The Bravest Thing We Can Do - Midweek Musing 1//3/2024

The Bravest Thing We Can Do

Rev. Sarah Speed

Trust your belovedness.

Let it be a protest,

an act of resistance,

a song of celebration.

Trust your belovedness in a world

that is rarely satisfied.

Wear it like a badge of honor.

Speak it as confidently as your last name.

Tattoo it to your heart.

When outside forces

chip away at your sense of self,

when life asks you

to hand over the keys,

remember the water.

Remember creation.

Remember how it was good,

so very good.

Let that truth hum through your veins.

Sing it so loud

that it drowns out the weariness of the world,

for the bravest thing we can ever do

is trust that we belong here.

When I read Sarah’s final poem for our Advent/Christmas season I was immediately reminded of these words from 1st Peter.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. “

1st Peter 2:9 NRSV

My Dad throughout his ministry never did a baptism of a child without using a liturgy that came from this passage of scripture. And while you probably do not recall it when I was honored to baptize that little one here several years ago, we used it as well.

Peter in these words is trying to clearly remind those who were living as an oppressed people who could be imprisoned just for following Jesus that they were of far more value than what the world claimed them to be.

He declares boldly that they are by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the grace of God heirs to the kingdom of God.

However, more than just having this knowledge they are called to proclaim the mighty acts of God and the good news that those acts mean for those who know and love the Lord.

This was not only difficult in the sense that even then the world was constantly telling anyone without riches, power, and fame that they were not just less than but unworthy. But also sharing the truth they knew required courage and bravery from both ostracism and possible physical punishment.

While we do not need to fear imprisonment for our faith, we still have the fear of being ostracized or even shunned for sharing the good news of God’s unconditional love for all. Because when we speak of justice, equality, peace, forgiveness, hospitality, and joy we are speaking counter-cultural words.

Yet we are called to remember that we are God’s beloved children and that in life and death we are loved and held by our creator. And with that knowledge we can live with hope and joy. We can remember that not only do we belong here but that we are with all our fellow siblings a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people which recall every time we remember the baptismal waters which reminds us that we are bathed in a sanctuary of belonging.

Thanks be to God for this good news for all people everywhere.