January 8, 2011
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Putting things right
There is a popular expression, “It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.” I have used more times than I would want to admit. The concept is to go ahead and do what you think needs to get done rather than take the time to get permission and risk that you will be told no. The plan only works if what you want to do is really the best thing and does not result in harm. Too often we act without knowing the potential consequences of what we do and then we try to put things right. Forgiveness may be easier to get than permission but making things right is rarely possible.
The consequences of our actions are not easily repaired. We cannot easily regain the trust that is lost when we share something we did not have the right to share. We cannot easily repair the intimacy that is lost when we hurt someone we love. We cannot easily repair the damage to our reputation when do something illegal or unethical. Saying, I am sorry, goes a long way toward obtaining forgiveness but it is our words and actions over time that will bring about the repairs required to put things right. A week from tomorrow we will celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. This nation has come a long way in moving from being a country that accepted the enslavement of human beings based upon their racial identity. We should celebrate the changes in our laws as important steps toward being forgiven for our past actions. We are, however, a long way from having put things right. Too many racial minorities live below the poverty level, too large a percentage of our prison population and persons on death row are racial minorities, too few of our elected leaders and corporate heads are racial minorities. The same can be said for our efforts to achieve gender equality and certainly much needs to be done to put things right for those who have been marginalized for their gender affection or gender expression. It will take much more than ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, passing Equal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or even marriage equality for this nation to put things right. We must change the way we think and behave if we hope to make things right for those we have discriminated against and demeaned.
Putting things right for this congregation is going to take more than saying we are sorry for the way we have treated people in the past. Saying we sorry is a very good start to gaining forgiveness but the way we treat each other, the way we behave in the community, they way we see ourselves must change if we hope to put things right. The work we are doing now is to find our common vision, to identify what is the mission of this church so we can know how to live into that vision and accomplish that mission. If we hope to get it right, we must be open to God’s leading as to what God desires of us here and now. How are we to bind ourselves to God? How are we to be a lighthouse to others seeking safe passage in the rough seas of life and guiding them to God? How are we opening blind eyes of prejudice and ignorance? How are we bringing release to those imprisoned by fear and hate? Are we sharing the Good News that God does not have favorites and all are loved by God? How are we following the example of Jesus and lifting up those beaten down by life and healing those wounded and diseased? It is clear to me that putting things right requires us to do something and not just believe something. It is good and important that we come and celebrate our God but it is also important that we serve our God, that we do something the rest of the week after we have been fed and encouraged in worship of God. We need to do the hard work if we want to put things right.
It is hard work to put things right and we must not be afraid of doing the hard work. Jesus taught us by example that putting things right is hard work and we cannot expect our efforts to result in our being loved and adored by everyone, not even the people we seek to serve. We are to do the things necessary to put things right because it is the right thing to do not because it will make us popular. It is only when we chose to live out our understanding of God’s love can we hope to put things right. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, We must be light, love, and be gentle if we are to put things right.
It is impossible for us to put things right. Fortunately we serve the God of the impossible. God has the ability to put things right, in fact God has had a plan from the time of creation to put things right and we need only to surrender to that plan. Eugene Peterson in the passage we read today from Matthew puts it this way when Jesus responds to John’s concern that he should not baptize Jesus but Jesus should baptize him. Jesus says, “Do it. God’s work, putting things right, all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” We too, are baptized into being part of God’s plan to put all things right. Amen.
