"Even So, Come"

So, we are about a week away from the official first day of summer, but for all of our programs (and no doubt for those of you who are parents) summer is already in full swing! This week, in true summer fashion, I have the very fun opportunity to attend some of the events at Camp Tanako, with our group home teens. They are getting to do all kinds of fun stuff, but one of my favorite parts of the week is the talent show, in which a good number of youth stand before their peers and show off their various talents, from singing to dancing to instrument playing to joke telling—it’s a really great show, and the support that they all show one another as they perform is amazing!

While the talent show is later tonight, one of the teens shared with me earlier in the week that tonight he is singing his favorite song, which is “Even So, Come.” I’ve linked the video of the song above, and I would encourage you to listen to it today as you have a chance. The song is based on the next to last verse in the entire Bible, Revelation 22:20, “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”  The message of the song is very much the message of the verse, which is a cry of the church that we are ready for Christ to come back to Earth and make all things right—to bring justice, to bring love, and to restore that which has been broken by evil and sin and wrong decisions.

As I think about the fact that a teen in our care, a 16-year-old who has already lived through so many more difficulties than I probably ever will, is able to stand in front of a group of his peers, who have also not had easy roads, and exclaim to Jesus that we are ready for His return, and ready for Him to make things right again, I’m stuck by two major thoughts:

1.      Yes. We are ready, Jesus. We know that we are broken, and we who see injustice are ready for it to end. We want your people to be loved, we want to be loved, and we want peace to reign on this Earth.

2.      I am (we are) God’s current instrument of peace on Earth. While we obviously cannot make all things right, and while we too have to wait, there are steps that we can (and should, and must) take to make things better for those who are waiting. While we may be facing grave injustice and difficulty in our own lives, there are those around the world, in our state, and many in our daily care that need us to fight for them.

My challenge for us today is to identify what it is that we can do while we are waiting. We don’t stop waiting—we know that we are ready for Christ to come and restore His creation to perfection. But, waiting doesn’t mean passivism. We can actively wait. We can work while we wait.  We all have a part to play in making this world a little better for those who are suffering.

As John Wesley reminds us, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the way you can. In all the places you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”  Our “as long” is as long as we are waiting, as long as we are on the earth, and as long as there are hurting people.  May we be God’s instrument of peace and justice to someone who is hurting today.