Fallout
Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.
--Genesis 50:20
I am still reeling from the events last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. The darkness revealed was hard to stomach. The fact that it happened very near my parents did not help. That it could happen about 100 miles from where I was born was dismaying.
Yet, I take great comfort in Joseph's confession as he reconciles with his brothers. Recall that Joseph's brothers in a fit of jealously first sought to kill him outright, then settled on selling him into slavery, sure they would never see him again. But life didn't work so simply. A famine drove them to Egypt where Joseph landed. Joseph rose from slave to chief advisor to the Pharaoh and was unrecognizable to his brothers when they arrived. He played that to the hilt, putting them through trials before revealing himself for what became a joyous reunion. The original evil ended in a joyous redemption of a family, a couple of nations, and a young man who grew into being a true child of God.
Harm into blessing, indeed.
I take comfort in this story because there is no escaping the unspeakable evil unleashed last weekend. White supremacists intended real and actual harm. One wreaked havoc on the crowds, driving a powerful automobile into them, injuring many and killing one. Their chaos resulted in the death of two police officers trying to manage the situation. We felt the darkness descend. I take comfort because good can come from this horror show. That is the assurance of Joseph's words. THERE IS NO SITUATION GOD CANNOT REDEEM. There is no human action more powerful than God's will to compassion.
Keep that in mind.
Please keep that in mind.
For what happens next is up to us.
Joseph had to reconcile with his brothers. He could easily have remained anonymous, hiding behind his Egyptian identity and power. We see him flirting with that response as he sends his brothers on one arduous task after another. But we also see him weeping offstage. He cannot stomach the division. He realizes he has no wish to prolong the suffering, so he chooses to reveal himself. He chooses to welcome those who sought his harm.
We are now in the place of Joseph. We have seen the harm done. Do we want it to continue? Or do we want a more excellent way?
I think we want the latter. I believe we do.
So, that means doing something the President could not or would not do--DENOUNCE EVIL FOR WHAT IT IS--denounce racism, bigotry, and armed hatred. My grandfather was in France on D-Day to stand down Nazism. He went to push back against the forces that would have us divided, at war with one another, that sought the eradication of the Jews, and that scoffed at Jesse Owens even as he revealed the lies of racism in Berlin in 1936. There is no good there. Your families' histories contain similar stories. Stand firm.
Next, reach across the divide--whatever divide that might be in your community--and touch the human on the other side. Again, fascism wants us separate. God, though, wants us whole. I loved how some in response to Charlottesville have sung the refrain of "Jesus Loves the Little Children"--"red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight..." That is the truest theology I could ever preach. Live it. Be it. Do it.
Finally, always know God is with all of us.
All.
Everyone.
Everywhere.
Charlottesville. Barcelona. Mosul. Freetown, Sierra Leone. Aleppo. Sacramento. Esparto. Augusta. Charlotte. Chicago. Dallas. London. Tokyo. Ho Chi Minh City. Seoul. Pyongang. Guam. Moscow. Tel Aviv. Rome. And every other place you can think of.
God is with us.
And we are precious in God's sight.
All of us.
Act it out.
Be it.
Live it.
Peace will follow. God intends good.
--Genesis 50:20
I am still reeling from the events last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. The darkness revealed was hard to stomach. The fact that it happened very near my parents did not help. That it could happen about 100 miles from where I was born was dismaying.
Yet, I take great comfort in Joseph's confession as he reconciles with his brothers. Recall that Joseph's brothers in a fit of jealously first sought to kill him outright, then settled on selling him into slavery, sure they would never see him again. But life didn't work so simply. A famine drove them to Egypt where Joseph landed. Joseph rose from slave to chief advisor to the Pharaoh and was unrecognizable to his brothers when they arrived. He played that to the hilt, putting them through trials before revealing himself for what became a joyous reunion. The original evil ended in a joyous redemption of a family, a couple of nations, and a young man who grew into being a true child of God.
Harm into blessing, indeed.
I take comfort in this story because there is no escaping the unspeakable evil unleashed last weekend. White supremacists intended real and actual harm. One wreaked havoc on the crowds, driving a powerful automobile into them, injuring many and killing one. Their chaos resulted in the death of two police officers trying to manage the situation. We felt the darkness descend. I take comfort because good can come from this horror show. That is the assurance of Joseph's words. THERE IS NO SITUATION GOD CANNOT REDEEM. There is no human action more powerful than God's will to compassion.
Keep that in mind.
Please keep that in mind.
For what happens next is up to us.
Joseph had to reconcile with his brothers. He could easily have remained anonymous, hiding behind his Egyptian identity and power. We see him flirting with that response as he sends his brothers on one arduous task after another. But we also see him weeping offstage. He cannot stomach the division. He realizes he has no wish to prolong the suffering, so he chooses to reveal himself. He chooses to welcome those who sought his harm.
We are now in the place of Joseph. We have seen the harm done. Do we want it to continue? Or do we want a more excellent way?
I think we want the latter. I believe we do.
So, that means doing something the President could not or would not do--DENOUNCE EVIL FOR WHAT IT IS--denounce racism, bigotry, and armed hatred. My grandfather was in France on D-Day to stand down Nazism. He went to push back against the forces that would have us divided, at war with one another, that sought the eradication of the Jews, and that scoffed at Jesse Owens even as he revealed the lies of racism in Berlin in 1936. There is no good there. Your families' histories contain similar stories. Stand firm.
Next, reach across the divide--whatever divide that might be in your community--and touch the human on the other side. Again, fascism wants us separate. God, though, wants us whole. I loved how some in response to Charlottesville have sung the refrain of "Jesus Loves the Little Children"--"red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight..." That is the truest theology I could ever preach. Live it. Be it. Do it.
Finally, always know God is with all of us.
All.
Everyone.
Everywhere.
Charlottesville. Barcelona. Mosul. Freetown, Sierra Leone. Aleppo. Sacramento. Esparto. Augusta. Charlotte. Chicago. Dallas. London. Tokyo. Ho Chi Minh City. Seoul. Pyongang. Guam. Moscow. Tel Aviv. Rome. And every other place you can think of.
God is with us.
And we are precious in God's sight.
All of us.
Act it out.
Be it.
Live it.
Peace will follow. God intends good.
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