LIBERATION LECTIONARY

This Land is God’s Land

“The Holy Land is everywhere” Black Elk

Daily Readings from Philippians 1 

Sunday Philippians 1.2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Monday Philippians 1.3-5 I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 

Tuesday Philippians 1.6-7 And I am sure that the One who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 

Wednesday Philippians 1.8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 

Thursday Philippians 1.9-11 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. 

Friday Philippians 1.12-14 I want you to know, brethren, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ; and most of the brethren have been made confident in the Lord because of my imprisonment, and are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear. 

Saturday Philippians 1.15-18 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of partisanship, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice.

Reflection: God’s Temple’s Holy Ground

Our lectionary calendar weaves together the unfolding story of scripture through the lens of Black liberation, for the sake of a future freedom. We must work for a future free from climate deterioration, free from settler colonialism, free from prejudice and nationalism, free from appropriation and fabricated discovery of lands where people have made a home already. This season, we study, remember and reflect on the making of our world, by a God who designed our origins to show us our destiny. 

Lectionary reflections are set to liturgical seasons, themed weeks and months that make up a church calendar. For many, the calendar starts at Advent, the preparation of remembering Jesus’s birth. In the Liberation Lectionary, we begin the calendar in the weeks before Advent, with the story of Creation. Always timely, the story of God making the world is a reminder to us of how deeply and truly God loves the world that Jesus entered into. 

It is impossible to separate creation from the body of humanity. How often do we forget to count ourselves when we think of the phrase “all created beings?” God made the skies and the seas, animals, plants and trees. And God made us, too. When God speaks to us about “so loving the world,” They mean all of it. Every part. People were made by God to steward the earth. We must love and care for the earth as if it is our home. This planet is sacred. Your body is God’s temple, the earth is your temple’s holy ground. 

God’s garden, God’s greenhouse, God’s farm. This land is God’s land, given as a promise and a home to God’s creation. This is the land that the Lord has called good, let us rejoice and be glad to care for it.

As we prepare for Native Heritage Month, the message of connection between land and body is made more poignant through the stories, history and culture of peoples whose spiritual and material existence is shaped by that very connection. For many native tribes, The Great Spirit is the creator God, who gave life and nourishment to lands and animals, plants and people. This great gift should humble us. History shows us what happens when mankind chooses haughty action over humility. In the month of November. the United States remembers the messy origins of this country. European settlers brought theft, deception and death upon nations of native people. Some stories of these early encounters have been misconstrued as legends of fellowship and mutual hospitality. 

The truth is, Thanksgiving’s history is a fabrication. As false as the foundations of the United States and many other countries that “purchased” native lands by treaty. The Black liberation lens shows us how disconnection from our lands is a disconnection for our bodies, our identities, our histories and our future. We need a message of resistance and hope. We need the truth of God that frees us from all colonizers. God’s truth is this: They loved Their lands so much, they gave them to Their people. In the eyes of God, these lands we call St. Louis, Miami, Washington, Durham, San José, they all still belong to the humans that God first settled there.

Discussion

~ For the next few weeks, we will journey through the stories of Native peoples, under the themes of Creation and Stewardship. 

~ What are your experiences with care for creation? How has your perspective of caring for the earth expanded or changed over time?

~ How do you interact with the concept that the well-being of our bodies is connected to the flourishing of the land

Meditation : Great Spirit Prayer

Oh, Great Spirit, Whose voice I hear in the winds and whose breath gives life to all the world.

Hear me! I need your strength and wisdom. Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever hold the red and purple sunset. Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.

Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people. Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

Help me remain calm and strong in the face of all that comes towards me. Help me find compassion without empathy overwhelming me. I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy: myself.

Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes. So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame. Ashé

- Translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark, 1887

Music: This Land

Performed by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. “This Land” is a protest song to highlight the hypocrisy of the United States, and to end the erasure of Native peoples. This song, writen by Woody Guthrie, connects the experiences of Black and Brown people to reflect the resistance and struggles which plant and water seeds of solidarity between Black and Brown and Native people. All of us are holy ground.