Happy Monday, my friends! Yesterday was the Third Sunday of Advent or Gaudete Sunday in some traditions. It’s the Sunday we light the pink Advent candle and in high liturgical congregations, clergy wear pink vestments. Gaudete Sunday is meant to be a celebration because we’re almost to Christmas. Nevertheless, many of us are finding it hard to celebrate with everything going on in the world and the incoming administration daily announcing more about its agenda and plans for its first one hundred days in office. The lectionary Gospel reading for Sunday was Luke 3:7-18 and a part of that passage speaks well to this moment:
And the crowds asked him, “What, then, should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation and be satisfied with your wages” (Luke 3:10-14).
The theme and refrain of all the meetings I sit in as we plan for the next four years and beyond is that we have to be hyper local. What we mean is that despite whatever laws state legislatures or the federal government put into place which may restrict or nullify the rights of LGBTQIA+ people or make our lives harder, we have to act where and how people live their lives—in fact, we have to act where we live our lives. We have to remember that our activism and advocacy hinges not on what happens in places of power, but rather among individual Queer people and our local and regional Queer communities. I’m reminded of the example and legacy of the Black Panthers who for all their storied political activism and direct action, also distributed free breakfasts for children and physically held space both for people working on campaigns as well as people wearied by the constant harassment and marginalization of their community.
When the crowds asked John the Baptist what they should do his suggestion was not to overthrow empires or march in protest. He told people to share their coats and share their food. He encouraged them to act in their daily lives and through the actions they could take right then. So too should we act in the here and now as we continue to work for larger systemic change.
How can you act in your daily life? How can you be hyper-local in your advocacy?
Let us pray: Jesus, you did as much in front of large crowds as you did one-to-one with people you encountered. Teach us to be good stewards of what we have so that we too can act in moments of need. Help us find the humility to be of service in our communities when no one is looking or recording our actions. Amen.
Blessings on your weeks, my friends! Let me know if there is anything I can do for you.
Faithfully,
Ben
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