MORALtorium
Service for Blessing, Advocacy and Activism
Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade
March
21, 2016
Grace United Methodist Church, Harrisburg, PA
The video for this 7-minute sermon can be watched here:
Thanks to Groundswell Rising director Renard Cohen for this video.
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Salaam
alekum, blessed be, shalom, peace, blessings, Namaste.
44Then they also will answer, “Lord,
when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or
in prison, and did not take care of you?”45Then he will answer them,
“Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you
did not do it to me.” (Matthew 25:44-45).
As
people of faith, we believe it is important that the voices of “the least of
these,” those most vulnerable who are impacted by the devastation of shale gas
drilling and its related processes be heard.
Even this small sampling of readings and prayers at this service
demonstrates that nearly every faith tradition would look at what is being done
to the people of this state and to God’s Creation and clearly recognize that it
is immoral, unjust, unethical, and intolerable.
Just because it’s legal does not mean that it’s right.
We
see this as a ‘green’ civil rights issue.
And just as the Civil Rights movement of 50 years ago could not have run
without the power of the churches and synagogues, this Green Civil Rights
movement needs people of faith to give it the moral and ethical authority, to
frame this issue as a matter of faith, and to rouse the incredible power within
our worshiping communities to address this issue.
Not
only are the human rights of families being violated for the sake of corporate
greed, the waters, air, land, plants and animals are being violated as
well. We are standing in solidarity with
the Holleran family, the families of Riverdale and Dimock, and the long list of
the harmed in Pennsylvania who have endured the ravages of this industry. We will continue to demand justice for them
and for Creation. Like the persistent
widow in Jesus’ parable, like David fighting Goliath, like Moses and Aaron
confronting Pharaoh, like Gandhi confronting colonial imperialism, like
Buddhists monks wrapping trees in saffron robes, we know that justice and
righteousness shall prevail.
Sister
and brothers, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once shared his dream for
this nation about the end of racial inequality and injustice. As people of faith today, we also have a
dream. We dream of this beautiful and
noble state of Pennsylvania and this nation and the world promoting and
investing in clean, renewable energy that will create jobs and avoid the
destruction of our communities, land, air, water and climate that comes with
dirty fossil fuels like natural gas, oil and coal. We dream of families and communities able to live
peacefully in the communities of care they have created without fear that
corporate and governmental forces will take away their homes, or poison their
waters, or murder their trees, or foul their air. I dream of my own children being able to play
in the waters of the Susquehanna River, no longer afraid that poisons will flow
through the waters and cause diseases in the fish and plants and wildlife, and
eventually in their own small bodies.
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Help thy brother whether he is the doer of
wrong or wrong is done to him.” His companions said, “O Messenger! We can help
a man to whom wrong is done, but how could we help him when he is the doer of
wrong?” He said: “Take hold of his hand from doing wrong.” Manual of Hadith
My
colleagues in faith, our task today is not an easy one. We are charged with taking hold of the hands
that are doing wrong. This includes the
people sitting in well-appointed government offices whom you will visit. And it includes those who will call for us to
stay out of politics and be relegated to the task of cleaning up and comforting
after the perpetrators environmental disasters have long gone. Sisters and
brothers, I am no longer satisfied with that role. Our task is not only to care for the
afflicted, but to stay the hand of the one causing the affliction in the first
place.
You
will get push-back. You will be mocked
and smirked at and patronized and politely dismissed. But you will be heard. Because you do not do this alone. Your voice, speaking for the voiceless, is
being amplified across this state. You
are answering the call to justice – so be encouraged in your task today. Know
that you stand in a long line of faithful people who take their religions and
traditions outside their houses of worship and out into the world, helping to
create on the outside what we preach on the inside.
Attend
to your tasks today with confidence, good humor, perseverance, fierce advocacy
for justice, and great joy knowing you have found here colleagues to support
and encourage you in doing this Great Work of our time.
Namaste,
blessings, salaam alekum, blessed be, shalom, peace with you.
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To read about the Rally at the Capitol Rotunda, click here:
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