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Jesus and the Disinherited
Beginning in the early 1930’s, a young black preacher delivered a series of lectures. Later billed as “Good News for the Underprivileged,” the lectures were directed to black Americans, who were subjected to extreme poverty, segregation, limited access to housing, and educational opportunities. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and all-white primaries also effectively denied blacks the means to vote, a right all too often barred through violence. Continuing well into the 1950’s, the lectures ultimately culminated in the book Jesus and the Disinherited.As a prophetic preacher and activist, Howard Thurman chose the word “disinheritance” with great intention. Consider that when one is denied an inheritance as an individual, they fail to receive what is rightfully theirs. Yet when committed collectively, the consequence of disinheritance is graver: rights, property, benefits, protections, and blessings are unjustly denied to many.
When he wrote Jesus and the Disinherited, Thurman linked severe inequities to the heart of the Gospel. Addressing systemic racism against his people, Thurman showed that Jesus’ ministry focused on the ruthlessness the Roman occupation imposed on the vulnerable. The “religion of Jesus,” he said, should be a survival technique for the oppressed. Thus, though first published nearly eighty years ago, the book is as relevant now as it was then, exposing the thin veneer that had constituted nativist Christian ideology then, as it does now.
So where does this leave us, as congregants of FCCW and as folk who identify as followers of Jesus? As put forth by our ministerial leadership, the challenge is to live out the Gospel’s message in a society that all too often tragically celebrates power over mercy. We must ask: How do we practice survival for the oppressed when we ourselves are not the target of oppression?
While we do what we can to look after one another, I would suggest that being followers of Jesus calls us to be nothing less than ambassadors and vanguards for the least of these, including the earth itself. To courageously stand for and with those excluded from the benefits of healthcare; those who live in fear of deportation, those targeted for who they choose to be and love, and those denied the basic necessities of shelter, protection, and food. To fiercely protect the natural world and its creatures who need our voices against hoarding and misuse; while fearlessly advocating for all the world’s children, including the diseased, the infirm and the aged.
In this Season of Pentecost, may the Spirit boldly lead us to reclaim what has been disinherited from the Gospel’s message in our time.
Jessica McArdle
for the Justice Ministry
