“With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please.“ Jeremiah 27:5
Words from the Lord, spoken to Jeremiah, on the impending invasion and conquest of the land of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The Lord ceded the Holy Land, the land of milk and honey, the homes and fields long promised and inhabited by the children of Israel, to a pagan king.
Why? Because the people of Judah turned their backs on the Lord and served other gods. Sobering. If the Lord truly is, as the scriptures say, the same “yesterday, today and forever,” why wouldn’t we expect Him to work in a similar way in our day?
If we serve other gods, if we mistreat the widow and orphan, if we ignore the foreigner among us, why wouldn’t the Lord give our land to others? “To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land, to deny people their rights before the Most High, to deprive them of justice – would not the Lord see such things (Lamentations 3:34-36)?” If we understand that our nation’s structures aid some and hinder others based simply on skin color, will God not eventually bring justice? Does God not expect us to do what is in our power to change such structures?
Today we battle two viruses, one being Covid-19, and the second racial inequality and the distrust that produces.
As a follower of Jesus, I understand that we all are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139), that every person born lives as a beloved creature in the eyes of God. I also remember a profound teaching of Jesus, “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10).”
I’m asking myself, how do I love my neighbor as I would want to be loved in light of these two viruses? Covid is straight forward. I wear a mask where needed, I stay close to home, I check on neighbors, I attend outdoor church. In a year or so, this will pass.
The virus of racism proves difficult to engage – hard, deep, sly, slippery, insidious, frustrating. I don’t know how to help, so I pray, ask questions, and listen. Black Lives Matter. Absolutely, in the eyes of God and so in my eyes. If I were black, I would want others to notice my situation, my frustration and my pain. So, I’m working to notice and pray and engage as a friend, trying to love my neighbor as I’d hope to be loved.
Of course, I will also vote. I look to vote based on my biblical beliefs, not by party affiliation. It’s harder this way, but I want my vote to line up, whenever possible, with the teachings of scripture.
The world is not ours. The true owner is the Lord, who’s given it to us, for now. The people in this world are not ours, either. They belong to the Lord, all of us together. Let’s bring compassion and prayer and humility and listening and justice and lending a hand to our neighborhoods and communities. Perhaps the Lord will notice and begin healing the deep divisions we experience today.
