The People United

March 27

Readings – EZ 37:21-28; JN 11:45-56

I have been reading a bit more in recent years about the life and work of Fred Hampton.  Hampton was a 21 year old leader in the Black Panther Party in Chicago and was an amazing thinker, organizer and strategist.  Hampton, while unapologetically upholding the Black freedom struggle, also saw the intersections between that struggle and other struggles for housing, medical care, living wage jobs and political rights.  He started to build a vibrant coalition between white people, Latinx groups and the Panthers that had not existed previously, and it made a lot of people in power nervous. So nervous that the police stormed Hampton’s apartment at 4:45am on December 3, 1969 and killed him during the raid.  It was later revealed that Hampton’s bodyguard was an informant for the FBI and that the raid was likely a planned event to eliminate what the FBI feared was a Black “messiah” who would unite the people.

In our readings today, Ezekiel tells the story of what happened AFTER the people united together.  They were a people of strength, clarity and purpose.

And the gospel tells us about the fears of the Pharisees.  Like the FBI, they feared Jesus’ ability to bring the people together and sought to put a stop to it in order to protect themselves and their interests.

There are many powers in our world that fear what might happen if people come together for a common purpose – especially related to social change.  Certain groups benefit from the divisions that exist and have a vested interest in making sure that some groups do not unite.  We might be encouraged to see threats where there are none or believe that certain groups “threaten” our way of life (or are taking our jobs).

But what if the people could come together – especially poor and low income people who make up the majority – and advocate for change?  What if we began to see that we all share a common fate and that when anyone suffers we all suffer?  What might be possible if we could overcome the barriers that divide us and work for a new vision together?

This past year has taught us a lot about the realities that exist in the United States.  We have learned much about who is “essential” to the day to day functioning of our world and how those workers are treated.  We have learned a lot about which groups suffer the most during times of hardship.  And we saw ever more clearly that we are all tied in what MLK called a “inescapable web of mutuality”.

Good religion binds us back together and helps us to see the deeper connection that we long for.  This is not some pie-in-the-sky pipe dream.  It can happen and does happen, but it requires work and commitment.  We must commit to removing that which separates us from one another.  These separations might be emotional or economic, physical or communal.  But whatever they are, we can do something about them because humanity established them.

Today, let us spend some time contemplating unity.  What in your life needs to be reunited?  Who do you long to be in community with again?  What divisions need to be healed?  And what barriers do we need to address in order for that reunification, community and healing to become a reality?

“The people, united, will never be defeated..”