Daily Devotion – June 5, 2020 – Larry Papenfuss
There is absolutely no question that I am a sinner. Likewise there is absolutely no question that I have benefitted from a life of white male privilege and that I have not done enough to seek social justice by trying to dismantle the structures that support racism. The deaths of Ahmoud Arbery, Breona Taylor, and George Floyd, as well as the ensuing protests and riots this week, have brought my sins of omission to the forefront for me.
Three years ago, I was asked to give a sermon at a rural congregation to coincide with Superbowl Sunday. I talked about faith and football and began by talking about two NFL quarterbacks who were both raised Lutheran and both bore witness to their strong faith with tattoos. I actually showed images of the tattoos of both. The first quarterback, actually has 13 tattoos with multiple scripture references and Christian symbols. He says this about them: “God has brought me this far. He has laid out a phenomenal path for me. And I can’t do anything but thank him.” The second quarterback has tattoos with scripture references from Proverbs and Isaiah as well as Christian symbols. This second quarterback has started his own foundation and raised over a million dollar in support of meals for hungry children, outdoor ministry, and a sports complex in Haiti. For his faith and his efforts, he is widely praised. The first quarterback donated a million dollars to social justice organizations, and to his own peril, has taken a very public stance against racial injustice.
Colin Kaepernick is black. Carson Wentz is white.
For his faith and his efforts, Kaepernick has been widely vilified as unpatriotic for kneeling during the national anthem (despite that fact that it was his former Green Beret veteran friend who convinced him to kneel instead of sit). The most vitriolic criticism has come of course from White Americans many of whom often have convoluted their understanding of faith with nationalism. Such an understanding reminds me of Sinclair Lewis who famously said: “When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
On Saturday, Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins wrote an article titled This Is Why Colin Kaepernick Took a Knee. She began her article with these words: “Two knees. One protesting in the grass, one pressing on the back of a man’s neck. Choose. You have to choose which knee you will defend. There are no half choices; there is no room for indifference. There is only the knee of protest or the knee on the neck.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/05/30/this-is-why-colin-kaepernick-took-knee/
Two thousand years ago, Christ came and offered his life in protest over unjust Roman rule and a perverted system of religious authority. Five hundred years ago, an Augustinian monk took a stance against another system of injustice that was motivated by economic and political factors. Both were very unpopular stances against the prevailing powers and structures. For their protests they were vilified as traitors, as heretics, and as trouble makers. But those prevailing structures needed reform.
Our country needs reform too. So, given the events of the past week, it is “the trouble maker” quarterback who gets my admiration. As my brother-in-law was fond of saying, Christ came to give comfort to the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. And today, as one of the comfortable, I am afflicted by the death of George Floyd.
