September 23 , 2007
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See also: [2004] [2001] |
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
Psalm 79:1-9 or Psalm 4
I Timothy 2:1-7
Luke 16:1-13
“My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick,” Jeremiah wails as he considers the state of his nation. Judah has turned its back on God and will eventually suffer the consequences of its injustice, idolatry, and failure to follow God’s path of life. Salvation is nowhere in sight and the people live in fear of enemy attack.
“For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn and dismay has overtaken me.” Although these are the words of a prophet from long ago and faraway, they also express the sentiments of many USA Christians as we face our own disillusionment and fear for our own nation. Our leaders are bent on empire-building, even though the dream of empire has died in the killing fields of Iraq. The promises of easy credit and “flexible-rate” mortgages have led to foreclosures and poverty among the shrinking middle class. Middle class US Americans, along with the 40 million uninsured, worry that they lack adequate health care in the wealthiest country in the world. The gap between the wealthy and poor is increasing not only in the third world, but in our own country. We mourn the loss of the American dream and our nation’s moral stature.
As he surveys the landscape of Judah, Jeremiah wonders, “Is there is no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?” The nation is suffering from a life-threatening illness, and no relief is in sight! Robert Jay Lifton once spoke of the danger of “psychic numbing,” that is, the loss of vital emotional experience when the reality of change and threat outpace our ability to experience personal and global meaning. Unable to face the stark realities of social, political, and planetary upheaval, or what Lifton called “psycho-historical dislocation,”
we simply shut down emotionally, and go through the day as if nothing has changed, even though our whole way of life and vision of the future is under siege. Living in denial may provide a buffer from the pain of the world and our sense of hopelessness, but denial is bought at the price of emotional numbing, loss of moral and spiritual stature, and personal and political apathy.
“Is there no balm in Gilead?” Perhaps, before we are comforted, we need to be afflicted. We need to become disillusioned with ourselves and our nation as the first step to recovery. Remember that to be disillusioned is to see stark reality as it and to let go of the illusions that prevent us from responding creativity to our current personal or national situation. In her response to the nuclear threat of two decades ago, Joanna Rogers Macy affirmed of the importance of “despair work,” of facing our fears and hopelessness as the catalyst for creative transformation in our communal and political lives. We must move from complacency – or denial – to creative transformation, grounded in our willingness to initiate novel behaviors to match the radical upheavals in our world. The old ways of politics, economics, and national security have placed the planet in jeopardy; we need to explore alternative visions and ground them in concrete actions. We need to do our own “despair work” as the prelude for the “prophetic imagination” of alternatives to our current unjust social structure and the reality of planetary destruction.
Is there any “good news” to be found in Jeremiah’s mourning? Certainly not for those who believe that they can have their” best life now” (Joel Osteen) and enjoy individual or corporate prosperity while the planetary ecosystem is dying. Certainly not for those who prize national sovereignty and economic individualism over the common good of the nation and planet. But, there is good news – grief and mourning remind us of our deepest values and can inspire us to transformative action. We only grieve the real or possible loss what is truly important to us – the vision of God’s shalom, the face of our children, the voice of our beloved, the blue skies, majestic forests, and teeming cities. Out of grief may come the vision of an alternative possibility and the energy to actualize God’s aim at beauty and shalom for all creation.
The “parable of the dishonest manager” is a most curious one. Practically speaking, anyone who modeled her or his behavior after this shrewd business person would most likely end up in prison. But, yet a lazy thief has enough foresight to prepare for hard times. While Christians may not be experts in foreign policy, economics, health care, education, national defense, or global warming, our lack of expertise is no excuse for ignorance. We must not be “so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.”
We are called to embody practical as well as theoretical wisdom. We must make a commitment not only to see the big picture, but also know enough about the critical issues of our time to present a intelligent case for justice, sound health care policies, and earth-friendly lifestyles.
After commending the shrewd servant, Jesus reminds us that we cannot serve two masters – God and wealth. In living out our faith in God, we must be faithful in the micro as well as the macro. “God is in the details.” God is served in the day to day activities of life as well as the grand scheme of history. Social and planetary transformation is as much as a matter of energy efficient light bulbs as letters to senators; of walking to work as “green investments”; of faithful relationships (parenting, holy unions and marriages) as political activism. The whole universe conspires to create each occasion of experience (Alfred North Whitehead); and each occasion of experience – each moment of life – shapes the future of the planet. We never know what small action may be the “tipping point” from death to life for a person or the planet. Although we trust our ultimate future to God, we must also act as if each action can transform the world. As Jewish mysticism asserts, if you save a soul, you are saving the whole world.
I Timothy calls us to “picket and pray.” While this passage has often been abused by those who wish to maintain the unjust economic and political status quo, praying for our leaders, as Gandhi and Martin Luther King asserted, may also involve public protest and civil disobedience. Anne Lamott in her book, Plan B, describes her struggle to pray for President Bush. To Lamott, Bush is the symbol of all that has gone wrong in America and is the personification of American hubris, nationalism, and ignorance. No invective is sufficient to express her distaste for the Current Occupant (as Garrison Keillor describes President Bush). Yet, Lamott also realizes that her spiritual well-being is connected with her willingness to pray for her enemies, and that includes President Bush.
President Bush has been an inspiration to my own spiritual growth. I must admit that my feelings mirror, in a more irenic way, Lamott’s distress with our national leadership. With Jeremiah, I grieve our nation’s militarism and economic injustice. I fear for my adult child’s future and the grandchildren my wife and I hope for in light of global weather change. But, I also recognize the temptation to limit my protest to words rather than sacrificial action.
The “balm in Gilead” emerges when prayer is joined with faithful action. If our prayers create a “field of force” that enables God to be more present and active in the lives of those for whom we pray, then we are called to pray for our leaders. But, in what ways shall we pray for President Bush and the leaders of other lands? While there is no one pathway to prayer, I would suggest that we pray for “wisdom” and “compassion,” a “growth in stature,” and “alignment with God’s vision of shalom” for ourselves and those who lead our nation. We might also visualize God’s healing light transforming the leaders of both political parties as well as our nation’s perceived enemies.
As a reiki teacher/master, I see reiki, laying on of hands, anointing, and other forms of healing touch as “prayer with your hands.” We can also pray with our feet, checkbooks, and mouths, first, by “taking to the streets” in protest of national chauvinism, false priorities in health care and education, and economic injustice. Second, we can examine our own personal economics and the relationship between our checkbook values and the fate of ecosystem and we can give to organizations, whether Christian or secular, that promote peace, health care reform, justice for minorities and marginalized persons, and planetary well-being. Third, we can raise our voices for peace and planetary survival by regularly contacting our political representatives. While there is no one Christian political pathway, the prophetic tradition, embodied in the life of Jesus, clearly affirms God’s love for all creation, a preferential option for the poor, care for the vulnerable, and a bias for persons over profits.
Timothy reminds us to protest in a dignified and godly way. In church meetings and the political sphere, our calling is to work for reconciliation rather than polarization and to see the divine, rather than the demonic, in those whose positions and power we are challenging. As A.J. Muste noted, “There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.”
Dan Millman entitled one of his books, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, and that is our calling, “to put on the armor of light,” to pray without ceasing for global transformation, and to pray for our leaders even when we are on the picket line! Trusting God’s vision of the future and recognizing our role in the planet’s future, our mourning will inspire us to action and reconciliation.
Bruce Epperly is Professor of Practical Theology and Director of Continuing Education at Lancaster Theological Seminary and co-minister of Disciples United Community Church in Lancaster, PA. He is the author of twelve books including God’s Touch: Faith, Wholeness, and the Healing Miracles of Jesus, Healing Worship: Purpose and Practice; and Reiki Healing Touch and the Way of Jesus. His books are availabe at Flux Books.
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