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The Pastor's Pen
Rev. Mary Jo Dean July. The month we celebrate our national freedom from the British Empire. These July days are confusing at best, and downright fearsome at worst. Our society, the one we live in- and are responsible for- is by common consensus a mess. Our politics, healthcare, and infrastructure are ineffective and inefficient because some people want it that way, others don’t know what they want, and still others believe they will never get what they want. Our politics are a mess because we tolerate it. Attempting to do anything new or different is like kicking a hornet’s nest. And even if we are willing to try, it’s scary to stick our necks out. So, we hope someone else does something. We are entrenched. Entrenchment is a perversion of patriotism. Entrenchment is also a perversion of our duty to be a knowledgeable and virtuous citizenry. And it is no excuse to say, “We don’t know who to believe, cannot agree on what is right and what is wrong, much less how to fix it. We are on our own.” This is when God longs for us to slow down and pay attention. The Bible was meant for our instruction so that when we learn better, we do better. Our ideal, our social contract, reads “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Yet we see that some people’s justice isn’t the same as other people’s justice, and many more troubling things. Jesus tells us in the gospel of Matthew (6:24) and in the gospel of Luke (16:3): “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” It seems that we have made our choice as a society. And while it is true that we humans are a complicated species, choices play out in real life, and often our choices work out in unexpected ways- good and bad. It is difficult to admit that other people can correctly and genuinely perceive a situation in life differently than we ourselves may perceive it. It is even more difficult to admit that other species are as valuable to God as humans are valuable. We celebrate domination: we debate, contend, wait each other out, fight, incarcerate, and even kill, hoping to get our way, to make our point, to win. Yet, it seems that we may have entered into a cruel and losing game. The good news is that we do not have to keep doing what we are doing. In fact, ALL of us need to change. That was John the Baptist was hoping we would understand in the word “repent”. It is what Jesus worked to accomplish in his crucifixion. It is what the Holy Spirit is working on now in the hearts of true believers (John 3:5-6 ;16:8,13). The change I am pointing to is the fruitful power of God in Christ that the gospels call “good news of great joy” started in Jesus’ birth. Good change is what it means when repentance becomes real. The call to the church is to make the fruits of repentance real and show them forth in the world. An old song says it beautifully… Simple Gifts Shaker Tune/Traditional ‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free ’tis the gift to come down where you ought to be And when we find ourselves in the place just right ‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gained To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed To turn, turn will be our delight ‘Till by turning, turning we come round right. ‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free ’tis the gift to come down where you ought to be And when we find ourselves in the place just right ‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight. https://youtu.be/baNueuDCue0?si=QMEQdBQ--mj5O0bf |