Maybe you have taken up your cross to follow Jesus, working very hard to love your enemies and seek justice, and the response you have experienced is resistance, or worse, hatred and violence. Maybe like Jeremiah you wonder where God is. Is it not God who has called you to this work? When is God going to act?
Jeremiah had those same doubts, and plainly and without restraint he lets God know about them. Might you dare to have such raw and honest conversations with God?
When our congregation started working at sponsoring Syrian refugees, it was not all smooth sailing. We encountered lots of resistance and even received some anonymous hate mail, and we found ourselves with much to lament. However, like Jeremiah, God didn’t leave us stuck there and called us back to participate in the work of bringing about the kingdom of God.
The work of welcoming the stranger is not easy work, but it is rewarding work. We have been blessed with grace upon grace, which keeps us hard at it.
God of justice, you never abandon us. When we despair, continue to give us glimpses of your heavenly light dawning into the darkness and then give us the strength we need to never give up, until your kingdom comes. Amen. — SWH