Sin
Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!” (Therefore, he was called Edom.) Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So, he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus, Esau despised his birthright.
Genesis 25:24-34
Homily
With the death of George Floyd on Monday, May 25, 2020, Memorial Day, when he was suffocated by a Minneapolis police officer knelling on his neck, there was a new awareness of racism. It would seem that Floyd’s words “I can’t breathe” was a meaningless plea. The selected deafness of the officer Derek Chauvin was only compounded in that the three assisting officers who were complacent, though able to hear, though able to comprehend, but chose not to intervene.
This horrendous episode set off a firestorm across our nation, actually across the globe, of a renewed understanding of systemic racism that permeates society.
With this realization it seems everyone was getting involved for change. Not just the politicians, but also on college campuses, in professional sport franchises, and even businesses responded. It became: Good-bye Mrs. Butterworth. Good-bye Aunt Jemima. Good-bye Uncle Ben. Though the image that has become most vivid to us are the protesters.
The statues came down?
What troubled me is that they were not coming down in debate, but in hysteria. A hysteria that had been unleashed from centuries of oppression. Though, the real question was then and still is: How much evil must a person have committed to overshadow the good they have done for society?
Christopher Columbus statue came down. He was not an explorer, but a businessman who wanted to find a sea route to India and avoid the expense of travelling the Silk Road. When he discovered the Americas, an unknown continent, he named the indigenousness people Indians, because he thought he had landed in the country of India. He held fast to this belief until he died, even though he was shown evidence that he was wrong. It is interesting to read his journals. One of his earliest entries was a detailed description of the naked Indian women. He also took several Native Americans with him back to Spain, the country that financed his expedition. This was not to introduce the Native Americans to a new culture, but it was to present to the indigenous people as perfect slaves. This all took place while Queen Isabella of Spain mandated that all Jews be converted to Catholicism or be expelled from the country. Of the 80,000 Jews in the country, half converted and half endured expulsion.
Should the statue of Teddy Roosevelt have come down at the entrance of New York City’s American Museum of Natural History? He is known for his daring charge up San Juan Hill; though, he gave no credit to the black soldiers in his outfit, only to say that they were useless without white officers. Roosevelt maintained that the poor, the criminal, and “feeble-minded” individuals must be sterilized. The 26th President did expand the National Park System with 150 national forests, five national parks and 51 federal bird reserves. To do this, all Native Americans who occupied these lands had to be dispersed. Theodore Roosevelt’s statue came down.
Thomas Jefferson statue should be considered. It seems that the man who authored the Declaration of Independence did not live by his written words. In the document he wrote, “that all men are created equal,” except, of course, for African-Americans. The 3rd President had no problem fathering children by his black slave women, most notably Sally Hemings, and then he did not acknowledge his offspring. His unrecognized mulato children became members of the slave community. There is in Jefferson a disconnect between what he wrote and what he did. I am not sure what we should do about his statue in the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Perhaps the worst of the bunch is Andrew Jackson. Jackson may be the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, but then, as our 7th President, he is directly responsible for what has come to be called the “Trail of Tears.” An act that was so horrific that it is still hard to comprehend. Andrew Jackson’s statue did come down in many cities.
And where does the list end?
All of the statues of the leaders of the Confederacy should come down. It is only now that we are willing to admit that they were traitors who wanted to form a new independent nation, comprised of the southern states and the newly incorporated western states. It would be a nation that would, with state constitutions, continue the legalization of slavery. In fact, the C.S.A. wanted to secure a politico and military alliance with both France and England. This is why Robert E. Lee invaded the North twice. A decisive victory on Northern soil would have secured the sought-after foreign alliances.
George Washington is another “hero” in dispute. He secured our independence from Britain during the Revolutionary War. He set the precedent that a president should only serve two terms in office. He did not want the President to look like royalty, so after many salutations that sounded to kingly he agreed to being addressed simply as “Mr. President.” He did own slaves, which is why protesters toppled his statue. Washington understood bondage. In his will he wrote that all of his slaves should be freed after his death and the death of his wife Martha. George died first. It didn’t take Martha long to realize that her good health would only remain good health if she freed all of the slaves residing at Mount Vernon, which she did, preventing her premature poisonous death.
Then the question becomes, can any statue be left standing?
Well, perhaps, the only statue that could remain is the one of the Presbyterian minister and children’s television icon Fred Rogers. His statue in Pittsburgh has been placed in Point State Park, along North Shore Drive next to the Monongahela River. The bronze sculpture has Rogers sitting in a listening posture, as if children were at his feet. When black children were not allowed to swim in Pittsburgh’s public pools, Rogers protested. He demonstrated his protest on his televised show when he invited a black actor to portray a policeman. Officer Clemmons and Fred Rogers sat side-by-side, bare feet touching, in a wading pool. Officer Clemmons was played by the actor François Clemmons. But then… When Rogers found out that Clemmons was homosexual, Rogers was forbid Clemons from visiting gay bars. Rogers also forced Clemmons to marry a black woman to protect the image of his show, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. It was a marriage of very short duration. After Rogers death, Clemmons became a leader for gay rights in Pittsburgh. So, I guess, in Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, members of the LGBTQ community were not welcomed.
So, this brings me to our reading for this morning. It is the Genesis story of Jacob stealing the birthright from his older brother Esau. As I read the story Esau was hungry to the point of starvation. The compassionate thing for Jacob to do was to feed his older brother, but instead he used this situation for his own selfish gain. Jacob wanted power, and a starving Esau became his opportunity. Esau, as we know, traded his birthright in order to eat, and in my opinion to live. As the younger brother became a part of the founding fathers’ trinity, along with Abraham and Isaac, a statue to Jacob should be one that has the message of redemption.
I would say the same for David. Despite the reverence in which he is held in high esteem throughout the scriptures, David with premeditation had Uriah, the husband of his lover Bathsheba, murdered. A statue for David should be one that shows forgiveness.
I would also include Sarah in this list of biblical characters who were sinners. Sarah was married to Abraham, but was unable to have a child. She enlisted her handmaiden Hagar to sleep with Abraham, which she did, and she gave birth to Ishmael. Soon after that Sarah had her own child by Abraham, Isaac. Jealous of Hagar and wanting no competition between the two siblings, Sarah sent Hagar away, without apology or a word of thanks. Hagar and Ishmael then settled in Northern Africa, where Ishmael became the founding prophet of Islam, as asserted by the Prophet Muhammad. A statue for Sarah should be one depicting the need to be understanding and accepting.
I now come to the purpose of this discussion – your statue. What should your statue look like? Should it come down or remain intact on a pedestal?
I would have a very impressive statue. State Trooper. United Methodist minister. Army chaplain. Social worker. Fortune 500 company librarian. Middle school teacher. College professor. Devotional writer. Though my statue must come tumbling down because I am an alcoholic. As I am a recovering alcoholic, a new statue of me would see my right foot crushing a can of Budweiser, and my left hand holding an olive branch of reconciliation to those whom I have offended. Ah, but my statue cannot go up until I am certain that I am stepping on the can and not holding it in my right hand.
So, I ask, what will your statue look like?