Recent I attended U2’s The Joshua Tree Tour and loved it! Truly one of the best live shows that I have attended. As the songs played there was a sense of something greater than this daily toil. In the midst of mass of humanity I felt joy and connection to something bigger than all the mess that surrounds us. It was powerful, it was encouraging, it was challenging (especially the message from the 15-year-old Syrian refuge girl who hoped to one day to make it to America).
In many ways we were a congregation who had gathered seeking something better, a hope filled, MLK dream driven future. Repeatedly Bono said “left, right, whom ever you voted for, all are welcome here tonight.”
The band closed the show with their hit song “One”
We began to make the slow walk out of the stadium, messengers of band, “Don’t give up hope, work to fulfill the dream, we can be one.” In less than one hour, it really only took 30 minutes, the crowd (full buzzed, high, and drunk) began to lose sight of the message. We were ONE in our being smashed together in a single lane to walk around the Field Museum and cross under Lake Shore Dr.
Frustrations mounted, complaining filled the air. We walked past the fully armed police presence on alert, a testimony to the unsafe world that surrounds us, and then a couple of guys start yelling at each other while their companions try to pull them away from each other. We are ONE?
The dream, the hope became a delicate blossom that was being threatened by our broken self. We couldn’t last a single hour?
We need to do better, but how?
There is no quick fix. We can presume that message heard through songs that strike our souls and ignite a fire that we desire to exist, but allow to blow out so easily.
I cannot will myself to a better place. I cannot push myself to love. I need something more than my best efforts.
This is why I have come to understand that I need more than a wise man, I need a Lord, a Christ, a Savior. I need Jesus.
Jesus help me to make the dream real. Jesus give me the strength to love. Jesus be my Lord.
Rev. Shawn J. Smith 