Jesus is My Billboard

I was at a flea market this weekend and I got it in my head after reading an essay by Anne Lamott that I would look for a pendant of Jesus. Lamott wears a medal of the Virgin Mary around her neck as a reminder of hope and forgiveness and of God’s enduring patience and love. I found one, perfectly tarnished and simple with an image of Jesus exposing his crowned and glowing heart. I put it on a silver necklace I found beside it and paid the kind woman a mere $8.00 for my daily reminder to (as We Believe Ohio so passionately states in their call to action) “act and speak in public ways on behalf of the poor, the voiceless, and the unrepresented”.

As Jesus dangles from my neck, I hesitate to say like a billboard, I am called to speak out and fight the urge to remain silent due to the weight of sorrow and sin in the world. The older I get though I see that there is little else in the world to worry or care about other than those who suffer beside me. I also know that I can’t help to heal the world if I don’t love myself and my God. The Reverend Tim Ahrens, We Believe Ohio (organization of diverse religious voices committed to the intersection of faith and public policy) founder, recounts a story about his mentor The Reverend Dr. Washington Gladden, an influential and inspirational soul in the Social Gospel Movement, speaking to his successor about public theology and social justice: “Every time I spoke out on issues of social justice it took something out of me. It drained my energy. It was the hardest thing I ever did. I never felt fully adequate to the calling. But what was harder still was looking into the eyes of the poor, the powerless, the oppressed, and the voiceless and considering that if I did not speak on their behalf, who would? I could not live with my silence in the face of such injustice.”

His statement sums it up for me. If I don’t speak up and respond to God’s calling, like so many of my Biblical brothers and sisters did (who often times initially resisted the calls), then who will be the voice against evil? We know that God is with us in the struggle to feed, clothe, educate and liberate people from poverty and oppression. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. famously repeated the statement that “the universe is on the side of justice” and is “under the control of a loving purpose”. I choose to believe, like We Believe Ohio, in justice for all, in the sanctity of pluralism, political expression and in a reconciling God.

I bring the pendant out of my shirt every now and then to let the light of day reach it, to give it some air. If I do not have Jesus as my billboard what do I have? I am still hesitant to leave the medal out at the grocery store or when I pick my son up from school but I know I can’t be silent any longer. There is too much at stake. Silence is draining as well. I want to help build bridges, heal broken communities and show love and justice as best as I am able. As I hold the silver piece in my hand, I feel as if I am coming to know and love my God more. I pray this medallion of Jesus revealing and sharing his heart with me, with us all, reminds me to give mine to the world in return.

Amen.
http://www.webelieveohio.org/