Bob's Blog

From Psalm 24 and Psalm 127:

¹ The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it . . . , ³ . . . And who shall stand in his holy place? ⁴ Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false and do not swear deceitfully.

I couldn’t sleep; and didn’t know where to go, or what to do. I know many were still celebrating, but I wasn’t. I was sad. I was heartbroken. Such is the way of elections, right? There will always be those who rejoice, and those who mourn – which is why they’re so hard on us. The uncertainty of it all can at times be overwhelming; and when elections linger as long as it does in this country . . . with the never ending name-calling, and vitriol, and often just down-right mean-spiritedness . . . well, it takes its toll . . . on all of us.

So Wednesday morning I just started writing . . . because that’s what I do when I don’t know what to do!  And I was grateful for the chance to step into few verses of Scripture from my preaching passages for the day in order to consider what they might have to say to us . . . to me!

Psalm 24 reminds us that this is God’s world; and 127 reminds us that unless God builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. And they are two important messages for this week! For they move our thoughts to what God desires for we are the disheartened right now; we who are both citizens of the world, AND citizens of the United States of America!

Whatever what thinks about God, or whatever one chooses to name that transcendent force that is moving all creation towards something more than we see today, people of faith know that holiness is embodied in humanity. In other words, God builds whatever God is going to build through us – through you and me! Our hands, are God’s hands; and thus our hands must always be about the work of God, work which at least according to Jesus, involves caring for the last, compassion for the least, and concern for the lost! Whether we’re talking about a home or a nation, these foci need to be the very foundation, walls, and roof, of whatever it is that we are seeking to build. And this past week I was reminded that this needs to be our goal regardless of who inhabits the White House! Because contrary to what we might think, this building really has nothing at all to do with our elected leaders.

Now this doesn’t mean that we do not want Godly leaders, something that the majority of Americans appear to have forgotten this past week. But rather, it simply means that the building that God seeks to do is simply not dependent upon them. And this morning, when that work appears as though it may be . . . slightly inhibited over the next four years, I simply want to remind us what that work is! Because in time, our lamenting needs to end, and our work needs to be begin again.

In time, we need to return to the challenge of being a people who are able to put ourselves in another person’s shoes, and show empathy for those who have only been able to see the world from the back of the line; remembering what Jesus says about . . . the first being last, and the last being first.

In time, we need to return to the challenge of giving our empathy legs, and showing compassion for ‘the least of these.’ We need to move beyond simply feeling badly, or even just showing mercy, for those the world continues to push aside; and instead, need to seek the justice that is so central to the Gospel message.

And finally, in time, we need to return to the challenge of showing concern for the lost; embracing an evangelism that is NOT about getting people to believe the way we believe; that is not about scaring people into heaven, or threatening them with an eternity in some place we call hell. Rather, we need to simply be one thirsty person leading another thirsty person to water . . . or a person down in the deepest of valleys pointing other people in the valley to that bring, burning light on the top of the mountain!

This is not OUR world, it is God’s! And God is working every day, through people like you and me, to build a kindom that cares for the last, displays compassion for the least, and that is concerned for the lost.

So when other builders, those who as our text says ‘labor in vain’ . . . when presidents and politicians call us to take up our swords and violently stand against the opposition, we remember that God calls us to turn our swords into plows and shovels; and when they call us take up our spears, we remember that Jesus calls us to take up our crosses! And when other builders, those who labor in vain . . . when self-serving leaders consumed by vanity and the pursuit of power call us to see the refugee and the alien as people to be feared, we will see them as neighbors to be cared for; and when they would have us regard our enemies as people to be punished, we will regard them as siblings to be loved.

Will this be hard? Of course it will be hard. Care for the last, compassion for the least, and concern for the lost, is never easy. And in the coming years those who pursue such a kindom will likely be challenged, and demeaned, and called everything from woke, to libtard, to communist! But we will not give up! We CAN NOT give up! For this is God’s world, and this is God’s work.  And the last, the least, and the lost need us. They are people we need to come alongside of, and with whom we can work to transform all creation.

My entire family has had a tough week, and in our family group text one of my kids sent us all a song titled Mountain of Madness, by City and Colour; and like so many of songs of lament, the chorus cries out to us with these angst-filled words:

Many of us where in such a place last week. But my response? The words Jack Johnson!

Today, this is our good news. We are better when we’re together! And if you really stop and think about it, perhaps that sentiment may be just enough to see us through these challenging days! We are not alone; and together, we are even now being strengthened to get back to that often frustrating work of caring for the last, showing compassion to the least, and being concerned for the lost! For one last time, this is God’s world, and this is God’s work. And no one, not even the likes of a godless president, is going to keep God from doing what God is going to do! Together, all of us can become like Jesus, a . . .

May this be our goal, even today!