Dare I ask
“Do I dare ask what happened to my chair?” I queried as I walked by my husband. “I sat in it and the leg just broke,” he replied. “And when I picked it up to move it, I knocked Kemper’s lego set over, so we had to clean that up. I think we can fix it.” Somehow, I missed all of that during my Sunday afternoon nap. Bleary-eyed as I was, it honestly took my mind a moment to recognize what I was seeing in the living room, the chair turned on the side, three legs in the air and one sadly discarded nearby.
This feels like a metaphor for the state of the world right now. We took a nap, and when we woke up everything was topsy-turvy. We pulled the blanket over our heads and havoc ensued. It is honestly hard to accept the vision of things before us. I cannot be the only one saying, “what in the world is going on?!” A million things flash on the news ticker at the speed of light. More hate crimes, more outbreaks of preventable diseases, more starvation, more tensions between world leaders, more natural disasters of every kind, more bombs, more banned books, more laws to limit liberty and justice for all. It’s overwhelming.
The question is, have we overslept, or can we fix it?
I’m reminded of a few other people who couldn’t keep their eyes open. Remember, when Jesus asked the disciples in the garden to stay awake and pray with him? Three times he asked those closest to him to remain awake while he went a little deeper into the garden to pray. The first, “my soul is deeply grieved, remain here and stay awake with me.” He returned a bit later and found them all sleeping. A second time he asked, “could you not stay awake with me one hour? Keep awake and pray you do not come into the time of trial, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, Jesus went alone to pray and when he came back, after asking God to take the cup away from him, he found them all asleep. A third time, he went away to again pray to God. When he returned, he roused them, “Are you still taking your rest? The hour is here. Get up, look, my betrayer is at hand.”
Jesus is forever standing before God, forever interceding and praying on our behalf while we remain asleep, unable to see clearly, unable to witness to the true state of things, not seeing the forest for the trees so to speak. We look up and suddenly the betrayer is at hand and we’ve let him waltz right in and start swinging! Jesus also told the story about the master of the house leaving and putting the servants in charge. “Keep awake, stay alert for you do not know the hour when the master will return and he may find you asleep if he returns suddenly.”
The truth is it will take all of us, or at the very least a large majority of us to commit to getting out of bed and facing all which troubles our God’s creation. Like the servants of the master’s house, we all have been given hands, feet, voices, and specific skills to aid us in keeping the house running smoothly and repairing the breach. It is overwhelming if we try to face it all at once, but if I join one team to address an issue, and perhaps you join another team to face a different issue, in time movement toward recovery can be made. The mess wasn’t made overnight, even though it often feels that way, so it won’t be cleaned up overnight either. One waking hour at a time. With faithfulness to God, attentiveness to the message of Jesus, and trust in the work of the Holy Spirit, we can fix it. Keep awake! Amen.