Current Events

1 John 1:1-10

As I write these words a small stream has developed in our normally dry backyard. It is a product of recent unrelenting rain. Yesterday, for the first time that I can remember, I was prevented from leading a worship service because of flood waters that made my trip difficult and unsafe. And the rain continues to fall on this part of Arkansas. Then last night came word of the death of Osama bin Laden. This news has caused a different sort of stream to develop around the world, an outpouring of emotion and, in this country at least, relief. I see a connection of sorts between the two situations. If we are not careful we may be carried away in our response to bin Laden’s death the way flood waters sweep away a person or a vehicle.

“This is the message we have heard from (Jesus Christ) and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true…” (1 John 10:5-6). God is light, no matter what may be happening in our world or in our lives. To say we are God’s people and yet choose to live in the shadows is to get it wrong and to go astray. In times of greatest stress or of greatest emotion we must strive more earnestly to follow God’s will, to live in the light. One potential danger that looms for Americans is self-congratulations or gloating. We live in a world as full of violence and oppression today as it was yesterday. The rivers of injustice surge over their banks and inundate peoples of all nations and ethnicities. Storm clouds of idolatry drift above our heads. Darkness remains a tempting retreat from the responsibilities of the light.

How people of faith react in the coming days will be very telling. This is no time to pause in our efforts to build true and lasting community with others. This is no time to take our eyes off the needs of our world. This is no time to speak of “winning” or of “us vs. them.” Such actions will only add to the flood of hatred and mistrust that regularly sweeps our world. Now is the time for honesty, for light, for God’s will. Now is the time to work even harder to reach blessed consensus both at home and abroad, to set aside our differences and to allow our similarities to show us the way to go. Until the reign of God arrives in its fullness the waters will continue to lap at the foundations of goodness. To dwell in the darkness is to give up all hope. These days we need God’s light as much as ever.

Prayer: Lord, you taught us to pray, even for our enemies and for those who persecute us. May your love and mercy be at work in all hearts—ours included—that your will be done. Amen.