Loading...There is no doubt that the events of this week have been momentous,
and even for the bookies in Reno and Las Vegas, surprising.
For some, it’s been viewed as a return to conservative fiscal policies and smaller government.
For others, it’s been a breath-taking blow and a loss for gains in consumer protection, equality, and human rights.
You and I and your neighbors are all feeling something.
This big ol’ boat that we’re all on is rockin’
and it’s hard to know how to keep our footing
especially when you don’t know for how long the disturbance will last,
nor how it will all end up.
We aren’t the only ones to know what it means to feel unsure or even lost.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa lived under the horrors of apartheid for many years, and he helped South Africa emerge from that into new life. He is the author of the sequence hymn that we just sang before and after our Gospel text today, and I commend the song to you. Take the bulletin home with you and put that page up on your refrigerator to remind you of his prayer.
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In Jesus’ time, there was significant disturbance.
Fifty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, when Luke actually wrote down the words in his Gospel, there was significant disturbance. Indeed, in some ways, much worse than in Jesus’ time. The Temple had already been destroyed, and Jesus’ followers were being persecuted.
Before all of that by at least 500 years, when Malachi – the prophet who had no name, just a title (“Malachi” literally means “my prophet”) – was active, there was significant disturbance.
Indeed, the unsettling “unknown-outcome” times of history seem to be more the norm than not.
In Malachi’s time,
the Israelite people had recently returned from exile in Babylon.
They’d been in exile for more than a generation,
so when they returned “home”,
everything felt somewhat foreign and new.
They rebuilt the 1st Temple that had been demolished
and they tried to rebuild society.
But they stuck back in all of the inequality,
all of the arrogance,
all of the “money runs everything” that God and the prophets
had been calling them away from for years!
And the evildoers were flourishing.
AGAIN.
Yet in the face of all of that and of all the warnings about their arrogance,
and the call for the people to return to God,
Malachi reminded them (and us) that
“the sun of righteousness shall rise,
with healing in its wings.” (v. 2a)
In the midst of re-forming as a community
and the chaos that followed the Israelites back home
and the inequalities and evil that dogged them,
“My Prophet” reminded them of God’s promise in their midst.
Malachi reminded the people of God’s promise
which gives wholeness and healing.
Not unlike Archbishop Tutu reminding us all of God’s promise through his prayer, the words of our song today.
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As Christians, we hear “Jesus” when we hear “Sun of Righteousness”,
in large part because of the Christmas carol.
As Christians, we believe Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise of life.
Yet, when he speaks as he does in today’s Gospel,
we wonder where the promise is.
These words are confusing and confounding!
He sounds like he’s one of the prophets of old, like Malachi or Jeremiah.
It’s hard to know if he’s talking about something specific
that’s going to happen.
And, if so, when.
(And, of course, there are plenty of prognostigators around
to tell us what he meant!):
Wars and insurrections,
Nation against nation,
Kingdom against kingdom,
Earthquakes, famines, and plagues,
Dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
People against people
Hatred and anger
Greed and violence.
Chaos everywhere.
It sounds like Jesus has been reading our newspapers!
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Whether in Malachi’s time, or Jesus’ time,
(or Luke’s time; and by then, the Temple had been destroyed
and Jesus’ followers were being persecuted),
Or, our own time,
whenever and wherever it seems as though people are turning against one another that greed and violence are getting the upper hand or that hatred and violence are prevelant,
we have this promise.
We have this promise,
the promise given in creation,
repeated to a people who’d been enslaved
and who wandered to find a home,
repeated to the communities who turned on one another
and ended up in exile
but who were brought home again to rebuild,
not just the Temple,
but a loving and kind community.
The promise was repeated in The One
born of outsiders who were part of a persecuted people,
and who was a refugee,
and who ate with, healed, and loved those whom society shoved aside.
The promise was repeated by The One who brought
wholeness and compassion in his life lived and given for you.
The promise was repeated to you as you were claimed by God in baptism,
and is repeated to you as you receive
the Bread of heaven and the Cup of salvation.
The promise is repeated when you remember the promise made,
and when you share the goodness and love that you know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whatever the election means for economics, foreign policy or domestic policy, you are called to remember the love you’ve been given
and you are called to live deeply in that love by sharing it.
Did you know that today (November 13th) has been designated “World Kindness Day”? A specific day with the encouragement to be kind and generous with each other. (But, of course, not limited to this one day!)
I found this list of ways to show kindness in a Huffington Post article about World Kindness Day. While some of these items might seem simple, even bordering on trite, they are not. They are real, especially when motivated by your good intentions:
1. Smile at a stranger (note, not just at someone you know, but a stranger)
2. Hold the door for another, and wish them a good day.
3. Donate money to a cause or organization that is personally meaningful.
4. Offer a genuine compliment (not about another’s appearance, but their character or work).
5. Volunteer.
6. Write a thank you note.
**7. Forgive someone and work for reconciliation. “Spread kindness by extending it to someone you once thought didn’t deserve it.”
8. Help someone who looks like they’re struggling.
9. Give a loved one a hug, e.g. offer safe physical touch.
10. Take a dog for a walk (or, if you don’ t have a dog handy, take your cat for a walk, or yourself).
11. Look in the mirror at yourself and say one nice thing.
(This list was put together by Lindsay Holmes of Huffington Post)
I especially think #7 is important. It may be, of all those wonderful suggestions, the kindest thing you can do.
Now, doing these things won’t undo the election or fix everything or convince God that you’re good enough (because you cannot undo the election, there are too many things to fix, and God already loves you as you are).
But, we can do these things to care for one another.
We can do these things because we love one another.
This is our calling in life.
This is what Jesus invites us to do and be.
This is how we live and thrive in the midst of the unknown, of chaos,
and of change.
We live trusting in the promise and love of God,
loving one another, especially the vulnerable and scared,
so that we all know that we are not alone.
Amen
