Column by Mary Lee Talbot
Mark 12:28–34 is a beloved conversation between Jesus and an unnamed scribe. “The verses are actually the Shema, a prayer said by Jews in the morning, evening and privately,” said the Rev. Suzanne Wenonah Duchesne. She preached at the 9:15 a.m. Friday morning worship service in the Amphitheater. Her sermon title was “Standin’ at the Crossroads,” and the scripture reading was Mark 12:28–24.
Duchesne began her sermon with a version of Rabbi Irwin Keller’s “Prayer After Reading the News.” “I am Yours, and all that is in this world is Yours. Today I have read stories and seen images, but my knowledge is incomplete. I don’t know how it all connects. But I know I am connected to everyone; I take joy in their joy; I suffer with their suffering. If there is no role for me to play today, then let my learning leave me wiser and better prepared. If there is a role for me to play, let clarity rise up in me to see it, even if that role is a humble one. Uma’aseh yadeynu konenehu. Lift up the work of my hands, in anything they might do for peace, for justice, for the wholeness of our planet or for the betterment of my community.”
In Mark’s gospel, the scribe had been listening to Jesus answer questions and was impressed with Jesus’ interpretation of scripture. The scribe and Jesus give respect to each other. The scribe was willing to ponder Jesus’ answers.
The conversation became a “self-critique by the scribe as he looked at his own tradition,” Duchesne said. “The scribe took a sacred pause to allow God’s wisdom to guide his speech, and a relationship was formed. Jesus told the scribe he was not far from the kingdom of God. In Cherokee, they would say, ‘He means to walk a good way,’ or in Kiowa, he walks ‘the Jesus road.’ ”
In this beautiful conversation, the love of God — agape — permeates the whole self. But, Duchesne told the congregation, “We cannot love God without loving our neighbor, even if the neighbor does not reciprocate.”
Duchesne and her husband have been living in Mississippi for the last three years; he plays the Blues guitar. She took a trip to the crossroad where Blues guitarist Robert Johnson is said to have sold his soul to the devil in order to be the greatest Blues player ever.
“I believe the United States has made a pact with the devil. We are known as a prosperous and bold nation, known for our private philanthropy and care for the poor,” she said. “I believe we have gotten off track. We don’t have to maintain the racist, white supremicist, patriarchal narrative. Our politics and religion are intertwined, but we can make the choice to get free. Look at the words of Jesus, because we will be held to account.”
She continued, “We are at a crossroads. I know that each of us has learned something this week — we have more knowledge, but what are we going to do at the crossroads?”
Duchesne quoted Jeremiah 6:16: “Thus says the Lord: / Stand at the crossroads and look, /
and ask for the ancient paths, / where the good way lies; and walk in it, / and find rest for your souls. / But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ ”
She said to the congregation, “We have to make a commitment to God and not the devil. We have to commit our heart, soul and mind to envision living more fully in God’s world. How do we change the narrative, flip the script?”
One time Duchesne was asked to speak at a conference about her work with the Muscogee women. She asked if she could bring a Muscogee sister with her, so they could share a conversation about what they learned from each other and share time in front of the conference. It was one way she flipped the script; the conference had never done that before.
Duchesne gave another example of a Kiowa woman who was a Methodist deaconess in Oklahoma. The sending agency told her not to buy a big car because everyone would want a ride from her. The deaconess bought the biggest car she could afford and loaded it up with people. She got women up on stage to tell their stories, putting them up front.
“We have to lift others up and let their voices be heard. What will you do?” Duchesne asked the congregation. She led the congregation in a time to ponder the question, “What will I do in the next week, the next month to flip the script?”
As an example of flipping the script, Duchesne shared a story from the Mississippi Freedom Trail about Emmett Till. The Tallahatchie County Courthouse and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, Mississippi, are part of the United States Civil Rights Trail.
When a historical marker was being placed in front of the courthouse, a man came by and asked the interpreter, who was working on the program for the unveiling, “Why are you doing this? This is past history.” The interpreter asked him, “Do you have any children?” He replied, “Yes, a son.” She asked, “How old is he?” “13,” the man said. “The same age as Emmett when he died. We are doing this so this never happens again to a young child.”
Later that night, the man went to the interpreter’s house and knocked on the door. He said, “I have been thinking. My wife is a seamstress, and she thinks we need to have a big unveiling, and she will make a cover for the sign. We have got to do it right.”
Duchesne said, “The interpreter changed the narrative. We have to change the narrative within ourselves, in our mouths, and then go out into all the world.” She led the congregation in a closing liturgy.
“Holy One, fill me from top to bottom. That I may know the Beloved. That I may show the world what it means to be Beloved. And that they know that they, too, are Beloved.”
The Rev. James Daprile, president of the Catholic House at Chautauqua, presided. Jim Evans, member of the Motet Choir and Thursday Morning Brass, read the scripture. Joshua Stafford, director of sacred music and the Jared Jacobsen Chair for the Organist, performed “Idyll,” by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, on the Massey Memorial Organ. The Motet Choir, under the direction of Stafford and accompanied by organ scholar Owen Reyda, sang “Healer of our Every Ill,” music by Ken Medema and text by Marty Haugen. Stafford performed “Toccata,” from Symphony No. 5 by Charles-Marie Widor, on the Massey organ for the postlude. Support for this week’s chaplaincy and preaching was provided by the Mr. and Mrs. William Uhler Follansbee Memorial Chaplaincy.
