“How long, O Lord?” That is the cry of the Psalmist and the Prophets. “How long must we wait for your dream to become reality?” remains the cry for the faithful even today. Since yesterday at about 8:26pm CST, I’ve been pondering this question of “How long?” and thinking, in light of the lessons for Advent 1, and the call to holy waiting, how I can faithful live in the meantime because living in the meantime can be heartbreaking.
Living in the meantime means living as a broken and sinful human being in a broken and sinful world. It means paying the penalty for sin: my own and a myriad of systemic ones. It means that sometimes a young black man, after a lifetime of living in fear of the police, makes a terrible choice and ends up dead. It means sometimes that a young white man, in a position of authority and carrying a gun for a living, makes a terrible choice and kills that young black man. It means sometimes that a grand jury, bound by laws that aren’t perfect makes a decision that is devastating to a family and a community. It means sometimes that a group of people so fed up with the way things are takes to the streets to exact vigilante justice that devastates whole families and communities. It means watching as conservative bloggers say some crazy racist stuff that gets liked by a friend on Facebook. It means watching as liberal bloggers say some crazy insensitive stuff that gets retweeted by a friend on Twitter. Living in the meantime means having your heart broken again and again by bigotry, injustice, violence, and hatred.
Living faithfully in the meantime means being a force for justice, hope, peace, and restoration. It means putting a stop to the cycle of demonization, anger, violence, and vitriol that perpetuates the broken system. Too often, in the emotional aftermath of an event like the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, even the Church forgets this call. Too often, the Social Media accounts of the clergy look like the same bubbling cauldrons that the 24 hour news cycle has taught us to worship. Too often, Christians forget to be harbingers of peace in the midst of conflict.
How long, O Lord, how long?
My heart breaks for the family of Michael Brown. My heart breaks for Darren Wilson and his family. My heart breaks for every African American person who lives in fear of the police, and my heart breaks for every police officer who lives in fear of every young black man they see. My heart breaks for Ferguson, and for every place where the dream of God, that all should be united one to another and to God, has yet to be realized. And so this morning, a few days ahead of the start of Advent, I will begin this year’s Advent Practice. Following the suggestion of Bishop Matthew Wren from way back in 1662, I will pray the Collect for Advent 1 at least once each day. I will pray through the waiting and through the heartbreak, trusting that through God’s grace, I can be a part of a Church that casts away the darkness of this broken and sinful world, and puts on the armor of light, of hope, of peace, and above all, the armor of love. Won’t you join me?
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.