The New Jerusalem

Photo of The Very Rev. Dean Terry White by The Very Rev. Terry White, Dean

On April 27, 1994, the first post-apartheid elections were held in South Africa. For the first time everyone 18 years of age and older, from any race group including non-citizens, were allowed to vote, no voters roll was used.  Previously, under the apartheid regime, non-whites had only limited rights to vote. The result of the election was not unexpected, but stunning nonetheless:  South Africa had a black president, as Nobel Peace laureate Nelson Mandela took the oath of office two weeks later.  April 27 is Freedom Day, a national holiday in South Africa, and it was a privilege for our Cathedral on Thursday evening to host Minister Nkoana-Mashabane, who heads the South African Consulate in Chicago, along with local South African nationals to celebrate this holiday.

Thursday was also the day the American Civil Rights icon Dorothy Height was buried from Washington National Cathedral. For 83 of her 98 years, she worked tirelessley for civil rights. In his eulogy, President Obama reminded mourners that the America Dorothy grew up in as a child was dangerous. “Jim Crow ruled the South. The Klan was on the rise -- a powerful political force. Lynching was all too often the penalty for the offense of black skin. Slaves had been freed within living memory, but too often, their children, their grandchildren remained captive, because they were denied justice and denied equality, denied opportunity, denied a chance to pursue their dreams.” (www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/us/politics/30height-text.html)

If Rosa Parks was the mother of the civil rights movement, Dorothy Height was the grand dame, “its unsung heroine. Her years of involvement spanned the lynchings of the 1930s, the activism of Eleanor Roosevelt in the ’40s, school desegregation in the’50s, and then the civil rights movement of the ’60s and beyond, and demonstrated her tireless dedication to equality and justice.” (The Very Rev. Sam Lloyd, www.nationalcathedral.org/worship/sermonTexts/stl20100429.shtml)

Dr. Height is a most quotable personality. One of my favorites is: I want to be remembered as someone who used herself and anything she could touch to work for justice and freedom.... I want to be remembered as one who tried.

From today’s second lesson:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; . . . I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

"See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away."

AAnd the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new."

What does God’s new eschatological world, the New Jerusalem, look like?  Is it not that place where Jesus’ new commandment of love takes root in our lives, and in the life of the Church? (Rossing, New Proclamation, pg 45)

Dorothy Height, at age 15, first met a young preacher who spoke of his dream that this nation would judge others by character of life and not by skin.  Some years later she was with Dr. King when he shared that dream from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial:  “It’s alright to talk about “streets flowing with milk and honey,” but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can’t eat three square meals a day.  It’s all right to talk about the New Jerusalem, but one day, God’s preacher must talk about New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.” (Ibid)

Eastertide is the ideal time to commit to the new life of resurrection, the new Jerusalem, as found in our neighborhoods, in our communities, in this metropolitan city built on a hill.  In the new Jerusalem, people see signs of hope.  When you and I live more deeply into the new commandment to love each person as a sister or brother, we are agents of hope. If we are to shine forth with new life, that life must be found in each of us, must be nurtured by prayer, corporate worship, feeding on the Scriptures and the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. If we are to share the life of Christ, the Risen Lord’s life must be alive in us.

Just as I have loved you, you must love one another. We are most alive when we love.

The reading from Acts tells one of our faith community’s most important stories.  Peter shows courage in sharing the revelation that the Gentiles are God’s people, too.  Since Christ has destroyed the power of death, no other barriers must remain in the human family. Salvation, eternal life, is open for all.  What was is now made new. `What God has made clean, you must not call profane.'  Does this not extend well beyond former dietary laws?  The resurrection has made all things new. All things.

You will be known as my disciples if, when, because, you show love.

President Obama told a recent story about Dorothy Height.  In February a few folks had been invited to the Oval Office to discuss civil rights, and the meeting was to be held on the day 30 inches of snow was forecast and indeed fell.  Out of deference to her 98 years, a staffer called to share she didn’t need to chance the travel. Dr. Height insisted on coming, despite the blizzard, never mind that she was in a wheelchair. She was not about to let just a bunch of men in this meeting.

Dr. Height experienced gender discrimination while working for Civil Rights, often pushed out of photo opportunities with dignitaries and presidents, and not included in certain discussions she was more than qualified to participate in.  She worked not only for equality through the civil rights movement, but also for equality within it. 

In South Africa, on Freedom Day April 27, there is another observance, UnFreedom Day, calling attention to the plight of the poor who still do not enjoy the fullness of freedom.

No matter how far we have traveled, we must never be satisfied, for there is always more work to do. Even as the Body of Christ works to build the New Jerusalem in every neighborhood and city, you and I are continually in need of courageous prophets to preach to us, to call us to foster new life and accountability within. "What God has made clean, you must not call profane" is a godly challenge we must constantly respond to; not just discuss, but respond to with action. And the framework for that response is simply: Love one another as unconditionally as Jesus has loved, and continues to love us.

The lesson from Revelation ends: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life."  People are thirsty for life and hope, love and community, for God’s justice and the perfect freedom given by the Risen Christ. 

Let our commitment to the New Jerusalem grow stronger each day, and every day, that we might share Dr. Dorothy Height’s hope to be remembered as people who used ourselves and anything we could touch to work for justice and freedom.... to be remembered as those who tried. And those who loved.

Alleluia. Christ is risen!