Habakkuk 2: 1-2; Luke 19:4.

Scanning the horizon

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where everything seemed to be going badly and you wished you could catch a break, but it just wouldn’t come?  Perhaps you found yourself no longer looking at the problems that were piling up, but you were looking around, scanning the horizon, for some sign of good news, some silver lining, some guarantee that things would be okay in the time to come.  Will the wind turn, will the rain come or will the clouds dissipate?   To many people on earth, scanning the horizon for something to save them, for a better day maybe all they can do.  Many of them will have learned to live on grace alone.

I am sure you would agree with me that doing things online can be very frustrating. This includes paying your bills or getting technical support.  You always found yourself longing for a human being to talk to. That is slowly changing. Online support may be so good in the future that we don’t want to talk to a human assistant.  Now that may be good, but it is always bad. It means that all those people who speak to us will disappear. They will no longer have jobs. Now why am I talking about this? It is because this is the reality we face.  We may be looking at long term unemployment for many Americans, a reality that no one may be able to change.  As columnist Tom Friedman said a number of years ago, the people who will do well in the future society will be “creative servers” (anyone from teachers to pastors to retail and restaurants) and “creative creators,” (anyone who can create more attractive and efficient ways of doing things).   No one may be able to create jobs for everyone and anyone who says so is lying.  Many Americans feel lost in this new reality and they are scanning the horizon for someone who can solve the problem.  All any politician many be able to do is tinker until there are new ways of helping all our people live and thrive.  On the bright side there is grace. There is always grace. Somehow God is at work in our world and in our lives.  It may come in the form of helping hands or in the form of a new vision. To help the people in need may take a lot of money, a lot of commitment and significant sacrifice. That grace may not come with a bang or even visibly.

Zacchaeus, a man, with a profession hated by his people is looking for a way out.  His intuition tells him it is Jesus.  Because he is not tall, he gets up in a tree and scans the street for Jesus.  He is a man spiritually bankrupt, a man in need of love, acceptance and redemption.  He doesn’t know it but he is looking for grace. It comes in the words of Jesus who says to him:”I want to come to your house.” In that culture wanting to come to someone’s house is a huge honor and a sign of one’s approval.”

The Yao people whom the Iu Mien people are related to believe they come from  a place called Qianjiadong.  It is a place they left centuries ago for the hills of Indochina.  Qianjiadong is  a symbol of affluence or the Bible would say: a land flowing with milk and honey, a Shangrilah of the Yao people.  It is supposed to be a valley with a stream or river running through it, accessible only through a cavern.  Qianjiadong does exist in Guangxi province in southern China, in a region of beautiful limestone formations.  But is that the land.  Spiritually the Yao and Mien people have always been looking over the horizon for the place where they belong.  They haven’t found it and they have been living on grace.  But the Yao are still looking for Qianjiadong.

Friends, when the Old Testament finally gets to the book of Habakkuk, the people of Israel have known very little but despair and exile.  They have known oppression and have become accustomed to injustice.  But they are still, speaking metaphorically, sitting in a tree looking for a better day. The major theme of Habakkuk is trying to grow from a faith of perplexity and doubt to the height of absolute trust in God. Habakkuk is unique among the prophets in that he openly questions the wisdom of God. In the first part of the first chapter, the Prophet sees the injustice among his people and asks why God does not take action. “1:2 God, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save?” God answers: “ for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.”  The people face despair but they are reminded y the prophet of God’s grace.  “I am working a work in your days.”  That is grace right there, friends.  God is always doing something in our lives. God is always at work.  It may be small to us. It may be big to us. It may be in between.  It may be barely enough to us at times. But grace is always there and time will show its working .  Thanks be to God.