This morning, I was re-reading some of the material that helped inform my doctoral studies. Specifically, I found my attention held by the words of John Howard Yoder. He was a Mennonite theologian and writer who taught at The University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Having studied under influential minds like Karl Barth and Harold Bender, Yoder’s theology is a mixture of pastoral care and a strong sense of the power of Jesus to be with us.
In his book, Radical Christian Discipleship, he wrote these words that I lingered upon:
"We use the word cross in our hymns, in our piety, in our prayers, and in our pastoral language. But we use it too cheaply. We say that a person has to live with some sort of suffering in life: a sickness that cannot be cured, an unresolvable personality conflict within the family, poverty, or some other unexplainable or unchangeable suffering. Then we say, “That person has a cross to bear.” Granted, whatever kind of suffering we have is suffering that we can bear in confidence that God is with us. But the cross that Jesus had to face, because he chose to face it, was not—like sickness—something that strikes you without explanation. It was not some continuing difficulty in his social life. It was not an accident or catastrophe that just happened to hit him when it could have hit somebody else. Jesus’ cross was the price to pay for being the kind of person he was in the kind of world he was in; the cross that he chose was the price of his representing a new way of life in a world that did not want a new way of life. That is what he called his followers to do.”
When I step outside of my home I am often confronted by people who are suffering from some form of fatigue. This is apparent in their faces. Their faces show that they are tired of the pandemic. They are tired of wearing their mask properly. As they adjust their mask to sit below their nose, I see in their eyes a frustration and fatigue mixture that makes me sad. I spoke with a women at Kohl’s before Christmas who said that she was tired of what she considered to be governmental overstepping. I meet people whose actions seem to indicate that they are tired of not being able to live, or do, what they want. . .
Yes, I know that this is my interpretation of these encounters. However the more I reflect on each event, the more time I spend praying about and re-playing the day, the more it seems my assertion is correct.
I try as hard as I can to listen to each of these people as I wait my turn in the checkout lines, or pass by them in the store. I try to project empathy and understanding when others are content to ‘bump’ carts to get down the aisle. I know that I am called by God to offer words of hope to those who feel lost or overly fatigued. This is not because I am an ordained minster, but because I am a Christian. It is our joint-calling from God that some people are neglecting.
In this endeavor I feel that Yoder’s words are helpful to us as we minister in a time unlike any other. Although Yoder worked, and served, the church during a different time period than what we are living in, his words ring true for us during this pandemic. We are, by our evangelism and presence, offering the fatigued world in which we live and serve, a new way forward. We offer them a new way to encounter Jesus. We are offering them a new way to access the salvation that is possible because of God’s action in creation. And so I wonder today if Yoder’s words speak to your heart? I wonder what would happen if the church saw its ministry not as “business as usual,” but instead saw our calling as an invitation to “new way of life?” I wonder how that would address the fatigue that you witness each day?
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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