Christian Privilege

THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

"Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them."

This morning I'm prayerfully going to break the only two rules I have for preaching. The first is never to talk about myself, and the second is to not be funny. Now I want to tell you a really quick story about myself to arrive at the answer to a question I always get. I want to tell you where I come from. My mother was born in a little town on the Central Coast of California called Oceano, next to Pismo Beach. Her Father, my Grandfather, Was born in Chihuahua, Mexico and at the advent of World War Two, saw an opportunity to come to America, so he made the trip, so to speak, and joined the army and thereby gained his citizenship.

My grandmother was born in the barrios of Los Angeles in extreme poverty and spoke a mix of Spanish and Apache. After they were married, they relocated to the Central Coast, one of the most fertile places in the world, where my Grandfather worked like a dog in the fields picking strawberries, lettuce, celery, and all sorts of wonderful produce. He died as a field foreman, never making more than seven or eight bucks an hour. My grandmother never went to school and spent most of her married life-giving birth to and raising fifteen kids; my mother is the second oldest. So, as you can imagine, with so many brothers and sisters, my mother dropped out of the 8th grade to help care for the younger ones and eventually left home and got a menial job working in an industrial linen plant, where she met my Father.

Now my Father was born in Oklahoma during World War Two. My Grandfather AJ Vinson found his way to Oklahoma because his Father, Arthur Energy Vinson, had left England and taken to cattle farming in Southeastern Oklahoma. It was in the little backwater town of Allen that my Grandfather met and married my grandmother Geneva Wallace (yes, of course, from the Braveheart Wallace's of Scotland). Her Father, Clinton Edward Wallace, and her mother, Fay, were farmers. During the Great Depression, they would welcome neighbors, friends, passers-through, and sometimes enemies to their dinner table, offering whatever food they had made to anyone needing a meal.

So, coming off the depression, the 'dust bowl years, and the war, my Grandfather AJ returned to Oklahoma after serving as a tanker in the battle of the bulge to some tough economic challenges. So without many prospects in Oklahoma, my Grandfather and a few of his brothers packed their cars, loaded their families, and headed to California to look for work. He spent the rest of his life working for Standard Oil, checking on and fixing derricks and various mechanical problems. He retired after a long time, making about ten bucks an hour. That's how my Father got to California and met my mother; the rest, as they say, is history.

So, you're probably wondering what the question I'm constantly being asked is? Well, the question people are always asking me in public, online, or via social media is this: "how in the world are you so successful? What is your secret?" And my answer is always the same: "What's the secret to my success? Well, I was born into privilege… Mexican-Okie privilege… that's the secret to my success! I didn't ask to be born a half Mexican-half Okie. I didn't seek out or manipulate biology to emerge from the womb with such advantages! Oh no. It was God's providence.

Words are taking a serious beating these days. We're living in a time when a word no longer means what it once did and means something completely different today; and will most likely evolve in meaning tomorrow. As CS Lewis said, "if everything is a dog, then nothing is a dog." The ever-dissolving meaning of language is but a clear and alarming indicator of the ever-dissolving meaning of reality.

I remember a time when 'privilege' wasn't such a loaded word. In fact, it wasn't terrible, selfish, or evil at all. Privilege, simply stated, is a benefit or immunity granted to a person or group beyond what others possess. Its origin resides in ancient Rome as a "private law" (privus-lex) aimed to help an individual. But the present connotations of privilege being a person who has received unmerited favors that elevate her or him above the multitudes of others struggling to succeed against the powerful and privileged (those without such privilege- all the non-Mexican-Okies) comes from the halls of 1980s Ivy League Academia.

To be precise, the idea was first articulated in a 1988 academic article written by a women's studies faculty member at Wellesley, the private women's college in Massachusetts. But we shouldn't be surprised when fallen understanding seeks to communicate fallen ideas and realities- thus, language, words, and terms, are fluid and evolving because words serve the needs of a fluid and ever-evolving culture. The world's understanding is in stark contrast to the Christian understanding of privilege. The world sees privilege with eyes of scorn. The Christian with gratitude.

From St. Paul's epistle to the Galatians, we heard that "to Abraham and his seed were the promises made." God chose to graciously bestow Divine and covenantal promises solely to Abraham and his descendants- not the Hittites, Moabites, Egyptians, or Ethiopians, but to Abraham. Abraham was privileged by God, granted a great benefit, the promises only he and his descendants would possess.

And from today's readings, we find another privileged group, the disciples of Jesus. "Then turning to the disciples, he [Jesus] said, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them." Like Abraham, what had the disciples done to merit such privilege, or by what status should they attain it? Nothing, none. And yet, Christ gave them such advantages and privileges. What had they seen, and what had they heard? They were privileged to behold what many prophets and kings had desired to see and to hear: they beheld Messiah himself.

Jesus, who is The Ornament and Crown of mankind, disclosed his true self, first to a scanty circle of his disciples, who were infinitely more privileged, than Israel's prophets (Isaiah and Micah) and her Kings (David and Solomon). While he was on earth, Jesus stood amidst the teachers of Israel, her priests, and people and testified of himself that One "More than Solomon, One more than Jonah is here." And yet, they did not see, nor did they hear. But how can this be? Were they not, as Abraham's offspring, given the promises? Were they not privileged? Were they not given the Law some four hundred and thirty years after the promise? But The Law was given as a means, not the end; but the Jews were now making it the end; whereas the end of the Law is Christ, in Whom is the promise, and the blessing, and the covenant, and righteousness, and life; not for a time only, but forever.

It was to this the prophets of old looked, to this the saints of the elder covenant aspired, to behold Christ, the end of the Law, in Whom dwells the fulness of all good, the love of God flowing down from Heaven, and embracing all men; like the fragrant oil that came down on the head of Aaron and went to the skirts of his clothing. The Apostle says that God gave the promise to Abraham by promise. But this promise, says St. Paul, is not an inheritance of the Law. The promise is not obtained by law-keeping; the promise to Abraham is a promise of pure grace; therefore, says Paul, God has, out of grace, by means of promise, bestowed the inheritance on Abraham. "The scripture had concluded all under sin," Says Paul, "that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."

Blessed are the eyes that see and ears that hear of sins forgiven, of Heaven opened, of diseases and evil spirits flying away at the presence of God, made Man for us; what privilege is given by grace to witness the day of Christ which Abraham saw afar off in hope, and rejoiced. And from the tender mercy of God and through the sacrifice of his son, we now see with our eyes and hear with our ears the saving gospel of Jesus Christ! "By grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Faith, my friends, is a gift. That you unashamedly profess that Jesus Christ is the son of God who died on a cross to forgive your sins; trusting in the faith as professed in the creed as we did this morning; this is not of yourself but given by Divine bestowal. To believe in Christ is a gift: love, forgiveness, and mercy have granted you such incredible privilege, the privilege of faith. Christian Privilege is given supernaturally by grace, but 'grace privilege' is not without its duties and responsibilities. To Whom much is given, much is required. The demand of privilege is love: to love God and neighbor. This is exactly what Jesus is teaching his disciples as they witness the dialogue between a Lawyer (himself a son of Israel and inheritor of Abraham's promise) and our Lord.

"Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" To which Jesus replies, "What is written in the Law? How readest thou? And he answering said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." To which Jesus says, "Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. And Jesus is correct, for to fulfill this is to fulfill all the Law and the prophets. To love God with all one's heart, soul, strength, and mind is a radical, unbridled, and unwavering love. It is to wholly turn the will, desire, and affections towards the only thing worthy of such love, and Christ is that object. It means fidelity in tough times with God; when he seems remote or uninvolved in the complexity of our lives. To radically love God is to give yourself (your talent, time, and treasure) for the kingdom's work through worship, service, and sacrifice; your heart beating passionately for Christ; your soul swept clean of any impediment so that Christ may take up residence; your mind as the mind of Christ and always praying for God to grant the necessary strength and zeal to do unto Him true and laudable service in keeping with our baptismal vows.

It is through the first commandment we are able to fulfill the second and, through the second, ascend again to the first. And whoever loves the Lord, it must follow that he also loves his neighbor. For "if anyone loves me, He says, he will keep my word" (Jn. 14:23). Then He says: "This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you" (Jn. 15:12). To love our neighbor is to love without partiality as Christ does. Jesus doesn't play favorites. In fact, it is rumored that he loves his enemies, is merciful to sinners, and offers salvation without regard to any and all who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Jesus is the Good Samaritan who loves in the most inconvenient of situations. The journey from Jerusalem into the Judean wilderness points to the Incarnation: the Son of God leaving his Father's side, coming to earth to help fallen sinners like you and me. You could say that the Son of God was more than happy to go out of his way to pull us out of the ditch.

Jesus is willing to incur the cost of loving his neighbor. The Good Samaritan bound the man's wounds with his own bandages and a costly supply of oil and wine. He even gives up riding his own donkey as he places the half-dead man upon his beast. Jesus-like love is costly and almost always necessitates a degree of loss. Loss of your precious time. Sometimes, it's a willingness to lose position or status- even reputation. Love cost Jesus his very life, and we should be willing to die for our neighbors: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

Friends, if you are loved by Christ, then you are well instructed in the duty of love- he is teaching you how to love, day by day, as he cares for you, defends you, prays for you, as he lavishes you with enormous grace and patience. Love as you have been loved, as you are being loved. Mercy, compassion, selflessness, and humility are the duties of the privileged. Now, my beloved friends, let us go and do likewise. Amen+