GLOW IN THE DARK
Lent 4
Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41
Rev. Tiare L. Mathison, Pastor & Soul-Tender
The set-up: Ephesians 1:3ff
…holy and blameless before Him in love. God destined us for adoption as children of Jesus Christ, through His blood, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us. In Christ we have received an inheritance.”
God’s last will and testament. It is permanent, it is rooted, it is strong against the tempter’s voice of the demonic. Therefore, try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord! Don’t hide away in your gated communities, only speaking with the ones who think and act like you, self-care the primary object of desire. Take the fight to the streets, where injustice, oppression, violence and greed hold sway as the marks of a strong man. Enter into community with humility, casting aside your opinions of rightness, listen carefully to others, take a stand for peace, together.
This is identity politics writ large!
The writer suggests in chapter 2 that these Gentiles; oh, let me remind you, we are Gentiles too:) we used to live ‘…dead through trespasses and sin, FOLLOWING THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD.
Hear this part of the sentence in capital letters. But now, NOW, the writer shouts, you glow in the dark. You have been given life, life eternal, so try and figure out what is pleasing to the Lord! This is a bulwark against the pressures of a culture that is secular and committed only to itself, not the salvation of the world. Think about this for a minute! This is where we live every day!
This cultural squeeze strips away mystery, demands conformity, and generates idols for you to measure yourself. Of course, you always come up short, as the demonic’s voice tempts you further with false judgments and side shade; for the body you have, how much wealth you show by the cars you drive and the trips you take, how big is your house; the color of your skin, whom you love, the gender of your soul. Foolish values of mercy, kindness, generosity, forgiveness, pshaw! Who needs those anyway?
Remember Jesus’ temptations? Just bend one knee, that’s all, just one. And ALL THIS can be yours… The pressure is great yet subtle, plays to our ego’s, rather than the deep internality of our souls, where the Holy Spirit dwells.
This writer knows us very well. For we too live in a system that is against the holy, powers that want more power and demand allegiance. We are deceived by empty words, tempted by our lusts, to clothe ourselves within the false beauty of disbelief. They play to our fallenness, sure you can eat from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil and not get stained. Seriously, don’t worry about it. Dead in the dark.
It is the work of reclamation - to reclaim - our purpose found in our adoption through Jesus Christ and His shed blood, as we become members of the covenant, first given to Sarah & Abraham. It is our task to unmask evils, within ourselves, our petty jealousies, our judgments of what’s right or wrong with them - our arrogance that says we can make it on our own, who needs God anyway? We are called to remember that we are co-workers with Christ in the salvation of the world; we live for the glory of His Holy Name, our daily interactions our proclamation. It’s not rocket science, its harder than that. Its relationships, everywhere you look.
But also, we are to work for the reclamation of the world. Salvation comes into us personally, in particular, but that is not its limit. It is not solely a one by one or two by two into the ark. The work of salvation is for the cosmos in its entirety, from the bottom of the oceans to the top of the skies, everything will be made new. Some may not want to be, and God in Her mercy, will decide. We cannot see this fully, our imaginations are quite limited by our fallenness, frankly. Yet Scripture calls to us to live in the light of Christ, glowing as it were, like a lighthouse beacon on the bluff, the early dawn’s faint glimmer, the pink sky at night, a sailor’s delight. For the sake of the world.
These evil systems - shall we name them? Patriarchy, racism & slavery, sexism & misogyny, anti-LGBTQ, capitalism without restraints, caste & class systems based on economic power and inherited ancestry, - all of it is part of the demonic’s twist of the goodness of the Lord. It is in the land of the living that we experience this grace, our redeemed state of fallenness removed. An example: over and over and over again, I hear from you all how much you appreciate the prayers of the people spoken out loud. For 10 minutes or so, we live deeply rooted in God’s systems of grace with one another, whereby our hearts are twined together, like the single root of the many Aspen trees. We ache for the world and for one another, hearts broken open in love. Or in anger at the horrible injustice and violence humans reign on each other. This is Jesus’ way of giving us strength to stand against the system, these moments of unmerited grace. Glow In The Dark.
For we cannot be Switzerland, there is no neutrality allowed. We are baptized into the Name - Father, Son & Holy Spirit - we confirm this identity every day of our lives, or not, as the case may be. Try to figure out what is pleasing to the Lord, okay? Right. Exactly right. At least try, would you please at least, try. It is a daily choice I think to live into this new world made possible by the deep presence of the Holy. It is a critical inquiry into the very thoughts, words and actions we take and make. Humility is essential, recognition of doing wrong, making amends - I’m sorry, please forgive me.
And, in a peculiar way, it is a deep prayer of examination for those of us with privilege, to see where the gamed system has garnished us with favor. We saunter through life unaware of the power we are given simply by the color of our skin, the gender of our bodies, the history of our ancestry, the deck stacked.
I’ve been thinking and praying a lot about reparations these past few years, really since 1619 came out, both individually and corporately. What does the gospel require of us? To do justice. How have I benefited from the economic system of inequality? The frank question: what is the connection between my wealth and your poverty? Is there payments of some kind I should make, personally, as reparations?
I come from an immigrant family. My grandparents were the first here, my grandpa a fisherman in Alaska, with his own boat, a working class guy. After WWII, my dad went to college on the GI Bill, because he was white, there was not any problem. He became our bridge to the middle class. I was raised with this mantra: go to college and own your home. As if this was always possible for everyone. This is my privilege, the color of my skin, well educated…how do I make amends, how do I do justice, how do we do justice, for the sinful inequities of the system? We are children of the light of Christ, called to glow in the dark. As we gaze out upon all the injustices of the world, where are we called to be repairers of the breach? Glow in the Dark.
I believe our support of Familyworks and Campbell Farm, along with other individual mission projects, are part of our light-bearing. Even this afternoon, a few of us will go buy girl scout cookies from the girls in the troop at Mary’s Place, a shelter for homeless families. Yet I didn’t see, nor mention to you last week, the critical questions that also need to be asked: besides giving dollars so these girls can be empowered for leadership and life, absolutely. But what about the fact that they live unsheltered? How is it in this rich, rich city, there are families that cannot afford to find a place to live? As Christ’s light-bearers, where do we need to take up these systemic questions, both as interrogation of our privilege, and also, to speak up and speak out to powers that be. There are numerous organizations that actively pursue housing for all. You can sign up with them, at least make a donation.
I have said this before, I’ll say it again, I’ll go to my grave: There is plenty to go around - housing, food, education, medical care, love, forgiveness, mercy, - in this country, and around the world. God knows there’s plenty . And God expects us to share it. There is NOT the political will to make it fair. This is our collective sin. If we do not act, we become complicit in maintaining a system that I name evil, in the light of Christ. Glow In The Dark.