Creation as Blessing | Genesis 1
We are starting a new worship series called "Sacred Earth, Sacred Work" this Sunday where we will focus on the goodness of creation, our place in it, and our spiritual, theological, and ethical work to be better parts of creation as we live in a world with deteriorating eco systems and forces of domination and exploitation that endanger us all. I am looking forward to exploring the first of two creation stories in scripture with you this coming Sunday.
I'd talk about this more, but today I feel nudged by the spirit to speak with you as your pastor about what we are all witnessing this week. We are beholding a trifecta of suffering. A 7.2 earthquake slammed Les Cayes, Haiti last weekend causing massive damage and loss of life into the thousands; our country is being ravaged by the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2; and horrifying images of our departure from Afghanistan are being broadcast as the Taliban re-enter Kabul as it rapidly takes over Afghanistan in our absence.
Can I be real with you all? I'm paralyzed by all of this. I believe that part of our discipleship as Christians is to be present to suffering, to pray for those who are in need, and to do works of charity where they can be done. But I feel overwhelmed by images of ICU beds with children, people picking the rubble of destroyed infrastructure to scavenge valuable items in Haiti, and desperate Afghans clinging to the fuselage of a C-17 as it taxis onto the runway at Kabul's international airport.
How did we get here? COVID-19 was supposed to be under control thanks especially to remarkable and innovative vaccines, but due to a parallel pandemic of misinformation and mistrust people are refusing to do simple things for the sake of public safety like get vaccinated or wear a mask. Political leaders are running reelection campaigns on how well they publicly interfere with local municipalities and school districts' ability to enact and enforce vaccination and mask mandates. It's hard to see what the endgame for this virus will be.
Haiti, like so many islands in the Caribbean, has an historic legacy with slavery and the cultivation of sugar cane and coffee as cash crops. And this nation's history and its treatment by Haiti's wealthier, more stable neighbor the Dominican Republic, offer much in explaining how Haiti continues to be a place where its people suffer and struggle to recover from disasters like Earthquakes. I found this video about Haiti and the Dominican Republic, just a 10 minute watch, to be fascinating, informative, and infuriating.
And Afghanistan. I was 13 years old when we invaded Afghanistan as retaliation for them harboring Al Qaeda, who had taken credit for hijacking commercial airlines and flying them into the Pentagon and the Twin Towersof New York, and a field in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. I've watched four different presidents in my lifetime make promises to take action in Afghanistan or withdraw and these past few days we are bearing witness to the fruit of our withdrawal from yet another failed military intervention. Like Vietnam and like Iraq, we seem to have a legacy of failed military conquest in other nations where we initially sought to further "our national interests." And today, what is left is tens of thousands of Aghan people who fear for their lives: Women and girls who will be subject to repressive policies that will restrict their education, free movement, and appearance against their will; former translators and helpers of our military efforts who fear abduction, torture, and murder by the Taliban.
And for all of these things I only have anger and despair. I only have the word of the Psalmist who cries out in the 10th Psalm: “Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (NRSV) It feels like God is far off in times like these. It felt like this on January 6th. During our months' long lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even knowing that this is not true does not stave off the feeling.
I hope you will join me in lamenting the suffering that is far off but at times can feel near to us. I hope you will pray for the thousands who are suffering across the world. I hope your heart breaks open for people whose suffering we can actually do something about, as well. I invite you today to consider writing to your elected officials (Lakewood generally is represented in Congress by Ed Perlmutter and our Senators are John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennett) to do everything in their power and to encourage our president to throw our nation's doors wide to refugees from Afghanistan who are clamoring to reach us for safety.
It seems like the least we can do. And know that, if you are feeling despair and rage at the travesties that are happening in our world, that you are not alone. We are not afforded the luxury, as followers of Christ, to remain apathetic. Let's come together to lament and rage at these things that are happening. Let us come together in prayer for the innocent who are caught in this devastation. Let us be a witness to the faithfulness and love of Christ, who did not shy away from suffering but sought to do what he could, where he was.
