We can broaden our discussion of gifts from the Spirit of Jesus from these redemptive spiritual gifts to see that time and place are also gifts. What I mean is this:
From the creation of the world, you were known. God had you in mind when, in a dazzling explosion of light and sound and color, the universe was formed. Galaxies, stars, planets, water, vegetation, every creature that has ever been, and now you.
On striking aspect of my story is that we moved from one primarily Anglo culture to another when I arrived in southeast Michigan as a wide-eyed five year old. It was a hard move to wrap my little mind around. Rather than an experience that would have been so obviously different had we moved to, say, Nigeria, most of what I was surrounded by felt familiar, but not quite. People still spoke a version of English (although I was ribbed mercilessly for my accent and certain words and phrases), many of the cultural norms were similar, but it wasn’t quite the same. I had to learn to look the wrong way for traffic before crossing the street. I didn’t know what sweet tea was. Crisps were chips, and chips were fries. It was a rare sensation of disorientation, constant small reminders this was not my native land.
I have come to recognize this feeling of displacement in my life as the result of being an immigrant at such a young age. Even now as an adult, I have that same sensation of feeling like things are just a bit off, like I’m three feet to the left where where I “should” be. During that teetering-on-burnout season when I chose to slow down and begin to listen to what was happening within my own heart, the Lord showed me how I was not only a geographical immigrant, but a spiritual one as well. My life has been shaped by that feeling of being transplanted, but it also situates me in a special way to see the landscape around me, both literally and spiritually, as an invitation from God to offer my point of view to the locals who may need what I carry. I resonate with what Saint Peter tells us about living “as foreigners and exiles” because I have been shaped by the places I have traversed. My view of citizenship is an appeal and challenge to those who take for granted what it means to be a certain kind of Christian in the United States.
One of my best friends is a pastor at a church here in Orlando called The Tribe. He grew up in a family who quite literally created as much space around the table for friends and family as they could. His parents even insisted newcomers write their names under the table to claim their space. That image has become a gift to Shavier as he now leads a community with the invitation to take a place at the table; it’s a central tenant of their posture to all who come through their doors.
God gives us opportunities by bringing us to life in very specific times in very specific places. In fact, I believe that God ordains us to arrive on the scene precisely when God means to, because there is work for us to do here, now.
The Book of Esther is a fascinating story that speaks to our placement in history. While God is never specifically mentioned, let alone appearing as a character in the story, God’s fingerprint is everywhere. It is one of the last historical books in the Jewish Bible, centering in on the exile in Persia in the 500’s BC. Through extraordinary circumstances, a Jewish orphan named Esther finds herself in the favor of King Xerxes and becomes his new queen. A dizzying set of political tricks and deceptions follow, which you will have to read up on in your own time, but a decree is issued to kill all Jews in the kingdom. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, approaches her to change the king’s mind on this potential massacre. She initially feels overwhelmed by the risk of such a task, but her uncle challenges her with the most famous line in the story:
“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
This may be one of those instances where a scripture is so familiar that the power of it is greatly diminished, so allow me to bring some vitality back. Mordecai’s plea contains in it an invitation for Esther to look past her comfortable, privileged position in the palace to see the plight of her own people. To no longer look out the ornate windows and worry from afar, but to believe it is no accident she is where she is, because of what it can mean for the oppressed. That is what it means for us to be born “for such time as this”.
It is no accident that you were born in this moment in history. There is something here for you to offer a broken world. It can feel overwhelming, you have to pace yourself, and you may have to learn how to convert your privilege from an insulated life to a position of opportunity, but none of it is a mistake.
Reflection:
We have looked at time and place as the setting of our stories, but we can also see them as gifts from God that speak to the kind of work we are called to do.
What overwhelms you in the modern world right now?
What causes set your heart on fire?
What privilege do you have in your life that can either become a prison or a blessing for those less fortunate?