There is a vigorous debate happening in American society right now between people who say that “black lives matter” and people who say that “all lives matter.” I think most of you know the reasoning behind both statements. “All lives matter” is actually a response to “black lives matter.” People who want to say “all lives matter” point out that in fact all life is important. It doesn’t matter what color you are, your life is important. Your life matters.
Black Lives Matter advocates actually agree with this, but point out that in reality black lives in our country are valued less than white lives. Black lives are clearly valued less by the criminal justice system at every step of the process, from being stopped by the police, to use of lethal and non-lethal force by the police, to conviction and incarceration rates. Black lives are valued less in the education system when schools with mostly black children have fewer resources than schools with mostly white children. Black lives are valued less in the workplace when people with black sounding names can’t even get an interview. Black Lives Matter advocates say that it is true that all lives should matter the same, but in American society all lives don’t matter same. Black lives are devalued so it must be said that “black lives matter”.
Notice that no other advocates for a group or a cause are corrected for advocating for themselves. When there is a fund raiser for breast cancer no one says “Shouldn’t you be raising money for all cancers?” When a group advocates for more green space in Towson, no one says “Shouldn’t you really advocate for green space everywhere?” When police are honored for their bravery and sacrifice in the line of duty no one says “Hey, all professions matter.” Black people are the only ones that are being corrected for advocating for themselves.
So, you know which side of the debate I come down on. But, I don’t just support Black Lives Matter causes for rational reasons. I also look to scripture and find over and over again that in scripture those who are being oppressed matter more to God. “But wait, don’t all people matter the same to God?” Well, in Scripture, no. They don’t. The oppressed, the poor, the victims of injustice matter more to God. To illustrate that let’s look at our reading today.
The story of Passover is an awful story. In the story God sends a spirit of death to kill every firstborn child and animal in Egypt. God warns only the Hebrew people that this is coming and instructs them to sacrifice a lamb and put the blood on their doorposts so that the spirit of death will pass over their homes and their first born will be spared.
The reason for this spirit of death is because Pharaoh has been brutally oppressing the Hebrew people for many years. They go from being free people in Egypt to being slaves. Yet, they flourish. Pharoah increases demands on their work production while giving them fewer resources to accomplish the work. They continue to flourish. Then Pharaoh begins a program of genocide by ordering all Hebrew boys to be killed at birth. In response to this oppression, God calls on Pharaoh through Moses to “Let my people go.” Until Pharaoh gives the Hebrew people freedom and justice God sends plagues upon Egypt, culminating in this greatest plague that will kill all the firstborn. Clearly in this story God is on the side of the Hebrew people. This is not an “all lives matter” story. In fact a lot of lives are going to be lost in this story. This is unapologetically, uncomfortably and violently a Hebrew lives matter story. In this story and throughout the Old Testament God cares more for the oppressed than the oppressor. Of course, God cares for both, but until there is justice, God picks a side.
The Passover meal or Seder meal in the Jewish tradition is a way to remember that night when God chose Hebrew lives over Egyptian lives. When God chose the oppressed over the oppressor. It is a way for the Hebrew people to remember and proclaim that their lives matter in a world that will attempt to devalue their lives. We live in a world of oppression and violence, where one group will always seek power over another. The less powerful must always fight for their lives.
I don’t think I can advocate for Black Lives Matter causes more strongly. Black people in American society are disproportionately targeted, profiled, harassed, incarcerated, underfunded and under employed, and because of that oppression God is on their side. Black lives matter to God.
Having said that let me take a turn in what may be a surprising direction. The Communion meal in the Christians tradition is an “all lives matter” meal, but in a very different way than that phrase is used to correct Black Lives Matter advocates. When Jesus, who was Jewish, sat down with his Jewish disciples for the Passover meal on the night before his arrest, he radically re-interpreted the meaning of that meal. He took the unleavened bread that had been a symbol of the hurried escape from Egyptian slavery and he said “This bread is now a symbol of my body.” He broke the bread and said, “Like this bread my body will be broken for you.” We then ask the question, who is “you”? Is it the disciples, the Jews, or all people? Followers of Jesus from very early on proclaim that Jesus was speaking to all people. Jesus is about to choose a non-violent, self-giving, self-sacrificing martyrdom as an example for all people to follow. He says, “I could escape what’s about to happen, but I’m giving myself away as an example for all of you. If you want to save your lives you must lose them. If you want to find me from now on, look to those in society who are being crucified. All people should seek me in the lives of the suffering and oppressed of the world.”
Also, in the Passover meal there are four cups of wine that symbolize four scriptural statements from the Exodus story. The four statements are from God to the people about their release from slavery. The statements are, “I will take you out”, “I will save you”, “I will redeem you,” and “I will take you as a nation”. Each cup corresponds to one of those statements of release. We don’t know if there were four cups at the time Jesus was celebrating with his disciples, but we know he again radically reinterprets the meaning of the wine. He says, “This cup is now my blood that is poured out for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” Again this could be just for the disciples, or just for the Jews, or it could be for everyone. And again, Christians since the very beginning of the movement have affirmed this is an offer of forgiveness for everyone.
But, remember here the old evangelical saying, “God’s forgiveness is free, but it is not cheap.” On the cross Jesus demonstrated what injustice looks like. Jesus showed the world what oppression looks like. Oppression and injustice involve innocent, bloody, broken bodies. Oppression and injustice involve innocents being wrongly convicted, tortured, and executed by those in power. Mothers, brothers, friends cry out in grief for loved ones murdered or executed through the systems of oppression and injustice. People flee in fear because of oppression and injustice. That all happened at the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus was saying when he poured out the cup, “This flowing blood is what injustice looks like. God can release all lives from this system. God can release the oppressed and the oppressor from this violence. But you have to look it.”
He is lifting up this symbol and saying “Look at this broken body. Look at this blood. You have to be honest about what’s going on. You have to real. You have to do the hard work to correct injustice. You have to do the hard work of giving your power and privilege away or of taking your share of power and privilege back. Whatever side of the relationship you are on, you have to do the hard work of reconciling with the other side. God forgives you all, but people are still being crucified. What are you going to do about that?”
So let’s come back to where we started with an expanded perspective. Black lives matter because oppressed lives matter. For the same reason Native American lives matter, and gay lives matter, and homeless lives matter, and women’s lives matter. And yes, white lives do matter, but not in the same way. Because in America whites have power and privilege over others. So in America God is standing with the less powerful and less privileged. God is calling the powerless to rise up and overthrow the oppressor. God is calling the oppressor to “let my people go.”
All lives do matter to God. We are all loved. We are all forgiven. And yet, people are still being crucified. As long as they are, crucified lives matter more.
If we are not being crucified. If we have some power or some privilege in this society, and we all have some, then at the Communion table we are called to step down from our power. If we are being crucified and our power is being taken away and our privilege is denied in this society, and we all know at least a little of that from time to time, then at this table we are called to rise up and claim our power again.
Regardless, when we receive this symbol of a broken, bleeding body we all stand on level ground around the table. When we drink this symbol of poured out blood, we stand side by side and face to face. At the Communion table we proclaim in this world of violence and oppression that crucified lives matter more to all of us.
Govans Presbyterian Church 
Very interesting perspective