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March 15, 2009 Sermon

Lent III: Reflection Through Theatre
John 2: 13-22

Reverend Kerri Mesner

We’ve spent four evenings together during Lent exploring many different things through the use of Theatre of the Oppressed. TO is a form of theater that came out of Brazil originally, rooted in communities that were struggling for their survival and their right to self-expression. Augusto Boal, who created and still teaches TO, was persecuted, arrested, tortured, and eventually exiled, for his work. It has since spread around the world and all kinds of grassroots communities are using it to find ways forward in fighting oppression and making changes.

During our Lenten gatherings, one of the themes we’ve been exploring together is this idea of reclaiming space. We’ve been looking through the lens of today’s passage where Jesus cleanses the temple, and also through the eyes of the experiences of this community, here, at TUC. ... maybe we’re talking about the physical space here of TUC... maybe we’re talking about the space each one of us finds in ourselves in relationship with God.

What is the space of this community, of TUC? What does this space mean to you? To us? To all of us as a community? What happens when we struggle to find space? And how do we reclaim our space?

And so today, we are moving through our reflection together, in community, with one another and with the people who have been working in these workshops together. We invite you to travel with us into this space, through this space, thinking about what this space means for us.

Some of you may have noticed that at the beginning of Lent, a red cross appeared on this sign (bring it out). We offered this as a symbol of the actual vandalism that happened to the main church sign out front. For those of you who weren’t here, a few months ago, someone spray painted a red cross over the top of TUC’s church sign out front. We invite you to reflect on that moment now as we look at a moment from our theater work that has been captured in a “tableau”, a frozen picture. (Katherine and Sally form their tableau).

Our space … When we look at a tableau in TO, we can begin to see how one picture – like this one- can have many different meanings. It looks like one thing if you are here ... it may look like something else if you are here (move to other side). And of course, what each one of us brings to this picture changes what we see.

For some of us, maybe it’s just spray paint, a bit of vandalism, an inconvenience that needs to be cleaned up. For some of us, the symbolism of a red cross painted over a sign that speaks of church, of community, of affirmation and inclusion of lgbt people... this cross takes on a whole different meaning. What meaning do you see in this moment? Have a look. If you want to, feel free to stand up and look at it from a different angle. (Invite the congregation to share what they see).

In TO, sometimes we get an opportunity to learn something about the characters in the picture as well, and today we do that by “tapping in” to hear what they are saying or thinking in this moment. Thank-you Katherine and Sally.

When our space is violated, it can affect each of us in very different ways. For some of us, it feels very personal... we know what it’s like to be denied the space to worship... to be who we are ... to bring all of who we are into our lives of faith. For some of us, it strikes us at the level of community... our shared space, our sacred space, has been wounded in some way... it can be painful, a violation.

When we struggle with these wounds, these feelings, these questions of how to fully claim our space as a community of faith, we remember that we are not alone in that struggle. Our scriptures, our stories of faith, give us a history of people who wrestled with the same issues. I read yesterday that archaeologists in Jerusalem found a “warning sign” that likely was posted on the walls around the inner court of the temple: “No outsider shall enter”. No outsider shall enter. We know that Jesus himself struggled with what was going on in the temple that was meant to be a space of spiritual community... with who had access to this house of God, and who did not. This is one of those rare – vital – moments where we experience Jesus’ anger... his fierce, passionate love for what this space could be, in the face of what it has become.

Let’s take a look as our actors offer us another image, this time from Jesus’ day. (Emily, Robin, Dorothy and Gloria form temple tableau. Kerri invites congregation to share what they see. Kerri taps in to the four actors for what they are thinking or saying in this moment). Thank-you Emily, Robin, Dorothy, and Gloria.

Jesus’ space … I see a Jesus here who is not afraid to speak up, to speak out, to take up space and to claim space- not just for himself, but for the people he loves. It helps me to know that the Christ I follow was not afraid to get angry... was not afraid to cry out when he saw injustice in a space that was meant to be focused on God’s love for all people. Sometimes I think the Bible, the stories in the Bible, can seem so distant... so far away from our reality here and now today. And yet, we call this a Living Book. a Living Word. It’s alive, today, for me, for you... for us... Are their stories- and our stories so far apart?

(As these next lines are said, re-form the tableau, a person at a time- so that by the end it becomes clear what the picture is). What if Jesus is here in this space today? What if the temple Jesus is cleansing is reclaiming, is our church, today? What if the anger and the passion and the liberation in that moment... is happening in our church, in this moment today? What do we see in this moment? Is this picture what we think it is? Is it a moment of oppression... or can it be transformed into something else? (Robin begins the process of gathering people out of the tableau and moving to the cross).

During this season of Lent, moving into Easter, we have a time to reflect on the cross. Yes, it is a reminder of crucifixion, of Jesus’ death. But as an Easter people, as a resurrection people, we also claim the cross as a reminder of Christ’s resurrection, of Christ’s liberation... of that incredible miracle- of Jesus’ ability to take something that was a sign of oppression and pain, and transform it into something else. (Katherine and Sally remove the cross and pass it one to another down the line of actors).

What happens when we reclaim this symbol once again? What might it mean for us, as a community, today, to reflect on this cross in our community? What does it mean for us, as a community, to take up our cross and follow Jesus, as he asked us to? It might not be something that any one of us can do on our own. But when we join together, in community, we find a strength, a unity, a power that – as Ephesians says- is more than we can ask or imagine.

And so today, as we move into community prayers, we invite you to join us in taking up this cross... in reclaiming this cross... and in reclaiming this space once again, as community. During community prayers, the cross will be passed throughout the congregation. As the cross passes through your hands, we invite you to reflect on what you want to claim for this community today... maybe on what you want to release today... maybe on what you want to ask Christ to give this community today. We are this community... and together we can claim Christ’s promise... we can claim this space for Christ in our hearts, in our lives, in this community of faith. Amen.

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