It’s hard not to get despondent some days. Really hard.
Even though my faith is strong. Maybe because it is strong.
Faith is a double-edged sword sometimes. It can open our eyes to God’s will for our world and, in doing so, faith shows us how we fall short.
In faith, we see how God is present among us and in faith, we see how often we deny God’s presence at the same time.
That’s never been truer than today. It’s as though some of us have decided that sleight of hand, denial, and distraction will bring us to the Kingdom of God, instead of the hard work faith calls us to undertake: the work of compassion, courage, honesty, and integrity.
It won’t of course. It’s a fool’s errand.
But, still the world turns. Still, grace abounds. Strawberries are in season now. Fresh tomatoes. Blueberries are on the way and soon, the field-fresh corn on the cob that makes my mouth water just thinking about it.
I stopped at the local farm stand the other day, grateful I could still count on the seasons and their bounty of goodness. I am also pleased to support local farmers. For me, that makes the produce taste even sweeter. Even if it is a bit more expensive.
I put my mask on to go inside, get my strawberries and a couple of tomatoes. The girl running the stand was not wearing a mask though.
She hands me my strawberries in a little plastic bag and says sweetly, “have a nice day.”
I look at her incredulously. Glad she can’t see my jaw drop behind my mask.
I want to tell her: “I’m wearing this mask to protect you from me. Not to protect me from you. So, what are you saying to me by not wearing a mask? What kind of business model is that?”
But, it’s the same in the local garden center too. And lately, with an increasing number of people I see interacting in public. Not wearing a mask is becoming a political statement of personal freedom. Exactly what Saint Paul warned against in Galatians.
The freedom we have in Christ, Paul says, is not for defiant self-indulgence, but the freedom to love and serve each other (Galatians 5:13-15).
And so, my heart feels heavy many days. If it weren’t for God, I’d probably throw something and scream.
What I see unfolding around me is a simple reminder of how much leadership matters. We’ve gotten away from that idea in my lifetime. Somewhere along the line, leadership and expertise became things to be disparaged.
Governing became a silly, outdated notion. Something we would be better off without.
Now, we are living with the consequences, as the coronavirus rages here like nowhere else in the developed world. Yes, we’re number one!
As people take to the streets demanding racial justice and change, our leaders show themselves to be some combination of incompetent, uninterested, and out of touch. The exact ratio keeps changing.
I keep coming back to the story of Jesus, seeing the crowds and his heart breaking with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless; like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36).
How well that description sums up our world today. Whether it’s our response to the pandemic or our response to racial inequity and injustice.
The thing is though, that Jesus also recognized that people were crying out for God.
They needed something real, and true, to base their hope on. A world united in the love of God and not just in the fear of the Other.
Jesus could feel the hunger pangs of His people and Jesus knew that God was at work in the midst of it.
I think the same is true today.
On Sunday (6/28), the ELANCO Ministerium will be holding a Prayer Vigil in the New Holland Park Bandstand at 6:00pm. It’s just another sign that the Holy Spirit is stirring among us. Awakening us to acknowledge that we have not been the people God made us to be. Our Black sisters and brothers suffer under systems that disadvantage them and place their lives and their well-being at risk every, single day. And, that must change.
So, I will be at the Prayer Vigil on Sunday, asking God to heal us and steel us to do the work that love and justice require. That God’s will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, because none of us will be who God made us to be as long as some of us continue to suffer unjustly.
Jesus prayed that enough workers would be sent out into the fields to reap the harvest. That harvest may be even riper today.
The difference is…today, Jesus sends us. And Jesus sends us, masks and all.
Charles Oberkehr 