“Am I my brother/Sister’s Keeper” Genesis 4:9
In the Bible “Keeping” someone is a broad topic. It includes caring, loving and doing justice on that person’s behalf.
Thus we give as a blessing “The Lord Bless you and keep you”
It is a good question, am I my brother’s keeper?….but it hints at the deeper question.
In all the swirling news of Ferguson and NYC. In all the talk of cops and criminals, teenagers and adults, white and black. When justice seems weak, and the plight of blacks being shot by white cops hints at what is a huge question. Which is where is Christ in all of this
“If you cannot find Christ in the one being murdered in the street, you will not find him in the chalice.”@JesusOfNaz316
Ok, so Christ is here, so am I my brother’s keeper? Who am I more responsible for the cop or the citizen………
We really are asking, who is my brother?
So much deeper than taking sides, because family is those you claim, family are those you are supposed to love no matter what.
Can I love a cop who shoots people as much as I love the person who has been shot?
Can I claim the black teenager as family, when my white, cis, straight, middle class experience is so foreign?
Families come in all shapes and sizes. So the question is how can I claim as family those people who seem to be more different from me? How can I claim them, without taking away or devaluing their identity.
Somehow, Jesus did it. Somehow Jesus hung out with the sick, the addicted, the foreigners, the unschooled, the political, the poor, and even the rich.
I may or not be my brother’s keeper…….but I am their sister, and I need to claim that
This brings me to today’s Adventus
Gen 16:13 “Hagar named God, you are El-Roi: The One who sees”
Hagar was the outcast, A slave, she was (probably) of a different race than her master and Mistress Abram & Sarai and when she conceived, and Sarah didn’t, Hagar was forced to run away.
God returned her to the family, and got the family to care for her and her son….complicated and still an imperfect situation. Hagar spoke to God, and says God gets it, he sees what I am going through. He knows.
God sees each and every child and claims them as his own.
Just as Hagar is my sister, I have a large family, one that includes Darren Wilson, one that includes Eric Garner……
How can I do what God does….Can I be the one that sees? Can I see Christ in these people? Can I bless them? Can I keep them?
Isn’t that what Advent is about…blessing and keeping people as we await Christ together…….
I pray it is
katyandtheword 