Greetings friends. Today is both The national Day of Prayer here in our country and a day of remembrance around the world – Yom HaShoah. (Holocaust Remembrance Day) These two occasions do not typically fall together. I just came from a pastor’s luncheon where a presentation was made about the church in America. A lot of statistics were shared and we prayed together but no mention was made of the 1.5 million children burned in the fires of places like Auschwitz. I left saddened by this oversight and wondered if there was a correlation between the decline in church attendance in the United States and our theology. Theologian J.B. Metz has declared that after Auschwitz, any Christian theology that proceeds as if Auschwitz didn’t happen and didn’t implicate Christians and Christianity in its wake needs to be rethought. And on Sunday I quoted Orthodox Rabbi Irving Greenberg: “No statement, theological or otherwise, should be uttered that would not be credible in the presence of the burning children”. The slaughter of the 6 million was clearly industrialized, organized and bureaucratized. The drama of human brutality stagers the mind…….and I remind you that at the core of the prophetic tradition of scripture is mourning for the brokenness in our world.
The theme of our National Day of Prayer this year is; “Prayer! America’s Strength and Shield” This is taken from Psalm 28:7 which reads “The Lord is my strength and shield, in whom my heart trusted and found help.” Maybe its just me but something seems to be a drift here….something like Constantinian Christianity where state power and faith are married…. And the text declares that the Lord is our strength and shield not prayer. And if we believed that in our country could the church standby largely quiet about the 1.7billion a day we spend as a nation on shields of defense? Maybe I am missing something.
Teresa of Avila, a sixteenth century Carmelite nun said this; “I would not want any prayer that would not make the virtues grow within me.” This Spaniard was the first female to be proclaimed Doctor of the Church – a title for outstanding theological teachers. She was given this title in 1970 by Pope Paul VI. Sometimes value comes recognized rather long after the fact! But you and I, let us use this day, to speak to his “Majesty” (her reference for Jesus). Let us find some time today to remember, to actually listen to the children – those burning in Auschwitz – and those living under our own roof or next door, Let us prayer for our nation and our world for they are surely connected as are their destinies. Let us pray that never again will children be sacrificed in the wars of bigotry and hatred for the “other”. Let us prayer for the virtues to grow deep in the soil of our souls. And let us pray that the Lord be our strength and shield. I am but one on the journey with you --- Pastor Jeff
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