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Amy Jones,
Agape Coordinator
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Dear God, we come to worship you today.
We come to pray, and listen.
You always hear us.
Help us to hear you. Amen
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Haggai 2:1-7
2:1In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying: 2Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, 3Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? 4Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD; work, for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts, 5according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. 6For thus says the LORD of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; 7and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the LORD of hosts. 8The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts. 9The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of hosts.
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I worked in an office with a woman who dressed in loud clothing some days, with bright colors and patterns, and sometimes in more subdued sweaters and blazers. No matter what she wore, it seemed to work. She never looked out of place or unusual.
I had often thought about how much I admired her style and the authority with which she wore her clothing. It felt, to me, like you needed a certain kind of personality to pull off all those colors and patterns - like you needed the personality to fill out the clothing.
One day, unprompted, this woman explained that she approached her wardrobe as though it were drag. Everything she wore was drag - like a costume for the day. I could understand this. Every day I pick out my clothing with my calendar in one hand. Who will I see today? Who will they expect me to be? Should I wear a suit? A dress? Heels? Can I wear flats? Is it okay to be comfortable? For a long time, I kept heels and a dress in my office in case major donors or board members dropped by. It was, in fact, drag. Dressing to fulfil other people’s expectations.
I always think about this when Halloween rolls around. I watch as my children pick costumes that resemble those they admire, or the persona they wish they could embody more fully, or sometimes just something sillier or scarier than usual. It is all drag: a performance of who they wish to be or maybe who they are expected to be.
The rebuilding of the temple always feels a lot like dressing to fulfill expectations. When Babylon rose to power, the Temple was destroyed and the elite class of royals and scribes were exiled. Everything changed. The way they thought about worship, theology, even their identity as a people - it all was altered. When the Persians offered an opportunity for the Israelites to return to their land, and even to subsidize some of the Temple rebuild, it always feels to me like there are certain expectations to fulfill about how, where, and with what materials the rebuilding should take place.
God tells Haggai to take a step back. Who really remembers the old temple anyway? Doesn’t God inhabit any space God wishes to inhabit? Why worry about making a temple to address other’s expectations? The temple should be made for God and God’s people - the rest doesn’t matter.
Drag can be wonderful because of the performance. The performance can change with an accessory or a hair style, and at the end of the day it can all come off and an individual can choose all over again what to perform next. Expectations can go out the window, if we choose that. The whole experiment could be about defying expectations, expanding possibilities, and extending boundaries.
God does not need a box, but how often do we build boxes especially to contain God? Do we let God defy our expectations? Do we imagine a God that expands possibilities? When was the last time we felt God extend a boundary? What would it be like to take a chance on a relationship with God, even if it was just a bit of drag for a day? How would we perform that relationship differently? Perhaps we would try a new way to pray or take on a volunteer responsibility outside our comfort zone. Maybe we would be more generous or more forgiving. We won’t know unless we try.
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God of all people, you have always know us, even from the moment we were knitted in the womb. Free us to know you in new ways, even if we have to stretch or perform the expression of ourselves a bit differently. Get us outside our own boxes. Amen.
Amy Jones
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Amy Jones, Agape Coordinator |
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Amy Jones our Agape Coordinator is an ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church. In this tradition, deacons are ordained clergy who bridge the ministry of the church with the needs of the world, and vice versa. In more than 15 years of ministry, she has worked in churches, in children and family ministry, higher education, and nonprofits. In each setting, her focus has been on matching the resources of the church with the needs of the world. Agape Community Kitchen is exactly the type of work she was called to do.
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The Presbyterian Church in Westfield continues to burn as a light in the darkness as our community weathers this fearsome storm of illness. Our reach of care continues to extend far beyond our immediate borders. You can help us make a real impact in the lives of others by joining in our work through your time, your talents, and also in the fruits of your labors. |
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