The Blue Church

As you get older you begin receiving a plethora of offers and discount opportunities that serve to remind you of how old you are. In Philly, you can ride SEPTA buses and trolleys for free. In some states, you can hunt and fish for free. Senior discounts abound.

My dad did a lot of things really well, but growing old was not one of them. Quite literally, up to the day he died, he was bemoaning his age and its comparative disadvantages.

Hopeless. Despairing. Depressed. Despondent.

That covers the waterfront of Jeremiah’s emotions as he took in the aftermath of the fall of Jerusalem. It was all gone. The king deported, his sons executed. The city’s leadership slaughtered.

On one of my early trips to the former Soviet Union country of Moldova, I inquired of the driver/translator about the recent parliamentary elections. I had read that it was a close, hotly contested political battle in which conservatives won a narrow victory over the communist opposition.

One of the Bible’s most familiar stories is the confusion of the languages at the Tower of Babel. You can read all about it in Genesis 11:1-8. This tiny narrative is sandwiched between the Flood and the calling of Abraham, and its presence haunts us with two questions.

Life limits what we can do. The weather, health, and circumstances build walls which restrict our movement. But it’s not the same with words. We can access them anytime, in person, print, online, or phone.

We are so used to judging things by the world’s standards that it is nearly impossible to process Jesus’ saying, “Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first” (Matthew 19:30).

An old easy-listening standard was “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” and it was easy to identify with that sentiment. I had occasion to visit The City by the Bay three times over the course of twenty years, and always was captivated by its charm.

Many years ago I read a story in Readers’ Digest about a drunk driver who took the life of a young man on Christmas Eve in rural Tennessee. The driver, “Tommy,” was sent to jail for his crime, and the story was about how the parents of the victim made peace with it all.

Forgiveness is not a process, but a choice, a decision that happens in an instant when we apply Jesus’ command, “as we forgive our debtors.” God has forgiven us instantly and forever, and so we do that for others who have offended us. (See BB 155, August 28.)