Being woke - in Christ's name

 

This is an extract from a sermon preached on 20th November 2022 - Christ the King Sunday

For all who follow Jesus, for all who accept Jesus as King, our duty is to accept and seek to implement the values of Christ’s kingdom. The values of Christ’s kingdom could be summed up by those words from Micah 6:8

“To do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God”

How do we as citizens of Christ’s kingdom seek to make these values part of our daily lives? How do we try to influence the wider world to no longer live by the kind of decisions that lead to injustice and unkindness? How do we seek to bring about change?

We might think it is beyond us. And clearly, we can’t solve everything. But there are things we can do. On the face of it small things but things which nonetheless lead to change.

You may have heard the term “Woke” bandied about recently. It has become a term of abuse. It’s been used for example by the Home Secretary Sue Ella Braverman in her attacks on those protesting about climate change. According to Miss Braverman such people are "Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati"

But it might be helpful to understand what “woke” means. It is American slang originally. And Merriam Webster’s American dictionary defines woke as

“Aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice),”

I don’t know whether were he alive today Jesus would read the Guardian or whether he’d be a vegan who ate Tofu. But by the dictionary definition, he’d be “woke”. A major part of Christ the King’s ministry was concerned with social justice. The poor, the sick, the disabled, the marginalised. You don’t get much more “woke” than Jesus.

If we seek to follow the teachings of Jesus, then we are by definition “woke”. Dr Martin Luther King was “woke” for leading the civil rights movement. William Wilberforce was “woke” for campaigning to abolish slavery. Dietrich Bonhoeffer the German Lutheran pastor who was murdered by the Nazis for opposing Hitler was “woke”. Mother Teresa was “woke” for helping the destitute and hungry in Calcutta.

In fact, I’d go so far as saying that if someone seeks to insult us by calling us “woke” we should in fact be proud for trying to follow and implement the values of Christ.

Living under Christ’s reign means we are called to stand with those who model Christ’s example to love God and neighbour. Living under Christ’s reign means that at times we have to model Christ’s example. Living under Christ’s reign means we are called to see the value God has placed on every human being which may mean we have to work towards justice and the bringing in of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. To act and to speak out.

I mentioned Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who opposed Hitler, a moment ago. He once said: 

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

As followers of Christ the King we must not remain silent in the face of injustice. We must not cross over to the other side when confronted by injustice, like the priest and the lawyer in the story of the Good Samaritan. As citizens of Christ’s kingdom, we must try

“To do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with God”

It is what Jesus expects us to do. It’s the “woke” thing to do.