I intended this blog to be something polished, something focused, organized around a schematic examination of one book of the Bible at a time. Then came the elephant in the room.
Let’s call the creature what it is: the election. We’ve chosen as President a man who is, at best, a charlatan, and at worst, a demagogue. Even stranger still is how little those of us who identify with the left when moral questions are concerned can fathom the choice of those we see to be on the opposite side, the fears that make so much hatred attractive and the oh-so-tempting deafness that comes from being comfortable enough to ignore that our neighbor’s house is in flames.
So these are the footprints of our elephant: the problematic face that will lead our nation and the seemingly unbridgeable gulf opening up between us. Perhaps someday soon I’ll be in the frame of mind to address that. Perhaps I’ll even be positive. But I don’t reckon that day is today, because all I can think about is the persistent widow and the unjust judge.
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
–Luke 18:1-7 (NIV)
It’s a great parable, I think, because it’s visceral and relatable. Normally, I think it’s funny, maybe because it’s so human, but these days I don’t really like looking humanity in the eye.
Still, the story is a lifeline. It’s a reminder of a truth, that persistence can overcome injustice. Unfortunately, that’s about as comforting as the heavy rope they throw you when you’re treading water after the shipwreck.
But for questioning Christians, including those dropped headlong into a crisis of faith by the election, it can hit a little too close to home. I can’t have been the only one praying for a different outcome, wondering if God is the unjust judge. Will we have to keep praying and praying until something happens?
I am reminded that God is not an unjust judge. He has not shut up his house against our cries. Instead, he watches over us.
Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!”
“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!”
–Luke 12:22-24, 27-28 (NIV)
I think, if I’m honest, what scares me the most is that those people on the opposite side of the gulf from me, they have been praying and praying, and some of them see the outcome of the election as a victory over the injustices of modern life. Don’t mistake me, I’m not positing that God did or did not do anything regarding the elephant in the room. I’m just trying to remind myself of something so very difficult right now: we are all more than ravens and lilies.
(That, actually, is the crux, isn’t it — is a refugee more than a raven, an unborn child more than a lily?)
Of course, all this business of birds and flowers in Luke 12 is lovely and important, but it has its limits. It speaks of basic needs, the things at the bottom level of Maslow’s hierarchy: food, clothing, shelter. The battleground in American culture is about the next level up, safety, something Jesus in no way promises. In fact, he promises the opposite, especially for his children. Is that comforting? Nope, not from where I sit. Everyone feels righteously persecuted. Some people deeply fear for the security of people on the fringes; others just as deeply fear the reassurance of a familiar worldview. These two things seem mutually exclusive. What do we do in the face of this?
I went to a prayer service the night before the election, and in the cold light of Wednesday morning I was thankful I had. That night, someone had said something I needed to hear: No matter who wins, God is still God, and our work is still our work.
To that I will add that the elephant was always an elephant. The chasm is not new; I think we’re just seeing how wide and deep it is. No matter what happened, some of God’s children were going to become persistent widows, begging for justice. The circumstances being what they are, we have our work cut out for us.
Stone-Campbell Girl 