Life Entrusted

“Life Entrusted”

The Rev Jen Van Zandt

May 29, 2022

In a weekend of a “normal” Memorial Day planning, we could and should be preoccupied solely with dusting off our deck furniture, cleaning our barbecues, hanging bunting and flags, tilling our garden soil and honoring those who died to keep our country safe, we find ourselves back under the relentless storms of gun violence. And if you haven't checked yet today's headlines, there was yet another active shooter in Chattanooga, Tennessee last night and, at least two young adults are fighting for their lives because of gunshot wounds. There is so much that we should and could do, but the first place we must start is scripture.

Psalm 16 helps give voice to our need (and the need of all human beings) to trust in God and to celebrate the relationship that keeps us on the straight and narrow: in the past, in the present and in the future. The psalmist is celebrating the goodness and the serenity that God has and does offer. “A place…” , Walter Brueggemann says “that is free from threat which makes Shalom possible”. Additionally, this psalmist is so preoccupied with God's goodness that his heart is attuned to God's instructions and discipline. And so, therefore as Brueggemann says, “…there is no threat, no destabilization or anxiety--nothing can intrude the heart.”

But the psalmist is not living in a completely altered state. He does remember at least one time when he was in deep trouble and despair; where the threat had capacity to swallow up the psalmist; where he entered into the pit of Sheol, which is a term for a place of utter darkness--a lifeless nothingness.

I imagine this is where all of those parents and spouses of those who were lost in Uvalde are right now--as well as those in Buffalo… and in Las Vegas… and in Newtown…, and 23 years ago in Columbine. 23 years!!! They, too, are living still in Sheol. I imagine the shooters themselves are also living in Sheol.

And, although, the psalmist doesn't address a physical death by murder, he speaks of a death where every threat takes away our capacity to live into the fullness that humanity desires and God intends. Yet here we are again. Thankfully for us, at least as of today, we can recognize, even in part, that not only does God give us counsel and instructs our hearts even in the night, but that God shows, and sometimes we see, and can celebrate being in the path of life. God keeps pointing us to a place showing us again and again, like our Emmaus window tells us, ‘I will never abandon you.’

Back to Memorial Day…while we prepare for Memorial Day gatherings--a day off to sleep in--our biggest decision is what to put on the barbecue? What are we going to plant the garden this year? Are we going to plant the basil again? Are we going to try cilantro? (I'm going to try to plant/grow cilantro for like the fourth year in a row. I don't expect to be successful at it. I've studied it. I've read about it and it lasts for about two weeks and then it gets all leggy and falls over. Right?)

But, seriously, I've been praying and pondering all week, especially since Wednesday’s massacre. I literally read through every psalm--all 150 of them--to try and find the right psalm for today. And while there are plenty of psalms that give voice to grief as well as wanting God's justice to rain down on the enemy and punishment for all evil that has been carried out by ugly lost hearts, it's the Beatitudes where I found a place to land.

It's the Beatitudes where I found a place to rest, to breathe, to be reminded, to find some comfort, but also to be reminded that we all have a responsibility, an ethical one at that. We have a responsibility to carry out acts of mercy and righteousness. We are called to be peacemakers; to protect the poor in spirit; to comfort the grieving; to actively declare God's promises to the hopeless and the helpless. To trust that God's peace will prevail, especially if we become part of it. To live without an undivided heart where we parcel out our loyalties when they're convenient.

But while the Beatitudes give us comfort by reminding us of God's promises and God's activity, God's activity includes God's judgment and justice. The Beatitudes was not delivered to the poor and the broken-hearted and the lost and the grieving, it was to the Disciples. It was to you and to me, so that we can carry out the business that God has called us to. It wasn't for those who didn't understand who Jesus was and who didn't know who God was, it was to a small group of believers that believed that God's power was greater than all the evil on the earth, in the past, in the present and in the future.

So whether you go to a parade tomorrow or not, we have our marching orders and we know who to follow and that's what we need to do today, tomorrow and every day until peace and justice reign on the earth. May it happen in our lifetimes. May it happen even tomorrow. Amen.