Long Way Here

This is a word from John Henry Newman that I cannot stop reading today. I hope it encourages you.

“God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.”

I grow nostalgic as each year’s 3e Restoration Celebration comes around. I think about all who make 3e possible. I remember God’s faithfulness extended through WCC, without whom there would be no 3e. I remember the neighbors living through social displacement I’ve had the joy knowing and loving prior to moving here—they taught me so much. I remember all who welcomed them as if they were welcoming Christ himself, people like Mama Lily.

This season I’ve been thinking a lot about David Benedict. Maybe it’s because his birthday is in March. Or maybe it’s because I keep seeing him in the same spaces where hospitality and justice are valued and enacted. Regardless, he remains one of my greatest local heroes—a prophetic presence and tireless lover of the marginalized among us.

With DB our city is a better place. He doesn’t receive accolades, although he deserves them. He doesn’t want them. He knows Who holds his reward. But I cannot help but remember that without his advocacy, much in Williamsburg would be different, including 3e. Some other organizations would not even exist. DB’s prophetic leadership, faithful presence, and good-trouble-making ways opened up conversations and connections that led to movements of hope and justice, especially for our marginalized neighbors. His commitment to peacemaking over peacekeeping organized some, and confronted others, and was always carried out in genuine love for all. He’s never wanted to build an empire. He’s only wanted to build a beloved community.

My life is better because of him. I’ve learned more from him than he will ever know. He stands in the company of a small few who have shown me what prophetic witness looks like. He models grace in the face of dismissal and disregard. He relentlessly and fearlessly speaks truth to power and puts his hands and feet to his words, even in his 80’s. He has also shown me what it looks like to love someone faithfully in this life and into the next. He’s one of the better men I’ve ever known.

There’s so much more I could say, but I won’t. All I wanted to do was “take delight in honoring” a faithful man of God and leader among us (Roman’s 12:10).

“Christians, it’s not resurrection hope if it does not liberate, love, and make whole. Too often we believe in a theology of Jesus that reinforces power dynamics and oppression rather than resist them and change them.”
~ Dante Stewart, Pastor and Author

A prayer by Clement of Rome (in a letter to Corinth (chapter 59) around 96 C.E.) that speaks to Dante’s words and demonstrates how far we (the Church) have strayed.

“We beg you, Lord, to help and to defend us. Deliver the oppressed, pity the insignificant, raise the fallen, show yourself to the needy, heal the sick, bring back those of your people who have gone astray, feed the hungry, lift up the weak, take off the prisoners’ chains. May every nation come to know that you alone are God, that Jesus Christ is your Child, that we are your people, the sheep that you pasture.”

Local Churches that are working for the good of the city are not usually the big, large, programmatic, wealthy, take-a-picture-of-an-event kind of churches. It’s the churches whose members are, because of Jesus, working for the good of the city in subterranean ways. It’s the quiet whispers of faithful presence and movements of hospitality and justice. It’s the small collectives of members living out their confession with others outside of the traditional power structures of a city.

You may have heard of them because they have a witness, but you may only really know who these churches are if you’re a part of them.

Bombs fall.
Bullets fly.
Mothers fight.
Children cry.
World watches.
Some deny.
Blame shifts
Pundits lie.
Bombs fall.
Bullets fly.

God’s image-bearers die.

~ Written Feb. 26, 2022

I wrote this when war began. I look forward to writing one when it ends. May it be soon.