Though the wrong seems oft so strong...
I think one of the supreme paradoxes of faith is the conviction
that out of bad things, good can come. This insight does not explain
suffering, and should never be used to justify suffering.
In one hymn, the words go:
This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
It’s a curtain we cannot really ever penetrate, a thought we cannot
rationalize. St Paul’s way of expressing it was to say, “in everything
God co-operates for good with those who love him.”
The story of Joseph, son of Jacob, makes up almost 1/4 of the
book of Genesis. It’s a story of pride, sibling jealousy, revenge,
humiliation, parental grief, the overcoming of huge obstacles, and in
the end, a victory. Joseph’s brothers had schemed to get rid of their
annoyingly vain brother by selling him to traders. But by a combination
of shrewdness and integrity, Joseph rises to the top of the
governmental hierarchy in Egypt. He even becomes the agent of his
family’s salvation during a prolonged drought in neighboring Israel.
When, as a palace official, he finally reveals himself to them, he
provides for their needs, and says, “You intended to do me harm, but
God meant to bring good out of it.”
We of course, stand before this cross each week. It was a
vicious instrument of torture and death, and we should remember this
part of its story. But it has become for us a central symbol of God’s
will to bring hope and a transformation of life.
Only a little more than a week ago, all 13 of this year’s New
Orleans mission team assembled for dinner at the Salt Water Grill on
South Carrollton St in New Orleans with Helen Green and her mother.
Helen’s house was our main project in 2006. In the course of
conversation Friday night, Helen’s mother made the remark that if it
hadn’t been for the storm, all these people wouldn’t have gotten
together. All what people?….. Well,
A. her church now shares worship
space with a nearly all white congregation.
B. Hundreds of people have come into the city to make what contribution they can to putting a broken city back together.
C. Little groups like ours would never have formed such a sense of
belonging to one another and to the people of a distant city had not
devastation rained down upon it. Somehow the combination of the attacks
on the World Trade Center and the flooding of New Orleans have led many
people to find new ways to be neighbors. Helen, who lived through the
storm, sees this as a blessing.
Digging through hundreds of pounds of lath and plaster, sometimes
your thoughts float up beyond the dust and the oppressive heat that
seems to sit on your shoulders. You find yourself NOT thinking about
how enormous the task is, NOT thinking about how puny we are in the
face of the task, NOT thinking about the thousands of houses yet to be
rehabilitated, NOT even thinking about Louisiana’s quicksand politics.
Instead, you find yourself thinking how blessed you are to be
among people who have welcomed you into their lives and their homes,
and are finding ways to overcome grief and resentment. How blessed you
are to be a part of a community that takes Jesus for a model and a
savior. How blessed you are that in our experience, love is overcoming
death. And yes, out of such a bad thing, the Spirit is bringing so much
good.
Hallelujah!!
5 Real Road (corner of Stockdale & Real)
Bakersfield, CA 93309
Phone: 661-327-1609
FAX: 661-327-4443
Sunday Services & Church School: 10 AM
(Services last about an hour, dress is casual)
Nursery care available
E-mail: firstcong(at)postoffice.igalaxy.net
Webpage editor: dinah.campbell(at)gmail.com)
Free Counter | 
