The Bible might be the old, old story but it’s as fresh as today’s headline. How maddening it is to see the candles, teddy bears, flowers left on the fence post in front of the place of the last shooting. People leaving these mementos mourn one of their own. A tragedy, a waste. We ask ourselves as Malachi did 2,500 years ago: “Why do we break faith with each other.” No enemy is killing Chicago. We are breaking faith with each other. Malachi was prophesying at a time when Israel had just passed through the grave crisis of exile. They had won their freedom after many trials. But Malachi observes that freedom seems to have made things worse instead of better. The people “turned aside from the way” of God and started chasing other dreams. The prophet calls them back to the reality that the Lord of hosts is king of this world and to live happily we must follow the way of God. Have we not all the one Father? Why should we have to fear walking the streets where we live? Has not the one God created us? Is not the word of God at work within us who believe? Why are the hard fought opportunities won during the civil rights movement being blasted away in a hail of gunfire? Why are children being abused? Why are babies having other babies? Why do too many young people feel they need to get high in order to make it through the day? Why do we break faith with each other?
The Bible does not answer the question “why”? Instead the why hangs out there and swings back as a why not. Why not keep faith? Why not live as children of the one Father? Why not abide in the unity of the One Creator? After all, knowing why something is happening doesn’t help matters all that much most times. You know why it gets dark at night — the sun has set. But if you don’t turn on the light knowing why won’t help you much. Knowing why the hills around Los Angeles are burning doesn’t help the fire fighters much unless they get some water on those flames. So instead of analyzing all of the sociological, psychological, anthropological, biological, ethical, philosophical, theological, economical, and cultural reasons for the fix we’re in the scriptures suggest some solutions. The Bible teaches us how to keep faith with each other.
The way to stop breaking faith with each other is to admit that I’m the one who has to change. It’s very easy to condemn those people. “If those people stop acting like that; if those people would only come to church; if those people try something different, then it would all be better.” But Jesus challenges the crowds who think they’ve got it and the others don’t. “Call no one on earth teacher; call no one on earth your father; call no one on earth, master.” We’re all in the identical position in regards to God. God is the teacher, the father, the master of us all. Don’t you go exalting yourself into thinking you’re better than anybody else. We’re in the same boat when it comes to needing God. It’s just a question of degree. The only difference between me and the fellows on the street is the grace of God. Sure those people out there are violent. But every time we, the good church-going folk, don’t treat others with the dignity and respect they deserve we are agents of violence as well. We must change into agents of peace and harmony within the circle of our families and friends. Sure those people are full of anger and rage. But every time we, the good church-going folk, cling to our grudges and resentments from wounds we have experienced over the years we inject hostility into the world as well. We must change by genuinely forgiving those who have hurt us and reaching out a hand of healing and reconciliation. Sure those people destroy a sense of community by generating fear and suspicion. But whenever we, the good church-going folk, divvy the world up into haves and have-nots, into the cool and the uncool, into the good, the bad, and the ugly, we contribute to the isolation and division of one from another. We must change by working to include, not exclude, people into our ever-widening circle. We keep faith with one another by admitting that the change, the conversion, the transformation our world needs must begin with me. We keep faith with God by trusting that if we attend to our conversion God will take care of the rest.
In the end, the greatest change, conversion we are called to make is to live a life of compassion. Jesus tells us that the most important way to build faith instead of breaking faith is by serving one another. “The greatest among you will be the one who serves the rest.” Once we alter our thinking from “I’ll get mine and you get yours and devil take the hindmost” into “It is more blessed to give than to receive” we are well on the way to becoming that faith-building community Christ wants us to be. When we learn to respond in service to those around us faith will be built up. Then the prophet will stop saying, “Why do we break faith with each other” and start saying, “Look at those Christians. How they love one another.” AMEN!
