St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen & Church of the Incarnation
Jersey City, NJ
January 21, 2018
Year B: The Third
Sunday after the Epiphany
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Psalm 62:6-14
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Mark 1:14-20
Repentance: Life After Hate
It is good to be
here together, isn’t it?
And, even if today
weren’t a good day, it would still be OK because if you’re like me you’re still
flying after our celebrations here last week, when St. Paul’s and Incarnation
gathered for our first Sunday officially worshiping together, taking a big step
toward becoming one congregation.
What a day that
was, right?
It was so good to
see brothers and sisters from our two churches all mixed together in the pews
and especially in the choir.
It was so good to
hear Jill’s dynamite sermon. She rightly looked back on some of the ugly parts
of our own history but, most of all, she pointed to the unmistakable
fingerprints of God at work right here and now in our midst, knitting together
our two congregations: the handiwork of the God who has known our true name all
along.
And, of course, I
have to mention that it was so good to taste and see the abundance at coffee
hour with tables weighed down under so much good food and drink and an unmistakable
sense of joy in the room.
And, it was so
good to be here for our Sunday evening service, our Baptist –Episcopal mash-up,
with a rockin’ choir and yet another powerful sermon.
Rev. Perry shared
a vision of Martin Luther King as a prophet, and looking around at our
frightened, angry, and often mean land, he asked, where are the prophets of
today?
It was – and is –
good to be together.
In today’s Gospel
lesson, we heard the story of Jesus beginning his public ministry.
He begins by
picking up where John the Baptist had left off, calling people to repentance – and then gathering his
first disciples, Peter and Andrew and James and John these fisherman brothers
who, let’s be honest, had no idea what they were getting themselves into when
they suddenly left their nets and signed up to be fishers of people.
And, you know, all
these many centuries later, maybe we
have a clearer idea of what it means to follow Jesus.
We may have a
clearer idea of the costs and the rewards of following this Jesus who announces
the Kingdom of God and proclaims Good News.
But, I think many
of us still miss what Jesus means when he calls us to repent.
In just a few
weeks, when we enter Lent, as always, we’ll hear a lot about repentance.
But, what does
that mean?
I think for most
of us repentance means looking into our hearts and into our memories and
reflecting on the times and the ways that we have fallen short, acknowledging
our sins, and asking forgiveness.
And, that’s good
and important, but that’s just a small part of repentance.
Like the prophets
before him, when Jesus calls us to repent, he’s calling us to much more than
just saying we’re sorry and trying to do better next time.
While I was
driving the other day, on the radio I heard an interview with Christian
Picciolini. His story was so compelling that a few times I found myself not
paying as close attention I should have to the traffic around me!
Christian is a
little bit younger than me and grew up in a blue-collar Chicago suburb, the son
of hard-working Italian immigrants, who owned a hair salon and later a restaurant.
However, at the
age of 14, when he was an angry and lonely teenager, he was recruited quickly
and easily into a white supremacist skinhead group.
Just two years
later, the group’s leader was arrested and Christian took charge of this
violent and hate-filled organization – when he was just 16 years old.
An obviously smart
and talented guy, Christian grew the organization, especially through the use
of music.
His skinhead bands
(one was named “Final Solution”) sang racist and hateful songs, sold a lot of
records, and toured around the United States and also Europe, including,
unbelievably, even Germany where his show attracted 4,000 attendees.
He was still just
a kid, and in the interview, he told hair-raising stories of how he wreaked
havoc at one school after another (imagine having him in class or imagine his
locker next to yours).
He and his gang
strategized, making plans to infiltrate police departments and the military,
where they would gain respectability and learn valuable skills. They also
realized that they might have to dial down their look and their words in order
to attract more people to the “movement” – they understood that they needed to be
subtler about the white supremacy they believe in – and give new members
plausible deniability that they were racists.
So some of them
grew out their hair and put on suits and ties.
Of course, they
also took part in more traditional white supremacist activities, including
alcohol-fueled rampages, terrifying people of color in their communities who were
just minding their business.
He told one story
of going into a McDonald’s and chasing some black kids out, following them onto
the street, ready to fight when one of the black kids pulled out a gun and tried
to shoot, but the gun malfunctioned.
Christian attacked
this kid, brutally beating him. But, in the interview he said at that moment he
looked into the other kids eyes. Somehow there was a connection. And, somehow, Christian’s
conscience slowly reawakened and he began to recognize that what he was doing
was wrong.
Getting married
and having kids began to change him, as did opening a record store where, yes,
he sold white power music but also other types of music. At first because he
was interested in making money, he decided to treat all of his customers with
respect. Over time, he interacted with all kinds of people and the embers of
hate within him began to die.
At great risk to
himself and his wife and kids, he eventually left the movement.
He covered his
swastika tattoo with a Jesus tattoo and the words, “Love/Pain.”
And, not only that,
he helped start a group called “Life After Hate” which advocates for peace and
educates about the dangers of extremism.
Life after hate: that’s
Good News.
Life after hate: that’s
what repentance looks like.
Christian’s story
is disturbing, amazing, and powerful but it also reminds us there is nothing
magic about repentance, because despite his change of mind and change of heart,
the consequences of his choices and actions continue to echo down to the
present – and he will always have to live with that.
As you’d guess,
the skinheads were enraged by his change of heart and have made repeated
threats against him and his family, and, of course, are fully capable of acting
on those threats.
That’s bad and
frightening, obviously, but there’s something even worse.
His music – his
music with its ugly words of hate is still out there being passed around, and
downloaded, and influencing young listeners who weren’t even born when
Christian wrote it.
For example,
apparently Dylan Roof, the young man who opened fire at a Bible Study at Mother
Emanuel in Charleston had listened to some of these anthems of hate and had
been influenced by them.
It seems to me
that only God’s grace allows someone to live with that heartbreaking knowledge.
Repentance: life
after hate.
So, maybe like the
first disciples, we don’t really know what we’re getting ourselves into
when we sign up to be fishers of people – no idea what we’re getting ourselves
into when we follow Jesus who calls us to repent, calls us to much more than
just saying sorry and promising to try to better next time.
True repentance is
much more like the story of Christian Picciolini – a total change of mind, a
total change of heart, a total change of direction.
And, as I’ve
thought about this, I’ve come to realize that this is what we’ve been up to
here in Jersey City, these past few years.
Of course we were
never quite as ugly as white supremacist skinheads, but as Jill reminded us
last week, there are certainly hateful elements to our church history – the
ugly racism that led to the founding of Incarnation.
But there are also
more recent, more subtle, hateful elements to our story: the lack of
cooperation and fellowship, the competition, the suspicion, the occasional
betrayal of trust, the duplication and waste of resources, and way too much
unkindness.
But, look at us here
today.
Repentance: life
after hate.
And, all of this
has happened not a moment too soon, because the forces of hate unleashed by people
like Christian Picciolini – these forces are on the move, becoming mainstream
with grown-out hair and suits and ties, gaining power and influence in our
country and elsewhere around the world.
So, yes, by the
grace of God, we have changed our hearts and changed our direction and come
together as one not a moment too soon, because I really do believe with all my
heart that we have a special vocation.
Because of our
rich diversity and our remarkable ability to love one another and to serve together
– and now also because of our journey from division to (almost) unity, from
hateful things to new life – because of all that and much more, we have
a special vocation to be prophets of repentance, to be fishers of people, to model
for our city, and maybe even beyond, the way that abandons hateful things and,
by God’s grace, leads to new life.
Amen.
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