Liturgy that Matters – May 3, 2020 – 1 Peter 2:19-25

Themes: There’s a lot to learn from the past – including what to do differently. This text reflects some of the struggles we still face today – those with privilege casting aside the equality of the more marginalized for the sake of securing safety and control. Throughout history, we’ve witnessed the same old tactics, the same old temptations, the same old results. The more that movements and communities turn on their own for the sake of embrace from the dominant norms and institutions, the more radical movements turn into tools of the empire. It was only about 300 years after this letter that Christianity became the official religion of the state that executed Jesus. Can we break this pattern and practice more creative ways of managing the challenges of living in places, among people, and as a part of institutions that do not reflect our values or treat us negatively? Can we imagine a future built upon compromises that don’t start with the well-being of those living most precarious lives?