February 25, 2007
Deuteronomy 26:1-11 (Luke 4:1-13)
“Who Are We?”

One of the first jokes I heard about genealogy (the study of ancestors) was about the man who paid a genealogist $500 to look up the family history....then paid him another $1000 to keep quiet about it!

Some sayings about family history:
“A pack rat is mighty hard to live with, but makes a fine ancestor.”

“Isn't genealogy fun? The answer to one problem leads to two more!”

“A family reunion is a very effective form of birth control.”

“Genealogy: The art of tracing yourself back to better people.”

I find it interesting that as Moses is about to send off his beloved people into the land they saw as promised to them from ancient of days, that he does two things: 1.) He instructs them to give God thanksgiving and the first fruits of their harvest and 2.) He reminds the people who they are by telling them their history in short story form. In both cases, he sets their identity before them as they moved from the here and now to a long awaited future. They are thankful giving people and they are people who have struggled long and hard to get where they are.

“Who are we?” is a question that rings through the ages. I believe such a question usually comes to us in times of great opportunity and times of great trial, and usually those go together in ways too deep for human understanding. Thus, as the Hebrew people end their 40-year wandering in the wilderness and are literally on the cusp of entering the so-called Promised Land, they ask “Who are we?” and prepare to enter another wilderness as they seek to claim that land. Likewise, Jesus, on the cusp of his ministry, asks “Who are we?” and enters into his 40-day wilderness trek as he seeks to live into his calling.

I have set the text of Jesus’ time in the wilderness, Luke 4:1-13, in the bulletin as your assignment to read this week. As you read it, ask yourself “How does this text call Jesus, and us, to be more giving?” Ask also, “Does Jesus rely on his heritage, the history of his people, in withstanding Satan’s temptations?”

You may find it odd that I’ve chosen the Hebrew Scripture/Old Testament passage for the text I will preach from the first Sunday of Lent. I do so because it most clearly drew out for me the first question posed for me as I approach the cross of Jesus’ crucifixion and the echo of his resurrection. It is the question that comes early on, if not first, as any one of us approaches exciting, wonderful, eagerly anticipated life possibilities or as we endure those frightening, heart-wrenching, transforming wilderness journeys.

“Who are we?” is not so much a question about our history as much as it is a question about identity. Every one of us, whether we know our biological lineage or we were adopted into a family, are part of a people, a heritage, a legacy. Sometimes, we may claim two or three different legacies – or struggle with them. I suspect most of us don’t think about it much, but I believe the question of who our people are informs everything we do, especially how we tackle difficult situations and how we fulfill our dreams.

And let me be clear… I’m not simply talking about who your parents are, or even your grandparents. I’m talking about an identity that goes way back, that is deep in your soul, that is “in your blood,” as they say. It isn’t dependent upon knowing the facts about your genealogy, it’s about who you have been told you are, and who you have discovered your people to be. “Who are we?”

Perhaps you have an ethnic identity you try to live up to or cling to: “We’re Irish and that’s why we’re feisty!” if you want to look at it positively or “We’re Irish and that’s why we’re stubborn!” if you choose a less-flattering response. Perhaps your ethnic heritage has less to do with some inherent characteristic and more to do with what your people have been through. “We were enslaved and brought to this country against our will, therefore we African Americans will always have a love/hate relationship with the United States.”

Sometimes we are dealing with traits that were formed by history (we witnessed a war, a famine, a windfall of money) or geography (we lived on a mountain, island, farmland, or in the city) or who knows what.

Sometimes we are confronting attributes that are stereotypes or pure prejudice. Like my characterization of the Irish. Do we think of them as being belligerent and always ready to get into a fight because they have, throughout American history at least, had to stand up for themselves against terrible odds, or have we just grown comfortable with a terrible racial stereotype?

Perhaps you answer the question, “Who are we?” with a religious identity. We are a Christian family. My family are Hindu, Sikh, Moravian, Amish, Muslim, and so on. Many families today struggle with the linking, or collision, of religious traditions. I remember listening to an NPR story in December about mixed-Jewish and Christian families who have created a kind of blended holiday called 'Chrismukkah' in order to honor two family traditions: Christmas and Hannukah. (1)

For the Hebrew people, both of today and in biblical times, the answer to the question, “Who are you?” was easily answered: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Like the African slaves brought to American soil who readily claimed this powerful and archetypical identity, the Jewish people see this passage as both a historical account, and a way to claim their future. Surely, the Jews of the late 1940’s, having experienced one of the worst atrocities a people have ever known in the Holocaust, as the United Nations began conversations about creating the state of Israel, heard this text ringing in their ears and in their hearts. But of course, even as in the days when Moses looked over the “land flowing with milk and honey,” one people’s identity may be another people’s battle cry.

“Who are we?” Understandably, how you respond to that question is equally as important as asking it. Some of us live our whole lives trying to live up to our heritage, while others among us spend our lives trying to overcome our family’s history. Those of us who are fiercely independent believe each one of us shapes our own identity and laugh at any suggestions otherwise. There are others of us who throw our hands up in despair, wondering if we have any choice in this world at all, or we condemned to a destiny that is long ago determined. There are times when we giggle with delight, learning a new facet of our people’s tradition and how this new information connects the dots with what we already knew, and makes life so much more livable or understandable.

Macky Alston, an acquaintance Craig and I made while living in New York City, was a student at Union Seminary. While there, he produced a documentary about his family called “Family Name.”

Macky grew up in Durham, North Carolina, where he noticed at a young age that a large number of people in town shared his last name; some were white (like himself) and some were black. At the age of 30, years after relocating to New York City, Macky returned to North Carolina, armed with a 16mm camera and hoping to discover if there was, in fact, a familial link between his branch of the family and any of the African-American Alstons. “Family Name” is the record of the search and Macky's findings.

Macky unearths library and courthouse records in North Carolina revealing that at one time white Alston slaveholders indeed “owned” some of the black Alston ancestors. While records of mixed race children born to slaves (and fathered by their masters) were not kept at the time, such matters remained a part of family legend and lore in the Deep South, indicated by a number of clues left behind. Macky tries to determine where the common link between the two Alston families came from, while discovering many facts about the remarkable histories of both Alston clans. While most of the African-American Alstons speak openly about the likely realities of their ancestry, they also acknowledge that it is a matter no one could speak about at the time, and are still reluctant to today. Macky’s white relatives are stubbornly resistant to making any such connections, even to the point of absurdity.

The film's climactic scene is a moving interracial gathering of Alstons at a former plantation in Inez, N.C. Macky, by the way, is gay and has been encouraged by his family not to speak about it while visiting Durham, so he admits that he understands all too well the difficult nature of family secrets. (2)

Now, while few of us will have such gumption to unearth and explore our own family histories as Macky did, I do think we should be open to the possibility, for good or for ill, that who our people were, who are family has been, has some sort of effect on who we are today. Is it an unalterable hold – of course not. Is it a tenacious grip – you betcha! But I believe we cannot fully live into the future without being aware, at least on some level, who we are as a person and as a people.

But let me bring this full circle for us. If you remember, there were two defining characteristics of Moses’ speech on that hillside. The second I’ve explored for you in depth. The first, however, should not be overlooked. First and foremost, regardless of any particular identity, is an attitude of gratitude. Moses insisted that the people, upon entering the promised land, give thanks to God and offer God the first fruit of the land. I believe, whether we think we are entering the promised land or the wilderness, we need to give thanks to God and offer up the fruits of our labors. I believe, whether we are bound by the chains of an identity long since forged, or we are lifted up by a heritage that sets us free as the eagle, we must first, and frequently, offer thanks to God.

It does not matter what race, nor creed, nor culture, nor language, nor religion you and your ancestors are and were: You can be thankful for what you have, including life itself.

It does not matter what prejudices people have against you, what terrible OR wonderful things your ancestors did or said; it does not matter where you’ve lived or where you’ve roamed: You can give God a portion of what you have in gratitude for who you are, where you are, right now.

“Who Are We?” Each one of us can and should explore that question and try and answer it as best we can, especially knowing that it will lead us right up to the base of the cross, and beyond. “Who Are We?” Answering this questions will be a life-long endeavor, as any genealogist will tell you. But you can begin by answering it right here and right now. “Who Are We?” “We are a thankful people, and to God be the glory.”

Amen.

(1) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6630803
(2) http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E7DC1730F930A3575AC0A961958260




Rev. Allen V. Harris
Franklin Circle Christian Church
www.FranklinCircleChurch.org


 

Copyright 2007 -- The Rev. Allen V. Harris

Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

1688 Fulton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113-3096