This commentary is by Rev. Devon Thomas, who serves the Second Congregational Church in Hyde Park, Second Congregational Church in Jeffersonville and the United Church of Bakersfield and Fairfield.
The season of Easter is when people of faith remember a man who entered a hostile state capital to give voice to people who had no voice within a system of imperial and religious oppression.
In coming to Jerusalem, Jesus Christ was living into a Jewish tradition of advocacy that we see depicted to us in the Book of Proverbs: “Speak out on behalf of the voiceless, and for the rights of all who are vulnerable. Speak out in order to judge with righteousness and to defend the needy and the poor” (31: 8-10), and which Jesus revived in his call that the “Last shall be first and the first shall be last. (Matt 20:16).
I think many of us who celebrate the Easter season forget that this time is intimately linked to a radical message of social justice. I hold on to the hope that Vermont’s people of faith, both those who attend church and those who do not, will heed the message of Easter and recognize that, even though many of our politicians represent our values, we each still have an individual responsibility to actively give voice to those who struggle to be heard.
And just because many of us are returning to what feels like a post-pandemic normal, for many of our neighbors, things have never been stable or normal and their voices remain unheard. Vermonters have a powerful voice and we have a responsibility to use it.
As states like Kentucky and Tennessee wrestle to enact meaningful gun-control legislation, Vermont has that ability to refine and demonstrate what effective gun control can look like. Similarly, we can continue to protect the rights of women by keeping FDA-approved contraceptives available to women who choose to use them. Vermont can protect the rights of our LGBTQ+ neighbors and youth by affirming their presence in school classrooms and sports.
Also, as our nation strives to fairly regulate housing and aid those struggling with poverty and homelessness, we can encourage our state legislators to reform the state’s housing policies in ways that demonstrate to the world the things needed to permanently house and sustain all residents. And we can provide clean energy opportunities equitably and fairly to all of our residents.
We are presently a nation frozen and inactive in addressing the most important issues of our century, and I do pray for those who struggle to be heard over the clamor of oppression. Their struggle is real and their resilience is inspiring.
The power of the people is not simply to elect those who agree with us so they can do the work of change for us. All voices must be set free to hold our elected officials accountable and reflective of the common good, especially those whose voices are presently stifled.
I raise as examples my clergy colleagues in Lamoille County, who are organizing an interfaith prayer service on June 3 at Blessed Sacrament Church in Stowe to raise money for neighbors living in poverty; or my neighbors who host and participate in the drag queen story hour; or the folks at Jenna’s Promise in Johnson who give those suffering from drug addiction a second chance.
These grass-root missions of change are just some of the many examples of the powerful voices all Vermonters have to make a difference. And that is what this season of Easter is about.
