(https://time.com/5761225/beltrami-county-minnesota-bans-refugee-resettlement/). I felt called to respond to the news, especially when mere blocks from where it happened.
Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17
Grace and Peace to you from God our Loving Creator and from Jesus the Beloved, with whom God is well pleased, Amen
On the brink of war, communities splitting over identities, and Pastor Rob asks me to preach on this, the Baptism of Our Lord Sunday. Happy New Year, eh?
For this is the context in which we live. A nation’s weary eyes, always looking at the next big thing to come across the bottom half of the TV, or across their news feed, or the latest conversation over coffee… This week, Bemidji and Beltrami County entered that same national conversation. And not for the best of reasons. Not for reasons that bring us here, under the shadow of the cross.
The cross that unites all who are called and claimed by the One who was nailed to it. The One who was baptized by John the Baptizer in the Jordan River, and called and claimed and named Beloved by God.
For in this common identity, in which we are claimed with a baptism through water and the Holy Spirit, we are called to love one another, and see the Beloved One in the faces of our neighbors.
The three Beltrami County Commissioners who voted for denying refugee resettlement on Tuesday night forgot that. And honestly, we all forget it sometimes. I forget it sometimes. But I don’t have official power over a county. I sometimes forget it when decisions are made about me that have everything to do with who I am as a human being, and not so much with my theology or ministry. I don’t have official powers over a county, but I do know what it’s like for my humanity to be discounted. To be legislated against.
I am not a refugee, but I have listened to them. Taught them Math, English and History. They taught me about Islam, Somalia, and a little about life as a recent immigrant in Saint Cloud. I am not an immigrant, but my father’s grandparents were. My younger brother’s parents-in-law are. I have worked alongside both documented and undocumented immigrants, with the fear of deportation very present in their minds.
Regardless of their documentation, their place of origin, their religion or their race - they are human beings and no less deserving of Christ’s love, and our love and understanding. Last week, Pastor Rob talked about fear of the other, and how if we’re walking on a sidewalk and see someone coming toward us, especially if they are of a different race than we are, that we can sometimes feel more fearful than if we were alone or if the person was of the same race as us. That’s called unconscious bias. It’s acting on or feeling something based on racist stereotypes that are buried in our broken humanity. This can manifest in fear of passing someone on the sidewalk, or fear in allowing the possibility of welcoming refugees to Beltrami County.
This recent meeting was not the first, nor the last instance of racism deployed legislatively in this town. But maybe this very public display of racism can awaken us all to our own implicit and unconscious bias in our own lives.
By claiming our identity in the waters of baptism, we not only connect ourselves to Jesus' baptism in the Jordan but also everyone who has been baptized. In the new movie, Frozen II, there's a delightful snowman named Olaf that loves telling the story of water, and how water has memory, and has gone through a few people and fish before it touches our lips… but the story of interconnectedness is woven throughout the movie. For context, it’s also about intercultural relationships, in a metaphorical version of the Sami and Scandinavian peoples.
The connection that we all share, that the delightful snowman Olaf was connecting, is water. Water connects all living things, and we are all connected through the water. Today's Gospel lesson is more than the beginning of Jesus' ministry and where we get our sacrament of baptism from… but also the point where God proclaims for all that they are well pleased with their beloved child. Baptism is the point when God claims us all and says that we are loved and pleasing in her sight.
We can claim our Christian identity through the waters of baptism, but we cannot use that identity for reasons to dehumanize others of other faiths, or engage in war for our Christan identity. This area has a history of using faith as a reason to dehumanize, in the not-so-far-off history of Native boarding schools. With the inherent racism mixed with religiosity present in such realities… When a lack of infrastructure is used as a reason to deny hypothetical refugees, but not new housing developments or businesses… When a county commissioner uses the word ‘invasive’ in an email when describing refugees…
I was born and earned my undergrad degree in Saint Cloud, the second most populous area for Somali immigrants in Minnesota. I worked at an after-school program for Somali children and youth from Kindergarten through senior high. I was teaching 17yr olds addition and subtraction because for 16 years they lived in a refugee camp in Kenya, just eking out a living to survive. You want to hear an example of unconscious bias? I asked a friend to come with me for my interview for the job because I didn’t feel safe going alone.
We don’t learn until we either read, or experience these things for ourselves. Without my experience at the La Cruz Community Center in Saint Cloud or living on the poor side of Huntington Beach, California for a year, I don’t know if I would feel the way I do about immigration.
I think the Beltrami County Commissioners that voted against refugee resettlement should spend time listening to actual refugees, and learning from them.
Faith is more than baptism. Faith is learning from one another, even and especially from those that don't share our faith. Faith is living out our baptismal promises, and actively engaging the world around us in that faith.
The Muslim Somali immigrants had to have tremendous faith to persevere as long as they have. To have their faith questioned and ridiculed on a daily basis, but still remain ardent in that faith. The Orthodox Jews in New York had daily attacks during Hanukkah, and still persevere and hold onto their faith.
Our Christian identity is embedded in the waters of baptism, in Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan. But how, in this world of impending war, shifting denominations, and with national attention on our community - how do we live out our Christian identity? How can we stand united?
We can stand united believing in and worshiping a God that was, is, and will be even after all the lights go out. That this God that created, creates and will create- bestowed on humanity an only child. A lonely child born in an unlikely place, to unlikely parents, and surrounded by unlikely people. An unlikely child that grew up, was baptized in the river Jordan, gathered friends and broke boundaries to serve the marginalized and under-served. Jesus the Christ lived a life in service to others, bestowing Grace Love and Mercy to all. Through the work of the Holy Trinity, we are all bestowed this Grace, Love, and Mercy so that we may go out into the world to proclaim this good news and live out this truth for our neighbors.
I believe this denomination’s call to live out faith in a policy of Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors is a strong way to live out faith, and it’s evident to most anyone that walks through these open doors.
I don't know what the future holds for the larger church, but I have faith that this congregation will continue living out that call past the next conference and beyond. Beltrami County will weather this storm. If anything else, we as a community can vote this spring for caucus and this November for the general election, and live out our American identity.
Most of all, I think we all can work better at joining together on projects in the community. Together, with other churches in the area, we could continue the conversation of refugee resettlement, if only to better educate the community. We could explore providing housing for even the current situation. Improving the infrastructure that was complained about. Continue building relationships with the many cultures already present in the community. United in our Christian identity, we can live out God's call to love our neighbor, and make our community better for all of us. Even for those that have yet to join it.
You are God's beloved. Remember your baptism, as we remember the Lord's.
Amen.
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