Bells rang on Sunday, August 25, 2019
As August ends, I am participating in a community worship service and national ringing of church bells. Sunday, August 25, will mark four hundred years since the first Africans arrived by force at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Slavery is a tough subject to address, and when you add the many ongoing sins related to slavery, Jim Crow Laws, segregated communities, and other signs of personal and systemic racism, it becomes even more difficult.
Whether racism or any other hot button issue, it is helpful to remember that forgiveness is already ours. We need not get stuck in shame whether it is our sin, the sin of others or of the world. Nor should we fear acknowledging guilt. Instead, humility calls us forward into a future together with Christ. We who have been reconciled to God through Christ have also been entrusted with a ministry of reconciliation (see 2 Cor. 5: 11-21). We can indeed address hurtful, “hot button” issues without defensiveness or unholy anger.
As election fever rises again and troubles of the world present themselves, I find it helpful to listen more than talk. What is really being said and why? Is my momentary adversary speaking from their own woundedness and therefore wounding me? Sometimes angry people facing compassion and gentleness can be moved toward compassion and gentleness themselves. In speaking, I try to avoid blanket statements, as hot button issues are often multilayered, nuanced and intersect with others. As a flawed human, I might even be wrong, so I try to consider both what I might need to learn and where we might be able to find areas of agreement. Although Lutheran Christians have always been encouraged to engage the world and call authorities to account when necessary, regarding the Eighth Commandment (as Lutheran’s count them, the admonition to avoid bearing false witness), Martin Luther cautions, “We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light” (Small Catechism).
And then, of course, we have Christ’s own teaching and example, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” Praying for those we oppose might not always result in an observed change in their behaviors, but I always find it brings a change in me – in attitude toward them and the world, in my own general peace, or sometimes in my own repentance. Consider praying before you hit that post button or begin a difficult conversation. Or, just step away, and then come back to address things after some prayer and reflection. It is amazing how the Spirit can give us just the right words.
Like the Psalmist in Psalm 27, “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Sometimes that goodness will enter the world through us.
Originally published in the June 2019 newsletter of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this article are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation.
© 2019 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.
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