At the beginning of this year, when the new administration began targeting immigrants, the California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church held a series of webinars on how churches could support and protect our immigrant neighbors. I attended the webinars, as did several other people in the church that I am connected with as retired pastor, the Nevada City United Methodist Church here in rural Northern California. The image featured on this post is now on several of the church’s interior doors, while “private property, no trespassing” is posted outside. (This is practical but ironic, since we are a church that states that we have “open hands, open hearts, open doors.)
One day after worship, several of us got together, and decided it was a good idea to start a local group. Pastor Suzanne Calhoune supported the idea, and the Nevada County Immigrant Rights Network was born. The response has been tremendous. We offer what services we can to immigrants and are working to prepare our community for when (not if) ICE shows up as they have in other communities. The Immigrant Rights Network web page is hosted on the site of Earth Justice Ministries, the organization that Guari (my love) and I founded in 1995. Several other local organizations are now involved.
Two Sundays ago, September 21st, the Immigrant Rights Network was celebrated in the community’s Constitution Day Parade. People on the sidelines were handed contact information and “Red Cards” (know your rights cards) and were cheering all the say.
Yesterday, September 28, I preached a joint sermon with Susan Hopkins, a member of the church who helped start the network, on the topic of “Justice for Our Neighbors.” We focused particularly on our immigrant neighbors. She shared personal stories that touched the heart and and told about some of the good work the network is doing.
The passage I chose to preach on and to link to justice for our immigrant neighbors was from Luke 4:16-30. The passage tells about Jesus introducing his mission statement in his hometown of Nazareth by reading from the prophet Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because God has anoined me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The service wasn’t recorded, so I’m including a Youtube video of my part of the sermon that I recorded as a biblical reflection while I was preparing. At the beginning, I ask “Have you ever asked yourself why the people in Jesus’s hometown went so quickly from amazement and celebration to fury and wanting to throw him off a cliff?” If you haven’t really thought about it before, the answer that Luke gives might surprise you.
Comments