DAY 146: Those We’ve Lost: Abraham Vega 48, ‘Peacemaking’ Texas Sheriff

DAY 146

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-one Friday 7 August 2020

Those We’ve Lost: Abraham Vega 48, ‘Peacemaking’ Texas Sheriff

He was born in Brownsville, Texas on the US-Mexican border, entered law enforcement at age 19 and never left it. He became the elected sheriff of tiny – population 5,000 – Lynn County in northwest Texas. “As the coronavirus pandemic surged in Texas in recent weeks, Sheriff Vega thought he had taken every precaution against being infected, his wife said. He had underlying conditions and was so scared of getting it, that except for the office he wouldn’t go out….Then last month a colleague tested positive. The next day, Abraham did, too.” Two weeks later he died. His wife said of him, “He wasn’t the chase ‘em down kind of police officer. He had a servant’s heart, and that’s what made him a peace officer.” Indeed, Mr. Vega had that idea tattooed on his chest, a phrase from the Gospel of Matthew: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” - From a current newspaper series “Those We’ve Lost”

As I approach 150 columns and counting, I am grateful for an abundance of material out there from which to draw on for the theming of each day’s entry. In particular I look for things that cause ‘movement’ within me, and this man, Abraham Vega, did that with the testimony he has left behind. Two things lodged inside as I read: “He had a servant’s heart, and that’s what made him a peace officer,” and that he had “…tattooed on his chest, a phrase from the Gospel of Matthew, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ Matthew 5:9. I long and pray for both to be true of me.

There are basically only two groups of people in this world when it comes to peace: those who are peacemakers, and those who create the need for peacemakers. So it is also with servanthood: those who have ‘a servant’s heart,’ and those who think they deserve to be served.

This is a man I would have liked to have taken to lunch and, looking at him asked, “Will you tell me your story?” and then sat back and listened. But there are others, although infrequently encountered, whose lives, whose hearts are also marked by peacemaking and serving others, whose stories we can listen to and in the listening be challenged to ‘go and do likewise.’

Reflective question: Abraham Vega is gone – will you take his place as a servant peacemaker?

Reflective Scripture: Matthew 23:11 – “The greatest among you will be your servant.”

Reflective hymn: “Will You Let Me Be Your Servant” – Richard Gillard (1953-    )

Will you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you?

Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.

We are pilgrims on a journey; we’re together on the road.

We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.