December 12

May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Parent of our sibling Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. – from Romans 15:4-13

Rev. Seth Wispelwey, Minister for Economic Justice

“We are a harvest of survivors.” – from Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

 

In Romans 15, the author casts a vision of a community of welcome, living in harmony for the glory of God as a final charge to the community at the end of the letter.  It is telling that we read this scripture during the season of Advent, as we imagine what it could and should be like to live as communities awaiting and preparing for Love’s incarnation in our midst.  When was the last time we as churches truly, strategically, spiritually revisited our reason for being? In other words, what makes our community essential in this moment, like the community in Rome to whom Paul was writing?

One would expect that in a country governed by deadly, devastating systems that need to be abolished, institutions claiming to offer love, belonging, safety, and resources that specifically address and alleviate those harms would be havens where hurting, hungry, and scared people would be flocking in droves to find robust refuge, build life-giving community, and participate in liberating “solidarity economies.” Are we in our communal church life truly living and breathing as an antidote alternative to that which dehumanizes and destroys?

Answers for thriving, growth, and survival through the wilderness ahead can be found in the “new old” practice of mutual aid. What’s thrilling is that congregations are uniquely positioned to adjust our posture into one that joins and supports existing local mutual aid efforts, and inhabit a refreshed understanding of ourselves as mutual aid hubs, and ourselves as equally in need of the voices, resources, and humanity of those whose needs we say we’re called to meet.

Mutual aid is essential to our collective survival, regional economies, and humanity and creation’s liberation. We see it at work in the birthing story of Jesus and those who come around his family. We see it in Octavia Butler’s prophetic Parable of the Sower. We can BE it in our congregations and communities. Mutual aid as people and practice is essential – especially for congregations truly invested in our shared future that builds harmony, welcome, and solidarity!

 

Prayer

Long Expected One, we yearn to experience your presence among us.
Remind us that you are born in our midst every time Love takes on flesh
in our practices of collective care and mutual aid.
Reveal to us our strength as a harvest of survivors,
held together in solidarity for the glory of God and the freedom of us all.  Amen.