This year has definitely been one for the pages of history. It will not soon be forgotten thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, a lengthy and bitter election that still seems to linger in the headlines nearly two months after election day, Russian infiltrations into U.S. elections and other sensitive information systems, and all this on top of the normal triumphs and tragedies of any other year. Many of us are more than ready to say goodbye to 2020 and hello to 2021. But, will 2021 be all that different?
In 2021, we will still have COVID-19 with us, until at least mid-year if not later; like 2020, there will still be an uncountable number of events that will need to be cancelled; we will likely still be dealing with fallout from the election by a president (soon to be ex-president) who refuses to accept his loss; we are likely to still be dealing with and suffering from legislators gridlocked by competing political ideologies, and many more focused on staying power than trying to do what is right for our country and the world; we will likely still be looking at an escalating U.S. response to increasingly widespread Russian hacking; all this on top of the normal triumphs and tragedies of any other year. We will still have to deal with rampant systemic racism—which we’re still seriously struggling to deal with as a nation, even after more than 50 years since the Civil Rights Act. We will still be staring down the barrel of a growing global environmental meltdown.
However, in 2021 vaccines will hopefully get widely disseminated, helping us to return to some sense of the life we had before COVID. Barring extravagant evidence of election tampering, we will have a new president sworn in on January 20th. And, hopefully, our government will be able to rebuild relationships with our allies, relationships that have been at best ignored or severely hampered. My hope, though, is that we can see some things that we have an opportunity to really change. We’ve seen what just a couple of weeks of lock down can do to repair the environment. We’ve experienced isolation and, hopefully, have gained a new appreciation for community and human relationships. We’ve been in the mud politically for so long that maybe it’s time we start looking out for one another rather than ourselves, and electing leaders who are interested in the same. I’m sure there are many other things that we just as soon not get back to as they were pre-COVID.
For the vast majority of the population, it will be up to us to take care of each other until the vaccines come. It will be up to us to take care of those who have been let go from jobs or who have lost their businesses and are now starving. It will be up to us to try to maintain some sense of community despite our continued need for physical distancing, wearing masks, and limiting our exposure to and from others. And it is this kind of work for which the Church is especially equipped.
For two thousand years and even before, it has been people of faith who have reached out and helped those who have fallen through the cracks of our communities. It has been people of faith who have served those forgotten or ignored by government leadership. It is people of faith, mandated by our belief in God and in humanity, that have led the charge to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and help the poor get back on their feet.
It is also people of faith who have been instrumental in addressing the social systems that have contributed to the hungry being hungry, the poor being poor, and the sick being sick. Consider slavery: the abolitionist movement was started by people of faith. Consider women’s suffrage: started by people of faith. Consider the Civil Rights: started by people of faith seeking equality and supported by people of faith who had a vision for a better world based on the teachings of Jesus.
Yes, to be fair, we also need to acknowledge how much suffering the Church has caused: anti-semitism, the crusades (anti-everyone-who-wasn’t-Christian), rampant child abuse and abuses of power, bad theology that sought to exclude many (very anti-Jesus) in favor of a few. And now, many in the anti-mask and anti-vaccine world are bible-thumping Christians who claim belief in a savior who healed the sick, brought meaning and purpose to the outcasts, and sought to reform the systems of oppression. Ironic?
But some of the fundamental characteristics of Jesus’ ministry, and the ministry of the prophets and servants of God throughout the ages, has been healing, compassion, and justice, both personally and systemically. As we look to 2021, I pray our UPC family will continue to grow in our understanding of our part in making God’s gracious kin-dom a lived reality, where systems of oppression are dismantled, where the poor are lifted up and given a chance, and where racism and exclusionary mentalities have no place. I pray we will continue to seek to protect the weak, lift up the lowly, and feed the hungry, heal the sick, and seek to reform the systems that create so much suffering. So, while we say goodbye to 2020, let us look to 2021 through the lens of faith in a God who continues to be faithful.
Blessings on your holidays, and may God’s holy presence be made known to you.