April 2ndIs this when we say WTF?
- by Matthew Bailey-Dick
Spring bursts on the scene, new buds erupt on the trees, and Christians begin to curse during Sunday morning worship – in the congregational prayer, no less! Don’t worry, it’s all much holier than you think.
It’s about rage. It’s about Lent. It’s about congregations at prayer. But first it’s about clarifying the central players.
Jesus shouts, “Brood of vipers!” and “Woe to you, hypocrite…child of hell!” The Psalmist shouts at God, “How long?!?!” Even God herself lets out a wrath or two. Rage can be righteous.
On the one hand, maybe it’s all about Jesus – Saviour, Instigator of all things good and unruly, Teacher of every kind of love that anyone has ever imagined and then some. He puts on his sandals and walks into the broken streets. When he talks, his disciples respond. Although his glorious kingdom will have no end, some people see him as a threat.
On the other hand, maybe it’s all about Trump – Interim President of the USA, leader of the free world, strongman extraordinaire. He puts on his MAGA hat and signs the executive order. When he talks, his disciples respond. Although his glorious kingdom will have no end, some people see him as a threat.
And we ordinary people? We try to find our way – growing up very differently from one another yet always feeling a holy hunch that there’s a common good binding us together. All over the world, we do our wild best with that hunch.
Time to go to church. Everyone put on some musk or a few dabs of congeniality because we need to know for sure that we’re not alone during this time of lurching.
But how do we worship when democracy is sliding away? How do we worship when the superpower says, “We don’t need the courts anymore. We don’t need diversity. Don’t worry about liberation anymore because we have a tariff for that.” How do we worship when the pursuit of truth has been let go? How do we worship when environmental protection is replaced with “Drill, baby, drill”?
Try rage. Jesus shouts, “Brood of vipers!” and “Woe to you, hypocrite…child of hell!” The Psalmist shouts at God, “How long?!?!” Even God herself lets out a wrath or two. Rage can be righteous.
During Lent we can give up the chocolate of serenity and take on the daily cardio of rage. People of peace can be indignant or angry. Our prayers can include silence, lament, blessing, fury, even the latest swearwords, always held together by the kind of punctuation that shows our refusal to do harm. Expressing rage and not harming can coexist. Even more uncanny is how expressing rage and listening well can coexist. This is why a congregation at prayer is such a beautiful powder keg. Getting to the amen can lead to getting up the guts to resist.
Our prayers can include silence, lament, blessing, fury, even the latest swearwords, always held together by the kind of punctuation that shows our refusal to do harm.
In the end, it’s not about the obscenities – some of us aren’t much good at them anyway. It’s about the mismatch between the arc of the moral universe and this current havoc. As we survey this mismatch, it’s about the heart of Jesus thundering within us.
Yes, there’s a new big guy on the block and he’s got some posse! But they’re not the only ones referring to overt racism as a lovefest. They’re not the only ones who want to put an end to the tyranny of diversity. They’re not the only ones to chant, “Make (my group) great again!” or “(My country) first!”
Me! Me! Us! Us! Me am never wrong! Us have the right to defend ourselves against anything! Me point the finger! Us are better than everyone else!
Whiskey…tango…foxtrot…?!?! Lord, have mercy. Lord, will you cram some good rage into us? AMEN.
- Matthew Bailey-Dick works as a pastor at Wellesley Mennonite Church.