Cut to a scene of an angry man, with wild hair, in front of a temple, screaming and waving his arms.
He’s shouting and swinging a whip at people, shoving them out of his way, pushing over tables. With money flying his fury rises.
Watch that 30-second clip over and over again for a month, and you’d be denying any affiliation with that crazy man.
The wise man and the angry man are the same. He is the man whom millions claim to follow; a man who so upset his own society with his criticism of the status quo that those in power crucified him.
Wright’s prophetic words about race may not have been comfortable to hear, but neither were Jesus of Nazareth’s prophetic words and actions!
Those of us who engage in Biblical studies know the importance of “sitz im leben.” Just as we examine scripture with the intent on understanding the social context, so too should we keep in mind the context of the sermons preached at Trinity UCC.
We cannot dismiss Wright’s words as “crazy,” painting him out to be a fanatic and therefore ignore his words.
His message might not be something we want to hear, it might not come the way we are comfortable hearing it, but the truth is Wright is echoing the Hebrew prophets and Jesus, himself.
Just as people of faith led the way in the civil rights movement, we have to pick up the torch. Our work is not done.
We need to continue to have conversations about race, poverty, power, inequality, and discrimination. We need to be honest with ourselves to see that log in our own eyes, so that we might begin the process of removing it!
•REV. SARAH HALVERSON is the senior pastor at Fairview Community Church in Costa Mesa.
What would possess the Rev. Jeremiah Wright to declare that the AIDS virus was concocted by the government as a weapon in its ongoing effort to eradicate America’s black population?
