Kiki emerged from the collapsed building that entombed him after seven and a half days with a mile-wide smile and arms outstretched as one might greet the rising sun after a storm. The chances of finding further survivors after so many days are slight, yet Kiki’s bright smile recharged the spirits and gave renewed strength to the rescue teams. His older sister was pulled from the rubble soon after. She sang her response.
Calamities are large and small. Their scale is relative to one’s proximity to the epicenter when the earth beneath one’s feet trembles and the stable supports of life collapse. In the streets of Port-au-Prince little remains the same. The earthquake has destroyed so much. Yet hope is renewed because of a little boy’s happy grin. The happiness of that moment does not diminish the sorrow for the dead, or the worry for those without water, food, shelter and medical care. Moments of joy, though, are to be honored for themselves. From beyond the moment we hear God’s call to treat this life saved like an ember buried in the ashes which can glow strong again with care.
The question always nags, “Why was Kiki saved and so many others died?” In the book of Job, when all lies in ruin around Job he says, The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21). Those are words of sacred mystery, for the whys of calamity persist regardless of the scientific, political or economic answers given, but faith submits to a greater wisdom than is available to humans now. Like Jesus’ response to his disciples who wondered why a man was born blind, It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him (Jn 9:3). Human life is enveloped in a profound mystery in the face of which we say, Blessed be the name of the Lord, and strive to discern God’s meaning.
It is interesting how quickly one commentator thought to ask the photographer who caught Kiki’s amazing smile and gesture if he was aware of its Pulitzer Prize potential. How quickly a sacred moment can be quantified for its commercial value. Discernment is deeper than that.
This morning’s reading from Nehemiah reminds us of another rescue from calamity. Freed from their exile in Babylon the children of Israel return to their land and get to work rebuilding the structures that supported their religious, political and social lives. Once the rubble was cleared away and the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt Ezra the priest called all the people together. The law of Moses was read to the people who recognized that their disobedience brought God’s wrath upon them. Yet Ezra and the Levites interpreted the meaning of the scriptures for their new day. Instead of woe God’s provident care ushered in a new day of celebration, The joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh 8:10).
A revival began to shape the faith and practice of Israel. Interpreting the Torah for the people who could understand signaled the living nature of the word of God. Changes in time and circumstance called for an awareness of the new things rising out of the old that God was doing among his people. Soon the Sabbath study of scripture at the village synagogue became as important as the outward forms of temple worship and sacrifice. They claimed the joy of the Lord as their strength.
Fast forward some 400 years and Luke tells us that Jesus came into his hometown synagogue on the Sabbath. He read the scripture portion for the day from Isaiah 61:1,2 about Spirit-anointed work. When he finished the assembly awaited an interpretation from him. He said, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing (Lk 4:21).
You can’t read too much of the Bible without noticing that God is always breaking down the old and rebuilding for God’s new day. The reader and interpreter of the scriptures that Sabbath in Nazareth was the same one anointed by the Holy Spirit at his baptism with God’s voice proclaiming, This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased (Lk 3:22). Shortly afterwards Jesus was tested by Satan in the wilderness where he discerned the scope of his messianic mission (Lk 4:1-13). So when he reads from Isaiah 61 Jesus is clear eyed about the work of God he has taken on. But to tell his neighbors in Nazareth that he was the anointed one spoken of by Isaiah and that God’s work is fulfilled in his person was too much for them to swallow. They objected.
Are we so different? Is it not also true that we have a tendency to push away from any notion that God’s will is to be fulfilled in my life or yours? “Not here, not me,” is a more likely response than a thoughtful reception of Paul’s teaching in I Corinthians 12. After saying, Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it, he ticks off the various gifts the members embody: gifts of leadership, deeds of power, healing, and assistance (12:27-28). Out of a false sense of humility we will deny that we have gifts to use. Perhaps as a protection against our own fears we won’t join others while they exercise their gifts. At the time of Jesus’ testing by Satan he didn’t say, “Perhaps I’m not the Son of God. The Devil has a pretty good deal. I’ll take it.” No, Jesus knew God’s ways from the scriptures. Life is sustained by more than bread. Authority is more than leveraging wealth and power. Leadership is more than fancy footwork or great showmanship. God’s way is learned by obedience, submitting to God, discerning his will, then serving others in ways large and small. It’s an act of disobedience to shirk the responsible use of the spiritual gifts endowed in us.
Now this may seem a particularly harsh assessment. We feel the prick of a knife when told we’re disobeying God when we just don’t know what gifts we have to use. That’s where the body of Christ is less an institution and more a community of faithful disciples. It is important to allow the community to give us input about the gifts they see in us and help us nurture those gifts so that God’s work is fulfilled. Ezra’s people learned how they were to participate in God’s saving work. Jesus’ disciples heard it in his reinterpretation of Isaiah’s 5th century writings for his day and our own: bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to captives, restore sight to the blind, free the oppressed, and proclaim jubilee-freedom for all.
God’s call to ministry is new every day. Right now for our part in the Kingdom Center, the transitional housing program for people seeking to end their homeless condition, we are in need of a male-female couple to be life counselors. This is an important element for this program which seeks to provide models of stable relationships for people whose lives have been anything but that. Yet no couple has stood up in our congregation of 240 households. Surely the Spirit of God has equipped us with such a couple, or why would there have been such energy to accept this ministry? It is a ministry need everyone needs to consider. What is required is the courage to say Yes to God and let God take the lead in fulfilling it.
Another ministry that needs help is our Sunday school. Professionalism has invaded our thoughts about so much human activity that we can hardly see ourselves sharing our faith with children as a jewel in the crown of every adult Christian. “I can’t. Someone else must be able to do a better job than me.” Yet each of us is unique and has an essential place in the growth of a child. The village needed to raise our children in the Christian faith and life is us. Let us not neglect using our gifts.
Of course there are numerous others areas for ministry.
Not everyone must to go to Haiti to dig out the victims of the earthquake. Some have that gift. Not every couple will be a life coach, but someone among us has been equipped by the Spirit. Not everyone has training in teaching the young, but we all have something to share and need to recognize and use our gifts. God has provided gifts in abundance so that all the needs of the community are met. Together in prayer and conversation we must discern how we are to serve, then in faith greet the opportunity of the new day with a smile like Kiki’s.
