Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” --Mark 4:39
Last August, during the ELCA Rostered Ministers’ Gathering in Atlanta, I had the opportunity to visit the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. I was in high school when Carter was president. Today, almost forty years later, I can see retirement looming on the distant horizon. But, as I toured the museum, I came to the sobering realization that, even after all those years, we are still wrestling with many of the same issues, concerns and challenges we were facing then.
On Tuesday, our synod “Building Bridges” group met to preview “I Am Not Your Negro,” a powerful film based on the writing of James Baldwin reflecting on the murders of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. When we finished watching the film, I had the same feeling I did at the Carter Library: sadly, not much has changed. The film does a masterful job of connecting the civil rights movement in the middle of the 20thcentury with what is currently going on in our nation. Racism and the racist systems that support it are alive and well, even after more than fifty years of work and effort to address this evil in our land.
This past week, the ongoing debates over immigration, the specific issue of family separation and the scenes of small children in detention centers surrounded by chain link fencing have swirled around us. These issues are complex and elicit strong feelings across the spectrum of opinions on the subject. As people of faith, I wonder, how can we respond to these issues based on the law of love? (Romans 13:10) I wonder, how can we work together -- Republicans, Democrats and Independents -- to address these complexities constructively and compassionately rather than just digging in and vilifying those who see things differently?
Again, I see that not much has changed. My own family fled Europe in the early 19thcentury and immigrated to this country as stowaways. People have been fleeing oppression and violence for millennia. Welcoming the stranger and foreigner is one of the bedrock themes of the scriptures. Perhaps the reason it comes up so frequently is that, even then, people weren’t as welcoming as they could or should be?
This week, I can really relate to the writer of Ecclesiastes who bemoans the fact that, despite our best efforts, things never seem to change. There, the Teacher says, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.” (1:9) It’s a depressing thought.
All these things have been tossing around in my head as I have reflected on this week’s text. As always, the storms still swirl and the waves crash and the wind howls all around us as we huddle in our little boats on an angry sea. Like those who came before us, many wonder where God is in all this. Is our Lord still asleep on the cushion? Does Jesus even care that so many people are perishing?
But, Psalm 46 begins, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…” Toward the end of the Psalm it reads, “Be still, and know that I am God.” In the midst of the stormy sea, Jesus rebukes the wind and says “Peace! Be still!” and then says to the huddled disciples, “Are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” I think Jesus would say the same thing to us in the midst of the storms that always seem to swirl around our lives.
Resting in the peace which is Christ can sustain us in the midst of the storms. But, resting in the peace of Christ does not mean putting our head in the sand. It means putting our trust in the God who loves us and cares for us enough to become one of us, die for us and rise again on the third day. It means doing our level best to love as Jesus loved, and to care like Jesus cared and to work for healing, reconciliation and peace any way we can in the midst of a world that is filled with brokenness and probably always will be. It means re-anchoring ourselves in the faith which sustains us, and shapes us and guides us through listening prayer and the study of the scriptures, in worship, confession and forgiveness, and by walking with one another in the fellowship the Gospel -- even when we disagree.
To love God, love one another and love our neighbor as ourselves is the mandate of the scriptures. That has not and never will change, because the love of God for us never changes. In that promise, I find hope and comfort in the midst of issues and concerns and problems and challenges that never seem to go away. In that promise, I find the will to continue, knowing that the strength to do so does not ever come from me… but from the One who created and claimed me, through Jesus Christ my Lord.
Peace,
Bishop Mike
Thank you for reading.
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