To All Humankind, Ability: A Meditation for 14 July 2011

 Note: The occasion of this meditation was the graduation ceremony for participants in NOVA, the employer-driven workforce intermediary that finds and trains people for living wage jobs.

I begin this evening by reading from the book of Exodus, chapter 31 (NRSV):

See, I have called by name Bezalel of the tribe of Judah: and I have filled him with Divine Spirit, with ability, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of craft. Moreover, I have appointed with him Oholiab of the tribe of Dan; and I have given skill to all the skilful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you…

In that passage from the Hebrew Scripture, God tells the people, through the profit Moses, that they not only have work to do, but that God will provide the ability, intelligence, knowledge and skills to do it.

Stone-Cutter's Hands Hold a Rock Chisel Used for Cutting Marble

That particular context a few thousand years ago was the building of the temple, and the skills and abilities God provided included such things as tent-making, stone cutting, wood carving, metal-working, sewing, and pressing oil.

We probably don’t have too many “Bezalels” and “Oholiabs” seated in front of us this evening, and we aren’t—at least not at the moment—charged with building a temple! But we are still called by God to work and even though our technology and our end products have certainly changed, those skills, and all kinds of new skills, are still very much in demand.

Work is from God! Indeed, the very first story in the Hebrew Scripture, the story of the creation of the universe, is the story of God working. And we know that God worked so-o-o hard, that he followed up the creation of the universe by immediately inventing “the weekend”!

When we say, “Thank God, it’s Friday,” we recognize both the gift of work, and the gift of rest, which has meaning precisely because of the gift of work.

The Exodus story doesn’t tell us exactly how the Israelites became, with God’s help, able to build the temple. I’m pretty sure it involved a handful of those with skills and experience teaching and mentoring those who needed it, until a skilled workforce able to get the job done had been created.

Today, our local educational institutions provide much of the training. The institutions of Northern and Central Louisiana Interfaith help find people called to work and to contribute to the welfare of the city, and Interfaith helps mentor those folks through the training process.

NOVA is that all-important intermediary that links employer needs to skilled workers, ready, able, eager to become productive members of their community. And, although she might not look much like a tribal elder, Ms. Juanita Woods functions a lot like one in relationship to these graduates.

Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith helped create the political will and find the funding to start and continue NOVA because we understand that work is from God, and that all people need the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families, and to contribute to their communities.

At the end of just two years, NOVA graduates have not only transformed their own lives and families, but they are also contributing more than $2 million dollars annually to the economy of Ouachita Parish.

We are contemporary Israelites gathered here this evening to celebrate the achievement of these new NOVA graduates, and to welcome them to the skilled workforce that is so central to the welfare of our communities and region.

AMEN.

Photo above by Raymond Gehman.

Seek the Welfare of the City: A Meditation for 10 April 2011

Note: The occasion of this meditation was an interfaith worship service hosted by Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith.

In the Hebrew Scripture just read (Jeremiah 29:4-7 NRSV), the prophet Jeremiah speaks words of comfort to the elders, priests, and people of Israel who had been exiled to Babylon. He also instructs them, in the name of the Lord God, to pray for Babylon.

Throughout history, the Jewish people have lived in many lands and cities under many different rulers and governments, and since the time of Jeremiah, have prayed for them.

One of the many ways Christianity is rooted in Judaism is that Christians of many denominations also pray for rulers and governments in the countries and communities where they live. It’s always nice to find connections among our faith traditions.

But notice that in instructing the Jews to pray for the city, God had a grander agenda than starting a tradition. Indeed, the situation for the Israelites was actually quite ironic. Jeremiah tells the Israelites to pray for the very enemies who had destroyed their home city, Jerusalem, captured them and carried them off against their will to Babylonia.

Why? Was God teaching how to “be nice” to captors or that we should accept abuses of power that oppress us? No. The motive and lesson clearly conveyed by Jeremiah is self-interest. Listen to it again: "But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7 NRSV).

Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith seeks the welfare of Monroe, West Monroe, Ouachita Parish and all of our neighborhoods and communities because we understand self interest. We understand that our welfare as individuals and families is tied up, not only with that of our close relatives and church families, but also with the welfare of our cities and parish, state and region.

One of our founding leaders, Rabbi David Kline, understood and communicated Jeremiah’s point particularly well. A few years ago, we were asking the Monroe City Council to do something about a drainage canal that ran right through the playground of Madison James Foster School. “You must fix this,” Rabbi Kline said, “because the safety of our children depends on it.” And everybody in the room knew that not one of Rabbi Kline’s children or grandchildren had ever set foot in that school. And the ditch got closed!

The lesson God is teaching us through Jeremiah is twofold. First is self interest, the notion that what is good for the whole will be good for the individuals and families that make up the whole. So seek the good of the whole and everyone will prosper.

The second lesson that comes to us in this passage is that seeking the welfare of the city involves more than just sitting around complaining about how bad things are and complaining about the Babylonians who oppress us. Rather, God says through Jeremiah, you must do things that matter. You must take action. You must get involved and contribute to the welfare of the city.

Build homes, Jeremiah says. Plant gardens, grow your families by encouraging your children to marry and have children. Invest in the city in which you find yourself and create a prosperous community for yourself and your grandchildren.

Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith came into being approximately 15 years ago with a similar vision. With the agitation of our first organizer, Perry Perkins, a handful of local clergy began to meet and to talk about the state of this city and region, and about what needed to change for the city to prosper and along with it their congregations.

These pastors gathered together more pastors and many people from their congregations, and those people brought friends and neighbors. Turns out a lot of people understood that their own welfare and the welfare of their families is all tied up with the welfare of the city.

They understood that the prosperity of diverse neighborhoods is linked, and that one neighborhood cannot fully prosper if another across the river or across the railroad tracks is better habitat for snakes and rats than it is for children.

They understood that educating themselves and their own children meant less and had less value when public schools in the community perform poorly. They understood that all of our children need to finish high school, and to come out of high school prepared for either college or the workplace.

On the other side of that equation, they understood that businesses and employers of all kinds need qualified workers from among the local population in order to grow and contribute to the prosperity of the city.

And so Interfaith was born, and the notion that ordinary people can pool their smarts and their energy and their money and build power and get things done in their communities… spread from Monroe to Shreveport… and to Alexandria… and to the Delta.

Not only that, but we have sister organizations in other parts of the state: Together Baton Rouge in our capital city, and one in New Orleans that indeed calls itself "Jeremiah."

The message of Jeremiah is that God works through the voices and actions of people of faith everywhere. Ordinary people of faith everywhere who understand that to prosper themselves, they must seek the prosperity of the city.

Thus Interfaith created the political will and the funding to start NOVA, an employer-driven workforce intermediary that recruits under-employed people and helps them get the skills they need to move into jobs that actually exist, and that pay a living wage and have benefits and a career path.

At the end of just two years, NOVA graduates have not only transformed their own families, but they are also contributing $2 million dollars annually to the economy of Ouachita Parish.

Interfaith continues to work also in the areas of education and of neighborhood renewal. We meet on a regular basis with Superintendent Harris, seeking ways to support her efforts and those of the Monroe City School Board to put children first in all decision making. We have supported Mount Nebo in its quest to revitalize this neighborhood, and we continue to work in the neighborhood around New Light Baptist Church.

We are contemporary Israelites seeking the welfare of our city, for therein lies the welfare of all of us. We are ordinary people gathered here this evening to celebrate a vision—our shared vision—and not only to celebrate, but to build the power we need to get the job done in our communities and our state.

 AMEN.