The revolution will not be televised

 

Luke 5: 1-11
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
February 9, 2025

Television color test pattern with the words "The revolution will not be televised" in white letters in MS DOS font on black background.

“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” is a poem and song written and recorded in 1970 by American jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron. It was intended for Black Americans, many of whom were angry and frustrated with the countless injustices from which they suffered generationally and keenly feeling the need for revolution in this country. Slavery had prevailed for 246 years, segregation for 89 years, and desegregation had existed mostly in name only since 1954. During the Vietnam War, Black men were more likely to be drafted and assigned to combat units. Despite advances in civil rights, economic conditions for Black Americans did not improve. Heroes and prophets like Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X were assassinated for speaking truth to White power.



“The revolution will not be televised” meant that if the truth is to be realized and embodied, it won’t be on television. If people are going to join the revolution, it won’t be because they heard about it on television. A revolution is not popular because of its messaging. A revolution is a revolution precisely because it disrupts and disturbs the status quo.



Here are some of the lyrics:



The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In four parts without commercial interruptions

The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb
Or Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell
Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdinck or the Rare Earth
The revolution will not be televised

The revolution will not be right back
After a message about a white tornado, white lightning or white people

The revolution will not go better with Coke
The revolution will not fight germs that may cause bad breath
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised
Will not be televised, will not be televised
The revolution will be no re-run, brothers
The revolution will be live



When Jesus called his disciples, the revolution was going live. The revolution would not happen in the places of power but with the salt of the earth who had only their livelihood and their lives to recommend them. The revolution would not take place in the safety of the shallows but in deep waters. It would not happen with those who judged themselves right with God, but with those who had been told they weren’t good enough for God.



It is good for us to be reminded that the message of the gospels for the most part was not written for people like us, people with privilege and resources. In the previous chapter in Luke, Jesus preached in his hometown synagogue, quoting from the prophet Isaiah that the Spirit of the Lord was upon him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to those whose vision is obscured, to set free the oppressed and proclaim the year of Jubilee when debts shall be repaid, slaves set free, and land returned to its original owners. He told them that the revolution had come their way other times before and they did not listen. And for that they wanted to run him out of town and toss him over a cliff.



The revolution will not be televised.



The revolution will not be televised because the first thing that must change is our minds and hearts. In a 1991 interview Gil Scott-Heron explained that we have to change our minds before we can change the way we live. The Greek word for changing one’s mind is metanoia, which translates to the word repentance.



Jesus was all about changing minds and hearts. One of the first minds, first hearts that needed to change was Simon Peter’s. He thought he wasn’t good enough to be part of this revolution – “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” Jesus saw right through that and replied with “Do not be afraid.” In other words, “I see who you are, all of you, everything about you, and I want you to help me with my mission of love that is unconditional, unmerited, unlimited. Self-gift, and now I will show you how to share it with others.”



The revolution will not be televised because how do you televise the human heart? And it is a transformation of the human heart that is desperately needed right now. We want things to change but we also want to keep what we have. Self-gift and self-interest cannot coexist. And self-interest is running and ruining the world.



They will try to televise the revolution with a tidal wave of executive orders. They will try to televise the revolution by declaring there are only two genders. They will try to televise the revolution by taking funding away from agencies that help families and children get the help they need and tearing down websites with public health data and research outcomes.



So if your revolution is fueled by power and anger that comes from hate and self-interest, and declaring there are only two genders and taking funding away from people who need help is anything but loving, then your revolution has nothing to do with Jesus or love.



But they will also try to televise the revolution by putting the protest on the six o’clock news. They will try to broadcast the revolution by posting on social media ad nauseum. They will try to televise the revolution by holding a press conference about their six-point memo and filibustering on the Senate floor. They will try to televise the revolution by removing “End racism” and putting “Choose love” and “It takes all of us” in the Super Bowl endzones. And eventually, the anger, the frustration dissipated from the revolution because we couldn’t watch it on television or witness it on social media.



Martin Luther King Jr. said, “It is not enough for people to be angry – the supreme task is to organize and unite people so their anger is a transforming force.” The same is true for love. It is not enough for people to love unconditionally. The supreme task is to organize and unite people so their love is a transforming force.



This is the revolution: how has your encounter with the gospel, with unconditional love changed your life, changed how you live your life? When did you realize that you are more than ‘good enough’? Because you are, you know. How has your encounter with Jesus and his topsy-turvy kin-dom where the last come first changed how you live your life? Because when you love yourself without reservation, you can’t help but share that love with others. When you welcome those whom empire steps on as friends and neighbors, as beloveds, your life is never the same and you can’t go back. An untelevised revolution has taken place.



The revolution will not be televised.
There are injustices that cannot be allowed to continue.
At times it feels like we are being unrealistically idealistic,
this hope, this faith, this love that struggles to live in us.
The risks are real, working without a net in deep waters,
Maybe we’ll dream, dream big, maybe build affordable housing,
It might feel like we’re in over our heads.
Do not be afraid.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will be live.
Alive in you. Alive in us.
Are you in?

Benediction

– a riff on a monologue by Alok Vaid-Menon, gender nonconforming artist and comedian



I know that everything in the world feels wrong
But you are a reminder of precisely everything that is right
There are many days you may feel scared or impossible or both
Especially these days
But then there are those living their truth with their rainbow hair and their rainbow heart
So remember that impossible is a suggestion
And that you are a part of something so much greater than yourself
And the revolution is your heart, quaking in its boots,
And holding the hand of another person
Saying “Yes, Lord, send me.”