(I’m not preaching this Sunday but if you want to see the lectionary readings for the twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost they are here. I reference the reading from Matthew.)
I was watching something in the Marvel Universe this past week and one of the characters said, “Imagine a world where information can’t be trusted.” I quit paying attention to the plot of the show for a good while as I pondered this statement.
I don’t have to imagine because we live in such a world. A world where people are willing to both give and receive false information in order to stay stagnant because they think maintaining the status quo is better than living this amazing journey of life.
We have an excess of information at our fingertips, and we must be wary of the source. Anyone can make up anything about any event or any person and post it as if it were true and claim that it is News. The word “news” has lost its credibility. If a news outlet (or any other source of information) tells us who we are to fear, what we are to be angry about, if their facts are interspersed with the mockery of any group, if they say things like “no one else is telling this story” they are not presenting the news. They are attempting to manipulate our emotions for the sole purpose of increasing their ratings and making more money.
And their sole purpose is so very damaging to our souls. Pay attention to what you are feeling and experiencing when you watch your chosen news outlet. Pay attention to your reaction if you don’t get to watch it for an extended period of time. Our emotional and physical reactions to our world are there to tell us something and we need to listen so that we can respond outwardly better.
I’m not being Pollyanna here – I know this world is scary and dangerous. It is also beautiful and wondrous. We live in the tension of this. We live in the tension of human beings who are created in the loving and beautiful image of our Loving God, who also choose to cause harm to their fellow image bearers. I have absolutely no idea how to solve this tension. I do know, however, that it isn’t my job, or your job, or anyone else’s job to fix it. I’m not saying don’t be angry, just to let the anger teach you something and make the choice to focus the energy from it on being and doing good things. I’m saying let God be God and let’s focus on following Jesus.
Jesus gives us the command to love: to love God, our neighbor, and ourselves with our whole being. Love, as Jesus shows us in flesh and blood how to love, is the antidote for the dangers and harm in this world. God has given us the promise that God will set things right in God’s time and in God’s way. We are created and called to parter with God, to live and love on this earth as if God has already restored earth and heaven to be as God intends.
Why are we unable to learn that violence does not end violence. Ever. Not in thousands of years of human history. Why are we not willing to hear Jesus say that love is the greatest power in all of creation.
When I hear of another incident of gun violence, when I see the reports of the wars in this world I feel pain and grief, and yes, even anger. To only react with these emotions will cause harm to my soul and to others. To respond to these emotions by expressing my fear and sadness in prayers of lament and then asking how I can be a part of the antidote and seeking ways to reveal the light of God’s love in the darkness is living into God’s image and that is good for all of our souls.
On November 1, we are having a service of remembrance at St. Francis by the Lake (if you are in the neighborhood come at join us at 6pm, if not, it will be live-streamed on our YouTube channel). Part of the service is a time for folks to light a candle and speak the names of loved ones who have died. I’m preparing special candles for the people who have died in the Palestine-Isreal war, the Ukraine-Russia war, and for the people who have died by gun violence in the US. I wanted some way to be able to speak their names, all of them, but I don’t know how to locate such lists and I realized quickly that the list would be miles long and at the moment I printed it, it would be out of date. My heart and soul ache for the senseless deaths of all of these image-bearing human beings. We must do better. We can be better.
So, lets imagine a world where Love is the guiding power. It’s easy if we try. Jesus shows and tells us what this kind of world is like. God created us to live this way. What if we let the energy spurred in us by anger empower us to live the antidote to harm and violence rather than perpetuate it? More war, more violence, more hatred isn’t solving anything yet we keep trying that. Let’s try something else. Let’s try a revolution of love in our corners of the world, in our circles of influence however small or big. Ponder something this week that you can do to help you focus on loving better as an image bearer of our Loving God. Imagine.
Mother Nancy's Coffee Thoughts 