The resurrection of Jesus is my favorite message–story–event ever. Resurrection Day is a day for me that marks the beginning of my year; it reminds me why I breathe, why I do what I do and why I am who I am. It is on this day that I remember that it is Christ who gives me great hope. It is his work in me that enables me to love the people that he loves so much. It is his forgiveness that enables me to forgive, and his new mercies that enable me to show mercy to those around me.
This year is different in so many ways. I am heavy-hearted at what is happening globally and at my doorstep. COVID-19 has changed things. It starkly reminds me of my privilege, my ability to turn a blind eye to the hurting when I want to, and how easy it is to forget the people Jesus loves so much. It is a privilege that I have a home to social-distance inside. It is a privilege that I get to be bored at this time. It is a privilege to be able to think about social detox and to choose whether or not to self-improve
If you have these privileges, it is not something to feel bad about, but it is something to acknowledge with gratitude. To be grateful for your home, your family, your boredom, and your ability to have time to work on yourself. You are not guilty of a crime, but take this time to be grateful.
It is easy for me to turn a blind eye when I get overwhelmed by this world and the injustices in it. I can easily choose to escape over compassion. I can escape by saying, "I’ve done enough, now someone else can do it. Or that’s not my state or country." I can choose to ignore the fact that COVID-19 affects African Americans more than any other ethnic group in this country, and that different regions of the world are without food and other necessities of life. It is true that I cannot solve injustice everywhere, but I can engage with what is in front of me and refuse to turn a blind eye to my neighbor. I am responsible for my activity and my response to the injustices I see, as the priest and the Levite were in the Bible when they saw the dying man on the road.
It is my responsibility to respond to the dying person out of my resources and my ability. If my ability and resources allow me to respond to the hungry around the world, then I should do it. If it will enable me to respond to the unhoused in San Francisco, then I should do it. If it allows me to respond to my neighbor who lives alone, by making a phone call or baking cookies, then in the name of love and mercy, I should do it.
Who are the hurting and vulnerable in front of you? Who are those you can love, who you can step beyond privilege to minister to?
Remember when Jesus went and healed the significant guy's daughter? And on his way, this woman interrupted Jesus, touching his robe so that she would receive healing. Jesus’s response was to love and recognize this woman's value. He stopped. HE STOPPED and valued the vulnerable and untouchable when he could have ignored her, and no one would have known. When Jesus was tempted to walk by and help the important guy, he valued the vulnerable one, the untouchable, the unseen.
Matthew 25:34-36,40
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
As we celebrate the Resurrected King, let us celebrate by caring and loving the people he cared for, loved, and identified with. As we think about Christ in us, let us be Jesus to the world around us, in the name of his mercy, grace, and love, so that others might experience his kingdom and choose to enter into it. Jesus is worthy of us loving the broken and responding to injustice.