Already and Not Yet

What does it mean to live inside Jesus’ story?  The novelist Margaret Atwood has said that in the end, we will all end up as stories.  For those of us claimed by the love of God made flesh in Jesus, it is Jesus’ story that determines and guides our own. 

In a sermon titled ‘Life Draped in Hope’, the Rev. Dr. Willie James Jennings offers helpful insights into what it means to live inside the story of Jesus.  

Back in World War Two, the United States military had a problem: many of their bombers were being downed by the German counter-air defence. Numerous American flight crews were dying. A solution was devised to add more armour to the planes. However, this slowed them down and made maneuvering difficult. So, the military decided to add increased armour to only the wings and fuselage. This made sense because when the bombers returned from intense fighting in Europe, these were the most bullet-riddled areas.

There is an infectious disease running rampant in the healthcare system that is targeted at Indigenous people.  The disease is racism and prejudice.  

In June 2020, stories began to surface about a “Price is Right” game being played in some B.C. hospital Emergency Departments  in which health care workers were guessing blood alcohol levels of Indigenous patients.  These allegations were based on stereotypical assumptions that all Indigenous people were drunks.

This blog has references to sexual assault and trauma. 

Have you ever heard a story or seen something that seemed impossible, unimaginable, or incomprehensible to fathom even though you are told it is true? Perhaps you watched the video of the child who made their violin debut performance at the age of 3 or you heard the news story of the baby who was swept up in a tornado and survived. Perhaps over the Easter season, you are overcome again with wonder and puzzlement over the miracle of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ! 

Mother Teresa once said this: “I do not believe in the big way of doing things. I only believe in the person in front of me.”

Those words shape the life my wife Diane and I live. Eight years ago, we left a large church in a wealthy part of Aurora (part of the Denver metroplex) to go to the poorest part of Aurora and serve among the broken. No plan. We just went.

In this digital space, I’ve written a good deal about how people with and without disabilities can embody equity in the church, in terms of inclusive and accessible activities and facilities, inclusive language, employment, housing, and still other topics. I felt as though it was necessary, recently, to write about war and peace.

“They don’t understand what it’s like, they’ve never been there.” 

Last week I attended a small town’s community dinner to talk to the regulars there, and this is what one lady said in response to a decision that the City Council had made not to support a specific service for the homeless.

I admitted to myself and to her that, in fact, I’ve never been in that place either – of needing to access a weekly free dinner, the food bank, or in serious danger of losing my home.

Editor's Note: The following post reflects on the concept of 'whiteness' - not a skin colour or race, but as an ideology that equates lighter skinned people with spiritual maturity and civilization, and then uses this ideology to harm both creation and other humans. We invite you to read it and reflect on how this kind of ideology may be present in your own life and community.

Throughout history people have gathered together to create. From Moses recruiting Bezalel, Oholiab and other gifted craftspeople to furnish the Tabernacle in Exodus 36, to Paul and the other tent-makers forming communities to practice their trade in the New Testament times, to barn-raising and quilting groups, to Indigenous peoples creating body adornments and dance regalia together, to knitting clubs and paint nights: people in every culture and throughout time have come together to express themselves and their culture through creative arts.

Just this past week, I heard a colleague of mine - a missionary for an international Christian agency based in Jerusalem - tell how he was spat upon when coming out of a worship service in the Old City of Jerusalem. The story of priests and Christian leaders experiencing harassment, jeering, and even the throwing of stones is not new in the sacred Holy City. Unfortunately, the number of incidents has risen dramatically this past year, and the safety and security of local Christians living in the region has become increasingly at risk.