The Year of the City

"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes." — Luke 19:41-42

This year our focus for church is on the city. This is a good focus, a necessary focus, and a difficult focus, beginning with this week's passage, above. Jerusalem was the heart of the Jewish world. It was supposed to be a center of hope and faith, yet the church there failed the people, and the city itself crumbled. Jesus knew this would happen when He stopped outside the city's walls to weep for the city, it's people, and its squandered promise.

History is full of great countries and civilizations falling when their cities crumbled. It happened to the Roman Empire, it happened to so many empires, and one has to wonder if it isn't happening to America. The bankruptcy shone a light on Detroit, but it's hardly the only major city that's struggling.

My favorite TV series of all time — and perhaps the best TV series of all time — was about the crumbling of America's major cities. David Simon was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun, and he saw the collapse of the city he called home first-hand. You can tell it grieved him, not only because he cared about Baltimore, but because he knew Baltimore wasn't unique.

Most people think "The Wire" was about drugs, cops, and generating money for HBO. It was that — well maybe not the money for HBO part — but it was also meant to be a metaphor for understanding, confronting, and working to curb the problems of urban decay. Nothing moved me so much as watching that series, and thinking about Simon's argument.

He looked at the drug trade, the ports, government, education, and the media. His premise was that America's inner-cities have systemic problems, and there is no one easy fix. And all the areas he looked at are crucial to the success of the city, but as Christians we should also be asking where is the church? Where are the people of God loving the cities God has created? How are we making the world better, sharing the love of Jesus Christ by modeling the Gospel in our deeds, in the way we minister to those in  our cities?

Jesus wept as he approached Jerusalem. He saw a church and a people of faith who lost their way, and the city soon followed. No matter what city we call home, we have the same responsibility to care, minister, and live out our faith. If we continue to lose are way as a church, our cities will stumble and our nation could fall.

That may seem like an outrageous claim to us today, but I wonder if the same thing wasn't true for the people of Jerusalem on that day when Jesus wept. I wonder how he weeps for our cities and our nation today.