Zephaniah 3:14-20
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival.” I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the LORD.
Isaiah 12:2-6
In your midst is the Holy One of Israel
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and will not be afraid, for the LORD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.”
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
And you will say on that day: “Give thanks to the LORD; call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
What am I afraid of? What keeps me up at night or causes my body physical and emotional turmoil? Dictatorship, global warming, floods, disease, “those” Christians, our kids being harmed, lack of gun control, white supremacy culture and the list goes on. Notice that God’s judgment and wrath are not on this list. Actually I don’t know that I have ever been afraid of God. In my lifetime and that of my extended family, fear and judgment is a tool of those in power, not that of a God of abundant love and liberation.
The scriptures we have this week are full of language about fear. The challenge is that English has very little nuance and language matters in conveying the desired emotional impact and investment. Typically we do not distinguish the noun from the verb when it comes to fear. We default to the verb. So it is with empire. Empire uses fear as a sword to cut us off from the awe, from imagining and creating space for mutual liberation and community. The authority of God has been paralleled with that of humans full of spite, hungry for power over not power with.
The whole world is waiting
The whole world cries
The whole world is waiting
For our hope to shine
For you sweet Jesus
Will make all things right
The whole world is waiting
The whole world cries
I am exhausted. I was already exhausted and then a hurricane hit the mountains we live in, homes were destroyed, weak infrastructures collapsed and people perished. It has been more than anyone could have ever imagined and though I see the physical turmoil, it is hard to put into words the emotional shift and impact I am feeling and our community is collectively navigating. Disaster. No moratorium on evictions and the racial disparities that already existed has yielded a humanitarian crisis in these mountains where people have come to abide with one another and hold holy space. This climate disaster created by humans all too consumed by wants over needs and ignoring the interdependence that is essential to liberation for all. This is our doing.
You are the God of justice
You are the God who sees
You are the God who heals and
Who loves the world through me
We believe our love can change things
We will not live silently
You are the God of justice
You are the God who sees
On the heels of a catastrophic climate disaster we had an election. An election where many of my beloveds found themselves and frankly still find themselves in a state of shock and lament with no clear path to journey.
When we talk about decolonizing our lives, not just advent, we are framing, speaking and celebrating the incarnate love among us. Planting, tending to and yielding more sustainable relationships.
Fascinating but not surprisingly, when we proclaim the prince of peace we also evoke this same language as an avoidance instead of a calling. Conversations do not mean conflict and conflict does not require a winner and loser. Even as things get tense we can reframe these conversations as discovery and learning for the sake of humanity. Reading this may sound dramatic but the stakes are too high for us to not recognize that the survival of God’s beloved is at stake.
You oh Lord are with us
We will not be afraid
Though darkness may surround us
And evil have it’s way
Your love has overcome death
We will stand strong and say
You oh Lord are with us
We will not be afraid
I am holding on to reverence. To recognize the holy among the horrible without needing to assign meaning. I am trying to not get distracted by despair and anger-this is what the colonizers want, us distracted and too wrapped up in the sadness to keep pushing toward God’s liberating love for all.
Fear never creates intimacy and trust so why would we proclaim that as a value in relationship to our creator?
Join me in choosing to lean into the holy we see in the eyes of one another even through tears and screaming. We can do this- WE. I need you-the survival of humanity depends on it.
I have been using the stanzas of the song The whole world is waiting by Kate Hurley and The Many. It was written for Advent but I find myself returning to it as a prayer. I encourage you to look it up and give it a listen.
Amy Kim Kyremes-Parks is originally from Salt Lake City, Utah and is a cis Latiné woman with deep roots in the Presbyterian Church USA. As a daughter of an immigrant from the Dominican Republic and an Indigenous Latiné she finds grounding and strength from the ancestors and seeks to be an advocate for the marginalized and unseen. Amy Kim loves creating space for folks to interact with the Holy and one another through art, opportunities for disruption and surprises. Her life is shared with her amazing spouse, Justin, children, Natalily & Isaiah, Herbie the Poodle and 5 chickens!
Unbound Social