How are you doing? I ask this because there are some who are happy with the election results and there are some who are very sad with the election results. What I do know is that the vast majority of us are Just. Plain. Tired.
The reality is that no matter which candidate lost, we were going to deal with an incredible amount of change. There would be grief, deep grief coupled with anxiety. That has certainly come true.
I don’t think anyone anticipated just how deep the grief has gone. I don’t think that anyone anticipated what the result would unleash in this country.
The election has brought out anxiety and tension, and caused trauma among those who are the most vulnerable in our society. It has brought out the worst that this country has to offer. There are people who are scared. To. Death. The fear is real. The grief is real. The pain is real. The anger is real.
Elizabeth Eaton, bishop of the ELCA, said in her post-election reflection: “all human beings are created in the image of God, even the ones who didn’t vote for your candidate.” I commend her one-minute youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw2-f82fklc
What is so very important to do, especially in our communities of faith, is to compassionately hold space for those who are grieving.
The majority of the people who voted for Trump did so because they were angry and worried and hopeful that he would fix a system that is not working for them either economically or politically. They voted for significant change to a system that only benefits a small percentage of Americans. They didn’t feel listened to.
No matter which side of the aisle you voted, we all want some of the same things. There is common ground somewhere in there. We all want to be heard, we all want an equitable system that will benefit ALL people, not just the few at the top.
It is at these times especially, that it is important to listen to what God is speaking to us through scripture, how it connects with our lives and informs us.
I’ll digress for a few paragraphs and revisit the All Saints readings from Luke, chapter 6 which included the blessings and the woes, the realities and the reversals.
It was also near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
People met Jesus on the level place. They came from all over – Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre and Sidon, to listen to Jesus.
They came because they were hurting, they were afraid, the present economic and political system was not only NOT working for them but exploiting them as well. They came to hear a word of hope in a hopeless world.
Sound familiar?
Then Jesus says, “But I say to you that listen…”.
“I say, YOU listen.”
Jesus got very personal in this address. Not “all y’all” but YOU singular. This is how you get through all this yucky stuff that’s going to happen to you.
Love and keep on loving.
Do good and keep on doing good.
Bless and keep on blessing.
Pray and keep on praying.
Give and keep on giving.
And then Jesus punctuates all of this with the Golden Rule.
This week’s scripture takes place at the very end of Jesus’ ministry, in the temple, after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem that we commemorate every year as Palm Sunday.
It’s the last time that he will be in the temple. He’s told his last parable. He’s driven out the money changers. And people were getting up early every day to come listen to him.
Jesus and his disciples are sitting in this grand and opulent place. The disciples SEE all the really cool things that are there and are just blown away. And Jesus must have seen their eyes bug out. And so he brings them back down to earth and to reality with the gravity of the situation.
It’s not going to last. You SEE only this temple.
The struggles of life will still go on. Nothing will change in that regard.
But an interesting opportunity will arise – right after they arrest you and persecute you and throw you in prison and drag you before the oppositional leadership simply because you uttered the name of Jesus —
“THIS will give you an opportunity to testify.”
Testify! Now, there is a word that strikes fear in the heart of just about any self-respecting Lutheran. We avoid that word like the “plague.” It’s not that we don’t do it – we just prefer to call it by another name – “temple talk.”
When we get up and give a “temple talk” about where we SEE God at work through us and how that affects others people’s lives or even our own life and how God was a part of that difference – we are indeed TESTIFYING to the mighty acts of the Father.
The question is what will our testimony be in this time and in this place? The answer lies in what we SEE.
SEEING is very important in the Gospel of Luke – one of the repeated themes. And what we see determines what we choose to see.
And whatever we see we will testify.
If we choose to see God as judge and jury, then we will testify to a vengeful God and will others as deserving of punishment.
If we chose to see hope in God then we will testify to that hope.
Do we see like Jesus? Do we see who he sees? Do we see the least, the last, the lonely, the lost and the left-behind?
Do we see God’s love in it all?
Hope, grace, love and mercy is our testimony. We are God’s hand and feet as well as God’s eyes in this world. It is only through God that we can begin to replace fear with faith.
Now is the time to testify – that is what we must do. And we do it by living out our baptismal covenant – especially that part about working for justice and peace in the all the earth.
In fact we are COMMANDED to do just that.
We are to stand with ALL those who are being persecuted – our persons of color, gay, Muslim, immigrant brothers and sisters. When we see injustice against any brother or sister, we are to call it out. Our silence will only condone the acts and is just as dangerous.
And we need not worry about what we are going to say because the Holy Spirit has our back on that one. Not only will we have words but we will have wisdom as well.
May the wounds begin to heal, may the hatred turn to tolerance, may the distance between each other shorten, may the grief turn to joy.
May our God be praised in all that we do and say and sing, sing to the Lord a new song filled with love, hope and joy!