Understanding the Poor and Oppressed
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
March 13, 2021
Good morning and welcome to Light Reflections. This week I am returning to our sermon series, “To Be Thriving and Progressive Quakers in 2022.” The scripture for this third installment is from Luke 4 verse 18.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
Back in Oregon, I used to have a book group at a local coffee shop in our town. We met once a week for several years. One of the last books we engaged was my friend, Phil Gulley’s “Living the Quaker Way: Discover the Hidden Happiness in the Simple Life.” A book that is on the suggested reading list for this sermon series.
I was introduced to Phil’s writing and thinking several years earlier in my doctoral studies, but this specific book came across my desk due to Chris Smith of the Englewood Review of Books asking if, as a Quaker Minister, I would be willing to interview Phil for the Review.
I gladly accepted, received a pre-publication copy of the book, read it, and prepared my questions for what would be about an hour interview. Phil and I hit it off wonderfully and after I asked all my questions, we had a really good talk about our lives. I am excited that Phil is going to be with us here at First Friends to close out this sermon series on Sunday, April 10th. That Sunday, Phil and I will be exchanging pulpits.
That being said, in his chapter on “Community” he says the following:
“To be a Quaker is to always see oneself in relation with the world, answerable not only to God but also to humanity and to history….
Quakers worry inordinately about how history will judge us and what generations might think of us. We live in fear an injustice will pass unnoticed, so we appoint committees to read and study, then prevail upon legislators, presidents, and dictators to act justly. Because we believe all are part of the human community, we have no qualms about speaking with anyone if we think good might result. “
Before I became a Quaker, I was on a search for a people of faith like Phil was describing. A people who saw themselves in relation to the world, especially the poor, the neglected, the downtrodden, even the oppressed, neglected, or refused.
I had decided I was tired of the religious country clubs, the clichés that you had to know the right passwords, wear the right clothing, or drive the right type of car to be part of, and the navel-gazing groups who only thought of their own needs and worshipped their “sacred cows” in their four-walled structures.
But as I kept reading Phil’s book, He opened my eyes to the “something more” I was searching for and hoped I would find among Friends. He said,
“Historically, there have been two churches. One church has used its power to oppress positive change. It has valued its own power over justice, freedom, and peace. It has enshrined the status quo with lofty proclamations, denouncing as heretical any challenge to its authority.
This is the church that pits nation against nation, oppresses entire peoples, relegates women to a subordinate role, and works to deny homosexuals equal rights before the law. Though it claims the title of church, indeed often refers to itself as the true church, it has corrupted the gospel and damaged the human community, all in the name of God.
Regrettably, this church transcends denominations. Its adherents can be found in every Christian tradition. It is, in nearly every moral sense, the caboose on the train of history – the last to adopt positive change, especially when that change threatens its power.”
This was the church I grew up within, this is the church many of you grew up within.
This described exactly the church I wanted to get away from –and it must not be what many are looking for today either, as the numbers at these types of churches continue to plummet. What Phil describes is the country club, cliché, naval-gazing church. But thankfully, Phil went on to say,
But there is another church. It too has existed throughout history. It is found wherever and whenever peace, joy, and compassion carry the day. Undergirding it, in the words of [Quaker James] Naylor, is “a spirit…that delights to do no evil.”
It labors not for its own glory, but for the well-being of all people everywhere. It rejoices when the marginalized are included, when the slave is freed, when the despised are embraced. It sees in its fellow beings not sin and separation from God but potential, promise, and connection.
Wherever people love, it is there. Wherever people join together in a spirit of compassion and inclusion, this church feels at home, for those virtues have been its priorities from its earliest days. This church has existed since the time of Jesus, but its benevolent spirit predates the Nazarene. It is not the province of any one denomination; its adherents can be found in every movement and every faith.
While others bluster and rant, its members go quietly and cheerfully about their ministries, determined to bring heaven to earth. This church seeks to learn, understand, and include. It is of the world, loves the world, and welcomes all people as its brothers and sisters.
Where borders separate, this community straddles the partition, refusing to let arbitrary lines rule their conscience and conduct. They are, in every sense of the word, members one of another. Community and compassion are their bywords.
When I read this for the first time, tears ran down my face. This was the church I had been searching for. And just as Phil states, I have learned this way among Quakers – among Friends. Because I believe that second description is what we are working to create here at First Friends. That was the perfect description of what it means to be a Thriving and Progressive Quaker Meeting, and a goal for us, at First Friends, to work together to achieve.
I remember not long after reading this in Phil’s book, returning to the scriptures and homing in on the text for today from Luke. The section I read from is often titled appropriately, “Jesus Rejected at Nazareth.”
Remember what they used to say about Jesus, “Nothing good can come out of Nazareth.” Jesus himself came from a poor family – that was evident when Mary and Joseph could only afford two small doves for the sacrifice at the temple.
As well, he came from a people and faith who were oppressed and marginalized by the Roman Rule.
Just before our text for this morning, Jesus has been teaching throughout the area and was gaining some notoriety. The scriptures say that “everyone praised him.” His message was different, it was drawing everyone from the rich to the poor, the oppressed to the oppressors, and even the successful to the downtrodden.
But the real test was going to come when he chose to return to his hometown in Nazareth. It was a known fact that no prophet was accepted in his hometown. And that would be the case when Jesus would use Scripture to announce what his ministry was all about.
If you remember, Jesus unrolls the scroll and reads from the Prophet Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free…
As is the case often still today, many were wrapped up in the fact that Jesus was back home, that Joseph’s son was an eloquent speaker, that he could engage the crowd --- that they totally missed what he was saying.
I am sure at some point, an elder of the synagogue leaned over to his neighbor and began to whisper questions, ”What did he say?” “What does he mean?” “Wait a minute, I think he is saying he wants us to do something?”
See, Jesus’ sermon after reading those powerful scriptures happened to be a little rant on how many of the prophets they looked up to had a message for a specific people or person, but meanwhile there were widows being overlooked, there were people suffering from famine, and there were lepers needing cleansed.
The people of Nazareth would have thought he was pointing a finger at them, calling them out for focusing on the wrong things, worshipping the prophets, and not doing the hard work of helping the poor and oppressed.
In many ways, what Phil Gulley described as the two churches was exactly what Jesus originally had come to point out. Jesus wanted to be the example, to show us a better way, to refocusing us on
Bringing good news to the poor.
Proclaiming release to the captives.
Giving sight to the blind.
And letting the oppressed go free.
Or as Phil Gulley concludes,
To be a Quaker is to commit oneself to thorough and lasting equality. It is to stand with the scorned, the powerless, the friendless, and estranged, especially when the world would turn from them. An unswerving commitment to the Golden Rule is our goal: to treat others with the same dignity, compassion, and respect we wish for ourselves. We believe Jesus Christ, in seeking out the marginalized and despised, exemplified the way of justice and equality. But not Jesus alone, for we have seen and know others who did the same.
So if we are to be a Thriving and Progressive Quaker Meeting and more in line with the second church that Phil described, then to thrive -“to grow or develop well or vigorously” and to progress or develop gradually or in stages” will mean we must seek to look outside of ourselves. To help the poor and oppressed within and without our community. To let “community” and “compassion” be our bywords. To learn to be members one to another.
Just take a moment and think about people you know who are poor or oppressed. It doesn’t mean they have to be financially poor or in prison. Many in this room or who have joined us virtually would consider themselves “poor or oppressed” for a variety of reasons.
Well, I will let us ponder those thoughts as we enter waiting worship.
Here are some queries to ponder as we expectantly wait.
Do I see myself in relation to the world, answerable not only to God but also to humanity and to history?
Who are the poor and oppressed in my life that I need to reach out to this week?
How at First Friends might we lean more into that second description of church from Phil Gulley?