06/15/2020
Well, this is a rough gospel passage, isn't it? It seems as if an awful lot of people are going to be disappointed when they come to enter the kingdom of heaven. It sounds as if Jesus is saying that even though some people think they've been doing good things, Jesus is going to say to them, I never knew you. And worse than that, Jesus will call these people evildoers.
Somehow, that doesn’t seem like the Jesus we know from the Gospels. Shouldn’t Jesus be healing people, casting out demons, cleansing lepers? Of course, the real question is what does this passage say about us? Are we the ones who are in danger of being cast out? If we say, “Lord, Lord,” what will Jesus’ answer be to us?
Well, that certainly makes us squirm, doesn’t it. That’s okay. It’s good for us to squirm at times. We need to look at ourselves seriously and ask ourselves if we are truly living the way God would have us live. I knew a minister who asked, “Are you as good a Christian as you want to be?” And when the answer was no, he would reply, “I think you are. If you wanted to be a better Christian, you would be.” What a wake up call!
We should pay attention to where today’s text is placed in Matthew’s gospel. It comes right after the beatitudes, the blesseds. Blessed are the poor, the meek, the merciful, the righteous. we could stop right there but Matthew does not. Matthew tells of Jesus continuing to speak for three whole chapters.
In these chapters, Jesus tells us to be salt of the earth, light to the world. He reminded the people that they should love others as they loved themselves and that love included their enemies. He talked about not showing off when they prayed or not parading their religion. And don’t worry. God loves you and will care for you. If evil people can give good gifts to their children, how much more can God give?
So why, after all this, does Jesus say, “Some of you will hear me say, I do not know you?”
In these trying days in which we find ourselves, we might be wondering if we are really living the way Jesus would want. Does Jesus' life inspire you to work for change in our world? Most of us have no way of finding cures or vaccines for a coronavirus. Indeed, this research is not that to which we have been called. We all do have our purpose though. we have been asked to do our best to prevent the spread of the virus. I’m sure you have heard the requests from doctors and from our state leaders. Are you complying? Are you thinking of other people or are you thinking precautions aren’t worth the trouble? To be sure, we have more questions than answers about this Covid-19 thing and it may turn out our precautions are futile. But is it really so hard to slip on a mask? I believe loving others means making the effort to protect them and maybe even yourself.
And then, of course, if that was not enough to deal with, the murder of George Floyd makes the news because of the horror we have witnessed as his last breaths were preserved on camera? To use Biblical language, his death was an abomination. Whether you call it racism, abuse of power, or something else, no one should ever be murdered in the manner that he was. It is not surprising that the result has been protests all over the world. There have been too many and it has been going on too long to not put the collective will of the people to bear on the leaders and decision makers of our country.
As Gandhi once said, “There goes my people. I must follow them, for I am their leader.” Be one of those people. Use your voice, maybe your gentle voice to shake the world. Be one of those Jesus people who call for justice, tempered with mercy, and love. Be a follower of the Christ who loved us so much that he chose to give up his life that we might live. Learn, seek to understand, pray, march, write letters, send emails, whatever suits your style. In the immortal words of Yoda, “Do it or do not. There is no try…” Amen.
Prayer of the People:
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
So why has the healing of my dear people
not come about? ~ Jeremiah 8:22
Is there no balm in Gilead, Holy God? For we, your people, desperately need a balm, a healing, a sense that the desperate pain we are feeling will come to an end. Even as people walk the streets of more than 75 cities in the United States of America, demonstrating against the deaths of African-American citizens: George Floyd, Steven Taylor, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbrey, among far too many others at the hands of the police, others are demonstrating in solidarity in London, England; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Berlin, Germany; Auckland, New Zealand; Paris, France; Copenhagen, Denmark; Milan, Italy; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Dublin, Ireland; Toronto, Canada; Perth, Australia; and many more places across the globe.
We need a balm, God of Love and Peace, a healing of the sin of racism. We need to be made whole.
All of this comes in the midst of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, which continues to sicken and kill people throughout the world, even as governments disagree on how best to contain and control the spread of the virus. Italy is reopening its borders, while the death toll in Brazil has passed 30,000, and cases in the African continent exceed 160,000, even as statistics every-where are uncertain and knowledge of the behavior of the virus remains the subject of intense medical and immunological research.
We need a balm, God of All People, a healing for our troubled bodies and spirits.
Driven to our knees by the loss and pain, our minds and hearts filled with questions and doubts, our spirits often at their lowest ebb in these recent days, we turn to you, Father-Mother God, in desperation, knowing that only in you can we find comfort, healing, a balm for those things we cannot seem to get right on our own. And, though we are not yet able to sing in our churches, we each and all can sing on our own, so we lift our quavering and tear-filled voices:
There is a balm in Gilead
to make the wounded whole;
there is a balm in Gilead
to heal the sin-sick soul.
Sometimes I feel discouraged
and think my work’s in vain,
but then the Holy Spirit
revives my soul again.
There is a balm in Gilead
to make the wounded whole;
there is a balm in Gilead
to heal the sin-sick soul.
Amen. Let it be so.
I am reminded of the Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” We do indeed live in interesting times. Through God’s grace, we will come through better that we were before. Continue on, cherishing in your heart God’s immeasurable love for you, carrying in your spirit the grace of our Lord Jesus, and empowered by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit to do your part to bring about the world where God’s will is done. Amen.
