LAMENT AND HOPE
Well this has been one heck of a week. It was supposed to be our seminarian Will Negron’s turn to share the good news, but Will is sick with COVID. On Tuesday, Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother in the face, drove away with her car which he crashed into a ditch near Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where he murdered 19 students and 2 teachers. Friday morning, Marilee called to tell me that her father, Dr. James Reinertson, had died in his sleep. I know other members of this faith community are struggling with sorrows of their own. So, let me begin this morning with this blessing by Jan Richardson. The title is “The Blessing You Should Not Tell Me.”
Do not tell me there will be a blessing in the breaking, that it will ever be a grace to wake into this life so altered … so without.
Do not tell me of the blessing that will come in the absence.
Do not tell me that what does not kill me will make me strong,
or that God will not send me more than I can bear.
Do not tell me this will make me more compassionate, more loving, more holy.
Do not tell me this will make me more grateful for what I had.
Do not tell me I was lucky.
Do not even tell me there will be a blessing.
Give me instead the blessing of breathing with me.
Give me instead the blessing of sitting with me
when you cannot think of what to say.
Give me instead the blessing of asking about them —
… of what I loved most about the life we shared;
ask for a story or tell me one
because a story is, finally, the only place on earth they live now.
If you could know what grace lives in such a blessing,
you would never cease to offer it.
If you could glimpse the solace and sweetness that abide there,
you would never wonder if there was a blessing you could give
that would be better than this —
the blessing of your own heart opened and beating with mine.
Amen.
Now for a powerful, heartwarming story shared on Facebook by our member Megan Lewis. She wrote, “My youngest son has been sitting with a sign at different times in Moorhead. This was posted by someone there. It’s little things.” Megan then shared what the unnamed person had posted: 2 pictures of Jay and the following text: Did you see Jay yesterday? I was awake half the night Saturday into Sunday contemplating suicide. It was one of the worst nights of my life. On Sunday morning, I was out running errands and saw this young man quietly sitting on the corner. I stopped my car and got out. “I just want to thank you for being here,” I said, “Last night I was thinking of ending my life, and here you are.” He hugged me and we both cried. Jay was one of the first middle schoolers I confirmed as pastor here at St. Stephen’s. Since then he has moved to Minnesota, where he works repairing shoes. Jay has his own story to tell that includes much soul searching and discernment aided by deep and intense Bible study. Every now and then, over the years, Jay messages me, usually with biblical or theological questions. Sitting on a corner holding a sign that says, “You are loved” is not a little thing. It’s a huge thing. Most times when we see folks sitting on corners with signs, we expect them to be asking for handouts. Yet here is Jay sitting on a corner proclaiming the gospel. His message is not one of those “repent and believe … Jesus is coming” evangelism ploys. Jay’s sign is a simple proclamation of the good news that “you are loved.” This is the foundation, the core of the gospel: God loves the world so much … God loves you so much… Well done, Jay! You have set an example for all of us.
If someone had shared that gospel message with Salvador Ramos, his story might have ended very differently. We have two more stories to contemplate this morning. The first is Psalm 97. Technically it is a poem to be chanted or sung in worship. But like many poems and songs it tells a story — a story about God. It goes like this.
God is king. God’s glory and power are behind clouds, thick darkness, fire, lightning, and thunder that make the earth tremble and mountains melt. But God’s rule is not actually based on power and brute force. It is rooted in righteousness and justice. The heavens rejoice in God’s righteousness and justice. Yet human responses are mixed. Humans tend to give their allegiance to things that are not God (a.k.a. idols). The result is evil experienced as unrighteousness and injustice in the world. The psalm reminds us that in this messy, dangerous world God’s love and faithfulness surround us, and in the end will prevail.
This story lifts up two biblical concepts: righteousness and justice. Righteousness is about right relationships. It is about doing, declaring, and bringing about what is right, true, and faithful (1) in our relationship with God, and (2) in our relationships with family, friends, neighbors, strangers, even enemies. Biblical justice is about relationships in communities (a.k.a. social justice). It requires recognition, repentance, restitution, and restoration of relationships in community. Hence it is called restorative justice to distinguish it from the kinds of justice that focus primarily on punishment and revenge. Restorative justice is rooted in universal equality, personal responsibility, radical generosity, and life-changing advocacy for the orphan, widow, foreigner, the poor, and marginalized.
In our second scripture story this morning we get to listen in on Jesus praying for us. Jesus, Son of God is talking to God the Father about us. We are a topic for discussion among the members of the Holy Trinity. To quote Professor Mary Hinkle Shore,
At the center of the prayer in John 17 is the relationship that the first and second members of the Trinity share … Jesus prays that those who follow him may be drawn into the life of the Holy Trinity … into the relationship that exists between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (workingpreacher.org, 2010).
Jesus’ prayer for us indicates we are important to God, that God-Christ-Holy Spirit want to be in relationship with us. Seriously! The Holy Trinity yearns to be in relationship with you, with each of you, and all of us together. God-Christ-Spirit want us to experience the same relationship that the Trinity enjoys within itself. For real!
Jesus talks about this relationship 10 times in 5 verses using the language of oneness and mutual indwelling. The oneness of God-Christ-Spirit is agape love. This love is not rooted in our feelings and emotions. We cannot manufacture it or paste it onto ourselves. Agape love is a gift and a choice to live into. It grows out of our relationship with God. Like the branches of a vine, we are nurtured by God-Christ-Spirit to bear the fruit of love: tending, feeding, bearing witness, and breaking barriers for love. Agape love shows up in our lives as a behavior-shaping attitude toward the world and all its inhabitants. Without it, righteousness and justice cannot exist. (Meda Stamper, “The creative love of God,” 2022, workingpreacher.org).
Please pray with me:
Holy God, pour out your love abundantly like a river, like flood waters, overflowing in our hearts. In your love we grow in love. Give us the courage to share your love with all the world. Amen.
