Microsermon
Sometimes I feel the need to reset...
It is too easy to get caught up in the world, in the rise of fascism, in the plight of the poor and oppressed, in our own helplessness in the face of it all. I find the rage begins to consume me, and bleeds into every other aspect of my life. My work, my relationships, and my spiritual life all suffer.
I think about Psalm 137. "How can we sing the Lord's songs in a foreign land?" Living in the country of my birth so often doesn't feel like home.
Microsermon
The message of Christ so often gets twisted into this cruel entity called Christianity, supporting cruel people who do unspeakable things to others. This is nothing new. A movement that started so revolutionary, in such opposition to the empire of the day, to the false gods of oppression, has been replaced by the same spirit of that same empire. Many churches serve Moloch and Capital, not Christ. They accept Trump as holy, and sacrifice children at the border.
This is nothing new.
Microsermon
And, in the midst of all this, every time without fail, the true church is born again. There are always those who see the hypocrisy and contradictions and say enough! There's always the prophets, dreamers and voices crying in the wilderness.
In every age they return. And we are called to learn from this. To live the best we can, help others however we can, have faith that one day peace and justice will reign.
We are called to care for ourselves and each other in the midst of it all.
Microsermon
We're called to care for each other and share the stories of how once upon a time people stood against empire and the people are still here and that empire is gone and some day this empire will fall as well.
And people will still be here. And from those stories we'll learn how to live again.