"Let us respond to the world when it aims to make us fearful: your lords are leaving, but our Lord is coming"
So, I turn on the T.V. and there's this guy. He's wearing something like a three-thousand dollar suit and from his comfortably air-conditioned studio he hysterically rants about the economy and its failures - and when I say hysterically - I mean ... he was hysterical. Freaking out - lost his mind! You know, the real heavy, "this is the end of things, capitalism is failing us, we're all going down in the sinking ship" kind of stuff. Not something I want to hear when I get home from a long days work - especially from a guy who's wearing a three-thousand dollar suit. What right does he have to talk about economic crisis? Hypocrite.
So I change the channel. Same suit, different guy: "the Republican party needs to understand ... blah blah blah// the Democratic party needs to understand ... blah blah blah// the Independent party needs to ... oh wait that's right, we don't value independent thinkers anymore - so forget it who cares about those guys ... they don't understand anything." He rants and banters on and on. Meanwhile, congress and the United States political scene get nestled away into a pretty little hand basket with a big pink bow - and they go straight to hell. Chaos.
God! So I shut off the T.V. and go to sleep. No more of this. I'd rather not listen to this fear mongering hysterics. Enough.
Cut scene. I'm in my office. I pick up this book and I read the following quote from a dead German guy - Gustav Heinemann. German guys rock. Well, ok ... most German guys rock ... ok wait no, hold on ... most German theologians rock ... there that's where I'll land. ANYWAYS! I read this quote from Gustav Heinemann (who actually wasn't even a theologian; he was a member of the Confessing Church under Nazi rule and he went on to become the president of the Republic of Germany). Good ole' Gustav says:
So, I turn on the T.V. and there's this guy. He's wearing something like a three-thousand dollar suit and from his comfortably air-conditioned studio he hysterically rants about the economy and its failures - and when I say hysterically - I mean ... he was hysterical. Freaking out - lost his mind! You know, the real heavy, "this is the end of things, capitalism is failing us, we're all going down in the sinking ship" kind of stuff. Not something I want to hear when I get home from a long days work - especially from a guy who's wearing a three-thousand dollar suit. What right does he have to talk about economic crisis? Hypocrite.
So I change the channel. Same suit, different guy: "the Republican party needs to understand ... blah blah blah// the Democratic party needs to understand ... blah blah blah// the Independent party needs to ... oh wait that's right, we don't value independent thinkers anymore - so forget it who cares about those guys ... they don't understand anything." He rants and banters on and on. Meanwhile, congress and the United States political scene get nestled away into a pretty little hand basket with a big pink bow - and they go straight to hell. Chaos.
God! So I shut off the T.V. and go to sleep. No more of this. I'd rather not listen to this fear mongering hysterics. Enough.
Cut scene. I'm in my office. I pick up this book and I read the following quote from a dead German guy - Gustav Heinemann. German guys rock. Well, ok ... most German guys rock ... ok wait no, hold on ... most German theologians rock ... there that's where I'll land. ANYWAYS! I read this quote from Gustav Heinemann (who actually wasn't even a theologian; he was a member of the Confessing Church under Nazi rule and he went on to become the president of the Republic of Germany). Good ole' Gustav says:
"Let us respond to the world when it aims to make us fearful: your lords are leaving, but our Lord is coming"
I know what you're thinking - I thought the same thing: "This guy was a politician?!" Right?! How does a politician come up with such a profound truth. He's obviously a politician from another time - we don't have those truth-speaking profound politicians laying around anymore! But I digress from my point.
Do we believe this anymore? Do we respond to the world's fear mongering and hysterics with the comforting, quiet words of assurance: "Yes, your lords are leaving - but our Lord is coming?"
Have we as the church maybe lost our witness to this profound hope? Have we joined the world around us in hopeless lament? Joined the bandwagon perhaps?
Or, maybe we have so associated with the gods of this world - money, comfort, self-image -that these in fact have become our lords and now that they are leaving we in fact do despair with no hope? I'd like to think not, but sometimes I think so. I wonder ...
Our Lord is coming. He's alive. He is active. He is ... reigning.
May the church say again, as it has in the past - with undying hope and witness to our true Lord - " Come Lord Jesus, Come"
Do we believe this anymore? Do we respond to the world's fear mongering and hysterics with the comforting, quiet words of assurance: "Yes, your lords are leaving - but our Lord is coming?"
Have we as the church maybe lost our witness to this profound hope? Have we joined the world around us in hopeless lament? Joined the bandwagon perhaps?
Or, maybe we have so associated with the gods of this world - money, comfort, self-image -that these in fact have become our lords and now that they are leaving we in fact do despair with no hope? I'd like to think not, but sometimes I think so. I wonder ...
Our Lord is coming. He's alive. He is active. He is ... reigning.
May the church say again, as it has in the past - with undying hope and witness to our true Lord - " Come Lord Jesus, Come"
//Ex Profundis//
