“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: - Jeremiah 45:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 12, 2020): Jeremiah 44 & 45

American architect, systems theorist, author, and the man responsible for coining the phrase “Spaceship Earth,” R. Buckminster Fuller, argued that “We are not going to be able to operate our Spaceship Earth successfully nor for much longer unless we see it as a whole spaceship and our fate as common. It has to be everybody or nobody.” As long as we divide our planet up between the ones who are essential and the rest of us, we are in trouble. The only truth that works for this planet is that every single occupant is important. Fuller is correct. In a COVID-19 world, where the privileged can be tested frequently, sometimes daily, while those deemed unimportant have trouble trying to be tested, even if they are sick, we have to conclude that this cannot be about me, but us. And, by the way, I wear a mask to protect you, not to protect me. I wear a mask because you are essential.

The volume of prophecies that came through Jeremiah to the people was impressive. God was dealing with a lot of big-ticket issues, including the demise of a famous city and a nation, as well as trying to bring a people back to him. And yet, God interrupts this critical message with a personal moment of communication, not for the important Jeremiah, but for the comparatively unimportant, and rarely remembered, Baruch. As a Star Trek fan trying to work through this passage, it felt like some alien civilization might have been having an important conversation with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock. Then suddenly pausing that conversation with the words, “And, Nyota Uhura, I have a message for you as well.” My communication is not just for the Captain, it is for the communications officer, steward, and cook as well. I know all of you.

God’s message to Baruch was essentially “I know where you are, and you are where I need you to be. You may doubt your importance, but know that your God sees you, and in his eyes, you are important.”

It is a message I think that we all need to hear, especially during a pandemic. Regardless of what your political leaders seem to believe, you are essential. The nation does not work without you. It is the message that we send with every test for the virus that we take, and every mask that we wear. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you live, how old you are, or how you spend your day. You are important. God’s message to Baruch is one that we all need to take to heart.

And as the death tolls continue to rise, we need to recognize that not one life is unimportant. If this Spaceship Earth is really going to work, then it will work because we have concluded that this is about everybody because nobody is unimportant.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 24