Scriptural Basis
Matthew 23: 1-11 (NRSV)
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,* and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.* And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.* The greatest among you will be your servant.
Blog Reflection
Admittedly, this blog about Thurgood Marshall is a day late. However, given how often Episcopal Churches move our lesser feasts, and all that is going on around us, somehow I do not think anyone will mind.
Thurgood Marshall was a distinguished American jurist and the first African American to become an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Marshall was born in 1908. He attended Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Pushed toward other professions, Marshall was determined to be an attorney. He was denied admission to the University of Maryland Law School due to its segregationist admissions policy. He enrolled and graduated magna cum laude from the Law School of Howard University in Washington.
Marshall began the practice of law in Baltimore in 1933 and began representing the local chapter of the NAACP in 1934, eventually becoming the legal counsel for the national organization. He won his first major civil rights decision in 1936, Murray v. Pearson, which forced the University of Maryland to open its doors to blacks.
At the age of 32, Marshall successfully argued his first case before the United States Supreme Court and went on to win 29 of the 32 cases he argued before the court. As a lawyer, his crowning achievement was arguing successfully for the plaintiffs in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, in 1954. The Supreme Court ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine was unconstitutional and ordered the desegregation of public schools across the nation.
President Lyndon Johnson appointed Marshall as the 96th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1967, a position he held for 24 years. Marshall compiled a long and impressive record of decisions on civil rights, not only for African Americans, but also for women, Native Americans, and the incarcerated; he was a strong advocate for individual freedoms and human rights. He adamantly believed that capital punishment was unconstitutional and should be abolished.
During his years in Washington, Marshall and his family were members of St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, where he was affectionately known as “The Judge.” He is remembered as “a wise and godly man who knew his place and role in history and obeyed God’s call to follow justice wherever it led.” (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 374).
There is an old joke that was told to me while I was in college. It was said that the devil was running out of room in hell. And so he had his agents move the fence between heaven and hell a little further into heaven's territory to make more room. After the angels reported to God about what had happened, God called the devil to the fence for a conversation. "No one gave you permission to move your fence into heaven's territory. Move your fence back to where it belongs.." said God. The devil replied: "No way. That fence was moved and it is staying." God said: "You move that fence back to where it was or I will take you to court." The devil began to laugh and said: "And just where do you think you are gonna find a lawyer up there?"
I do believe that if God were to need a lawyer who could represent the rights of God's will and all God's people, God would look no further than Thurgood Marshall. Marshall was a man who was considered by many to be the least of those who should have equality, yet he spent his life and career on working for equality for so many people including himself. Though he was the first African American to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, he made his legacy out of working for those who were considered the least by society and even the Church.
In the Gospel assigned to the commemoration of Thurgood Marshall, Jesus is addressing those who think that their stature is somehow God's standards for everyone. To follow all of the rules and be respected among people for how knowledgeable they were, were all they needed to do. Even to the point of forgetting the hungry, naked, the women, those marginalized because of race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, etc. Here Jesus is calling them out to remember that when religion is used to place heavy burdens on those who already have more than enough, people tend to reject what appears to have rejected them.
When the Christian Faith is used to ascribe to one type or group of people privileges while appearing to imply that those who are not so privileged can be stereotyped and violated, Christianity does not attract people's minds and hearts. Instead the Religion gets stereotyped by those who have experienced stigmatization by Christians.
In these past weeks we have heard about those in the power of our local, state and federal governments making use of their stature to take away health care for the elderly and those unemployed through no fault of their own.
In other situations like here in Minnesota, state legislators are determined to make voting more difficult for minorities and the economically down trodden. Including but not limited to university and college students. All for the purpose of beating their opponents.
I would not be true to form if I also did not call out the recent House Rules Committee that just this morning passed the constitutional amendment that would make marriage equality LGBT people in Minnesota permanently illegal should the voters of 2012 elect it to be so. The bill will go next to the House Floor where we all do believe it will be passed.
Yesterday we heard in the United States Senate those who came to the aid of wealthy to do oil companies at the expense of good public education or the Ryan White Fund to help with the treatment and cure for HIV/AIDS.
It is clear from the examples above, who is considered most and least on the minds of those who are leading our country.
We also have to look towards Christianists and those pushing all of these lousy ideals through in the Name of Jesus whose life was not spent seeking to win all the power he could while seeing who he could knock down along the way. In fact Jesus was so eager to serve others because of God's unconditional and self-emptying love that Jesus gave his life on the cross and rose from the dead for all of God's people.
I truly believe that this is the example that Justice Thurgood Marshall left for all of us. Someone who experienced the marginalization of an unjust society, yet when he rose up in the legal and judicial profession spent himself in service to those who were in the same place as he was.
Marshall is a reminder that in God's eyes, there are no losers to be forgotten and pushed aside. Everyone has their place in this world, in the Church and among our communities. Our place as Christians is not to decide who should be left out. But how we can do whatever we need to do, so that others will know that the Christian Faith is not about power and domination. The Christian Faith and Church needs to be about service, compassion and inclusion.
As we continue through this season of Easter, may we see rising among us a new society of individuals who like Jesus and Thurgood Marshall will recognize everyone as among God's greatest. And that to become great we must also be willing to love and serve those considered to be the least. Amen.
Prayer
Eternal and ever-gracious God, you blessed your servant Thurgood with exceptional grace and courage to discern and speak the truth: Grant that, following his example, we may know you and recognize that we are all your children, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, who teaches us to love one another; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 375).
God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, page 815).
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