As I write this we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our world has changed before our eyes, uncertainty is in the air, divisiveness abounds, and hope is becoming harder to find. Where is the good news that we so desperately need?
Jesus came for such a time as this!
God came into the messiness of our lives and our world. God showed us that all things will be reconciled in the end. God reminded us of God’s creative power from the beginning of time to today. God reached out to us so that we could see God’s face in our humanity and re-member a world that seems dismembered.
It turns out that suffering, struggle, and pain are part of what it means to be human in this broken world. This brokenness becomes a recognition of our desperate need for healing, for completion, for salvation. God’s coming in Jesus shows us that God is wiling to enter into our messiness, into our suffering, alienation, and pain in order to restore, renew, and reconcile us.
Though God has not caused our suffering, God redeems it, transforms it, and recreates it so that we can become more like Jesus—more filled with hope, more able to be agents of God’s reconciling power, no matter what season we are in, no matter what season the world is in.
I am not sure where we will be when you read this. I am not sure what might come a week from now as I write this. I do know that the God who created all things is with us; I do know that God gets it; I do know that we have seen God’s face in Jesus. For this is a God who becomes one of us and takes up our struggles and sufferings. That’s good news indeed!
Creator God, help us see you in the faces of those I encounter who live with suffering, pain, and uncertainty. Amen.
This reading from Amos provides more indication of the reasons for God’s coming judgment. Too many in Israel have been oppressing the poor. They cannot wait for religious festivals to end so that they can make more money through corrupt trade, including what we now call human trafficking. If we understand the psalmist to be David, the warning he issues in this passage concerns Saul. Because Saul has turned to evil, God will not allow him to remain in power. While God is love, God also sometimes brings judgment. The author of Colossians extols the elevated status of Christ, who has reconciled us to himself through his death. In Luke, Mary prioritizes spending time with Jesus, while Martha focuses on working for Jesus. It is Mary who receives Jesus’ praise.
Read Amos 8:1-12. Who in your community has been left behind? How can you care for them?
Read Psalm 52. How do you remain rooted in God’s steadfast love when you cry out against injustice?
Read Colossians 1:15-28. What do you need to let fall away to reveal the mystery of Christ in you?
Read Luke 10:38-42. How do you focus on Christ even as you attend to the necessary tasks of daily life?
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