Listen Lord: We Hate it Here - Day Eleven
Praying with Miriam
“In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.” from Exodus 15
Everyday we hear growing numbers of COVID 19 cases and deaths. While we are yet chasing a cure it feels that this epidemic has us surrounded on all sides. We are tirelessly pursued by fear while staring at a sea of uncertainty before us. The pressure is on. But Miriam's song reminds us that the Lord will fight for us. Even though we feel afraid and anxious, Victory is coming. But God’s timing is not our own. So today we pray Miriam’s song as the promise of a win that’s on the way. A reminder that we are “mid-conquer”. Filling our lives with worship is our way of clinging to wisdom and calm in the midst of strife, confusion, and foolishness.
Miriam’s people were ruled by a corrupt and self centered dictator. Whatever miracles her brothers displayed, Pharoah had to outdo in spectacle and cruelty. Whatever pleas for discernment they delivered, Pharoah met them with tantrum and damnation. There are striking similarities to our current situation. Humans were disposable economy boosters. Infant mortality was a matter of hatred induced by the government. After a dozen chances to hear divine Wisdom and relent his oppression, the Pharoah’s foolish vows only increased the suffering of all the people he was meant to protect. Perhaps most uncanny to our times, the Pharoah in Moses and Miriam’s day very likely believed he was a god, and his administration would have been required to speak and believe the same.
There is indeed in this day, an abundance of similar foolishness; that vanity that leads to death, as the scriptures warn us. We are pressed in by an evil that won’t let leaders sleep at night until they have charted a course for the extinction of the oppressed. We are perplexed by the notion that a near future victory (which experts have called grossly premature) should be accepted and expected because it falls on a famous Christian holiday that marks an already daily reality.
I want to make this plain: Easter does not come in baskets and bows, it does not come in pretty clothes, nor in egg hunts or choir robes. It’s not tied to favorite hymns or a well dressed preacher. It ain’t cross-and-tomb crafts from the Sunday School teacher. Our elation for this day is not wrapped up in breakfast quiche, spring chicken or grilled/roasted/hickory-smoked beast. These things are only made special and sweet because of the truth that the day repeats. Christ is Risen. He is risen indeed.
Jesus. is. Alive. Right now. Already. ALIVE. He’s breathing, in a human body, in glory, right now, Saints. I’m talking hardcore theological Ascension and Session alive. And whenever we remember His passion, death, descent and resurrection, we are celebrating Easter as people of faith. Now, we are all free in Jesus to celebrate Easter culturally. Pink and pastel lovers, it’s your season, we love to see it. Planning to go with a neon red-orange myself. But I expect to dress up just to livestream a prayer in my kitchen. Yes I do. With some sadness, maybe.. though I would bet on a posture of gratitude if I make it to that day, along with my babies, my parents, my sister and my dear friends. So I will not hear of deflating my worship just because there is no live crowd to add blaze to my praise. We ain’t here for this. And this year’s journey from Lent to Resurrection Season might be a worthy opportunity to practice that wisdom.
As people of faith, we face the current president’s blather in no uncertain terms: We will not have it. As worn out as we are already, this season clarifies us in a manner similar fo fasting. Jesus was our blessed extra crispy “Not today, Satan” Christ by the time the devil showed up to test him in the desert. Why would we display anything less in this wilderness of our own?
The wise Preacher wrote in Ecclesiastes:
“Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart, to utter anything before God.”
For this reason, I would warn you, God’s beloved, not to speak as if Easter is a day of magical coronavirus cure. That would be akin to testing the Lord your God. I would encourage the Saints to continue in prayer and fasting, in almsgiving and good works. And to worship while we wait, to shout while we do battle, because we know that victory is coming, Amen! But getting ready for the win does not mean giving up the fight.
We can be still in the chaos, we can pray as we feel sadness, we can sleep like Jesus in the midst of a storm. Because the Lord will not only hear and come near, God will fight for us. See, we know victory coming, and it comes not by our rugged endurance or nationalist pride. It comes from God’s strength - which our mother Miriam tells us is sourced in Yaweh’s love and mercy. Any leader who does not display the these attributes is vain indeed. He vows foolishness, he loves only the sound of his own voice. He does not desire the ears to hear from a God who authored good leadership, and now models it to us, by listening.
Let’s pray together.
Passion
Precious Lord, we come to You this morning in need of strength and defense. Our hearts are overwhelmed and the last of our nerve reserves has all but shattered. We are sinking in all of the suffering happening this season. Send Your Holy Spirit, Lord, to ride by our houses and hovels this morning, send the Comforter and Keeper to preach to us this morning. Send us a word of remembrance, that we might look up and live. Let us lift up our eyes, beyond the hills, to the place we know but have yet to see, where our help comes from. Listen, Lord, we need You.
We are lowly, we need the Rock that is higher than our minds and stronger than our emotions. We are the working poor, we take our children to daycare, we deliver mail and meals. We rely on public transportation. And we are turned away when we need sick leave, left penniless when we can no longer clean houses, churches or schools. We need the Stone that the builders rejected.
We are the mourning and the exposed. We are unable to say goodbye to our loved ones, unable to care for our recovering friends. We are on the phone with nurses and doctors, or patients, all day. We are in work environments where exposure has happened but company owners refuse to close. So we have no choice but to exchange our sanity for a paycheck. And we are sore afraid. We need the Man of Sorrows, the Lord of Heaven who is also acquainted with grief.
For many are our griefs O God. Countless now the days of restlessness, O Lord, endless are our troubles. We are people of empty hands and worthless plans, and how we hate it here. But “The Lord is a Warrior”, and we would have You to come to our rescue, come fight for us.
Petition
Lord we would ask you to listen this morning. Hear our cries from the ends of the earth. Hear our cries from the deep waters that surround us. Hear our cries from over-taxed emergency rooms. Hear our cries from hospital beds. Hear our cries from overcrowded prisons. Hear our cries from overburdened homes.
Sink our fears down to the depths like a stone. Be our advocate in the Halls of Government. Defend the dignity of your people against the weapons of those in power. Take away their machinations of deceit and self-interest. Hurl their chariots into the Sea! Show the strength of Your arm. You, O Lord, the Warrior for Your people!
Who is like You O, God! You do wonders in our midst. You are a Way-maker. Make a path plain where we can safely pass through the troubles of this age. By the breath of Your Spirit stem the rushing tides of disease and dehumanizing that pursue us. Comfort the grieving, restore health to the hurting, bottle up every tear, Lord. Wash the hands of the unclean, and turn the hearts of the corrupt. In your unfailing love, bring us to the place You have made for Your dwelling, where our feet will be planted on solid ground. Where we will worship saying “The Lord reigns forever and ever.”
Praise
Listen Lord, Your children are singing this morning. We’re still lifting our voices in laughter and fellowship, still creating with canvases and cameras. You give us hope in remaining prayerful, even as we stand before the red sea. You give us strength to show kindness, even as we smile at - but stand far off from - our neighbors. You give us guidance to keep going, even as we stress over the path we cannot see.
We praise You, Son of Man and King of Glory, highly exalted but bearing the marks of lynching. You are mighty in power, but you have been tempted and tested like us, submitted, learned and grew in wisdom like we ought to, and all on our behalf. We bless and adore Your presence in our midst.
We praise you for Your presence with the oppressed. You have heard the vows of your people, and you have all authority in heaven and earth, and below the earth, yet You have humbled Yourself to see us through many seasons of distress. And while the enemy is boasting, with one breath You will cover him with the sea. For You, O Lord, are our Strength and our Defense.
We praise you for the presence of your Wisdom. Thank you Lord for the scientists and doctors who are dedicated to designing better treatment and finding a cure. We believe that You can empower them with your might, and through them bring an end to our loss and isolation. We know that You hear our cries, O God of great deliverance, and we know that You can do it.
Who is like You, Lord? Who is like You— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? In Your unfailing love You will lead the people You have redeemed from oppression. In Your strength You will guide us to Your holy dwelling.
And in Your grace You have sanctified our lowly dwellings, here in our isolation from the congregation - even now. You have come to give us Your daily bread, You’ve prepared and consecrated a feast day for us in our homes, in defiance of corrupt regimes. You have rehearsed in us the song of Miriam and Moses. You have given us the heritage of those who fear Your name.
Scripture: Exodus 15 // Psalm 61
Songs: I Will Bless the Lord, Byron Cage // Worthy, India Arie // When the Battle is Over, Benita Washington performance
Art: Refuge, Shinique Smith // Moon Dance, Ramona Candy