Good Morning Starshine
In one of the strangest remakes of an already unique story, Tim Burton's retelling of Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" includes this memorable line, "Good morning starshine, the earth says hello." So, good morning, the earth says hello and is waiting for us! The planet is still spinning, the sun shining, and the mandate from God to exude boundless care persists regardless of the excuses we try to make for ourselves.
Yes, there is still much that requires our attention, even as our country begins the healing process. And what is it that the Lord requires of us? The Lord asks for our devotion to causes that transcend our partisan, theological, and cultural identities. Jesus, who appears to us in the least of these, shows us that there we have a long way to go in our ability to care for the poor, the stranger, the brokenhearted, the oppressed, and the weary. And these problems that we face will not disappear overnight. We cannot expect them to vanish in a miraculous second coming because such work is not for the angels or Jesus Christ. This morning, Paul is telling the church in Thessalonica and us that the hard work of restoration begins here and now with us. So let us say, “Good morning,” and greet the new day and the work it brings.
It isn't often, though, that we rise to such a challenge. I'll admit that spewing vitriol and ignorance is a lot easier than sacrifice and inward contemplation and construction. But such pettiness doesn't lead anywhere. It's nothing but a selfish manifestation of our unwillingness to dive deep within ourselves and change our hearts and them gentler and more empathetic for the sake of others. Perhaps that's why the idea of a "second coming" is so appealing. If we can keep kicking our problems down the road, thinking Jesus will solve iit all without any investment on our end, why then would we want to do the spiritual task of introspection?
We should understand the reading this morning isn't talking about the "second coming" in the same way that Western Christians think it is. People in Thessalonica were concerned about loved ones who died (Gk. "fallen asleep") before the victory of Christ. It wasn't so much a concern about whether their loved ones were "saved," but whether they would be part of the same community. Community, the people in the early church were worried about the status of their communities and if Christ would still reconcile them together.
We talk about community, and we're good at talking, but what have we done to make it a tangibly better place? How are you and I going to invest in our schools, faith families, social services, and one another? Because here is a simple truth that we cannot avoid. The time for healing, caring, and transformation is now. It's not some far off future time, but here in the present where we find the blending of heaven and earth. Because if we were to wait for Jesus' return and didn't work on anything to help each one another like Jesus asked, I think he would be disappointed in what he would find.
Where do we go then? And what does Paul mean then when he talks about the words that we can use to encourage the faithful? Does Paul have insider information that we don't have? Of course not, Paul is reminding us that amid times of uncertainty, there is a need for us to experience God's reconciling power at work in our communities right now. This reconciling power points us to the present goodness in our world and asks that we cultivate it for the future. Each of us has a role to play. Each of us has a responsibility to contribute to the blending together of heaven and earth. Paul knew this, and Paul wanted the church then and us now to know that we cannot wait any longer to commit ourselves to Christ's ministry of reconciliation and community building.
The message we hear this today is that Jesus leaves no one behind. Those who have died and are asleep will rejoin their beloved communities, but that is in God's hands. For us, at this moment, we discover that our prime directive is to follow in Jesus' footsteps, who called out to the sinners and the saints and built something that went against all common sense. I think that we are longing for something. We are longing for wholeness, healing, reconciliation, righteousness, and justice. In partaking and participating in Christ's continuing work of building our community, leaving no one behind, we can witness the transformation of our hearts and our society occur right in front of us!
For those times when we find it difficult to overcome our fear or hate, Jesus steps into frame and grants us strength. Jesus bridges the gap and provides the clarity we need to see what needs to do. Love, divine love, is a large part of the solution. I don't know about you, but my heart can't carry the hate that some folks hold for those on the political left and the political right. That's to say as well, that I don't want to minimize the legitimate pain and suffering that exclusive ideologies and practices have had on many. Yet there has to be a way forward. And we can harbor all the hate and disdain in the world, but Jesus says hand it over to me, and focus on the kin(g)dom building work that will shape the very ground under your feet for the better.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I would go out on a limb to say that many of us are tired. We're tired of the divisiveness and toxicity we've seen, but the outside voices in the form of social media and pundits tell us that this climate is the only option we have to choose unless we want our world to collapse. Be still, hear the "good morning starshine" from the earth, and know that life continues to move. Here in the moment, friends, the present and the future is in our hands. As Paul would have told those in Thessalonica, our faith reveals its fullness when we prepare for the future by making the present a reflection of the wholeness God desires for all of us, our neighbors, our friends, and those who we don’t agree with us 100%. Isn't time to embrace the new way of life Jesus has set in front of us? Aren't we tired of the same old seasons of mistrust and hurt that we have tried time and time again? Why don’t we try to do the hard work of making ourselves better and our communities better today?
The present and future building work Paul lays out requires our attention if we are to alter our communities and culture from the inside out. This isn't something that will happen overnight. This isn't something that happens simply by praying. It will take serious effort, and we must ask if we are willing to put that kind of energy into faithfully living out the gospel. If our faith is not observable by the way we live and promote the common good, then we need to stop and ask what we're doing wrong. Because the gospel, the good news, offers us and all our neighbors life. So let us say "good morning," get down and dirty Christ's ministries, and make a better today for a better tomorrow for the planet, for others, and for ourselves. Amen.