Of David.
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?When evildoers assail me
to devour my flesh—
my adversaries and foes—
they shall stumble and fall.Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up against me,
yet I will be confident.One thing I asked of the Lord;
this I seek:
to live in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in his temple.For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock.Now my head is lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”
Your face, Lord, do I seek.
Do not hide your face from me.Do not turn your servant away in anger,
you who have been my help.
Do not cast me off; do not forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
If my father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will take me up.Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they are breathing out violence.I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!Psalm 27 NRSVUE
At first glance, the four lectionary readings don’t feel like they belong together: a praise song; a story about people who lived in darkness; a memo from Paul to stop bickering; and a passage from Matthew about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Yet there is a line connecting these verses from Isaiah, Psalm 27, Corinthians, and the Gospel: wisdom and urgency of unity with God and other believers in resistance to Empire and its heinous lie that “Might Makes Right.”
This Third Sunday of Epiphany is a celebration of light breaking into darkness, but as I write my friends and neighbors are reeling and mourning the death of Renee Good – a legal observer documenting ICE enforcement, who was shot and killed by a federal agent. Blocks away from my home, Empire has murdered a witness. In this context I hear Matthew 4:12-23: “When Jesus heard that the Empire had arrested John the Baptist, he made his way to the peripheral borderlands; there he collected allies to begin the work of ministering to poor, oppressed people and speaking truth to power (author’s paraphrase).” Galilee of the Gentiles was a land far from the Roman stronghold of Jerusalem, with an economically, religiously, and ethnically diverse population. The Jesus movement began there. Living in Minnesota, “an island of decency” as our governor recently called it, with a richly diverse community of Ojibwe, Dakota, immigrants, and settler peoples, I feel the resonance of the Gospel. We are far from DC – and it is very clear that the President wants people here to fear the thugs who do his bidding. Multifaith clergy are speaking up, acting to protect the most vulnerable, and calling others to join the movement.
In addition to Matthew, this week’s lectionary readings recall Isaiah 9:1-4, also referring to peripheral borderlands under occupation. Isaiah 9:2 offers comfort to people in anguish saying that those who “live[d] in darkness” under the yoke of oppression have seen a great light. In this same vein, the psalmist, surrounded by enemies, proclaims that “the Lord is my Light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27: 1)
Empire wants obedient subjects, let alone anyone named as a domestic terrorist or alien, to fear ICE. This point has been cruelly underscored by initiating an investigation into Good’s widow.
As I write, vigils are taking place, both mourning and condemning the public execution that is clearly intended to terrorize the local population. Today my community debates whether or not to engage the Proud Boys who are marching on our city. Candles are lit as a sign of both hope and resistance. Spontaneously, a rendition of composer and lyricist Thomas Jefferson’s vibrant anthem of praise and longing, based on Psalm 27, streams in my musical memory:
The Lord is my Light and my Salvation
The Lord is the strength of my Life
One thing have I desired of the Lord
That I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage.
Although the psalmist seems to claim rhetorically that there is no one to fear when God is on your side, God knows there are multiple ways that the lived reality is different. Empire is visibly throwing its weight around and persecuting those who step out of line. It is damn rational to be afraid of ICE agents who have demonstrated that they can and will kill anyone who even appears to block their way. And there also appear to be quite a few subjects of Empire who are okay with this state of affairs.
A few weeks ago, I observed counterprotestors to an anti-ICE demonstration waving signs that read “FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.” I was initially startled by what seemed like an argument completely unrelated to the ICE protest. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE is written in stone on the Korean War Memorial in DC. It has often been used as a talking point about support for Vietnam prisoners of war. It was also embraced by hardliners during the Cold War as an argument for massive military spending to prepare for war with Russia.
Yet the recent protest at the corner of Snelling and Selby in St. Paul, Minnesota, was about the persecution of friends and neighbors by an authoritarian state. How is FREEDOM IS NOT FREE a counterargument to that? Maybe the ICE supporters were simply choosing to assert their brand of patriotism in the face of anti-Trumpism.
But maybe I don’t need to wonder so hard. Freedom, in this instance, is not about black and brown people being safe in their own homes and their ability to move confidently in the world, but about the ability of white people to act violently with impunity, unencumbered by moral accountability to Others. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE has always been a statement in favor of sacrificial allegiance to a sovereign entity that demands the loyalty of its subjects and denies the fundamental humanity of those who were born on the wrong side of the line.
The slogan FREEDOM IS NOT FREE in defense of Empire and white supremacy is just another way to say that “Might Makes Right.” The price of white freedom in this line of rhetoric is the blood of those who defy white supremacy. As we have seen time and again, from the Rome of the early Jesus movement, through the Doctrine of Discovery and the colonization of non-European lands, to the trumpets of MAGA imperialism, Empire will deploy violence to keep the defiant in line while using its legal monopolies to name as terrorists those who dare to defy its power. “Might Makes Right” is the effective lie that gives the police powers of Empire the authority to kidnap foreign leaders abroad and kill dissenters at home, blocks away from my home, with an official blessing.
Around the country, protestors are marching and chanting and organizing in grief and rage. And there are also those who joyously use the gift of laughter to denounce cruelty. I stand with all who emphatically and nonviolently reject the ideology that “Might Makes Right.” To stand with Jesus is to stand with those gathering at makeshift memorials, outside deployment centers, and on statehouse lawns around the country. To stand with Jesus is to refuse to live in accordance with the power that is wielded by pistols, riot shields, and tear gas canisters. The psalmist knows that when the other side is heavily armed and empowered by Empire, good courage does not come easily. And to those fatigued by standing, whose existence has been structured by Empire for as long as they remember, the psalmist offers a promise of the Light of Salvation to those who anguish, even if that light is not yet visible.
Yesterday, one of my non-liturgical Quaker friends sent me a note of solidarity for this Easter Saturday – and yes, it feels far more like Easter Saturday today than the Third Sunday of Epiphany. While the liturgical calendar celebrates the coming of the Light, the present lived experience is deep darkness and the fear of a yawning abyss. Isaiah promises that God will break Empire’s yoke of oppression. Today, that yoke looks like assassinations, extrajudicial executions, state sponsorship of terror, and the uniformed and embodied lie that “Might Makes Right.” It is not easy to believe that Epiphany will come. That is a matter of faith.
