When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea. . . (Matthew 4:12)
In the present moment in which we find ourselves, I think this easily overlooked opening verse of our Gospel reading for this morning is remarkable for what it says to us about our own calling as followers of Christ.
Let me give you some context.
John the Baptist has been preaching against the Roman empire and Jewish leaders with status and power and inspiring his followers to live anti-imperial lives in anticipation of the in-breaking of the kingdom of God.
Herod, that paranoid, autocratic, homicidal lackey of the Roman Empire is threatened by John the Baptist and arrests him and throws him in jail.
It is the beginning of the end for John the Baptist.
We who know the whole story know that he will soon be beheaded.
Jesus is not naïve.
He also knows that John’s time is short.
Now the first verse is confusing because of the word “withdraw.”
It sounds like Jesus is running away but he is not.
What he is doing, according to Matthew, is being faithful to God’s plan which is that he begins his ministry in lands that had been given by God to the people of Israel but were and are being occupied by colonizing imperial powers.
It is also the same place where John the Baptist had been preaching and teaching.
Jesus is stepping into the footsteps of John the Baptist and moving beyond them.
Jesus is not running away in fear he is running toward the kingdom of God.
And what is the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God?
It is not an alternate universe where we go when we die.
It is a vision of what the world would look like if God directly ruled rather than human beings.
It is a world of equality and justice for all.
In a world in which God reigns, no one is on the margins for any reason.
Everyone has enough of what they need to sustain life—food, shelter, clothing, health, freedom, safety, autonomy.
No one has excess while others suffer without enough.
The vision of the kingdom of heaven is anti-imperial, anti-colonial, anti-racist, anti-white supremacist, anti-fascist, anti-patriarchal.
And John the Baptist and now Jesus declare that this vision is breaking in right here and right now.
First with Jesus, next with his first followers, then with faithful Christians throughout the ages, and now with us, followers of Christ in the 21st century.
While the founders of this country never intended it to be a theocracy, a country that was ruled by one religion, I believe their striving for freedom from autocratic rulers, sprang from thousands of years of Judeo-Christian teaching that taught that God values every human life equally, and in God’s kingdom equality and justice are for everyone, not just those with money and power.
Now these white men still didn’t understand the full implications of God’s reign, and they left out women, and brown and black people.
But they laid the foundation for something greater.
And in the more than 200 years since the founding of this country we’ve been moving more deeply into God’s vision for the world, God’s kingdom.
Now this movement towards God’s reign has not come easily.
Worldly power never gives up without a fight.
The Civil War, the labor movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the civil rights movement, the movement for women’s rights, the LGBTQ+ movement, anti-poverty movements were all opposed mightily by those with power and privilege who did not want to lose even the smallest amount of their control.
And we are living in a time in which all of the areas of progress that have been made over the past two centuries are under assault.
And it can feel overwhelming and the withdrawing into safety and anonymity can feel like the best and wisest choice.
And living in our little bubble of Mid-coast Maine can make this withdrawal really easy. Unlike those living in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Portland, and Lewiston, we don’t have a lot of immigrant neighbors.
There isn’t enough employment and affordable housing for our neighbors in need from around the world to live here.
But our neighbors seeking asylum and new life aren’t far away.
Our Christian siblings in Portland and Lewiston are telling us stories of crimes being committed by federal immigration officers against vulnerable people seeking refuge. These stories are not abstract.
They are happening to members of our wider church family.
I want to share with you a pastoral letter from our Bishop, Thomas Brown, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine:
Dear friends in Christ,
Listen to these words from the Prophet Jeremiah:
“Wicked men appear among my people setting snares and traps to catch their fellow humans. With unbound appetites, full of fraud and deceit, they grow powerful and rich, and bloated. Ruling without justice, respecting no one’s rights, they oppress the powerless and the needy.” (Jeremiah 5:26-28). Does this ancient text fall afresh on you in these days?
It’s been a week since ICE significantly increased its presence in Maine; the operation (appallingly named “Catch of the Day”) strikes terror, especially for those who are being cruelly snatched up and unlawfully detained.
What’s happening is being described as a response to immigration policy and a means to apprehend criminals. What I witness is a government-sponsored paramilitary terrorizing primarily Black and Brown neighbors. Maine’s Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) said this in a statement yesterday: “We can confirm that many of the people arrested have no criminal record. We can also confirm that many of the people who have been detained are asylum seekers, following a lawful process.”
Let me be crystal clear: the people most vulnerable are members of our church, residents of our neighborhoods: they’re part of Maine. Whether we’re in Bangor or Rangeley, Lewiston or Winthrop, Portland or Camden—wherever we live and worship—we’re the body of the church, and when one of us suffers, we all suffer.
Yesterday, the Bishop of Washington (D.C.), who is in Minnesota supporting Bishop Loya and visiting her family, called to offer support and encouragement. The day before, Canon Teresa Pinney was buoyed by a similar conversation with her counterpart in the Diocese of Minnesota. It was as though each of them was holding us in arms of solidarity and strength.
I wish I could call every one of you with a similarly comforting—and galvanizing—message, to say we’re going to get through this, and with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we’ll reach out our arms through deeds of mercy and compassion, and in peaceful protest and demonstration.
In every age and time, when people hurt and whenever human dignity erodes, faith leaders have stepped in. We are they who stand for the rule of law and for due process, and so we shall rise!
There are four ways the Episcopal Church in Maine is rising:
· We’re praying, including a diocesan-wide online Compline led by our clergy and broadcast on our YouTube channel on Mondays at 7 p.m. for the next three weeks.
· Second, we’re working on a project in which every congregation can choose to make meals for organizations in Bangor, Lewiston, and Portland who will deliver them to homes where people are sheltering in place. There will be more details to come, but it’s not too soon to organize and inspire your congregation to cook.
· Third, we’re raising money, as we do for any emergency or relief project. Your donations made here will be used to give commissary money to detainees, to defray the expense of legal services, and to support the many organizations and people who are the Love of God incarnate. No gift is too small and no gift is too big.
· Finally we’re demonstrating and peacefully protesting at ICE Out rallies in Portland (Friday, Jan. 23, at 5 p.m. in Monument Square) and Lewiston (Saturday, Jan. 24, at 12 p.m. in Kennedy Park).
For more information and resources please visit our website and the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition. Soon, we’ll send information about the meal delivery project, as well as training events for those called to demonstrate. Be sure to check back often for updates, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
May Christ, the Son of God, be manifest in you, that your lives may be a light to the world; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you, and remain with you always. Amen.
Faithfully Yours,
Bishop Thomas Brown
As I receive more word from Bishop Brown about concrete ways that we can stand up to the modern-day powers of Empire and be a small part of the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God in our time and place, I will share these opportunities with you.
If you can cook and want to take part in the developing project to make meals for those who need to shelter in place, let me know.
If you are able to donate to help those being detained, do so.
If you can demonstrate locally or in the cities being directly impacted do so.
Send letters to our elected officials.
Fill their phone lines with phone calls.
Don’t withdraw.
Use whatever resources you have to join in with God’s reign right here and right now. And don’t do this work alone.
Our Gospel reading ends with Jesus calling his first companions.
Jesus did not walk this road alone, and neither should we.
We need community now more than ever.
We need each other.
Pray together.
Hug one another.
Listen deeply.
Make space for joy and laughter.
And in all of this, remember that God is with us and will remain with us. Amen.
