I read a story that I’m sure we all have experienced in one way or another.
Someone was flying with their one-year-old child, and the flight just happened to coincide with the child’s nap time, so the kid was asleep for the whole flight. After the flight other passengers as they were leaving the plane commented to the parent about how “good” their child was. This led the parent to reflect on what was being said.
Was their child really a “good kid” because they slept at their normal nap time? That child’s behaviour really didn’t have any bearing on whether they were a “good” or “bad” kid. What the parent reflected on was that what those other passengers were saying was that their child wasn’t good or bad, but just being “quiet and convenient” to the other adults on the plane.
I thought this was a very interesting reflection and it has led me to think about other aspects of society where we have attributed being “good” with being quiet and convenient to those around us, or those in power. It definitely happens in church. I have definitely seen stories of church members being accused of being “bad Christians” only because they were not quiet and convenient to those who were in power or wanting to maintain the status quo.
This last week in the Christian calendar speaks to this aspect as well. Last Sunday in church we read about Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. He was neither quiet nor convenient about the way he and his followers entered into the city.
If we were reading the Matthew version, and were to continue on in the story the very next thing that Jesus does after entering the city on a donkey with people shouting Hosanna at him … was a trip to the temple where he drove people out, and turned over tables.
Jesus’ actions were not quiet or convenient for those in power and he was arrested and killed for it. Good Friday is a sad day in the Christian calendar, it is a day of lament, a day of remembering the pain and suffering that Jesus took on. It can also be a time to remember what it means to be a Christian. I truly believe that if I am to truly be a follower of Jesus, then just as Jesus acted I too cannot be quiet and convenient to those perpetuating injustice in the world.
If I believe what Jesus stood for and how he was trying to show those in power that everyone was a child of God, that God was accessible to everyone, not just those within the temple, then I too need to stand up for those whom society say are on the margins.
Stepping away from being quiet and convenient can come with a cost. Standing up against injustice, standing up against racism, against homophobia, against sexism against any kind of injustice can be costly.
Society teaches us at an early age that being quiet and convenient to those around us is the most important thing to be considered a “good” person. Being loud and inconvenient to a society that is not just or fair for so many people does come with a cost. But there is also a cost to ourselves and to society by letting injustice happen simply because we have been taught that being quiet and convenient is the only way to be good.
The Good Friday and Easter Sunday stories show us that God’s love cannot be stopped. Yes there is a cost to working for those on the margins, but not death; not even death on a cross can stop God’s love and compassion from being present in the world.