Safety

Matthew 24:43 – “Understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into.”

A few weeks ago, there was a stabbing at our church. Everyone is fine, and the pastor and staff handled it beautifully. I mention it, because now we are thinking again about church safety. And I think it’s imperative that we recognize this truth. We don’t know and can’t always predict when violence will come into our lives. Yet, Jesus is not recommending that we be constantly vigilant. Not only would that be a sad way to live, but it does nothing to protect us. In fact, it would ruin our health. The truth is, no matter how safe our neighborhood, the threat of violence is always there.

So, what is Jesus saying then, if he’s not saying to ignore violence and he’s not saying to be constantly vigilant? I think he’s saying to trust God in all circumstances. Of course, God doesn’t keep us safe from all violence. We can see that just by looking around us. In what way can we trust God here? I think it’s by trusting her to be present with us in the violence but also to support us through it. Support us by inspiring others to comfort us, support us by sending help, support us by helping us keep calm in chaotic situations. We have all seen how misfortune and disaster often bring out the best in people. 

There’s a third way: inspiring us to make our communities and gathering places as safe as possible. It’s a cliché that as Americans we don’t know our neighbors. For some of us this is true. Churches and spiritual communities especially should get to know their neighbors. That’s one way. Another way is to ensure that everyone can earn a living. That’s a harder goal to achieve. We put many barriers in people’s way, especially if they’re non-white, have a felony on their record, or poor. Our current minimum wage is not enough to support anyone anywhere in the country. It may sound strange to say that helping people get good-paying jobs can make a neighborhood safer, but it’s true. I could give many examples of how to create safer neighborhoods, but the crux of the matter is that loving our neighbors goes a long way to making our neighborhoods safe.

There is so much going on in the world: immigration detention camps, black people being killed by police, homelessness increasing, Donald being impeached. Sometimes it is overwhelming. It’s hard to know how to respond. One way to respond is by recognizing what we have power over. We don’t have power over the thief who wants to break into our house, the person who is determined to stab someone, and you can fill in others. We do have power over our response. In this season of Advent, in this week of Hope, I choose to love even as I continue to hope for the better world God has in store.