Handful

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

May 7, 2017

4 Easter A

          When I was on sabbatical several years ago and traveling by myself, I needed something to read at night to keep me company.  A friend, whose reading recommendations I trust, had posted on Facebook that she had just read the novel "The Invention of Wings" by Sue Monk Kidd.  I have read and enjoyed the author’s other novels so I downloaded the book onto my Kindle for what I thought would be some light bedtime reading.  With a name like "The Invention of Wings," I figured the story line must be about butterflies, or aviation, or birds, or something similar that would make for gentle reading.  I was so wrong.  "The Invention of Wings" is the brilliantly written yet awful story of Sarah Grimke, the abolitionist daughter of a slave holding family in South Carolina, and a girl named "Handful," the slave Sarah was given as a gift for her 11th birthday.  The chapters of the book go back and forth between chronicling the life of Sarah and that of "Handful."  The first agonizing and sickening description of the torture endured by slaves at the hands of their owners comes just pages into the book.  I could only read a chapter or two at a time before I had to put the book down, able to stomach no more, and reading before bed was out of the question if I wanted to sleep.  Sorrow and pain are woven with hope and courage throughout the story, which is told masterfully, but the read was difficult.

I cannot help but think about Sarah and Handful when I read the passage from I Peter that we heard this morning.  On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we hear the wonderful description of the early church from the book of Acts.  We say the beloved 23rd psalm.  The gospel reading tells us of Jesus the Good Shepherd.  And we hear a reading from I Peter that tells us that it is a credit to endure pain while suffering unjustly.  The intent of this passage was to tell first century Christian slaves that it is a credit to them when their non-Christian masters beat them unjustly.  Is the writer of I Peter condoning the kind of cruelty inflicted on Handful and her mother by Sarah's parents?  How many people have endured violence because Scripture says that it is a credit to them if they endure pain while suffering unjustly?  What are we to do with this reading from Scripture?

Fortunately, the other three readings this morning give us a context for hearing the passage from I Peter.  These readings make it clear that God's will for humankind in no way includes being victims or perpetrators of violence. In the reading from Acts, we hear about a community of Christians who held all things in common so that no one would be in need. In the 23rd Psalm, the psalmist describes God as the shepherd who walks with God's people even in the valley of the shadow of death.  In the psalm, the shepherd protects the sheep, guides the sheep, and comforts the sheep.  Lastly, the gospel lesson contrasts the thief who comes only to steal and destroy, acts of violence, with the Shepherd who comes to give life, and give it abundantly.  The Shepherd calls the sheep by name, and the sheep follow him.  The sheep will run from a stranger because they do not know the voice of strangers.  Again, the Shepherd protects the sheep and gives them life.  Jesus is that Shepherd, and Jesus leads the sheep into abundant life, not into deliberate suffering.

          Not only do these three passages oppose violence and injustice, but the overwhelming evidence of Scripture is that these actions and the suffering they create are abhorrent to God.  The God who led the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt is not likely to condone slavery for another group of people.  The prophet Micah called upon God's people to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.  Isaiah implored the people to maintain justice and do what is right.  Amos said "let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream."  Jesus preached in the beatitudes that "those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled" and drew on the words of Isaiah to launch his ministry saying that he has been anointed to proclaim release to the captives and to let the oppressed go free.  The clear call of Scripture is to engage in the work of ending injustice and violence in the world. Any use of I Peter to justify violence or to expect anyone to endure unjust suffering to gain God's approval or build character is simply wrong.  Having said that, however, is there anything constructive we can take from I Peter?

The reading from Acts describes an idealistic Christian community.  The psalm describes the Shepherd as the one who will spread a table before us in the presence of our enemies, and the gospel describes Jesus as the shepherd who has come that we may have life and have it abundantly.  However, the sad fact is that Christian slaves in the first century and American slaves in the 18th and 19th centuries, did not have tables being spread before them in the presence of their cruel masters.  No one was sharing all that they had with them, and if they were going to have life and have it abundantly, it would most likely be in the next life, not this one.  The sad fact is that people today suffer unjustly for a variety of reasons, whether the unjust distribution of food and other goods of society, or because of unjust employers, or because of violent family members, or because of human trafficking, or in other parts of the world, because of ethnic cleansing, genocide, the kidnapping of young girls, and not hunger but starvation.  The list goes on and on.

Given the overwhelming evidence in Scripture that God opposes injustice and suffering and calls us to work for justice and righteousness, and given that we know that injustice and suffering occurs in every age, in it's own odd way, I Peter provides hope for people in unjust situations that seem utterly hopeless.  Whatever the cause of undeserved suffering, I Peter reminds the reader that unjust suffering connects the sufferer with Christ's suffering which makes that suffering holy.  Not good, or desirable, or painless, or beneficial, and certainly not pleasing to God, but holy. To those who suffer unjustly, I Peter proclaims the Good News that nothing, no matter how unjust, has the power to separate a person from the love of God.   For the rest of us, the mandate of scripture is clear.   We are to reflect the love of God by making this world a place of abundant life for all people.

                                                                                                                  Amen.