Here He Comes to Save the Day!

Probably dating myself, but one of my all-time favorite cartoons was “Mighty Mouse”.  Only as my own boys were watching these episodes in re-run did I fully appreciate them as mini-operas –always sung, never spoken– with the Bad Guys sung by basses, the crowd by screechy sopranos, and the Pretty Girl in Distress was an alto.  Just when the plot was at its most fiendiish,  Our Hero (a tenor, natch!) swooped down from the sky to restore Justice and make a Happy Ending!   “Here I come to save the daaay…!

Longing for a super-hero?  Isn’t there ONE who can overthrow our captivity to this broken society and fly a flag of Truth & Equity?  The American Church needs to hear encouragement:  “Your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey….the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations….Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope.” (Zechariah 9:9-12)   Z’s audience were newly-returned from exile in Babylon:  although their homeland was reclaimed, the Holy Dream languished.  Fourth of July speeches will call for a renewal of the Old Patriotic Dream — but is there a new and better dream waiting to be articulated??

St. Paul lived long before Murphy expressed his famous Law, “Whatever can go wrong, will.”   But in Romans 7, he admits to the same phenomenon: “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” (v.19)  Paul was good at splitting our singleness into pieces, claiming that the Evil Presence waged a cosmic battle against the Righteous inside him.  He too looked for a hero to resolve his ambiguity:  “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”  And then he names his hero, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Sunday’s Gospel reading is long and a bit difficult, yet it cuts the mustard on this “Independence” Day as words we need to hear, patriotic fluff not included.  Throwing up his hands, Jesus exclaims, “But to what will I compare this generation?”, and allows that the hearers like neither fast music nor mournful, that they complained about John the Baptizer’s ascetic life, and also about Jesus’ glad inclusiveness.  (Matthew 11:16-19)   The People yearn for a uniting, prophetic leader; but fail to respond.  Who will hear the invitation, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for l am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”?(vv.28-30)  “Here he comes to save the day!”

Here on the Fourth of July, anno domini 2014, the Old Dream slumbers in its twilight.  Like all human constructions, it has served well but can be retired.  Since 1776, we have moved beyond slavery, beyond conquering the West and subjugating Indians.  Women now vote, and thinking people cringe away from armed militias.  Racial & immigration problems still abound, living-wages pale against corporate salaries, and bullies intimidate in both gangs and individually.   Is there a New Dream which includes Justice, Truth and Righteousness??  Who will speak this Dream into the vaccuum of our boredom?  Come quickly, Lord Jesus…

God Bless Us, Every One                                               Horace Brown King