During the
afternoon of Viernes Santo, I find myself Snapchatting my heart, out as usual,
narrating the decision making of how to dress for an execution.
“Alright Snapchat, do I wear my black shirt
and full collar or do I wear my black shirt and partial collar?”
Though the
statement itself was intentionally superficial, I began to ask myself, “Well, what does one wear to a planned
execution?” I mean isn’t that what Viernes Santo is? Whether it is the Stations
of the Cross or the Last Words, the liturgy is remembering a public government
sponsored murder of an innocent and unarmed person of color, renamed a
crucifixion. Nic don’t beat a dead horse.
At this point the correlation between the crucifixion and police brutality or
modern day lynching has been made over and over again. Yet like the
crucifixion, we still have not learned a thing from it. There are still people
who will justify the abuse of power. There are still people who will remain
silent in the face of oppression. And there are still those who will die for
justice.
I wonder what
Mary of Bethlehem wore when she heard that her son would be nailed to a cross.
What does a mother wear before she is to lose a child? I wonder what Sandra
Bland’s mother was wearing when she received noticed that her daughter was killed
in prison. If Tamir Rice’s parents knew their son would be shot dead in a park
during the day, would they have worn black for grievance or white to celebrate
a life not yet truly lived?
Spoiler alert: I
went with a grey shirt and full collar.
 |
| I told y'all I was snapchatting. . don't judge me |
These sound like
absurd questions to ponder before worship but I want you to think more deeply
about them. How do you plan to encounter immorality? Is it more difficult to
bear witness or receive notice afterwards? Rightfully so a lot of the attention
of Viernes Santo goes to Jesus who makes the ultimate sacrifice for the entire
world. While Jesus suffers physically, for days both his mother and followers
suffer emotionally. When I ask what one wears to a public execution I challenge
us to imagine having to bear physical witness inhumanity in the cruelest form.
We celebrate
Holy Week two thousand years removed from the sabotage of an innocent man while
also engaging in this space every single day. I am curious as to what makes the
human experience of Viernes Santo much different from . . .
August 28th, 1955 February 4th, 1999
February 26th, 2012 March
21st, 2012
July 7th, 2014 August
5th, 2014
August 9th, 2014 April 19th, 2015
July 13th, 2015 August
1st, 2016
Holy Week reminds
me of Fruitvale Station, the story of Oscar Grant. We spend a whole movie watching
folks trying to humanize this peaceful and innocent man. We become empathetic
to this character as we see the love he has for his friends and his family. He
wants better. Then we come to this time of trial where Grant is being apprehended
for the crime of merely being considered a threat to authority. In the back of
the officer’s mind one can imagine a voice shouting “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
merely to justify the actions of the night. Bang. We are taken back to a
grieving family waiting for justice. Oscar Grant dies in the flesh while his
story lives amongst us all through film and the pursuit of justice.
With all of this
being said, I suppose this is what makes Semana Santa so special. Only speaking
for myself, my theological understanding of the crucifixion to the resurrection
is when Jesus of Nazareth dies and Christ our Savior lives. Today many if not
most Christian traditions believe Jesus is both fully divine and fully human
and his divinity comes from overcoming death on the cross. Through the cross we
experience grace because of the life after. Yet through the cross we also
experience shame because every single one of us is guilty for the death in the
first place. We are the crowd of His own people looking to justify the actions
of corruption because we think legal means righteous. We are Peter denying our
affiliations with “those types”. We are Judas selling out for personal gain. We
are Pontius Pilate allowing power and prejudice to counter justice. While we
may struggle with deciphering where we fit in the cycle of terror it is
important to stay mindful that we do in fact play a role. So what do I wear to
a public execution that I have permitted to happen through my actions? Do I
wear indifference? Or maybe I should wear remorse?
Spoiler alert
II: I wore my sins.
Vocabulary Key
Viernes Santo=
Good Friday
Semana Santa=
Holy Week
#ReclaimMissionary
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