Our Freedom is Intertwined
Sermon by Pr. Sharai Jacob on the Second Sunday in Lent + Sunday, March 16, 2025.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “skinfolk ain't always kinfolk,”? The first time I heard this phrase I was in college trying to create a Campus Ministry that would feel comfortable and safe for Black students. I had a few informal conversations with leaders from other student organizations like our Black Student Union and United Women of Color to ask for their guidance. They told me to be careful - “not all skinfolk are kinfolk.” They warned me that some of our administrators might choose their paycheck or their reputation with the school over the wellbeing of students of color even if they are people of color themselves.
The experience reminded me of what my father told me about the Apartheid government in South Africa. The government counted on people to choose to value their own power over the wellbeing of the people around them. They purposely gave certain groups of people more privilege than others. The Indian community was given representation in government, which was a luxury that was never afforded to indigenous South Africans. However, Indian representation in government was entirely powerless and could do nothing to help the Indian community achieve equality. The Apartheid government relied on the assumption that individuals' desire for power or safety or autonomy would outweigh our communal desire for freedom and equality.
This theme of opposing desires runs through our Gospel text today. The Greek word theló which means to desire is used three times in these 5 short verses. The first is Herod’s desire to kill Jesus – which of course is connected to his desire to maintain his own power. Herod was the leader of the Jewish people, but his power was subject to Roman rule. Any hope for his people’s freedom, would threaten Roman rule and jeopardize Herod’s position of power under Rome. So, whenever a prophet came along, calling for freedom from oppression, Herod would kill that prophet to protect his own power. To prove that he could control his people on behalf of the Empire. Herod’s desire for his own power pushed him to betray his people and uphold the Empire’s oppression. He chose to be one of those skinfolk who ain’t kinfolk.
The second use of the word theló is when we hear Jesus tell the people of Jerusalem that he desires to gather them up like a mother hen gathers her chicks. Before our Gospel text this week Jesus has been traveling while healing people and casting out demons at each stop along his journey. When Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, the Pharisees come to warn him about Herod. The Pharisees are religious officials who hold wealth and power because of their cooperation with Herod and his Roman masters. When they warn Jesus that Herod wants him dead, Jesus is not surprised. He knows Jerusalem’s reputation, and he is aware that the work he does threatens Herod and Rome. But his work is rooted in a desire to care for his people. To seek what is in their best interest, and to set them free from what oppresses them - be that an earthly empire or an evil spirit.
During Apartheid, there were many freedom movements that developed to oppose the racist government. One of these movements is the movement that radicalized my father, the Black Consciousness movement led by Stephen Bantu Biko. This was a movement that took inspiration from and collaborated with the American Black Power movement - it sought to educate the oppressed about their own right to dignity and called them to defend the dignity of all people. One of Biko’s most famous quotes was this, “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”
This brings us to the final use of the word theló in our gospel reading: when Jesus names that the people do not desire to be gathered together by their nurturing mother hen. They do not desire Jesus’ care for them and their freedom. “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” So Jesus says he will leave their house to them, and he will return when they are willing to welcome him. When they are willing to free their minds.
Maybe some of you feel trapped in Herod’s position? Or in the position of the Pharisees? Stuck between protecting your own power, safety, or wealth and fighting for the power, safety, and needs of your community. It can be so hard to see how to move forward from that place. And that is by design! Empire, the oppressive systems of the world, want you to feel stuck, they don’t want you to be able to even imagine real freedom and equality for everyone. These systems control the media we consume, they control the curriculums in our schools, they have even controlled the ways the gospel is preached. Our oppressors have slowly and steadily infiltrated our minds, so in order to free our communities we must work to free our minds. Your imagination can become a potent tool for resistance.
Jesus’ desire is to gather us up into loving community because loving community teaches us to imagine freedom. When I can participate in worship or when I can serve alongside my community it reminds me that we are stronger together. You might find it easier to picture what freedom looks like in moments where you see people upholding the dignity of others. You might find it easier to see freedom on the horizon when you can read the stories of people who have seen it too. If we can picture freedom, if we can see it in our minds, then we have taken the first step in reclaiming our minds from the hands of our oppressors.
It may seem like such a small thing, to be able to imagine freedom. To imagine every person’s needs met and dignity restored. In the face of all of the problems we see today, it may seem useless. What will imagination change? What will it change for me to be more connected to other people who are stuck like me? So, let’s look at what Jesus changed. Jesus didn’t take down the Roman Empire. Jesus didn’t even take down Herod or the Pharisees. Jesus did exactly what he told us his desire was. He gathered people together, healed them, and freed their minds. Jesus created a way for us to be free, to live in freedom, even while we are outwardly oppressed. And then he called us to go and share that freedom with others.
We may not be able to fix everything wrong with our government or our religious institutions, but we can rally with others who are willing to try. We may not be able to feed and clothe and house every person we meet, but we might be able to treat them with dignity, we might be able to pay for one meal or spare a coat. We may not be able to break down the systems that oppress us today, but as long as we can still picture freedom on the horizon, we may be able to join together and work towards freedom in the days to come.
Image of Zora Neale Hurston, author of the quote “All my skinfolk ain’t my kinfolk”
