“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
– Edward Everett Hale- Clergyman
TOGETHER is a word that brings with it warm feelings. As an introverted only child, I am very familiar with expressing myself in our individualistic society. Being African-American and a part of the Church has helped me better understand the value of togetherness. TOGETHER means with or in proximity to others; in companionship or close association; so as to be united or in agreement. When we say, “She is a very together young woman,” it means self-confident, level-headed, or well organized. That’s a lot of power packed into a single word! In Isaiah 1, the prophet details the consequences of Judah’s rebellion against the Lord. The land was desolate. The cities were under siege. The courts did not render justice, and Israel’s prayers and offerings were of no effect because their hands were covered with blood, so God would not hear them. The LORD commands them in verses 16-17, “Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil! Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
Then the LORD entreats them, “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD.“Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land. But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” (18-20) God knows difficult matters that yield calamitous repercussions cannot be settled unless we first come together. The CEV says it this way, “I the LORD, invite you to come talk it over.”
This time last year we were in the throes of the pandemic and in a struggle on race relations. The Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd killings, etc. were at the top of the news cycle and tensions were high. Protests were held across the US and around the world. Folks from every country witnessed the fallout of America’s great historical sins: slavery, Jim Crow segregation, inequities like redlining and mass incarceration, our prejudices, and implicit biases. Our Country still is divided, but last year we saw something new and beautiful. We saw people across ethnic lines, ages, socio-economic statuses, and languages come together to state explicitly that this racism, discrimination, and oppression of the poor are wrong and we don’t want our world to be this way anymore. We also don’t want the Church to be this way, even though it is 10X more segregated than our schools and the neighborhoods in which we live. So, at The Warehouse Church, OTR this Sunday, we’ve decided to Come Together again across all those lines to celebrate and reason together., We invite you to join us. Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
