MISERY LOVES COMPANY?

 

They say, “Misery loves company,” but I don’t know about that. 

The idea is we tend to spread our pain to others as if by division we can diminish our share of anguish.  I’ve been sad enough to be bitter and make my company miserable, too.  It didn’t help.  For each companion infected with despair, the inverse occurred, and my share of misery multiplied.   My misery does not love present company. 

But PAST company is welcome. 

There is surprising comfort in realizing that my particular distress isn’t particular to me.  Someone else has scars in the same place.  Others have fought the same battle, lost it like me, survived the loss, fought it again, and survived to share the story.

 This is why I love the Bible’s record of failures.  

 Jacob “wrestling” with insomnia because he’s convinced himself that his brother is going to massacre his entire family (Genesis 32).  David starving himself in seemingly suicidal desperation because he can’t fix the consequences his stupid choices have caused for his child (2 Samuel 12).  Elijah in a state of bi-polar depression running away from his greatest success, isolating himself from loyal company, mentally self-abusing, and wanting to just die. “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” (1 Kings 19: 4).  

None of those miserable examples of humanity survived that moment unscathed, but each of them survived.  They got up --- limping, grieving, chastised and still angry; but they got up and went on to succeed.   

 It comforts me to be in the company of such a great cloud of miserable witnesses.  

It should comfort our community to open the Bible and read that that we are not  the first community of faith to experience this particular combination of anxiety, anger, hope?, resignation, and cynicism about the possibilities of justice. 

The Korahites had been slaves, leaders, rebels, outcasts, and worship leaders.   One of their songs declares the misery of being citizens of a country defined by sin, led by lies, governed unjustly, and oppressed with impunity. 

Vindicate me, O God,

And plead my cause against an ungodly nation;

Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!

For You are the God of my strength;

Why do You cast me off?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?  (Psalm 43: 1-2)

 

The sons of Korah pleaded for a sign, for a Word from the Lord that would make all their praise and worship seem relevant in the midst of national misery.

 Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!

Let them lead me;

Let them bring me to Your holy hill

And to Your tabernacle.

Then I will go to the altar of God,

To God my exceeding joy;

And on the harp I will praise You,

O God, my God. (Psalm 43: 3-4)

We don’t know what were the specific issues which inspired the 43^rd psalm. What were the alternative facts delivered by the deceitful and unjust man?  Whose lives didn’t matter to the ungodly nation they nevertheless loved?  What were the systemic tools used for oppression?  We don’t know how or if the complaints in the psalm were justly resolved? 

 

All we know is their misery. 

And we know how they survived, got up, and kept going. 

 Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;

For I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God. (Psalm 43:  5)     

 

The Korahites worked on themselves internally. 

Why are you cast down, O my soul?  And why are you disquieted within me? 

They concluded that they could not survive depending on circumstances as the source of their mental health.  They recalled that they, like the miserable saints before could endure and progress if they placed their hope in God. 

Hope in God 

The Sons of Korah decided to reinvest in their praise and worship.  To simply DECIDE that their praise and worship was relevant. 

For I shall yet praise Him

They decided to remember, to believe, to KNOW that God had brought them through every past battle; and, therefore, He would bring them through the next battles, including the battles with their own misery. 

The help of my countenance and my God.  

 These all foreshadowed the greatest story of misery and success. 

JESUS had no form or comeliness . . . no beauty that we should desire Him. . .  He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  He was lonely because we hid, as it were, our faces from Him.  He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.   (Isaiah 53: 2, 3)

Jesus triumphed over death, the grave, Hell, sin, and human betrayal.  This is our God in whose eternal company we have our most precious hope. 

This is the company that misery can love.   

Over and over, the Bible affirms:  You may not feel alright right now, but you will be alright in the long run. 

You will lose sometimes, but you will ultimately win.

God’s people hurt, too.  But God heals His people.   Every time.

May our present anxiety find relief in the great cloud of witnesses who have suffered and triumphed before us.       

 AND GO VOTE ON TUESDAY. 

-  Anderson T. Graves II, is a writer, community organizer, consultant and the pastor of Bailey Tabernacle CME Church 

Email: BaileyTabernacleChurch@comcast.net

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IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH (audio)

As the Coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic spreads, social interactions change, and panic threatens to overwhelm reason and faith, our Sunday worship opened up into a moment for conversation and for comfort. The Holy Spirit spoke and the core of that conversation is this message titled: OUR SAVIOR, IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH.

Listen well.

If you can’t get the audio on your device, visit the main podcast page at http://revandersongraves.podomatic.com/   

The podcast is on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/anderson-graves-podcast/id918990482

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a pastor, writer, community organizer, and consultant  

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Bailey Tabernacle CME Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He writes the popular blog: A Word to the Wise at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com

Email: BaileyTabernacleChurch@comcast.net

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

Click here to support this blog with a donation.  Or go to andersontgraves.blogspot.com and click on the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar. 

Support Bailey Tabernacle CME Church with a donation through Givelify

Or visit baileytabernaclecme.org

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Bailey Tabernacle CME Church

1117 23^rd Avenue

Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401

GOD DIDN’T GIVE UP ON THEM; NEITHER SHOULD YOU (audio)

This is the first of a 2-part message from Romans chapter 11.  GOD DIDN’T GIVE UP ON THEM; NEITHER SHOULD YOU.

Listen well.

If you can’t get the audio on your device, visit the main podcast page at http://revandersongraves.podomatic.com/   

The podcast is on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/anderson-graves-podcast/id918990482

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a pastor, writer, community organizer, and consultant  

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Bailey Tabernacle CME Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He writes the popular blog: A Word to the Wise at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com

Email: BaileyTabernacleChurch@comcast.net

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

Click here to support this blog with a donation.  Or go to andersontgraves.blogspot.com and click on the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar. 

Support Bailey Tabernacle CME Church with a donation through Givelify

Or visit baileytabernaclecme.org

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Bailey Tabernacle CME Church

1117 23^rd Avenue

Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401

I WANNA BE JUST LIKE YOU WHEN I GROW UP (audio)

A message about what the generations in the church are supposed to mean.  The title is I WANNA BE JUST LIKE YOU WHEN I GROW UP.

Listen well and leave a comment.

If you can’t get the audio on your device, visit the main podcast page at http://revandersongraves.podomatic.com/

The podcast is on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/anderson-graves-podcast/id918990482

 --Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Bailey Tabernacle CME Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He writes the popular blog: A Word to the Wise at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com

Email: BaileyTabernacleChurch@comcast.net

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

Click here to support this ministry with a donation.  Or go to andersontgraves.blogspot.com and click on the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar. 

Visit the ministry’s website at baileytabernaclecme.org

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Bailey Tabernacle CME Church

P.O. Box 3145 

Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35403

THE MONSTERS WE LOVE

We hate monsters, but we love OUR monsters.

Eric Rudolph was a serial killer who murdered innocent people with bombs.  His mama still loved him. 

Stalin was genocidal, but  Andrew Jackson was a strong leader?

Jeffrey Dahmer killed and ate people.  His parents still loved him.  

Think of Thomas Jefferson the slave owner and Nat Turner the rebel slave.  Hear in your own head how you condemn one and make excuses for the other, the one with whom you identify?    

Liberal-leaning commentators attack Ivanka Trump because they despise her father’s policies and personality.  But before and since Daddy Trump was elected, Ivanka championed several liberal causes.  Now, they call on Ivanka to denounce her father and distance herself from his administration.   Comedian and talk-show host Samantha Bee recently called Ivanka a “feckless c**t” because she refused to turn on Donald.

That’s not going to happen.

You’re not asking a woman to denounce a misogynistic man.  You’re asking a little girl to abandon her daddy.  You’re not asking a professed liberal to stand against a conservative administration, you’re asking a daughter to turn against her father in the moment of his greates accomplishment. 

President Trump may be a racist, self-worshipping monster; but he is Ivanka’s racist, self-worshipping monster.         

This, scripture affirms that the sin of partiality is the root of our tendency to injustice and hypocrisy.  We hate the sins we hate, but we love the sinners we love.

  Joseph, son of Israel, exploited a national tragedy to bankrupt and enslave the entire working class population of Egypt while protecting and enriching the Egyptian elites and his biological family.  Of those three groups, the only one who had not betrayed and abused Joseph was the working class population of Egypt (Genesis 47: 13-26).

Jepthah the Gileadite (Judges 11-12) was one of the great Judges of Israel.  He saved Israel from the oppression of Ammonite raiders.  He also committed the ultimate religious heresy: he murdered his own daughter as a human sacrifice to God despite all the explicit commands in the Bible not to ever perform human sacrifices.  

Samson (Judges 13-16) had the powers of a superhero, powers which he used to impress Philistine women and  win bets against Philistine men.  The deliverance he gave to his own people was the accidental result of his (literal) dying request for blind vengeance.   

David (2 Samuel 11) betrayed the most honorable and loyal warrior in his most elite division.  His highest ranking general knew it.  His royal ministers, the members of Uriah’s household, and most of Jerusalem knew it.  (Come on now.  Factor in the time to discover Bathsheba was pregnant, send word for Uriah, get Uriah back from the front lines, send him back to the front lines, kill him there, get word back,  have a mourning period, and hold the wedding, which traditionally lasted a week.  Bathsheba was showing before the honeymoon.)

Absalom, David’s favorite child, killed his own brother; burned down his David’s best friend’s field (2 Samuel 14), overthrew his father in a coup, slept with/ raped his father’s wives, and tried repeatedly to have his dad murdered (2 Samuel 15-18).  David never condemned Absalom, and he forbade his forces to harm him despite his crimes.  When General Joab, David’s oldest friend defied that order, David held a grudge  so deep that on his deathbed he ordered Joab's assassination (1 Kings 2:5-6).

Aaron, Moses’ older brother, made the golden calf and led the children of Israel in its idolatrous worship, all while Moses was on the mountain receiving the 10 Commandments (Exodus 32).  When Moses came down, he ordered the Levites to “kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor,”  but Moses didn’t let anyone touch Aaron.  Aaron got to keep his life and his status; less than a year later he was consecrated as high priest.

Joseph, Jephtah, Samson, David, Aaron, and others who did worse are revered as heroes of the faith.   Except for David, there’s no record that any of these men every repented or even felt convicted over their atrocities.   

They did great good in their lives, but they also committed great evil, but we ignore their monstrous sins because of the good they did for their faith, for OUR faith. 

We hate monsters, but we love OUR monsters, and that is the kudzu root of all kinds of evil. 

We cannot have justice until we can judge our friends and our enemies with the exact same measure of wrath and mercy. 

You shall have the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the Lord your God.  (Leviticus 24:22).

We will not be a just nation or a righteous church until we commend our political rivals and condemn our social allies in equal measure based on what they did, not what (we think) they stand for.

You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor (Leviticus 19: 15).

We can’t honestly call ourselves ethical, or good, or godly until we treat all monsters the same.

For there is no partiality with God (Romans 2:11).

History and Scripture agree that such has never been the case in human civilization.  We may not see real justice until Jesus personally comes back, but society’s historic failings don’t exempt you and I as God’s people from the commands to do justice and love mercy equally for all alleged sinners.

Look around and look within and be honest about the kinds of monsters you love, the affiliations and self-designations that get a pass from you and the ones that receive immediate condemnation.  Work on that.  Wrestle with yourself.   I’ll do the same.   That’s the only way to overcome the most vicious monster in the room, the monster we love more than all others: the one who looks back at each of us from the mirror.   

 --Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama. He writes a blog called A Word to the Wise at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

Click here to support this ministry with a donation.  Or go to andersontgraves.blogspot.com and click on the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

NOT WHAT YOU EXPECT (audio of the sermon)

A beloved public figure who was a hero to his people, a role model to a generation,  a man whose name was synonymous with goodness, is convicted of terrible crimes centering around his untamed sexual desires.

Today’s sermon is about David.

The title of the message is: NOT WHAT YOU EXPECT.

(Yeah, I mention Bill Cosby, too.)

Listen well and leave a comment.

If you can’t get the audio on your device, visit the main podcast page at http://revandersongraves.podomatic.com/

The podcast is on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/anderson-graves-podcast/id918990482

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

Click here to support this ministry with a donation.  Or go to andersontgraves.blogspot.com and click on the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, AL 35064