"One day we will have to stand before the God of history and we will talk in terms of things we have done ... It seems that I can hear the God of history saying, 'That was not enough! But I was hungry, and ye fed me not. I was naked, and ye clothed me not. I was devoid of a decent sanitary house to live in, and ye provided no shelter for me. And consequently, you cannot enter the kingdom of greatness. If ye do it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye do it unto me.' That is the question facing America today."
--"Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution"
Martin Luther King, Jr. April 9, 1968
(His last Sunday sermon, delivered at Washington National Cathedral)
I used this portion of MLK's sermon at our National Cathedral in one of my sermons a few weeks ago. MLK delivered this sermon to the very heart of White Protestant power, and challenged "People of Good Will" to actually do something for the poor rather than just talk about it and wring their hands.Last night, I attended yet another Waukesha City Plan Commission Meeting. A well-regarded Minnesota developer was presenting a plan to create 60 units of affordable workforce housing within the City of Waukesha. They were really nice plans - these would be apartments for people in the 20k-50K income range. There would be Federal help in the ways of tax breaks to build the units, but there would be no subsidy for the residents. The proposed housing density was much lower than the surrounding subdivisions and it had a surprising amount of green space. It would have appealed to starting professionals such as teachers, police, nurses, etc. who have been made homeless by the recession or are not ready yet for home ownership. It was in a non-zoned parcel surrounded on two sides by commercial land and on the other two sides by single-family residential. On the city's master plan, it was marked for residential. An obvious win-win, right? It might be, outside the Kingdom of NIMBY.
For those of you unaware of the Kingdom of NIMBY, it is an overriding dominion that we are all a part of. It is always a temptation to value our own individual or small group good over the good of the wider community. Sometimes, this can be good - a protection of minority rights. NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) is when a majority acknowledges a need, but those around the project decide that their individual good is more important. In my experience with NIMBY, it's almost always couched in the form of, "This is a really worthy thing, but I don't want it anywhere near me."
Last night was a typical expression of the power of NIMBY. People thought the developer had done a good job, and everybody thought that affordable housing was a great thing, but they all wanted it somewhere else, preferably not near them. Then began the predictable deflections of guilt always present in when NIMBY is in overdrive, "Have them come back with Senior Housing. We'd be OK with that." In other words, "We'd be OK with Grannies, but we don't want 'poor' people." Of course, this made no rational sense, as a senior housing project would require HIGHER density population, causing larger traffic problems, etc. I can't say I'm surprised that the board made the predictable political decision to decline the request rather than evaluate the project using rational means.
But where it turned really wrong, and I saw the Kingdom of NIMBY in direct conflict with the Kingdom of God was an exchange after the meeting. I was standing with the Director of a a local Non-Profit (let's call her Laurie.) She had responded passionately at the meeting to the implications that renters were irresponsible, being a renter herself. One of the residents, who had used the standard NIMBY lines I have heard from everyone at countless meetings at this point, came up to her and tried to take her aside. Laurie refused, so the resident said, "You know, we've been praying for you." "What?" replied Laurie, "What do you mean by that?." "We know you've been having health problems." "Well," said Laurie, "I've been praying that someone will allow us to build affordable housing for the working poor that I have in my shelter, but so far, that hasn't happened. Maybe you should start praying for them."
This exchange floored me. Obviously, I was proud of Laurie. But the bigger question is, what DID the other woman mean? What was the possible purpose of her statement? I think it was something like this, "You know, my actions might make you THINK I'm not a Christian, but I do pray, so.." So what? so ... "I'm a good person" or "don't judge me" or "say something nice so I won't feel so bad?" I'm proud that Laurie didn't affirm any of this. Sometimes, guilt over real wrongs done can be a catalyst for change.
Christ taught us that if we do not take care of the least of these, all of our prayers are like so much noise in the ears of God. St. Lawrence taught us that the poor are the treasure of the church. I am weary of hearing "Good Christian People" starting sentences with, "I don't want to sound Unchristian, but.." while watching people of other faiths or none at all stand up for the poor. I would like to hear people who claim to follow our Lord start to sound Christian instead of making excuses. I would love to see Christians start to act out of faith and hope in Jesus' words rather than out of irrational fear. 42 Years after Martin Luther King Jr. articulated the truth that rang in our National Cathedral, the challenge still rings all the way to Wisconsin. Who do you serve when the chips are down? Which Kingdom are you a subject of, God's or NIMBY? The question that faced America in 1968 still faces us today.
David+






