For me, the past weekend was a time of family celebrations and road-tripping across Washington. Thus, I was only briefly aware of the murders in Orlando, and haven’t had time to sit with the reality of it until today.
Because I was away, I was didn’t have the responsibility in worship yesterday morning to put it all together, do instant theology, make quick sense. I didn’t have opportunity to write post a statement on Facebook, or to read more than a very few. I watched very little news. I’m blessed to have been prevented from rushing to righteous anger and self-righteous posturing. (My anger and posturing are mellowed 36 hours to perfection?)
But more than ever, I am feeling the emptiness of those pat statements we make, things like “Our thoughts and prayers are with … .” Especially the statements by politicians, but also by preachers, and other partners in faith communities.
God’s spokesperson Amos, around 2750 years ago, criticized religious leaders in particular:
“I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. …
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
(Amos 5:21, 23-24 NRSV)
Or in the paraphrase of Jim Moore and Tom Page, “Your prayers are as empty as deserts. Your hymns are all noise, not a search,” when what God wants of us is “Justice, Justice like free-flowing water, and Righteousness, Righteousness, like a cascading stream.”
The prophetic word to us wordy preachers and bloggers and post-ers and tweet-ers and pray-ers is to STFU with the “thoughts and prayers.” It’s time for justice.
Justice. Not retribution. Justice. Not the proportional “an eye for an eye.” (That may have been progressive in the time of the Exodus ~3000 years ago, but no more.) Justice. Not retribution, but restoration, setting things right:
- Setting things right so that no one needs to live afraid.
- Setting things right so that LGBTQ sisters and brothers are recognized as, and know themselves to be, full, equal and essential participants in society and church.
- Setting things right so that Muslim sisters and brothers are recognized as, and know themselves to be, full, equal and essential participants in society and in the interfaith community.
- Setting things right so that people of color and heritage other than mine are recognized as, and know themselves to be, full, equal and essential participants in all areas of society.
- Setting things right so that politicians and lobbyists in nation and church don’t grasp for control by playing these against each other.
God settles for nothing less than justice. Not “an eye for an eye.” But also, certainly not the too-facile “Our thoughts and prayers …” in the reposted sentimental Facebook memes and the predictable press releases and Twitter emissions from candidates and congresspersons.
“Our thoughts and prayers.” Yes, do think and pray. Think, don’t just react. And pray. Pray with all your might! (Clicking “share” or “like” on a Facebook call for prayer, putting a candle or a rainbow heart on your profile picture, is no substitute for prayer, or for thought.) But let thought, and prayer, feed action — to change your own lives, and to change the world.
And expect this: at least for those of us living at ease with privilege, expect that our prayers for justice may be “as empty as deserts.” So long as we perpetuate and benefit from injustice, we have no right to expect them to be anything else.
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