Tag: Lent

Faith, Healing

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

After President Jimmy Carter left office, he and his wife Roselyn embarked on a mission of humanitarian aid and international peace-making. As you probably know, they also were devout Christians. Jimmy famously taught a Sunday School class at his church each week, and he wrote 30 books–many of them related to faith, morals and ethics. In his book, “Living Faith”, he wrote, “To me, faith is not just a noun, but also a verb.” And he and Roselyn “faithed” well.

The Carters are probably best known for working with Habitat for Humanity, building housing for low-income families. But their mission through the Carter Center has also included health initiatives. In the 1980’s, the Carters took on what most thought was an impossible task: the eradication of neglected tropical diseases. They first set their sights on Guinea Worm Disease—a parasitical infection that afflicted an estimated 3.5 million people in Africa and Asia each year.

I had never heard of the disease until Mike, a member of my congregation, introduced me to both the disease and the work of the Carter Center. Trust me, Guinea Worm Disease is not something anyone would want to contract. According to the Carter Center, Guinea Worm larvae live in stagnant water. When people consume that water, the larvae enter the body. Inside the host’s abdomen, Guinea worm larvae mate and female worms mature and grow. After about a year of incubation, the female Guinea worm–which grows to a length of about 40 inches–creates an exit wound somewhere–anywhere–on the host’s body and begins it’s slow and very painful process of emerging from the body. The worms can take months to fully emerge, completely incapacitating the host. The burning sensation is so intense that only by immersing themselves in water does the host experience relief. However, immersion allows the female worm to release larvae into the water. The cycle begins again.

Undaunted by the immensity of the task, the Carters teamed with infectious disease specialists who discovered that the solution to ending the cycle was simple—a $5 water filter that prevented the larvae from entering the body. Through fundraising, education, and distribution of the filters over the past 35 years, the rates of contracting the disease have fallen dramatic. In 2024, there were just 14 documented cases of Guinea Worm Disease in the world! This is what can happen when people of faith take Christ’s call to be healers seriously.

Though the Carters are no longer with us (Well done, good and faithful servants!), the Carter Center has been working to eradicate another parasitical infection found in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South America called “River Blindness”. They are making progress. The disease has been eradicated in Mexico, Guatamala, Columbia and Ecuador. You can learn more about the disease and their progress HERE.

The eradication of River Blindness is progressing, but there is some concern about the future. A portion of the funding for the program came from USAID, the agency that was illegally closed by the new administration—supposedly for its corruption, waste and fraud. The State Department now oversees USAID funds and approves grants that “align with the administration’s goals” on a case-by case basis. Thankfully, the Lion’s Club International Foundation has renewed its partnership with the Carter Center to facilitate continued progress in eliminating River Blindness. Maybe there’s a billionaire that could step up to help too. I’ll believe THAT when I see it.

Waking Up to Affliction and Disease

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

On the Second Sunday of Lent, March 16, I preached about health and wellbeing. This is an adapted (and a bit expanded) version of the sermon.

Of the 37 miracles performed by Jesus that are recorded in the gospels, 28 of them involved healing people who were afflicted with all kinds of physical and mental illness. That is a full 75%! And that doesn’t begin to count the number of people who were impacted. There are stories of single individuals experiencing healing—like Peter’s mother-in-law. There are also stories of small groups being healed at the same time—like the 10 lepers who were cleansed. And then there are the two healing events that sound very much like the emergency room at Cook County Hospital—dozens of people waiting in line to see Dr. Jesus so he could touch them. Scores of people may have received healing. All of those who came to Jesus were given renewed health. Not once did Jesus ask if they had insurance or if they were documented or what religion they followed or what gender they were. He, in essence, offered free universal healthcare.

All this begs the question. Why? Why was healing illnesses and physical infirmities so central to Jesus’s ministry?

While there may be numerous insightful answers to the question, the Apostle John writes in 1 John 3:8, that Jesus “came to destroy the works of the devil”. Jesus’s mission of the deliverance of humanity from the devil’s realm of disease, death and destruction is central to our understanding of the coming of the Messiah. It is Jesus’s mission—and by extension, it is the mission of the church—to end the works of the devil—which I would define as anything hostile to the abundant life Jesus came to provide (John 10:10). Anything that is opposed to life and human thriving is satanic.

The Apostle Peter adds to our understanding of Jesus’s mission in Acts 10:38: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”

God (aka Jehovah Rapha—’God who heals’) was in Christ, proclaiming the in-breaking of God’s realm not just through words, but through the works of healing—the sign of ‘shalom’ and the new creation. God was in Christ, breaking the satanic chains of affliction and setting the oppressed free. And the forces of hell were powerless to stop it. And Christ shared that anointing with his followers.

When Jesus gathered the twelve disciples, the first thing he did was give “them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases”. He then sent them out to “proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:1-2). This was repeated when Jesus sent out another 72 disciples (Luke 10:1, 9). After the Pentecost event, the pattern continued. The followers of Jesus, filled with the Spirit, go out proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and do the healing works of liberation in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:42-43, Acts 8:5-8, 12)

This is not just a spiritual healing of the soul with no connection to the body. It is liberation from the demonic chains of oppression and affliction that are manifested in the physical realm. Those chains of oppression and affliction present in the systems and policies that allow disease to flourish; and in the structures and programs that deny access to healing. I see those chains of oppression and affliction being re-established in the draconian proposals to dismantle healthcare and eliminate nutrition programs for the poor and vulnerable. Limiting access to these life-giving, life-sustaining services is satanic. Period. And every act that promotes health and wellbeing is of God. Period.

Through this understanding, any threat to eliminating Medicaid for poor people is satanic. Any threat to school lunches for children in need is satanic. Any threat to reductions in SNAP benefits for working families is satanic. Any threat to rollbacks in regulations that protect clean water is satanic.

The church must wake up! It must wake up to the demonic attempts to restore the chains of oppression and affliction and oppose them, but it must also wake up to its divine mandate to proclaim release to the captives, dismantle the structures of oppression and work to preserve and promote public health.

Death and destruction are Satan’s domain. Life and wellbeing are God’s realm. Which side are you on? In Christ, we have been awakened from death into life, and now we “live woke”—creating with God a world where everyone can thrive and flourish.

Those with ears to hear, let them hear.

“Living Woke” Week 2

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Before I start posting about this week’s theme of “Waking Up to Affliction and Disease”, I’ve decided to share what I can only describe as a heart-wrenching result of the current administration’s attack on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives and programs.

On this evening’s broadcast of “60 Minutes”, Scott Pelley told the story of 30 talented high school musicians who had been selected to play with the Marine Corps Band in a concert scheduled for May.. That was the plan until an Executive Order was signed that eliminated DEI initiatives in all government departments including the military. The concert was abruptly cancelled. All of the students were African-American, Latinx, Indian and Asian,

As a musician, I can only begin to imagine the pain and frustration and anger these student feel. They earned their place only to be told they had no place. But thankfully, Scott Pelley and “60 Minutes” created the opportunity for their concert to be heard. The entire concert was performed by the students along side former members of the Marine Corps Band who volunteered their time to support the teens. I admit that I cried through the entire thing–partly shedding tears of sadness; mostly shedding tears of anger that these incredibly talented and smart students could be so cavalierly brushed aside as if they had no value.

The president has called DEI initiatives “immoral.” What is really immoral is the way the president dismissed these teens.

I encourage you to listen to the entire concert. Tears are appropriate.

Learn more about Equity Arc

Why Mahmoud Khalil Matters

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Rev. Martin Neimöller, a German Lutheran Pastor who, along with Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, formed the Confessional Church in opposition to Adolf Hitler’s attempts to place the Lutheran Church under Nazi control, is probably best known for his poem, “First They Came…” Written in 1946 after the war had concluded, Neimöller painfully confessed that he (and the German Lutheran Church) failed to speak up in opposition to Hilter and the rise of the Third Reich, and did little to stop the atrocities perpetrated against those groups that the Nazi’s targeted as their enemies,

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

Versions of the poem can be found etched in the walls of Holocaust memorials and museums from Washington, D.C. to Skokie, IL. The poem has taken on new relevance as various ethnic groups have been targeted by Executive Orders, ICE arrests and travel bans.

Last Sunday, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at Columbia University in New York and a legal resident of the United States, was arrested by ICE and was taken to a detention center in Louisiana. What as his crime? He was an out-spoken advocate for Palestinian rights during the Gaza protests at Columbia last spring. To date, he has not been charged with a crime. He will go before an immigration judge on March 27. His fate is uncertain.

Another Palestinian, Leqaa Kordia, was arrested in Newark, NJ last night, for overstaying her student visa. She had been arrested during the protests at Colombia last April.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced that the Trump administration will revoke student visas in the coming days for activists who have taken part in campus demonstrations in support of Palestinian rights.

First, they came for the Palestinians, but I did not speak out because I was not a Palestinian.

David, the Asylum Seeker

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As a political rival to King Saul, David had a target on his back. Saul and his army had been attempting to find him and kill him again and again without success. Knowing his life was in danger, he considered his options. 1 Samuel 27:1 records his decision.

“David kept thinking to himself, ‘Someday Saul is going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to the Philistines. Then Saul will stop hunting for me in Israelite territory, and I will finally be safe.'”

David took his 2 wives and a group of men and their families who were loyal to him and left Israel for the border of Gath. Achish, the King of Gath, gave David political asylum and even provided him the town of Ziklag as a home for him and his companions. David lived in Ziklag–safe from Saul–for a year and four months. When Saul learned that David was in Gath, he stopped searching for David.

The fear of political violence is real for many people, and that fear motivates them to seek asylum and safety. But will they be welcomed and protected? Or will they be turned away and returned to their home country? King Achish saw David’s plight and welcomed him. But what would have happened to David, his friends and their families if they had been turned away at the border? Remaining in Israel could have resulted in David’s death.

The United States government has–in the past–vetted asylum seekers after their arrival in the US. However, current policy does not allow people to apply for asylum at the border or ports of entry, and people seeking asylum must remain in Mexico–effectively condemning them to limbo. They become people without a country, without nationality, and without protection or any guarantee of security. As such, they are especially vulnerable to exploitation and harm.

Whether people are coming to the US because of political, religious or societal persecution, the decision to deny them asylum makes us complicit in their persecution. Turning them away or returning them to their unsafe home country places them in danger. Should they be killed, their blood is also on our hands.

Fortunately, God watched over David and his family during their time in Gath through the welcome of King Achish. When we welcome and watch over asylum seekers today, we are doing God’s will, acting on behalf of God, who is the protector of the foreigner. (Psalm 146:9)

Putting Xenophilia into Practice

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Here are some suggestions for making sure you’re not hitting the “snooze button.” There are videos to inspire, stories that stir up feelings–including righteous anger–and actions to engage. Let these daily disciplines help you “get woke” and “live woke’ for migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.

  • PRAY DAILY that the Church in the US will wake up and defend the aliens and strangers among us. And pray for God’s protection of those who are living in fear of deportation or loss of their protected status. 
  • “GET WOKE” by reading the New York Times article (excerpt below) about Artemis Ghasemzadeh, a Christian woman from Iran that came to the US to seek asylum because of religious persecution.  
  • ACT to protect those who are vulnerable by calling your elected officials. Find the phone numbers for your elected at https://5calls.org/  Tell them to restore funding for refugee resettlement, unfreeze asylum applications and vote against increased funding for ICE.
  • FAST from at least one purchase this week and give your savings to help refugees that have already arrived in the US, and are still in need of support. Organizations like “REFUGEE ONE” a Chicago organization that resettles refugees and provides rental assistance for 6 months so families can get settled and find work. Refugee One, along with World Relief, Catholic Charities and others, lost their federal funding thanks to an Executive Order. They need private funds to make sure these families don’t lose their housing and support. Learn more about the plight of refugees and the organizations that want to help HERE.
  • WATCH this inspiring video about a couple of 90+ year old nuns in Chicago who have been advocating for immigrant rights for decades. You’re never too old to ‘get woke,’
  • PROTEST or sign petitions that oppose Executive Orders that target migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.  

This Christian Convert Fled Iran, and Ran Into Trump’s Deportation Policy

By Farnaz Fassihi and Hamed Aleaziz
Published in the New York Times on 2/23/25 & Updated 2/26/25

She first entered a church on a visit to Turkey. She remembers feeling a sense of calm so overpowering that she purchased a small Bible. She wrapped it in her clothes and smuggled it back to her hometown, Isfahan, in central Iran.
Artemis Ghasemzadeh’s conversion from Islam to Christianity evolved over a few years starting in 2019, through an Iranian network of underground churches and secret online classes. Three years ago, she was baptized and, in her words, “reborn.”

Converting was colossally risky. While Christians born into the faith are free to practice, Iran’s Shariah laws state that abandoning Islam for another religion is considered blasphemy, punishable by death. Some members of her Bible-study group were arrested. So in December, Ms. Ghasemzadeh set out for the United States.

“I wanted to live freely, to live without fear, to live without someone wanting to kill me,” Ms. Ghasemzadeh, 27, said in a series of phone interviews.

Her journey has landed her in a migrant detention camp on the outskirts of the Darién jungle in Panama. She and nine other Iranian Christian converts, three of them children, are among dozens detained at the Saint Vincente camp. Their fate remains uncertain.

People fleeing violent religious persecution are normally eligible for asylum. But they have been caught in the Trump administration’s deportation push as the president tries to fulfill a campaign pledge to close the southern border.
“We don’t deserve this. We are in a place where we feel helpless,” Ms. Ghasemzadeh said. “I am waiting for our voices to be heard, for someone to help us.”

Panama, which is separately under pressure from the Trump administration over control of the Panama Canal, has become a landing place for migrants who otherwise would have languished in detention in the United States — or potentially been released.

Panamanian officials have said that United Nations agencies are helping the migrants return to their countries or seek asylum in other nations, including Panama.

Read the full article HERE.

Waking Up to Xenophobia

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was sworn into office of President for the second time. Following the inaguration, he went to Capital One Arena, where several thousand fans cheered as he signed 28 Executive Orders before several thousand fans. Almost 1/3 of those Order (9) specifically targeted the Southern border and the entry of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers into the US. . The 13th Executive Order he signed was titled, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.”

For years, Donald Trump has relentlessly attacked migrants, claiming that other countries are sending “the worst of the worst” across the southern border—rapists, murderers, drug dealers and criminals released from prisons—to take American jobs and destroy our country. Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are to be feared and must be stopped from entering the US before they take over. Since January 20, the Executive Orders have continued to be issued, militarizing the southern border, ending “birther” citizenship, freezing asylum applications, stripping Temporary Protected Status from Venezuelans and Haitians, and even making English the nation’s official language.

This is what xenophobia – the fear of strangers – looks like, and xenophobia is antithetical to our God and our Christian faith.

The Hebrew Scriptures include a classification of people known as “aliens” that resided in a place that was not their original home. The words “stranger” and “foreigner” are used synonymously or in conjunction with the word “alien.”. Aliens are outsiders. Aliens are people who are different. Aliens are “other.” In our context, we use another word to describe this group. Aliens are immigrants. And aliens are, by virtue of their “otherness”, a vulnerable people—at risk of oppression and abuse.

So what do the Scriptures say about them and how are they to be treated? While God recognizes “difference” between alien and native born, God does not does not advocate exclusion. In fact, God advocates special attention that leads to full inclusion and acceptance.

  • In Deuteronomy 10:17-19, God is identified as the “Defender of the alien.” God loves the stranger, providing food and clothing for them.
  • In Leviticus 19:34, God’s people are told to love the alien and stranger as themselves.
  • In Isaiah 56:6-7, God envisions the day that foreigners will enjoy full participation in the life of the community—including religious life.

And the Gospels—Matthew’s gospel in particular—flesh out God’s identification with the alien. Matthew presents Jesus, whom he has identified as “Emmanuel: God with us”, as an alien. In two instances in Jesus’ formative years, Jesus is the immigrant. First, he becomes the refugee in Egypt when Joseph makes a nighttime escape from Bethlehem and the coming genocide of Herod. Then, Jesus becomes the immigrant in Galilee after Joseph—out of fear for his family’s safety—settles in the backwater town of Nazareth—a place that is hardly on the map. (See Matthew 2:13 ff)

In both cases, Jesus would have experienced of being the outsider. In Egypt, Jesus would have experienced the “otherness” of language, religion and culture. He would have been an ethnic, cultural, and religious minority. And his returned from Egypt only to settle in Nazareth did not enhance his résumé. Nathanael expressed the prevailing distain for outsider Nazoreans when he asked Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Galileans were considered lower class. They were identifiable by their accent. (Remember Peter warming himself outside the trial of Jesus and being identified by the servant girl as “one of them.”) They were rubes, suspicious characters, not to be fully trusted. Sound familiar?

So why is the “alien” status of Jesus important? Why does Matthew go to great pains to show us “refugee Jesus” and “immigrant Jesus” right at the start of his gospel?

Matthew is committed to presenting Jesus as one who understands the immigrant experience and identifies himself with the alien and stranger. He ministers to Samaritans and Canaanites and Roman centurions. Scandalously, he welcomes tax collectors and sinners at his dinner table.. He has a tax collector (Roman collaborator?) and a radical Zealot (terrorist?) among his closest disciples. People who would have been considered aliens, strangers and foreigners were not feared or rejected by Jesus. Jesus practiced xenophilia – love of strangers, and he expected his followers to do the same.

In his parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, Jesus makes it clear that the rejection of the stranger is a rejection of Jesus. Conversely, when we welcome them and treat them with dignity and inclusion, we welcome Jesus,

I look at Jesus’s treatment of the alien and stranger and say, “Jesus was ‘woke.'” He understood the mistreatment. He witnessed the discrimination. He spoke the truth no one wanted to hear (see Luke 4:25-30), and he defended those who were vulnerable to attack. Jesus expects us to be ‘woke’ too.

Coming Up: Practicing Xenophilia Daily, David the Asylum Seeker, and Welcoming Resources .

Living Woke

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday (March 9), was the First Sunday of Lent and the first in our “Living Woke” Lenten Compact series. A lot of people are triggered by that word, “WOKE.” For many, being “woke” is a terrible thing–even antithetical to Christian faith. A March 2023 USA TODAY/Ipsos poll found that roughly 39% of those surveyed believed the word meant “to be overly politically correct and police others’ words.” Many people associate “wokeness” with left-wing politics, DEI hiring policies, and boys playing in girls’ sports. For them, “wokeism” is a threat to our way of life and they wish it would go away. It seems their wish has been granted. Last week, in his address to Congress, Donald Trump announced an end of “the tyranny of so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies” adding, “Our country will be woke no longer.” Republicans in Congress responded with a standing ovation and shouts of approval.

So, is “Wokeness” really a bad thing that is going to destroy America? I say, “getting woke” isn’t just a good thing; it’s a necessary thing. For me, it isn’t so much a political ideology as an ongoing spiritual practice that is founded on Scripture. Yes, you heard me right. “Woke” is Biblical. In both the Prophets and the Apostles, we are urged multiple times to “Wake Up!” Or “Stay Awake!” Or “Be Alert!” In the letter to the Church at Sardis (Rev. 3:1-2), the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ says,

“I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.”

This is a call to the Church that is asleep–the equivalent of being dead. It is unaware of its own spiritual condition and has disengaged itself from the conditions of the world around them. God calls the church to “get woke” in order to honestly and truthfully assess their relationship to Christ, and then “live woke” by actively pursuing the life-giving mission of Christ as articulated in Luke 4:18-19.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because [God] has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. [God] has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim [God’s year of Jubilee].”

A “woke” church connects with the lived reality of “the least of these” (ie the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the migrant, the incarcerated, and the sick of Jesus’s parable in Matthew 25:35-40). A “woke” church understands that the mission of Jesus is more than just personal salvation, but includes a socio-political aspect that stands against injustice and the systems of oppression. A “woke” church rejects a world where those with power demean, dismiss, dehumanize and destroy those without power. A “woke” church works the works of Christ that result in abundant life (John 10:10) and the year of God’s favor – Jubilee!.

Today, I see a Church that needs to “get woke”. In too many churches, the socio-political mission of Jesus is ignored or seen as secondary or optional (ie “if we have the time or inclination”). As a result, Christians live a bifurcated life that separates the spiritual from the secular and that permits the continuation the status quo. Such a church may preach a gospel, but it’s not Jesus’s gospel. The Bible Jesus read is clear: What does the Lord require? “Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.” (Micah 6:8). The Church–especially the Church in the United States–has some “unfinished deeds” that can only be done when it “gets woke” and repents. The time has come to re-align ourselves to the mission and vision of Christ.

The season of Lent is the right time to reassess and realign and reactivate.. The conditions of our world require our involvement. It’s time to “get woke,” Church. It’s time to return to the words and works of Jesus. The one with ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

During Lent,, I’ll be posting thoughts about “Living Woke.” I invite you to join me (along with Kimball Avenue – Nuestra Señora de las Americas) on this journey.

Palm Sunday 2024

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Sermon delivered at the Logan Square Ecumenical Alliance Combined Worship Service At Humboldt Park United Methodist Church by Rev. Bruce Ray
March 24, 2024

Good morning! Hosanna! Hosanna!

I have a confession to make. When I agreed to preach on this Palm Sunday, I didn’t realize that the gospel text would be from Mark’s gospel. Now, I love the Gospel of Mark, but his version of the Triumphal Entry isn’t my favorite. First, it’s the shortest version. And yet Mark spends 7 verses on getting a colt for Jesus, but only 2 verses on the procession into Jerusalem. Yes, it has the shouts of Hosanna and the cloaks and branches, but it feels anti-climactic. And it just ends too quietly with Jesus slipping away to enjoy an evening in Bethany.

I much prefer Luke’s longer version. So that’s all I’m going to say about Mark. Luke’s version especially resonated for me this year, given our efforts over the past five weeks of Lent to pass the Bring Chicago Home referendum.

Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” That’s the only thing I remember from high school science. But what I’ve learned is that what’s true in physics is also true in social and spiritual situation. Every action for good and for God is met with an equal and opposite reaction in opposition to it.

Every time Jesus pushed forward his message of the Kingdom of Heaven and his mission, he got push-back. When Jesus healed people on the sabbath he was accused of being a law-breaker. When Jesus set demonized people free, he was accused of being in league with Satan. When he included people on the margins, he was called names. He was called “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” and a “Samaritan.” Trust me, those were not compliments.

From the beginning of his ministry, those with power saw him as a dangerous threat to the social order and they were determined to stop him. We see this play out in Luke’s version of Palm Sunday. When Jesus entered Jerusalem amid the shouts and chants, he was immediately confronted by a group of Pharisees demanding that he shut it down. “Turn down the volume!” But Jesus refused to back down, telling his critics that silencing his followers wouldn’t stop the movement. Even the rocks would take up the chants. Then, Jesus entered the temple where he disrupted the marketplace, driving out the merchants, and upsetting the authorities. Luke ends the story with the Chief Priests, the teachers of the Law and the leaders of the people plotting to kill Jesus to shut down the movement once and for all. Every action for God and justice meets resistance and hostile opposition.

But did all the push-back and opposition stop Jesus? Did the character assassination and the accusations and threats to his life silence him? No. He pressed forward, continuing the mission and spreading the message that God’s vision for the world was arriving. And though he knew that going to Jerusalem was full of risk—including the cross – he didn’t back down or turn around.

Throughout Lent, we pushed forward with God’s vision of the world—a vision of decent, affordable, safe housing for everyone. Many of us supported and worked for the passage of the Bring Chicago Home referendum to reduce homelessness in Chicago. But there was push-back. Those with a vested interest in keeping things the way they are fought the change. Realtors. Developers. Landlords. And they pushed back—HARD. They distorted the message. They resorted to lies. They used lawsuits. They used threats of higher rents and property taxes. Unfortunately, they succeeded. The referendum failed. I was disappointed. I was deflated. I was defeated. I know many of you felt the same way—maybe you still feel that way.

But here is the question before us today. Will we back down? Will we let the defeat of the referendum end the movement for housing for all? Jesus’s story didn’t end on Palm Sunday or even Good Friday, and our story didn’t end on election day, March 19, 2024. In fact, while we were going to the polls that day, God was downtown, breaking down a door that had been locked shut for over 15 years.

For years, the Chicago Housing Authority had promised to renovate Lathrop Homes as part of their plan for transformation. The renovation was completed on the buildings north of Diversey, and then it stopped. The buildings on the south side of Lathrop Homes were abandoned and neglected. On December 10, 2022, we took Las Posadas back to Lathrop Homes. We followed Mary and Joseph through the decaying and abandoned apartment buildings seeking shelter for holy families. We marched to tell CHA to keep their promise, renovate the buildings and open housing for hundreds of low and moderate-income families. And after we marched and chanted, nothing happened. Nothing changed. Nothing. Until… March 19, 2024.

That day, the Board of the Chicago Housing Authority met and approved the plans and financing for the next phase of the redevelopment of Lathrop Homes. In 2025, 300 units of housing will open on the south side of Diversey. And 100 units will be reserved for families who qualify for public housing. What moved the CHA to take action after so many years and so much silence? No one knows for sure. No one can explain it. It was a miracle. And from where I stand, that means God had everything to do with it. God moved CHA. Praise God!

You see? We are Jesus people. We are kingdom-vision people. We are resurrection people! Will we back down? I ask you again: Will we back down? Will we be silent? Will we give up or give in? We will not! In the words of the Apostle Paul, “we will be strong and immovable always abounding in the Lord’s work, because we know… we KNOW… say it with me: “WE KNOW” our work is not in vain. And we pray and we believe that God’s kingdom WILL come, and God’s will WILL BE DONE on earth as it is in heaven. Amen? Amen! So…

[SING]
Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around, turn me around, turn me around.
Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around! I’m gonna keep on a-walkin, keep on a-talkin,
Marchin’ on to Freedom Land.

Amen.