Monday, November 6, 2023

Sermon from Oct 8, 2023- Celebrating Cuban Independence Day

 

Rev. George Miller

Oct 8, 2023

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

 

Today we celebrate Cuban Independence Day.  To do so, there are 2 things we’ll discuss- colonialization and Carlos Manuel.

 

Colonialization is the act in which people from one country go to another and take it over.  It is a nation saying “We want your land, we want your resources, and to do so we will annihilate, humiliate or enslave your people.”

 

This is what Spain did in the 1500’s, and Spain did very well.  Places like Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippians, and Cuba.

 

Colonialization is not simple, easy, romantic, or violent free.

 

 

Spain came to Cuba with military might, saying “This is ours,” building a fort, using violence, acts of oppression, often empowered by the consent of the Church to force the people of the land to speak their language, worship their God, and enslave them.

 

Colonization has forever shaped our world, from Jamaica to Hawaii, St. Augustine to India, Hong Kong to the Philippines.

 

Then, there is Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, known as Father of the Fatherland.  Are you ready to hear the chisme, or gossip, about him?

 

Carlos was a man of means. The owner of a sugar plantation.  He was an artist, a writer, a musician who composed songs about amor.

 

Carlos was a great lover.  Chisme tells us that he had 2 wives, 2 lovers, and 10 kids. 

 

There was wife number 1- Maria.  Wife number 2- Ana.  There was Cambula, the 17-year-old daughter of his foreman, and then there was the Widow Francessca.

 

Like Jacob, Carlos was protective of his family.  When there was the threat of danger, he sent Cambula and their child to Jamaica.

 

Carlos was another kind of lover- of his country and the people.  He didn’t like being under the rule of Spain; he didn’t like being a slave owner.

 

That is why, on Oct 10, 1868, he gathered the enslaved people of the plantation, announced that they were all free, then gave what is known as the “10th of October Manifesto.”

 

In this Manifesto, Carlos said “We know our rights.  We want to enjoy the freedom for whose use God created…”

 

“We profess the dogma of brotherhood…tolerance, justice and consider all men equal, abolish slavery…compensate whoever is harmed…”

 

This became known as the “Cry of the Yara”, beginning  a battle for independence that lasted decades.

 

Carlos freed the people of the plantation, and spoke for the chance to live in equality, connecting so unbelievably well to today’s reading. 

 

Here we have the story of Moses, a member of our extended faith family, who has just come back from a meeting with God.

 

Moses is standing before all the nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, cousins, grandparents, neighbors.

 

He says to them- “Hear this, family of faith, the great I AM who made promises to Abraham, who heard your cries, who set you free from the Pharoah.”

 

“The Lord has brought you out of your oppression and has given you 10 Commandments to live your best life.  Love God.”

 

Moses continues- “So that you, your children and your children’s children can live their best life, love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, all your might.”

 

“Respect the Lord, keep these commandments, teach them to your kids, your nieces, your grandsons.  Let these words dwell in your head, let them exist within your homes.  Then you all will live as if heaven is here on earth.”

 

In keeping with the theme of the past month, it is best we don’t think of the word “you” as singular, self-centered, and independent.  Think of “you” as plural, expansive, and community based.

 

Just like Carlos Manuel, Moses is standing before the masses speaking words of equality, liberty, and the healing of oppressive wounds.

 

Just like Carols Manuel, Moses is not speaking to just one person, but he is speaking to many, for the benefit of all.

 

This passage today is pure beauty; it is pure romance. 

 

This is God conveying to the masses that we are a people created for goodness, we are created for equality, we are created for love-

 

To be loved and to love in return.

 

Today’s reading is not about an angry God saying “I saw that and you are going to burn in hell.”

 

Nor is today’s reading about a God who says “I side on the one’s in power who enslave, kill and coerce.”

 

This is about the God who made a promise to our extended faith family a long time ago about place, purpose, and people.

 

This is about the God who continuously works through our extended faith family, no matter the mistakes we make, the obstacles we face, the hopeless situations we are in, or the times we feel the most forgotten.

 

Just as we celebrate Cuba’s Cry of the Yara, today we celebrate the Call from God to Love and to Love and to be loved in Return.

 

For in loving God, loving one another, we experience the greatest freedoms there are.

 

Amen.

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