Column by Mary Lee Talbot
The Fourth of July was a great time of celebration in the Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis’ family. Her father and uncle had served in the Air Force and an uncle served in the Marines. She would help her father at the barbecue. Her mother would sew new clothes for Lewis and her sister (but not her brothers). “It meant a glimpse of tomorrow, of freedom before we learned of Juneteenth or learned that Frederick Douglass criticized the Fourth as not being for Black people. I wanted to be president of the United States, and the little girl inside me still does.”
She continued, “But I am grieving today because our elected officials did not resist this (budget) bill, and I am worried about what it means for our nation.”
As an opening prayer and offering, Lewis sang a song she called “The Star Spangled Banner Deconstructed for Juneteenth.”
“Oh say can’t you see what is plain to behold, / Though we shout liberty there are too many in chains. / We are shackled by greed and the fear we are small. / Yet this truth must be told, there is one God who loves all. / Won’t you give me your hand, and together we’ll stand / With radical love heal our souls and this land? / Oh say can’t we end all this fighting and strife / And walk toward the light that we ALL might be free”
Lewis preached at the 9:15 a.m. Friday morning worship service in the Amphitheater. Her sermon title was “Where There are No More Tears,” and the scripture reading was Revelation 21:1–8.
“What can I say?” she asked the congregation. “This is not the first time the nation has failed itself, that it was not interested in the greater good. This is not the first time we tried to move the moral arc of justice, but I get to stand in this pulpit because of the work United States citizens have done in partnership with God.”
Because of this partnership with God, people can marry who they wish, adopt children, and women have the right to vote. This nation has built roads, bridges, created jobs and found homes for immigrants because of the partnership with God.
“Good people will not rest until freedom comes,” Lewis said. She wore a T-shirt with these words from civil rights pioneer Fannie Lou Hamer: “Nobody’s free until everyone is free.”
Lewis continued, “You don’t have to agree with my politics, but I hope we can agree that we want to see a world where everyone has enough, an anti-racist world where ‘trials don’t always last.’ A world where joy has come and settled in our hearts because we have made a just world.”
She told the congregation that “we should not lose sight of our faith vision, of God’s intention for heaven on earth. Nations will fail us, but God will not.”
The Constitution was written when Lewis’ people were not free, women could not vote and Indigenous people were not citizens. “I am a witness to what God can do to keep the promise of liberty and justice for all. Our vision is that all people will come to peace and flourish. Our job is not to just weep, our job is to make the world better,” she said.
Lewis told the congregation they are called to take care of people who will be without food, to provide a safety net for seniors. “The path to tomorrow is through our faith,” she said.
She shared a video, made by members of the Middle Collegiate Church congregation performing “Glory,” by John Legend, from the movie “Selma.” The chorus is:
“One day when the glory comes / It will be ours, it will be ours / One day when the war is won /
We will be sure, we will be sure / Oh glory / Glory, glory / Oh, glory, glory”
Lewis asked, “How do we get to glory? We hold on to the vision of John that there will be a time when there are no more tears. You know how to make it, I expect you to get in it, stay in it and win it. Amen?” And the congregation responded, “Amen.”
The Rev. George Wirth, a retired Presbyterian minister, presided. Deborah First, who facilitates the visits of the Homeboys, read the scripture. The Rt. Rev. Eugene T. Sutton, senior pastor for Chautauqua, led the morning prayers. Laura Smith, organ scholar, played “Fanfare” by Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens for the anthem, music by Edgar L. Bainton and text from Revelation 21:1–4. The choir was under the direction of guest conductor/organist James E. Bobb and accompanied by Smith on the Massey Memorial Organ. Bobb performed “Toccata” from Symphony No. 5 by Charles-Marie Widor on the Massey Organ. This week’s chaplaincy and services were supported by the Edmond E. Robb-Walter C. Shaw Fund.
