"RESURRECTION VISION"

 “RESURRECTION VISION”

We’re still in the church season of the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, and I want to dwell here one more time before I move on.  I saw a clip of Stacey Abrams’ engagement with Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana last week, when she testified in a Senate hearing on the issue of voting rights.  In this exchange, Stacey took Senator Kennedy to political school, as he tried to use his good ol’ boy white Southern charm to entrap her on the repressive changes that the state of Georgia (and other states)  made to voting rights.  These changes were made by the grandchildren of the neo-slavery Democrats (now called Republicans but still the same white, Southern mind set).  If you haven’t seen this exchange, please give it a look.  Here’s a link to it: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gop-senator-probably-regrets-testing-stacey-abrams-georgia-law-n1264924?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR0Mr7mnaBHI8PJB8TCIxWpokH-y0qz0sHX1bCvI8k2BoAwchB_m4bxk4v0

Stacey’s nimbleness and skill in this exchange reminded me of the Resurrection vision that Jesus of Nazareth offers to all of us.  You already know that I am a Stacey fan – she preached several times at Oakhurst and gave powerful testimony at my retirement – but I am not implying that she is Jesus.  I am saying, however, that she has caught the vision that the risen Jesus brought with him – a vision that is available to his followers in every age.

In thinking about the Resurrection, let us  remember that everyone in the Gospel accounts had trouble recognizing the risen Jesus, because they all were captured by the power of death.  In Matthew, there are still some who doubt even when the risen Jesus gathers them to send them out in his name.  In Mark, the women witnesses are terrified at the thought of the risen Jesus, and Mark’s gospel ends with the women telling no one.  In Luke, the women finally share the story, but the men do not believe them because everyone knows that women get hysterical!  In John, Mary Magdalene cannot recognize the risen Jesus, even though he is standing right in front of her and talking with her.  And, of course, John is the gospel of “doubting Thomas.” 

  The first followers had trouble recognizing the risen Jesus because their vision was truncated.  They thought that the Roman Empire was the center of the world and gave them their self-definition.  Jesus came to free the captives in every age.  He and his people were oppressed, accepting that their primary definition was property of the Roman Empire, letting Rome tell them who they were and what they could envision for themselves. Jesus wanted to give them (and us) a vision of being able to live our lives with a sense that we are children of God, not of Rome or of white supremacy or of capitalism.

    All four of the Gospel accounts emphasize how difficult it is to grasp and to believe the Resurrection vision.  In one way or another, we are all captured by death, but Jesus has come to set us free and to give us a new vision of ourselves and of life.  This is one of Stacey Abrams’ great gifts to us.  She is an astute politician – she sees the world realistically but she dreams of and sees a new vision.  In the midst of death and chaos, she brings life and hope.  She asks to see reality but to dream of changing that reality.  She lives in “what is,” but she also asks to think of what could be.  

    Stacey has Resurrection vision, and she invites us into that vision and that dream.  So, yes, while Georgia and other states are working to repress the vote, Stacey is living and articulating a vision for expanding the vote.  She is realistic but also driven by a vision of the risen Jesus.  Like the ancestors – John Lewis, Ella Baker, Martin Luther King, Septima Clark  and many others – she is proclaiming “I have seen the Lord!”  She invites us into that Resurrection vision of new life. Let us find our places and get to work.