LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33712 on the Gulf of Mexico On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga 727-867-7961
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Date: May 25, 2025 Memorial Day Scripture Lesson: Acts 16:9-15 Sermon: The Power of the Past. Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
We begin with a quote from The Color Purple by Alice Walker. A banned book. In some schools and libraries, but not in church.
“Man corrupt everything, say Shug. He on your box of grits, in your head, and all over the radio. He try to make you think he everywhere. Soon as you think he everywhere, you think he God. But he ain’t. Whenever you trying to pray, and man plop himself on the other end of it, tell him to git lost, say Shug. Conjure up the flowers, wind, water, a big rock.”
I remain a skeptic. Even when it comes to the Bible. When I see a Bible study curriculum on say, important people of the Bible, I wonder if there are any women included, and if so, how many. Then I wonder about what is said about these women. I maintain that skepticism when it comes to devotions for women, Bible study for women, a study Bible for women. Just what are they saying about the women? Often what they are saying is that the women are models of devotion and obedience. Women are often portrayed as people of faith who submit to God’s will which is often seen and entailing submission to men. In other words, they basically submit to the authority of males. In one way or another.
But let’s turn to Lydia. First, she is a Gentile. She is not Jewish. She is not an insider to the Jesus community. In the early days of the Jesus communities, the status of Gentiles was murky. Did a Gentile have to become Jewish first to follow Jesus? In the end, it was decided, no, that was not necessary. So, Lydia, a Gentile, a woman, is outside of town, part of a prayer circle. This group of spiritual seekers was on the fringes, led by a Gentile and a woman, seemingly drawn to what they had already heard about Jesus. Was this group all women? We are not told. It very likely included men. We also get enough clues to see that Lydia was not just in the group she was a leader of the group. This likely meant that she had authority over men. And when she directs her entire household to be baptized, that certainly included men. So she is asserting her authority over men. That doesn’t seem like much to us today, in a church that has been ordaining women for over 100 years. In a church that believes that every person is created in God’s image, male and female. And that women are full human beings. But in the first century, and in much of the church since, women have been clearly not equal to men in the faith community. Ordination is just one measure. We also know that Lydia was rich, and wealth brings with it power. She was a powerful woman. Involved in trade in purple cloth likely put her in circles with those who would wear purple cloth – leaders, rulers, and the rich. She was among their number. I think I remember reading many years ago that purple cloth was expensive because it was dyed using a rare seashell. In any case, Lydia was a leader, she was rich, and she asserted her authority over men with their best interests in mind. Look how she construes the invitation to Paul, and company to come to her house: “If you are convinced that I am believer in Christ, please come and stay with us.” She had it all over them. But a Bible study about Lydia may very well portray her as a humble, obedient, docile second class citizen.
So, when it comes to women and the Bible, and many other things, especially related to religion and faith, I remain a skeptic.
Now let’s turn to Memorial Day. We are told this is a day to remember those who have died in service to our country. Those who have served and died in the armed forces, protecting our country and our freedom. It’s a day for patriotism and flags and military parades. Yes, those who gave their lives for our country should be remembered with reverence. And that is how Memorial Day began.
I don’t know about you, but I never knew that there is a strong historical case to be made that Memorial Day began in Charleston, South Carolina in the aftermath of the Civil War. This story has been uncovered by Yale historian David Blight based on records in the archives at Harvard University. In Charleston, there was a Confederate prison camp set up for Union soldiers at Washington Race Course and Jockey Club. The Union soldiers were treated terribly. They were beaten and starved. Many died of disease. After the war, a group of former slaves found a mass grave containing the remains of some 257 Union soldiers who had died at this prison camp. When the Black people found the bodies in the grave near the race track, they set about digging them up and creating a cemetery where each one was buried honorably. The cemetery was enclosed with a white fence and an archway declaring, “Martyrs of the Race Course.” After honoring the dead with the creation of the cemetery and the saying of prayers and reading of scripture, on May 1, 1865, there was a huge parade of some 10,000 people circling the cemetery on the race track. The parade was led by some 3,000 children bearing roses, followed by women with baskets of flowers, and then men, military, marching in cadence. A reporter for the New York Tribune witnessed the event and described it as a “procession of friends and mourners as South Carolina and the United States never saw before.” And after all of the parading, those in attendance, black and white set about celebrating with picnics on the race course grounds. They did this all out of gratitude for the soldiers who had given their lives fighting to end slavery. And this celebration is looked to the precursor to Memorial Day as we celebrate it today – putting flowers on graves, and holding parades. This story has been intentionally suppressed. The park that includes the race course area was named Hampton Park in honor of Confederate General Wade Hampton.
[ See: https://time.com/archive/6914586/memorial-day/ and https://medium.com/the- establishment/the-untold-story-of-memorial-day-former-slaves-honoring-and-mourning- the-dead-da9754924f3f.]
How many of you know this story? Know of this parade and the reburial of the over 250 soldiers? I certainly did not. And in one of the few articles about this history, the writer observes: “The fact that the role of African-Americans is missing from the official record is precisely the problem. At the very least, the contribution of Black people in Charleston has been erased from the public narrative of Memorial Day and deserves to be recognized.”
Yes! What also needs to be recognized about Memorial Day is that it is a day when we are to remember all those killed in war. This somber remembrance should compel us to seek new methods of conflict resolution that do not involve weapons and killing. A veteran of World War 2, historian Howard Zinn declares, “Memorial Day should be a day for putting flowers on graves and planting trees. Also, for destroying the weapons of death that endanger us more than they protect us, that waste our resources and threaten our children and grandchildren.”
Friends, despite the intentional veneer of barbecues and boats and bargains, Memorial day is a story of death and tragedy and human failing.
We must remain skeptical. We must emulate Jesus by seeking the truth and telling the truth. Memorial Day should be a day of re-dedicating ourselves to peace so that no more lives are lost to war or violence.
Imagine what we could accomplish if we spent the billions of dollars now allocated to the pursuit of armed conflict instead to the pursuit of peace and techniques and strategies for making peace and creating peace when there is conflict? One strategy for increasing peace is ending poverty. Another is working to reverse climate change which is considered by the military to be one of the biggest threats to US and world security.
Lydia was moved by the preaching of Paul and she chose to follow the way of Jesus. She and her household were baptized. She gave her heart, her soul, her resources, which were considerable, her reputation, her household, and her time to the gospel. And immediately she invites Paul and his entourage to stay at her home making her house the locus of the Jesus movement in Macedonia. This is considered the first church non European soil. Do they tell you that the first church is Europe was headed by a woman?
Imagine what the church would be like if everyone knew the story of Lydia as a church leader. And about Jesus and his treatment of women as equals not less than men.
Imagine what Memorial Day and this country might be like if every student was taught about the origins of Memorial Day in Charleston?
May we, too, rededicate ourselves to the gospel, the gospel of peace this Memorial Day. May we devote our energies and resources which are considerable, to telling the truth and to pursing peace.
We close with a sentiment from Alice Walker’s The Color Purple:
“I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To ask. And that in wondering bout the big things and asking bout the big things, you learn about the little ones, almost by accident. But you never know nothing more about the big things than you start out with. The more I wonder, the more I love.” Amen.
A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.
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