A Time Such as This
Here is a short podcast episode I made with some friends. I have also included the transcript. Note, it's not a word for word transcript. I did make some minor changes while recording for the podcast.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2QDJbqxtR3boY0VDeoZcjx
Transcript:
Video: Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (Official Video 2019)
Scripture reading 1: Lamentations 1:20-21
Video: Matisyahu - One Day (Official Video)
Scripture reading 2: Revelation 21:1-4
Final Scripture reading: Esther 4:12-14
Last summer, at the height of the pandemic (or rather one of the heights), I was watching my friend’s then three year old daughter and her then 10 month old son. The baby was content to be in the stroller as long as I walked around with him and the 3 year old was having fun playing in the sand.
At one point, the three year old starts talking to herself as she’s playing. She says: “It’s ok, you can be afraid and still be where you are supposed to be.” I pause, and ask her what she said. She turns to me and says, “I’m not not talking to you.” and she goes back to playing.
But she says louder this time: “It’s ok, you can be afraid, and still be where you are supposed to be.” I tried asking her again what she meant, and she just seemed very confused about why I was asking her that. So I quickly gave up. That was the first but not last time, I felt like the three year old was unintentionally preaching to me.
“You can be afraid, and still be where you are supposed to be.” That message is a bit counter cultural.
So often we are told by larger society and even within some Christian circles that we need to be comfortable. If a situation, person, or event isn’t making us happy or comfortable we should just leave. Obviously, this is very good advice sometimes.
If you are in an unsafe environment or one where your gifts and talents aren’t appreciated, it may be time to leave. But sometimes, we prioritize our own individual comfort so much that we lose sight of the idea, that maybe there are moments where it is ok to be a little insecure, a little uncomfortable, and a little bit scared.
The last scripture reading Tolie read is from the book of Esther. Esther is a beautiful Jewish woman, who was orphaned as a child and raised by her cousin Mordecai. Esther’s beauty catches the eye of the king (who, like most men in positions of power, is a bit of a jerk).
But Esther doesn’t tell the king that she is jewish. The king appoints a man named Haman, to a position of power. Esther’s cousin, Mordecai manages to anger Haman because he refused to bow down and kneel before Haman. Haman, finding out that Mordecai is Jewish, decides to kill all the Jewish people in the kingdom. Haman tells the king, you know what, the Jewish people are weird. They are different from everyone else in the kingdom, and they don’t follow your rules. They should die. And the king says, ok. Do whatever you want with these people.
Mordecai, after hearing what the hell is going on, goes to the palace gates and starts tearing off his clothes and crying in mourning. Esther, who lives at the palace, hears this. She tries to send Mordaci new clothes, but he refuses. Finally she sends a messenger to find out why her cousin was freaking the hell out.
Mordecai, through the messenger, tells her about the planned massacre of Jewish people and he wants her to go to the king. Esther is unsure. She may be queen, but she still needs permission to see the king or he might kill her. .
And Mordecai responds with what I just read telling her, if you remain silent, someone else will rescue the jews but you and your family will suffer. Maybe you were made to be a queen for this time. Eventually, Esther does manage to reveal to the king that she is Jewish and that haman is trying to kill her and her people. Needless to say, the story does not end well for Haman.
Esther was definitely afraid. She had so much to lose, including her livelihood. I am sure that comfort is the last thing she felt. She had a difficult choice to make. She could remain silent as her people were killed or she could risk angering the king and being killed herself by speaking up.
Most of us, hopefully, will not have to face that dramatic of a choice. And yet, when it comes to living in a world filled with violence and injustice, there will be times where we will have to make tough decisions between doing what is easy and comfortable and doing what is right. And doing the right thing, will often feel scary.
In a world where violence is the norm, will we have the courage to speak up against Police brutality, endless and pointless wars, school shootings, or large scale poverty?
Will we have the courage to say, “you know what, the amount of money the US spends on the military at the expense of social welfare programs is too damn high. Our government is addicted to death and destruction and we need to break that addiction now.” Will we have the courage to say, school shootings need to stop. Gun violence needs to stop. The ways in which our society consistently oppresses the poor and marginalized needs to stop.
Will we have the courage to advocate for solutions that seem far fetched but are really the only way for us to have a world where as matisayhu’s says, “ there’ll be no more wars, and our children can play.” Will we be brave enough to imagine a world where the military isn’t needed. Where we spend more money investing in peace, then in creating weapons meant to sanitize war and make it easier for westerners to wage it.
Will we be brave enough to reconsider every aspect of our justice system-from the laws that penalize People of color and the poor for simply existing in a given space (loitering) to how we punish major crimes such as murder. Can we stop and imagine a criminal justice system based on rehabilitation and mercy rather than punishment and revenge?
Will we have the resolve to look at some of the problems in the world (maybe not all, because that’s a bit overwhelming) and ask with Marvin Gaye, What’s going on, with the intent to do and be better? Or will we shut our eyes and hide away. Will we listen to the cries of those suffering and sit with them, even if we don’t know how exactly to help, or will we close our ears and just ignore them.
Obviously, as individuals we can’t do everything. We can’t save the world. But that’s not what God is asking us to do. We can’t save the world, but we can do something. Anything. We can look at our individual situations and find one thing, one small thing to make the world a slightly better place.
We might feel inadequate. We might be afraid. But trust and believe that maybe God has you here for a reason. Maybe you are called to do one right thing, right here, right now. And if we all take seriously that calling to do the right thing, right where we are, we might be able to create a world where pain, suffering, and exploitation are a thing of the past.