1.17.21 National Cathedral Sermon by Michael Eric Dyson

we thank you o god for the majesty of this moment for the grace that accompanies us and the mercy that spares us we pray for this nation [Music] on the brink of such utter chaos and yet because of you we remain steady and solid and committed to thy truth thy word and thy justice bless this great cathedral and its leadership that the people will continue to be blessed and we will continue to hear your word amen you may be seated to the very reverend randolph randolph marshall hallerith the extraordinary dean of this incredible cathedral to the reverend cannon jan naylor cope to verger scott sanders to the reverend cannon missioner leonard hamlin senior who brought me to the attention of this great cathedral and its leader what an honor it is to be here today and to have the opportunity to stand where this great dean and such great leadership throughout our history has stood i am mindful that this is an august occasion and one of extraordinary honor and yet as a preacher of the gospel i am reminded that every time we stand we do so in the name of him in the name of her in the name of god who has blessed us and continues to lead us i want to dedicate this sermon to a quartet of black women mrs addie made dyson who birthed and nurtured me miss carolyn brown confidante and friend susan l taylor founder of national cares mentoring movement the queen of black america on the occasion of her 75th birthday and the reverend marcia l dyson brilliant thinker grassroots theologian without whose love and forgiveness i would not stand here today this morning in the spirit of the american prophet martin luther king jr a man who stood in this very pulpit on the sunday giving his last sermon before a report rang out on april 4th 1968 at about 601 pm across the parking lot of the lorraine motel where his jaw was shattered his necktie cut off knocked back to the ground and his legs and feet bicycling through the banister and his companion ralph abernathy extracting from a laundered shirt a cardboard to scoop up his blood into the jar saying this is the blood of the prophet the greatest american in my mind who has ever lived the greatest prophet this nation has heard in his spirit dr king who in 1963 published an imaginary letter from the apostle paul to american christians i offered this sermon an imagined letter from the apostle paul to america in a time of crisis saint paul's letter to america paul called to be an apostle of jesus christ through the will of god grace be unto you and peace from god our creator and through our lord jesus christ i've pondered long and hard about writing this missive i have avoided speaking on political matters so that no one could accuse the church of being captive to any party but the chaos in your country leaves me little choice beyond the global pandemic that has stricken the world and cruelly plagued people of color in your country america is as bitterly divided now as it was when kin folks slaughtered each other in a war over the liberty of black bodies just the other day a brutal throng of citizens charged the capital and desecrated both its neoclassical architecture and its democratic dreams of ancient greece as you know i had a sharp conflict with athens in my sermon at the areopagus but i must defend america's flawed democracy from the militants on the mall yes america has miserably failed to deliver to many of you the freedom and justice promised to all of you yet those who arrived in a board of insurrection resent black citizens for demanding the very rights the capital insurrectionists feel they are being denied in the wake of this carnage many citizens claim that what occurred at the capitol is not america the sad truth is that for many people this is the only america they know in america that spills blood in the name of misguided patriotism an america willing to avert its eyes from truth in the glare of baseless conspiracy an america that worships at the altar of the second amendment while making an idol of weapons and betraying the second commandment an america that spews disgust at the dark foreigner and harbors hatred for the brown immigrant an america that despises as enemies those who cry out that black lives matter while waving the traitorous banner of confederate bigotry this is america and has been america since america became america the willful ignorance of these unflattering visions of your nation has fled your belief in american exceptionalism you have turned a few lines from tocqueville into sacred belief and holy writ thinkers and leaders across the political spectrum say that america has a special character and unique destiny but other nations believe that god or fake guided them through the ills of history and the tragedies of time to a triumphant destiny various empires of the world have believed they were exceptional think of the rashidun caliphate or the portuguese empire consider the song hey empire and the russian empire as well i can tell you from personal experience that the roman empire thought it was pretty special too and its advocates boasted that the sun never set on a british empire that colonized territories and peoples around the globe i must warn you that no nation is spared divine judgment and that only god is exceptional no country no group of people no collection of territories or political ideals is exceptional remember i said to you in my letter to the romans that all have sinned and come short of the glory of god many nations think that their water is wetter their sun brighter their way superior their vision clearer their beliefs purer than those of their chief rivals or sworn enemies the moment a nation believes that its sins don't diminish its moral standing it is on the road to perdition if no country is unblemished then it is not truly exceptional that hasn't kept the citizens of some nations from bathing in cultural narcissism or political delusion a delusion that leads nations to accuse other countries of being dead wrong or tragically misled they failed to examine themselves in the mirror of national self-reflection as the saints from the black church sing in one of their most memorable sorrow songs not the stranger not my neighbor but it's me o lord standing in the need of prayer tragically the spirit of american exceptionalism vexes the body of christ it tempts many believers to cloak their political beliefs in religious creed or church dogma too many of them baptize ideology as theology my fellow christian visionary the apostle peter please allow me to congratulate him for being held as the first pope acknowledges the trap of exceptionalism in the book of acts he said quote i now realize how true it is that god does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right end of quote our theology must challenge rather than justify american exceptionalism there is a greater danger you must boldly confront american exceptionalism is really white supremacy on the sly the men who founded your nation relish talk of god while holding black flesh and chains many of those who say that god takes special pride in your nation seek to bless the blasphemy of white supremacy the american church has sinned by portraying truth as white facts as white reality is white beauty is white normal is white moral as white righteousness as white theology as white christ as white god as white and america as white the whiteness of america purges the nation of everything that doesn't conform to its ideals the crude unamericanizing of black and indigenous people is reflected in the declaration of independence which paints africans as quote domestic insurrectionists and indians as quote merciless savages the gospel of christ has been shamelessly exploited by angry white citizens who mask their bigotry in faith many believers pervert the first miracle of our lord at a wedding where he turn water into wine instead they marry reactionary politics to christian orthodoxy and turn the water of racial grievance into the whining of white resentment i bear responsibility for a great deal of the misunderstanding about race among american believers in my letters to the ephesians and the colossians i advised slaves to obey their masters i failed to challenge the greco-roman view of slavery and uttered words that were used to justify american slavery in my sermon at the areopagus i railed against pagan beliefs i scorned the worship of idols of gold silver and stone but i failed to lift my voice against the enslavement of human beings it grieves my heart to know that my words help to lower the whip on black backs i am deeply troubled by white evangelicals because for many of them white counts more than evangelical from the start of your country's history white evangelicals supported slavery and the savage mistreatment of black people after slavery white evangelicals rationalized the violent segregation of black citizens from white society they justified the callous denial of black freedom and economic independence violence against black americans grew in the jim crow era at the same time white evangelicals clung to a vision of the household where men controlled women children and the enslaved black families endured vicious assaults on their civil and political rights but white evangelicals cared little about the violence black people experienced instead they fumed over the threat posed by black enfranchisement and black emancipation to the white household white evangelicals even prayed to god for wisdom to deny black people the right to vote i am sure some of you believe that this is ancient history not so quickly many white evangelicals support recent efforts to deny black people the vote after your chaotic election the cry of black disenfranchisement echoed loudly there were plenty of immoral and even illegal schemes to block the black vote there were photo id requirements to cast a ballot there were use it or lose it laws that strike voters from the registration rolls if they haven't voted in a given period polling places were unfairly closed early voting was severely curtailed there were mass purges of black voters it makes me ashamed to say i share the same faith as those who denounce black lives matter after it is clear why such a movement is needed after they patiently point out the grief and trauma they unjustly suffer at the hands of the police after they prove that white vigilantes still target them with frightening regularity after they point to leaked documents from the fbi obsessed with non-existent black identity extremists while white supremacists go on their merry way plotting to lay siege to the capital after they emphasize studies that show black infants have a better chance of survival if they're treated by black physicians after they show how black people are still locked up the longest for the smallest offenses while white people who commit more serious crimes often escape harsh penalty after they document how schools fail their children hospitals failed their sick and employers fail their kin it is a bit disorienting to see white evangelicals attack upright blacks while giving a pass to shady whites the fiendish love for america's 45th president is the most depressing example if only because white evangelicals vented spleen on the 44th president of course neither man deserved automatic endorsement or guaranteed support to be honest it was easy to understand why the 44th president was widely hailed after all he was the first black president america had elected he was young and charming and whip smart and handsome an ebony dream come to life in the sordid political arena given that no black person before him got even close to the oval office it seemed that only an act of god got him elected the 45th president was a dramatically different animal 44 reveled in family values and radiated a wholesome image 45 trampled on civility and revealed his genius for nasty communication white privilege abounded 44 had to play near the top of his game every day just to convince the masses of white americans to give him a chance to excel and the space to wear a tan suit 45 flamed in fantastic mediocrity he sank to the darkest chambers of the american soul and aroused an army of social tyrants and bitter bigots 44 reached desperately across the political aisle to shake hands with his opponents 45 wrapped the knuckles of even his most ardent supporters if they dare disagree with him because they are so stringently judgmental you might think that white evangelicals would have embraced the man married once and not thrice the man who knew his way around scripture and not the one who called my second letter to the church at corinth to corinthians the man who sought to use his faith to heal and not the one who turned his bible upside down amid social tumult for a photo opportunity the man who remained as cool as black ice and not the man whose fiery fits of temper roiled the republic the man whose healthy self-confidence rippled in self-deprecation and not the man on whose cavernous ego every slight registered as a seismic tremor the man who speaks the king's english to the queen's taste and not the man whose split infinitives rival his split ends the man of unimpeachable character and not the man with a twice impeached presidency the followers of each man have it wrong when they proclaim that god got their man into office however let me solve a mystery my brothers and sisters sisters god doesn't put presidents into office voters do god wants justice to prevail it is up to citizens to determine what that looks like and who best embodies it or even if that's a virtue that they value it is hardly god's way to be a cosmic bully sadly white evangelicals seem to prefer bullies or domestic terrorists the irony of white domestic terrorists is that they exaggerate their grievances while they understate their advantages they have been taught that only white people deserve the spoils of democracy but in seeking to deny black people or jews or muslims or immigrants their rightful share of democracy they're undermining the system that gave them everything they have all the tools they're used they're using to attack democracy they gained at the expense of democracy the rules of governance the knowledge of politics the purpose of the social order white resentment deepens as democracy works better and white privilege shrinks as more black people vote and more black people are elected reserved white seats in congress or for the presidency or on the state and local level get canceled what was once guaranteed must now be earned white anger is really a measure of disbelief even though it was built by their ancestors and it favored them many whites never believed in the system especially when it doled out more favors to the rich than the poor leaving them to believe that their whiteness had nothing to do with what they got it was their hard work that earned them reward but that was only when they compared themselves to other whites blacks were no baseline to test their merit or worth except as their whiteness kept blacks from fairly competing with them that is why they could embrace black entertainers and athletes but spurn blacks closer to their economic homes they could forgive themselves for not having the wherewithal to best the most famous and richest blacks but they could never forgive themselves for losing the black people who beat them at their own game they had to believe that it was their own skill and not the system that got them over white supremacy didn't just depend on its headline bigots the george wallaces and the bull connors rather its bread and butter its source of inspiration and fuel was ordinary whites ordinary racists the reason so many whites think the system is rigged is because their rigging or the rigging they knew about in slavery in jim crow with its whites only preferences and in unions and schools and jobs that black black people and brown people and poor people from acceptance was finally challenged exposed and at least legally rejected these whites don't believe that anyone outside their race could actually win by playing by the rules that favored them because the rules were made by them and for them so a black person who wins while playing by rules not meant for their success must be cheating this in part drives white rage the sort of rage that drives white people to storm the capital yes they have targeted black symbols but that doesn't work nearly as well they bomb black churches but that's a less effective rebellion because black people will forgive them into diminished evil or by beating white bigots who might eventually repent to the moaners bench and the testimonial hall they denied them the prerogative of moral superiority yet one more black mark against their fabled white superiority dylan roof thought he'd start a race war and instead he inspired a prayer meeting he wanted a riot and instead got a revival and one of the greatest presidential eulogies ever given he didn't become a martyr he made the black folk he hated and murdered martyrs he didn't become a symbol of power he got remade as a pitiful wicked white boy in need of the power of god in the womb of radical black love white people stormed the capital because they were mad that the white folk in charge had reneged on their responsibilities to keep black people in check in effect white supremacy backfired on itself the capital became an avatar and a symbol of all that was white and powerful where white men ruled the day but as the capital got less white and blacker as it finally began to live up to its promise of making just laws it lost its racist appeal lost its stature and its aura as a shining monument on the most sacred civic space in the nation it became just another building an edifice that could be attacked especially since it had approved legislation to remove statues honoring confederate heroes it had decided to replace the bust of chief justice roger brooke tawney who authored the supreme court's dred scott decision in 1857 denying freedom to an enslaved man with the bust of the first black supreme court justice the great thurgood marshal white politicians who had ardently defended these white insurrectionists became traitors to the lost cause what they did at the capitol was anticipated and hurried along by the white man in the white house he had taken an axe to principle a sledgehammer to reason a bulldozer to tradition a knife to convention as he assaulted the very structures that it put him in place he set out to scrap the blueprint of democratic institutions and remake them in the image of his phantasmagorical entrepreneurial endeavors the attorney general was his messenger boy the vice president his valet the rest of his cabinet his concierges his supporters his clientele and the american people a business opportunity to exploit the fundamental premise of his existence is that political and social institutions cater to him and support his efforts to make money and build wealth although he is president for a little while longer 45 hates politics and despises government he is not the extension of the revolution that led to 1776 despite his populist pretensions he is part of the counter-revolution that resented the spread of freedom and democracy to the masses the counter-revolutionaries prided themselves on thinking of freedom as the protection of personal security and individual rights not democracy the distrust of democracy was fueled in the 19th century by the failure of the french revolution that distrust was later deepened by black enfranchisement and by mass migration thus there was a huge beef between freedom and democracy and the ongoing attempt by the counter-revolutionaries to redefine freedom as the effort to limit state power so when supposed defenders of american democracy claim that they are reflecting the founding fathers in the effort to shrink big government they are wrong the architects of america and american democracy conceived of freedom as determining how americans should determine how they should be governed these alleged advocates of democracy are in fact antagonists who seek to undo the american revolution i learned all of this not from tocqueville but from an insightful observer from the netherlands and a lien to dane 45's destruction of democracy was an inside job he was trying to deconstruct democracy within its most hallowed american hall the oval office he was in perfect position to demolish what he was elected to represent he was the greatest enemy of american democracy with the biggest voice against democracy while supposedly representing american democracy what he more perfectly represented was anti-democracy he had thomas jefferson's position with benedict arnold's job the white supremacists who are the enemies of democracy no doubt see black people as the declaration of independence phrased it earlier as domestic insurrectionists advocates of the young nation got mad at black people for listening to the british who offered them freedom in exchange for loyalty not a bad bargain and one that america should have made with the black people who remain to this day the nation's most loyal citizens the refusal to acknowledge black loyalty goes hand in hand with the refusal to recognize black life black intelligence black citizenship it permits white americans to draw false equivalence between black protests against injustice and white insurrection against the government the crucial difference is the black people are protesting to gain access to unjustly denied rights and privileges while the white people at the capitol were angry that democracy was working as it should for others of course in their minds they are not insurrectionists but patriots who are combating the false version of democracy you know the one that is actually democratic one that shares political resources and distributes civic legitimacy regardless of color or creed this is why the rhetoric of reconciliation and the language of unity must come after the effort to clarify the moral and political basis of their disagreement with true patriots there can be no reconciliation with people that believe that black people should be dead that jews should be dead that muslims should be dead literally or socially there can be no unity with people who believe that there is no difference between a black patriot protesting for freedom and the white bigot rejecting black humanity and social equality unity is the bridge justice is the destination we don't celebrate the edmund predes bridge we celebrate the brave souls who crossed it and the voting rights black people won for doing so to pursue unity without justice is to prefer the surgeon's scalpel to the healing it can promote unity without recognition of black humanity and the virtues of justice and emancipation is togetherness without edifying purpose the domestic terrorists and inconsolable insurrectionists at the capitol were certainly unified but for a morally corrupt and politically destructive purpose there must be redemptive division before there can be healing unity there must be righteous resistance before there can be transforming reconciliation i must take leave of you now i have to write my letter to russia but that is a far trickier missive to pin i may call on some politically minded people from 45's orbit to help me get it into the proper hands i think they will have plenty of time to assist me i leave you with the example of america's greatest prophet martin luther king jr in his i have a dream speech king spoke of the marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the negro community and reminded the nation that black people could never be satisfied as long as the negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality instead of seeing black people as the enemies of democracy contemporary critics of black lives matter called the activists terrorists king understood them as the friends of liberty he particularly understood the need to renew the vision and energy of the movement by embracing black youth king worked throughout his career with younger people whether he was trading fierce but friendly barbs about black power with stokely carmichael applauding the courageous activism of john lewis or encouraging young gang members to lay down their guns in exchange for the more powerful weapon of love or mentoring hosea williams and jesse jackson as part of his team of wild horses king was in regular contact with members of the student non-violent coordinating committee and while they shared a broad vision of social justice they clashed on methods and style king was reared in a leadership culture in the church full of patriarchy and hierarchy while there was often consultation and conversation with members of the church community delusions and decisions were usually made unilaterally by the black male religious hierarchy snick's guiding spirit was an amazing female leader named ella baker her philosophy was driven by the belief that movements produce leaders not the other way around and that didn't necessarily comport too well with the black church's charismatic authoritarianism there were the usual tensions between younger and older leaders some of a more serious nature king often swooped down in a town after the local work had been done often by snick taking with him the cameras and glory for labor the younger folk had contributed to but rarely got credit for and on a lighter moment many of them called him de laud behind his back and lampooned his liking for lounging in silk pajamas beyond these tensions however king and what are essentially the black lives matter lives matter activists of their day forged progress together with the aim of changing the world and making it safer and saner for black people as we celebrate king's legacy we should remember that today's young activists who challenged the status quo are humanitarian leaders deeply invested in black freedom and justice and making america a truly democratic society they are patriots and heroes because they are willing to risk life and limb for the building up not the tearing down of america their disappointment with the nation their rage against its lethal limits and its fatal failures is but love turned inside out unlike white supremacists and domestic insurrectionists they are trying to make america reaffirm its principles its beliefs its ambitions and its fundamental commitment to democracy for everybody all king reminded as king reminded america on that sunny day in august 1963 these principles cannot be realized if black people continue to confront police misconduct and abuse king understood in 1963 that the official power of the state to punish and murder black people was fatal for a democracy he also understood too often that law enforcement joined ranks with white supremacist forces to execute domestic terror that was protected by a badge and a gun in our day the stakes of black protest against racial injustice are hiding by the fact that more than a few members of law enforcement were directly involved in the recent capital insurrection the tentacles of white supremacy stretch continuously and ominously into american policing no wonder young people want to defund the over investment in the hegemonic destruction and the perilous colonizing of black life in america the ultimate paradox may be that many white followers of the 45th president railed against the very police forces like the fbi that have historically had a hand in white supremacy's deadly rampages against black people who are its truest victims the staunch resistance of many white people to organizations like the fbi might be better understood coming from the mouths of black people even king himself whom the agency deliberately chose not to warn when there were credible threats to his life perhaps king's greatest value to our present moment is to remind us that black people have been willing to defend this country at every moment even when their lives didn't matter to the very people that they protected when returning soldiers from world war ii were at train stations and then absconded and accosted by white vigilantes and terrorists who lynched them for having the gall to wear an american uniform fighting for the very people that murdered them it may be the height of irony that angry white people who benefited most by american democracy are now willing to destroy it so king's non-violent valor seems lost on white insurrections i will end by saying that after the capital offense all thoughts of american exceptionalism should be dead but you need not despair there is something greater something better my colleague luke in the 12th chapter of his marvelous gospel captures our lord and savior jesus speaking in parables and one of them jesus tells his followers words that bear repeating time and again to america for unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask more i like even better the translation that says from everyone who has been given much much will be demanded and from the one who has been entrusted with much much more will be asked honestly there is a commentary of sorts i rather like offered by a young prophet who has fallen way out of favor one i hope to speak to before i turn my attention to russia but which nonetheless captures part of the meaning of these words as well because it offers a terrific gloss on job and his trials and tribulations despite his great wealth this young prophet said to whom much is given much is tested realize some of you are wedded to the king james translation but i warn you against biblical literalism rather i encourage you to embrace the full meaning of the holy writ with the verb and imagination with which it was written i say this because i can remember a time when there was no such thing as the new testament and we had to depend upon our communication with the living word and not its written transcription instead of fighting each other over various versions i beg you to spend time with the author and finisher of our faith what jesus is after here is more important than being exceptional it is the notion that in return for the great gifts we have been given by god we should be willing to share with others out of the richness of our blessing we might torment american altruism america you have been given a great deal of wealth of knowledge of invention of resource of science of wisdom of power and what you haven't been given you have often taken in violent or unjust fashion for which you must surely repent but for the good things that god has given to you you should be willing to put yourself in position to demand more of yourself and to require those who are similarly blessed and equal measure of sacrifice for the greater good american altruism suggests that americans take responsibility for their blessings voltaire said it first and peter parker's uncle ben and spider-man echoed him when he said with great power comes great responsibility for those who chafe at the requirement for america to be responsible not only for its blessings but for the wrong your nation has done claiming that they were not individually culpable of any crime the jewish prophet abraham yahshua hessel reminds us few are guilty but all are responsible and for those who say they have given and given and given again and have nothing left to give the nigerian and british prophet helen fuller chad i do says i gave you all the love i got i gave you more than i could give even when you have given all that you think you are capable of giving dig deeper to give more and bless the world go now in peace and spread far and wide the gospel of american altruism

Channel: Washington National Cathedral

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Length: 43min 5sec (2585 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 18 2021