There are real issues of justice and mercy afoot around questions of race, the role of government, equality in marriage, income disparity, immigration, a Church claiming the desire to be relevant but not willing see itself as part of the problem about why it isn't...
Meanwhile, Baltimore burns. Baltimore, the place where Methodism became a Church in 1784, needs our prayers for its leaders who can lead well through chaos. And as a country we need to be honest about what drives people to such reactions. MLK called rioting "the language of the unheard." I suspect that's right.
For faith leaders in the midst of it all...especially our sister and brother United Methodists, Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
As I heard of what was transpiring in Baltimore through the postings of a childhood friend who lives there, I kept asking myself, "what would it take for that to happen in Memphis." My answer came swiftly, "not much, I suspect."
Yeah, we need leaders who can lead through chaos in all sorts of avenues of our lives. I look at those elected to office under the auspices of representing people, and I want to puke.
And while there's much to complain about in Washington, I don't need to leave The Volunteer State to see ineptitude and ignorance at the highest level.
What's that quote about "we get the government we deserve?" Lord, have mercy.
Here's a clue, if you're more interested in making the Bible your "state" book than you are living into the instructions contained therein about tending to the least among us, you're an idiot at best or an idolater at worst.
And then there's the Church.
Some claim the Church and its institutions are under attack and must be protected at all costs.
I keep looking for Jesus in that notion, and I'm not finding him. In fact, I think I'm more likely to find him keeping company with those who cause the Church to grumble and conspire all kinds of things to justify why we can't/mustn't change the ways we do things.
Thurgood Marshall said, "What we owe to ourselves and everyone around is to examine the reasons for our true intent. My intent will be evident in the results."
And it is here I find myself returning to words that have become mantra for my ministry, my journey:
Jesus doesn't need you to defend him. He's just fine. You know that whole rose on the third day thing? Rather, he needs you to follow him and his words, most notable among them are "Love God with all you have and are, and love what God loves."
Our true intent here is evidenced in whether our love for God's people is greater than the institutions invoking God's name. Do we love our position on an issue, any issue/any side of it, more than the One we claim to follow?
If we love God and all God loves first and most, seems to me we hear the cries of the weary and downcast over the bloviating "shout fire in a crowded theater" opinion makers. By the way, you know what opinions are like, right? Everybody has one, and some of these folks are.
If we love God and all God loves first and most then in the face of systemic injustice (be it religious or governmental, but especially religious) our voices begin to sound a helluva lot like Jeremiah's:
"For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,
saying, “Peace, peace,”
when there is no peace.
They acted shamefully, they committed abomination;
yet they were not ashamed,
they did not know how to blush."
