shouldn’t we be focused on the history of all people and shouldn’t black people be a part of that history all year round? Why do we have a month, four weeks, dedicated to black history?
We have heard two vignettes so far of two Black Canadians, one about Mathieu da Costa and the other about Olivier de Jeune. We will hear a third one later about Marie-Joseph Angelique. How many of you have heard their names before today? Many of us grew up immersed in a history of Europe and the settlers of North America. I grew up in the states, and we did not learn much about Eastern history, the origins of China, Japan, India, or even Australia. I didn’t even know until recently that Pakistan is a country created by the British Empire. I also didn’t learn much about the history of Africa.
It’s foolish to believe that white men were the only people who made history in Canada and the U.S. but these are the people who make up most of the history in our history books and taught in our schools. It’s more likely that white men were the ones who wrote this history and left out a lot of people. And now, we have to make up for that. Hopefully, the curriculum is changing in our schools, although I’m sure there is still a lot of work to do, but those of us who are not in school anymore need to learn this broader history, and one way of doing that is by focusing times during the year on the history of a people. We have Asian Heritage Month in May, International Women’s Day in March, Indigenous Peoples Day in June, and Black History Month in February. These are opportunities to learn and discover the people who have been lost to our history books and our memory.
What that does not mean is that we forget about being diverse and inclusive the rest of the year. We know this from our Affirm work. All year round, we need to be aware of our biases and blinders. We need to learn how our comfort may be someone else’s discomfort, how our safety may be unsafe for others. How do we include diverse voices in our worship and work all year round? How do we not only welcome people into our community but be open to being changed by these people with their different experiences and traditions and questions.
As it is in heaven, so may it be on earth. Another translation of this line from our Lord’s Prayer. Can we build a heaven on earth, where all people are heard, respected, and loved? Where all people are fed, housed, and have the same access to health care and education? Where no one is discriminated against for the colour of the skin, the clothes they’re wearing, the accent they carry, or who they love or how they identify?
This vision in Revelation may be utopic but if we can imagine it, then we can create it. If we work together, if we are open to the diversity of all creation, if we can learn our history, and all people who make up that history, and learn from our past, this vision is not impossible and may not be too far off into the future.
Our world is changing. Although this can be scary, it can also be an opportunity. What might a world look like with no boundaries? Not the kind we need, like a closed door for privacy or our own personal space or space for individuality and community, but the kind that keep people apart based on difference. We want a world that brings people together, people of all races, cultures, ages, abilities, gender identities and sexual preferences, family configurations, and socio-economic differences. We want a world where all people are celebrated all year round, a world where we won’t stop remembering black history or celebrating black people on February 28th.
With God’s help, may we imagine this world and with Christ’s guidance and wisdom, may we work towards it. And may the Spirit inspire us and keep us strong, on this journey of making heaven on earth. May it be so and thanks be to God. Amen.