Green Pastures and Still Waters
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Social justice matters. People are image bearers of God and should be treated with respect because they have the “dignity of the Divine” stamped on their person. Regardless of color, culture, economic condition or sexual status, people must be loved as “our neighbor.” However, many in our culture are taking up the social justice cause with a vengeance that has gone beyond the intent of those who called us to pay attention. I’m not sure, but I doubt Dr. King would have cancelled Dr. Seuss. On our current cultural course, while taking things into our own hands, I am afraid the cure may be worse than the disease. Even those in the so-called “woke community” are calling out their own for a misuse of the paradigm. That’s the problem with human solutions to human problems—humans are still trying to fix the problem without addressing the real problem. There is a solution to the problems we are facing as a culture, but it is transcendent. We need to “wake-up” to the One who died, rose, ascended and intercedes for us. The apostolic agenda had one thing to cancel, death! They preached that life was available from the One who conquered the grave. They had the audacity to proclaim that following Him would change us and that change would be the cure to many of the evils our culture is still experiencing. Christ is risen, can you see how much that matters?
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We all have longings. Some of them are not good for us or others; but some of them are very right and very good! Some people want freedom from addiction. Some want freedom from guilt and shame that plagues them day in and day out. Some want things for others to be right. They want to see justice for the marginalized, hospitality for the displaced, protection for the vulnerable, healing for the sick, food and shelter for the poor, authority without hostility, and fair equitable treatment for all. The longing to be right and to have things right is human. In fact, one could even say that the human race is “hard-wired” with longing for things to be other than they are. (It’s almost like we came from Paradise and we’re trying to find it again.) Paul wrote that we are “groaning” along with the whole creation. Palm Sunday is about that longing. Palm Sunday is to Easter what Advent is to Christmas. On Palm Sunday we address our longing, we face it, and remember why. Longing is painful sometimes. But, while to feel nothing and long for nothing may be considered a virtue by some Eastern religions, it is not true to human nature. To long for the right things and look to Jesus for them is at the heart of Christianity. To receive from Jesus and to join Jesus in what He is doing in the world, while looking for His return, is the solution to our longing. What do you want?