Jesus decides to “teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this?” “Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.”
The self-ordained significant, rulers and their scribes, cannot believe Jesus, a commoner, has significance. The rulers respond by taking “offense at him.” Taking offense at people of lower status being granted higher status is an element in relationships controlled by the ruler class. It is why men cannot believe a woman is their boss and take offense at her. Also, why white people cannot believe a Black person owns a certain car or a certain home or holds a certain position and take offense at them. It is why the ruler class is taking offense at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives that ensure to people rendered insignificant their fair treatment and full participation. The ruler class, with ample support, devises the insignificance of so many people and has always enjoyed immunity for doing so. It has simply been how the system works. Thus, it is how the Supreme Court works, especially noteworthy of late. Its rulers recently proved the enduring professional and personal immunity granted members of the ruler class. Their recent decision in Trump v. United States asserts, “Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution.” So it was that neither Jefferson, nor any other founder, ever stood trial for slave owning. The founders and the political system they were developing did not secure any person’s significance to a republic but rather all slave owning men’s significance to the Monarchy. The founders were relacing British colonialism with their own stateside colonialism but were thwarted because “the King has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States.” The founders used human beings judged insignificant and threatening – Natives – to ensure the people granted them immunity in their subsequent colonialism, “the King has endeavoured to bring upon the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” Subsequent rulers practiced the same immunity against the insignificant; Jackson’s Trail of Tears, Truman’s Bomb, Bush’s Iraq invasion. Nor does the ruler Trump believe in anyone’s significance, even children – those procured by his old friend Jeffrey Epstein, those at the Southern border, those who are trans or Muslim – nor anyone disloyal to him. Trump is seeking the Presidency because he knows it grants him official immunity – for personal retribution against those who assert significance and for which Trump takes offense. Trump is a criminal who with other criminal white supremacists, sexists, fraudsters, MAGAs, and Nazis will head what has always been a criminal system that renders human beings insignificant. The only difference with Trump is that his hit list contains the name of people judged significant.
James Lawson (1928-2024) who passed away last month, was born to a rendered insignificance, Black in a white supremacist world. He was the son and grandson of Methodist ministers who followed Jesus as his “mentor.” In prison as a conscientious objector to the Korean War, he wrote, “I’m an extreme radical which means the potent possibility of future jails. My life will… offer security only in the sense of service to God’s Kingdom.” Lawson was mentored by another follower of Jesus, Mohandas Gandhi. He brought to the U.S. Gandhi’s nonviolent philosophy and tactical mission for implementing Jesus’ way. Lawson was expelled from Vanderbilt University for implementing that nonviolence at lunch counter sit-ins, bus boycotts, and union organizing. He spent his life enacting DEI initiatives, gaining fair treatment and full participation for people living out their significance to a ruler class who took offense at them. Lawson advised deep preparation for encounters with members of the ruler class and their supporters. Know your message, your core truth and communicate it in as many ways as possible. Also, know your strategies – understand ahead of time options for engagement so that the change you seek, you make happen.
Prayer: Beautiful Spirit, Our lives flow with significance.
Question: What is the significant action to which I am called?
July 7, 2024 Gospel Mark 6:1-6 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time