Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, ‘Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.’ For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, October 19, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Oops. The Philistines thought they were all victorious and wonderful and stuff because they’d stolen the ark from God’s people. And then, like some horror movie, terrible things started happening to them. They quickly learned that they had no idea who they were really messing with, and that this ark wasn’t just some pretty trinket, a spoil of war. Taking this thing that didn’t belong to them had been a huge mistake, and they finally wised up and gave it back.
This feels like a metaphor for privilege to me today. How often in our history have those of us in the dominant culture taken things that don’t belong to us—land, people, resources, ideas, cultural elements? How often are we complicit in systems that continue to do this, because we know they benefit us? How many ways have we in the past and do we continue to justify this theft in order to avoid responsibility for changing things and guilt for our complicity, which creeps like the sicknesses spread by the stolen ark?
We’re not in enough of a panic to truly dedicate the appropriate time and energy to “returning the ark to its own place” as it were. May God continue to inspire those who are fighting for this justice, and may those of us who have benefitted from these injustices be made ready to make restitution.
Do I benefit from the things my society and culture have stolen from others? How can I be ready to return the ark to its own place?