Amen, Lights?! Amen.
Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart
3/7/20251 min read
Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:1-5 (NLT)
Illustration:
Meditation: Throughout my life in church, I heard this refrain over and over again: “Preach the Word...in season and out of season!” I had some sense that the gospel, while urgent, is also inconvenient, inappropriate, and undesirable. But I assumed that even bitter pills could eventually be swallowed, and that even laggards would eventually get on board. I wish the elders had spent a little more time with this notion of having “the utmost patience in teaching.” The startling reality is that no matter its packaging, the Word often languishes on the shelf, losing to the itch that only tasty myths can scratch. The call to faithful ministry is the call to itinerant gardening. We plant what we cannot tend. We face the hidden and relentless competition of weeds, disease, and weather. We preach to our own echoes. Maybe the product of proclamation is not captured souls or full sanctuaries, but instead deeper trust in a process we will not experience but must influence. Perhaps this dizzying, sobering work will grow in us the capacity to plant...and move on. The green thumb of the Spirit is sure.
Reflection:
How will you balance the fiery urgency of the gospel message within you with the often slow effect of the gospel message around you?
Have you internalized certain ideas about “good metrics” that provoke anxiety, impatience, envy, or disappointment? How can you begin to release these expectations?
How does patience manifest in your life? How can you create more opportunities to feel patience in your body, mind, and heart?
About the Author:
Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart (she/her), a Black-queer church girl, preacher, professor, and activist, develops spaces of theological candor, disruption, reflection, transformation, and public action as Curator of Salt | Yeast | Light.
Stay connected to Naomi:
IG and Twitter: @oholyshift
FB: Naomi Washington-Leapheart
These Black Lent devotionals were originally curated by IG: goodneighbormovement.