Blog
“I Am Thankful”
Categories: M. W. Bassford, Meditations
These are spiritually oppressive days. The coronavirus is oppressive, the George Floyd killing and its fallout are oppressive, and the online quarrelling between brethren over these issues is oppressive. All these things combine to paint a grim picture of our spiritual reality.
However, I don’t think that this picture is accurate. Nothing about God’s people and His church has been fundamentally altered. The storm may be raging, but the houses with foundations continue to stand. We are not a perfect people, but we do diligently seek the Lord, and for those with eyes to see, the search is so, so evident. I am thankful for everyone who is engaged in it. In particular:
I am thankful for every Christian and every church that strives for unity in the face of racial and political difference. We are not all the same, and if that changes in the future, something horrible has happened. We do not all see things the same way, and that is unlikely ever to change!
Nonetheless, we work to be one in Christ Jesus. We carefully, awkwardly reach out to those of different races. We make allowances for differences in upbringing and experience that lead to different perspectives. When a brother or sister makes a thoughtless comment, we smile with thin lips instead of exploding in outrage.
Unity is not an accident. It is the product of constant, patient effort. I am thankful for everyone who makes the effort.
I am thankful for my black brothers and sisters. Though I try to empathize, I know I never will be able to see the world through your eyes. When I say the wrong thing, it’s because of my imperfect understanding, not evil intent.
Nonetheless, I don’t have any trouble seeing Christ in you. I see your anger and your pain, but I know that Christ was angry. I know that Christ suffered when He saw injustice. I rejoice when you rise above those who hold you in contempt, when, rather than returning evil for evil, you speak truth in love. By your godliness and self-control, you put your enemies to shame.
I am thankful for my black brethren who are church leaders. You are among the best of us, and in many cases, your example is one I honor and strive to imitate. The work that you do as preachers, elders, and deacons brings glory to God, and your dignified, humble service powerfully rebuts the lies of racism. May your hands and your hearts always be strengthened for the labor you do for God!
I am thankful for the white brethren who serve as adoptive and foster parents for children who are black and brown. You know as well as anybody that love isn’t color-blind, that love sees color, because love has to see color. You also know, though, that color is no barrier to love. In many cases, you have taken heavy burdens upon yourselves because of love, and though your struggles and suffering often are known to no one but God, they still glorify Him. White sisters, every time you go out in public with a child of color and somebody sneers at you, remember that fools sneered at Christ too. As you despise the shame, you walk in His footsteps.
Most of all, I am thankful for the love of the God who has called us and bound us together. By nature, we are children of wrath, hateful and hating one another, and yet He had compassion on us and showed us mercy through His Son. As we seek to be transformed into His image, may His compassion and His love be our guiding star, imperfectly seen, even more imperfectly followed, yet always present. As we despair of ever perfecting ourselves, let us repose our hope in the One who fully is able to perfect us.
