As Christians, we are appalled at the proposed changes to the social studies curriculum standards, both for what they promote and for what they omit. We want to add our voice to many others, including members of the Christian community, who are expressing their concerns on this issue and how, in many ways, these standards run counter to the Christian faith. Although our concerns about these standards are many, following we address the most troubling.
First, in regard to the teaching of American exceptionalism, we believe that this is contrary to the words found in the Gospel of John: “For God so loved the world…” To maintain that one country is blessed by God over others is blasphemous. We agree with Dallas Morning News writer William McKenzie when he states that “board members are bordering on idolatry by placing America on the same plane with Christianity.”
As people who believe it is an essential part of our faith to be in relationship with those who have been oppressed, the rejection of the proposed inclusion of Archbishop Oscar Romero from social studies textbooks is disturbing. Archbishop Romero was a Christian leader who “took up his cross,” as Jesus calls us all to do, and died for his love of all of his people. All Texas schoolchildren would benefit from learning about him, about his courage and his unwavering commitment to “the least of these.”
And finally, we are concerned that you have rejected the teaching of a fundamental freedom in this country which, above all, protects faith communities from the imposition of a state religion. We are disturbed that this omission opens the door to the possibility that a troubling ideology, which may call itself Christian, would attempt to impose its beliefs on others and persecute people of faith in this nation, contrary to our nation’s founding document.
Please add your name in support of this statement, and your denomination or church for identification only, by adding a comment. You do not have to create a profile but can simply add your information by choosing the "Anonymous" option.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
William K. McElvaney: Lenten Meditation
Lent 2010
Justice is “in season” for all the seasons of the Christian Year beginning with Advent and concluding through Pentecost. Why? Because the God of both Hebrew and Christian scripture is passionate about justice as indicated in numerous texts in both testaments.
That said, justice and the season of Lent have a special connection. As Christians we identify Lent with Jesus’ suffering, usually referred to as his passion. Yet as Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan point out in their book, The Last Week, it was Jesus’ first passion or dedication to justice that led to the second passion narrated in the suffering accounts in the New Testament gospels (Preface, p. viii). Furthermore, Lent reminds us that our faith is not about a smooth talking God who glosses over suffering; not a happy-go-lucky God who sells cheap prosperity with a preferential option for the slick and the easy way out. The God of Lent is a God of pathos who knows all about the suffering and injustice of the world and who initiates restorative justice on behalf of true community.
The Source and Priority of Christian Justice Vocation
Some Christians mistakenly believe that justice is simply no more than the agenda of liberal or progressive folk in the church. On the contrary, the church’s justice agenda is clearly the agenda of God and Jesus IF we take scripture seriously. Any spirituality or piety claiming to be Christian must be grounded in a vocation or commitment to justice. Biblical passages in Amos (5:21-24) and Micah (6:6-8) and Isaiah (58:3-12) make it clear that God insists on justice-related worship. God turns a silent ear to worship not based on justice but never the opposite. In other words, in scripture God never says, “You’re spending too much time doing justice and not enough time praising me.” It’s as though God is saying, “If your worship is detached from justice, don’t even bother me with it.” Can the church hear this?
Connecting Biblical Forms of Justice with Today
From the Torah, the prophets of social justice, and the New Testament, justice takes a number of forms. What better time than Lent to take a fresh look at our justice legacy and inheritance! When we scan the terrain of the 8th to 6th century B.C.E. Hebrew prophets, two very specific forms of justice become apparent. I like to call these the “brand names” of biblically inspired social justice. One has to do with a transparent legal framework, unbiased courts, rule of law, honest elections, freedom of speech and assembly, and the right to vote. Frequently this form of justice is referred to as legal or procedural justice. For an example, check out Amos 5:7-12, a message addressed to Israel. Included in the passage are these words: “Woe to you who turn judgment into bitterness and do no justice in the land. You hate him who reproves in court; you despise him who speaks the truth. You persecute the just and take bribes.” These procedural concerns are expressed in the Torah and elsewhere among the prophets of social justice.
Amos 5 also provides a description of a second form of justice required by God: “You have trampled on the poor man and extorted levies on his grain . . . and have turned away the needy at the gates.” Here Amos calls for economic justice, often called distributive justice. What is a just division of a society’s goods, money, health care, and educational opportunities? Thus in this one brief passage Amos speaks to both procedural and distributive injustice, calling forth God’s judgment on greed and corruption.
I invite you to read Isaiah 58:3-12, one of my favorite passages. This text, like Amos, provides a narrative of both procedural and distributive justice in which God radically redefines Israel’s fast or worship. What strikes me about this Isaiah text is the remarkable range of concerns connecting with our society today just as it did in Israel some 2,500 years ago:
Workers’ rights and, by implication, fair wages and safe working conditions;
Justice for the poor, that is, the hungry, the homeless, and those without adequate clothing;
Indirectly, concern for adequate health care that is inevitably connected with working conditions, hunger, and homelessness;
Implications for a peaceful society based on just societal structures.
These themes of justice are also plentiful in the New Testament. Indeed, the New Testament is a breeding ground for justice: the Magnificat in Luke 1; the Kingdom or Reign of God proclaimed throughout Jesus’ ministry; Jesus’ Mission Manifesto declared in Luke 4; the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and in Luke 6; Matthew 23:23 where Jesus upbraids the religious leadership for neglecting the weightier matters of the law, namely, justice, mercy, and faith. Jesus’ familiarity with the Hebrew prophets suggests that when he uses the term justice or points towards it in his parables, he likely has in mind their emphasis on procedural and distributive or economic justice.
Taking on Justice for Lent
When I first became acquainted years ago with the season of Lent, observance was considered to be a choice of what one might “give up” for Lent. For some this meant at least a temporary change in eating habits or perhaps a kind of short term forty day resolution to give up a long held grudge or some debilitating personal habit. Lent is also known as a time of reflection centering on Jesus’ final days leading to the crucifixion and perhaps a deeper insight into suffering and God’s healing presence. The latter has moved some Christians from giving up something for Lent to meditation that leads to action, namely, giving oneself to others in a new and challenging direction in the footsteps of the Vulnerable/Victorious One. How then, if we so choose, might we take on a fresh justice vocation for Lent, and hopefully, beyond?
To ask the question a little differently, how might the church go about the pursuit of justice, especially on the local level? In my experience the quest originates with questions like these: Where is God leading and prompting us towards justice? Where do we see Jesus at work in our community or area on behalf of justice? What injustice draws the strongest sense of passion and conviction from you and your justice group? Combining these questions, the composite might be – Where and how does our passion meet the need of the community or world as prompted by our perception of God’s initiative through Jesus Christ?
Gospel idealism invites and challenges us to step up and pray, focus, study, analyze, and begin sizing up nonviolent means for addressing a specific injustice to which we feel called. Local church realism means that only a very small percentage of a congregation’s membership will take on active and persistent justice seeking and doing.
Any group or congregation on the path of justice will need to make strategic choices to address a particular issue. The possible nonviolent strategies are many and include the following non-exhaustive list: prayers, letters and phone calls, dialogue and moral persuasion, petitions and silent vigils, newspaper ads, justice based social analysis, community organization, rallies and marches, lobbying, picketing, civil disobedience, personal influence, and legal action. Above all, seek out those who bear the brunt of the injustice you are hoping to correct. Ask them to be your mentors and guides as you act in solidarity for agreed upon strategies and goals.
These strategies can be exercised in a variety of ways. Choices can include local church action, ecumenical and/or interfaith cooperation, support of justice based organizations, programs, and government agencies. Learning on the job to discern and decide which of these means or combination thereof seems best in a particular situation is part of the ongoing learning and challenge of justice vocation. I have found it important to strive for a thoughtful blending of idealism and realism. When one overwhelms the other, naivete or despair is waiting to call your name.
Some of us, through the grace of God and the wisdom of many mentors, have come to think of seeking and doing justice as among our deepest experiences of God, a coming home to God and to our truest and deepest selves for others. The season of Lent invites us deep into the heart of a justice passionate God.
Justice is “in season” for all the seasons of the Christian Year beginning with Advent and concluding through Pentecost. Why? Because the God of both Hebrew and Christian scripture is passionate about justice as indicated in numerous texts in both testaments.
That said, justice and the season of Lent have a special connection. As Christians we identify Lent with Jesus’ suffering, usually referred to as his passion. Yet as Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan point out in their book, The Last Week, it was Jesus’ first passion or dedication to justice that led to the second passion narrated in the suffering accounts in the New Testament gospels (Preface, p. viii). Furthermore, Lent reminds us that our faith is not about a smooth talking God who glosses over suffering; not a happy-go-lucky God who sells cheap prosperity with a preferential option for the slick and the easy way out. The God of Lent is a God of pathos who knows all about the suffering and injustice of the world and who initiates restorative justice on behalf of true community.
The Source and Priority of Christian Justice Vocation
Some Christians mistakenly believe that justice is simply no more than the agenda of liberal or progressive folk in the church. On the contrary, the church’s justice agenda is clearly the agenda of God and Jesus IF we take scripture seriously. Any spirituality or piety claiming to be Christian must be grounded in a vocation or commitment to justice. Biblical passages in Amos (5:21-24) and Micah (6:6-8) and Isaiah (58:3-12) make it clear that God insists on justice-related worship. God turns a silent ear to worship not based on justice but never the opposite. In other words, in scripture God never says, “You’re spending too much time doing justice and not enough time praising me.” It’s as though God is saying, “If your worship is detached from justice, don’t even bother me with it.” Can the church hear this?
Connecting Biblical Forms of Justice with Today
From the Torah, the prophets of social justice, and the New Testament, justice takes a number of forms. What better time than Lent to take a fresh look at our justice legacy and inheritance! When we scan the terrain of the 8th to 6th century B.C.E. Hebrew prophets, two very specific forms of justice become apparent. I like to call these the “brand names” of biblically inspired social justice. One has to do with a transparent legal framework, unbiased courts, rule of law, honest elections, freedom of speech and assembly, and the right to vote. Frequently this form of justice is referred to as legal or procedural justice. For an example, check out Amos 5:7-12, a message addressed to Israel. Included in the passage are these words: “Woe to you who turn judgment into bitterness and do no justice in the land. You hate him who reproves in court; you despise him who speaks the truth. You persecute the just and take bribes.” These procedural concerns are expressed in the Torah and elsewhere among the prophets of social justice.
Amos 5 also provides a description of a second form of justice required by God: “You have trampled on the poor man and extorted levies on his grain . . . and have turned away the needy at the gates.” Here Amos calls for economic justice, often called distributive justice. What is a just division of a society’s goods, money, health care, and educational opportunities? Thus in this one brief passage Amos speaks to both procedural and distributive injustice, calling forth God’s judgment on greed and corruption.
I invite you to read Isaiah 58:3-12, one of my favorite passages. This text, like Amos, provides a narrative of both procedural and distributive justice in which God radically redefines Israel’s fast or worship. What strikes me about this Isaiah text is the remarkable range of concerns connecting with our society today just as it did in Israel some 2,500 years ago:
Workers’ rights and, by implication, fair wages and safe working conditions;
Justice for the poor, that is, the hungry, the homeless, and those without adequate clothing;
Indirectly, concern for adequate health care that is inevitably connected with working conditions, hunger, and homelessness;
Implications for a peaceful society based on just societal structures.
These themes of justice are also plentiful in the New Testament. Indeed, the New Testament is a breeding ground for justice: the Magnificat in Luke 1; the Kingdom or Reign of God proclaimed throughout Jesus’ ministry; Jesus’ Mission Manifesto declared in Luke 4; the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and in Luke 6; Matthew 23:23 where Jesus upbraids the religious leadership for neglecting the weightier matters of the law, namely, justice, mercy, and faith. Jesus’ familiarity with the Hebrew prophets suggests that when he uses the term justice or points towards it in his parables, he likely has in mind their emphasis on procedural and distributive or economic justice.
Taking on Justice for Lent
When I first became acquainted years ago with the season of Lent, observance was considered to be a choice of what one might “give up” for Lent. For some this meant at least a temporary change in eating habits or perhaps a kind of short term forty day resolution to give up a long held grudge or some debilitating personal habit. Lent is also known as a time of reflection centering on Jesus’ final days leading to the crucifixion and perhaps a deeper insight into suffering and God’s healing presence. The latter has moved some Christians from giving up something for Lent to meditation that leads to action, namely, giving oneself to others in a new and challenging direction in the footsteps of the Vulnerable/Victorious One. How then, if we so choose, might we take on a fresh justice vocation for Lent, and hopefully, beyond?
To ask the question a little differently, how might the church go about the pursuit of justice, especially on the local level? In my experience the quest originates with questions like these: Where is God leading and prompting us towards justice? Where do we see Jesus at work in our community or area on behalf of justice? What injustice draws the strongest sense of passion and conviction from you and your justice group? Combining these questions, the composite might be – Where and how does our passion meet the need of the community or world as prompted by our perception of God’s initiative through Jesus Christ?
Gospel idealism invites and challenges us to step up and pray, focus, study, analyze, and begin sizing up nonviolent means for addressing a specific injustice to which we feel called. Local church realism means that only a very small percentage of a congregation’s membership will take on active and persistent justice seeking and doing.
Any group or congregation on the path of justice will need to make strategic choices to address a particular issue. The possible nonviolent strategies are many and include the following non-exhaustive list: prayers, letters and phone calls, dialogue and moral persuasion, petitions and silent vigils, newspaper ads, justice based social analysis, community organization, rallies and marches, lobbying, picketing, civil disobedience, personal influence, and legal action. Above all, seek out those who bear the brunt of the injustice you are hoping to correct. Ask them to be your mentors and guides as you act in solidarity for agreed upon strategies and goals.
These strategies can be exercised in a variety of ways. Choices can include local church action, ecumenical and/or interfaith cooperation, support of justice based organizations, programs, and government agencies. Learning on the job to discern and decide which of these means or combination thereof seems best in a particular situation is part of the ongoing learning and challenge of justice vocation. I have found it important to strive for a thoughtful blending of idealism and realism. When one overwhelms the other, naivete or despair is waiting to call your name.
Some of us, through the grace of God and the wisdom of many mentors, have come to think of seeking and doing justice as among our deepest experiences of God, a coming home to God and to our truest and deepest selves for others. The season of Lent invites us deep into the heart of a justice passionate God.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Haiti and the Body of Christ
Rev. Eric Folkerth, Senior Pastor of Northaven United Methodist Church, formerly worked with mission teams from Highland Park United Methodist Church as they traveled to the community of Petit Goave in Haiti. A member of a team from Highland Park, Jean Arnwine, died as a result of the injuries she received during the recent earthquake. Rev. Folkerth delivered this sermon just over one week after the death of Jean Arnwine and two other members of the United Methodist community.
There was a part of me that really hated to be gone last week. In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, I felt the pull to be here, to just BE here in community. To experience the power of community prayer, community singing, community gathered together. The POWER of the gathered Body of Christ. The power of the church, the connectedness of the church. The Church, when it is most being what it is supposed to be. A Body Together.
That feeling reminded me of today's reading:
"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one spirit. As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it."
Can you not think of the passage in Corinthians from Paul and not understand the existential truth of this phrase?"If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it."
And so we come to the Body of Christ. The church. That most imperfect of all bodies. It is an organization that you can structure like the best of corporations, but it is always going to function like the worst of families. Doesn't matter what kind of church it is.
This gets me back around to Haiti and that pain I was feeling last Sunday and that is still with me, even today. The sheer volume of the human suffering in Haiti completely boggles the mind: 2000 dead. Perhaps up to 2 million persons now homeless. Without question, one of the largest humanitarian crises in modern history. The scale of the disaster seems incomprehensible.
Having traveled to Haiti five times in the late 90s and during 2000, this crisis hits me hard because, you see, I can envision the scene. In fact, for almost a full week after the earthquake, I honestly had to turn off the television when scenes of Haiti came on. Not because I didn't want to see what happened, but because I was already seeing it. I had seen Haiti on good days in which the entire country felt like it could fall apart in an hour or two. We now know, all too horrifically, that this is true.
I did not need Anderson Cooper’s pictures of collapsed houses. I knew those houses would be collapsed because I’ve seen them. I did not need the accounts of how the Hotel Montana had collapsed, trapping many Westerners. I have stayed there, and I knew instinctively what the carnage of that would look like, and that many would not survive.
Even more close to home, the team I used to help lead was in Haiti at the time: the eye clinic team from Highland Park United Methodist Church here in Dallas, and five of the folks I have traveled to Haiti with previously were potentially trapped inside the country.
“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”
Add to the almost incomprehensive human loss of 200,000 Haitians, the sacrifices of at least three United Methodist mission personnel who died of their injuries suffered in the earthquake:
• Sam Dixon, the head of the United Methodist Committee on Relief
• Clint Rabb, the head of United Methodist Volunteers in Mission
• Jean Arnwine, a member of the current Highland Park United Methodist Church mission team who died of injuries suffered when the very clinic I worked I for perhaps a month of my life collapsed on top of her and five others
This tends to take it down to the very personal, and to the level of the personally horrific. And these are deaths that we learned about almost in slow motion.
These losses are our losses, too. Lest we forget, our own church has its own international missions to El Salvador and Guatemala. And lest we forget, El Salvador is also one of the poorer countries in the world, and is also a country that has recently experienced a devastating hurricane. Many of us in this room have been to Guatemala and El Salvador. Many more of us have been to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi where we were aided by staff of United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, through both their established infrastructure and their expertise. Many more of us have given money to support these missional efforts of our church.
And so, which we might not have ever been to Haiti, we know and understand the challenges of being in mission in this kind of place, and this tragedy affects us viscerally as well. We are led, as Christ’s body, to ask, What are we to do? How are we to live? What is our mission as Christ’s body?
There is something of an answer in the Gospel Lesson from Luke today, a passage in the Gospel lesson that is something of a “mission statement” for Jesus the Christ. In this Gospel of Luke, it’s the very first time Jesus speaks publicly about his ministry, his purpose, and his mission in the world. In his hometown of Nazareth, and they hand him a copy of the scroll of the book of Isaiah. He opens it and read these words:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” He gives them back the scroll and tells them that this very day these words of prophecy are finally being fulfilled.
Now Biblical scholars will tell you that these words Luke has Jesus say are almost word-for-word the same as the Septuagant version of the Book of Isaiah Chapter 61, down to the passage about “recovery of sight to the blind.” So what is Jesus’ mission—and by extension our mission—in the world: bring Good News to the Poor, proclaim release to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, free the oppressed, proclaim the Year of the Lord.
An observant preacher friend noticed something about this passage this week. She went back and read Isaiah, Chapter 61, and she noticed that Jesus/Luke cut of the words he says at a very interesting point. The last line Jesus reads in Luke is “To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” But my preacher friend noted that actually Isaiah says something else, “To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance for our God!” Jesus, we might assume, then, does not find the concept of a “day of vengeance” to be a helpful part of his mission statement. I wonder if anybody reminded Pat Robertson of this? He clearly has no idea what he is talking about. He clearly is not a person who knows Haiti, and I’m not sure anymore he really fully understands the grace and compassion of God.
Pat Robertson took what was a Haitian folk myth—something that arose from the people like the Boston Red Sox’s “Curse of the Bambino”—and treated it as if it was historical fact or theological truth. But it’s neither. I’m not angry with him. I’m just absolutely certain he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. And I really feel more pity and sorry for him than anger. I hope you will join me in continuing to pray for him.
The God I know, love, and serve does not rain vengeance down upon the poor and the suffering.
The God I know is especially present with them.
The God I know and love has a mission statement to BE with the oppressed. The suffering. The poor. The outcast.
There was a part of me that really hated to be gone last week. In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, I felt the pull to be here, to just BE here in community. To experience the power of community prayer, community singing, community gathered together. The POWER of the gathered Body of Christ. The power of the church, the connectedness of the church. The Church, when it is most being what it is supposed to be. A Body Together.
That feeling reminded me of today's reading:
"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one spirit. As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it."
Can you not think of the passage in Corinthians from Paul and not understand the existential truth of this phrase?"If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it."
And so we come to the Body of Christ. The church. That most imperfect of all bodies. It is an organization that you can structure like the best of corporations, but it is always going to function like the worst of families. Doesn't matter what kind of church it is.
This gets me back around to Haiti and that pain I was feeling last Sunday and that is still with me, even today. The sheer volume of the human suffering in Haiti completely boggles the mind: 2000 dead. Perhaps up to 2 million persons now homeless. Without question, one of the largest humanitarian crises in modern history. The scale of the disaster seems incomprehensible.
Having traveled to Haiti five times in the late 90s and during 2000, this crisis hits me hard because, you see, I can envision the scene. In fact, for almost a full week after the earthquake, I honestly had to turn off the television when scenes of Haiti came on. Not because I didn't want to see what happened, but because I was already seeing it. I had seen Haiti on good days in which the entire country felt like it could fall apart in an hour or two. We now know, all too horrifically, that this is true.
I did not need Anderson Cooper’s pictures of collapsed houses. I knew those houses would be collapsed because I’ve seen them. I did not need the accounts of how the Hotel Montana had collapsed, trapping many Westerners. I have stayed there, and I knew instinctively what the carnage of that would look like, and that many would not survive.
Even more close to home, the team I used to help lead was in Haiti at the time: the eye clinic team from Highland Park United Methodist Church here in Dallas, and five of the folks I have traveled to Haiti with previously were potentially trapped inside the country.
“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”
Add to the almost incomprehensive human loss of 200,000 Haitians, the sacrifices of at least three United Methodist mission personnel who died of their injuries suffered in the earthquake:
• Sam Dixon, the head of the United Methodist Committee on Relief
• Clint Rabb, the head of United Methodist Volunteers in Mission
• Jean Arnwine, a member of the current Highland Park United Methodist Church mission team who died of injuries suffered when the very clinic I worked I for perhaps a month of my life collapsed on top of her and five others
This tends to take it down to the very personal, and to the level of the personally horrific. And these are deaths that we learned about almost in slow motion.
These losses are our losses, too. Lest we forget, our own church has its own international missions to El Salvador and Guatemala. And lest we forget, El Salvador is also one of the poorer countries in the world, and is also a country that has recently experienced a devastating hurricane. Many of us in this room have been to Guatemala and El Salvador. Many more of us have been to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi where we were aided by staff of United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, through both their established infrastructure and their expertise. Many more of us have given money to support these missional efforts of our church.
And so, which we might not have ever been to Haiti, we know and understand the challenges of being in mission in this kind of place, and this tragedy affects us viscerally as well. We are led, as Christ’s body, to ask, What are we to do? How are we to live? What is our mission as Christ’s body?
There is something of an answer in the Gospel Lesson from Luke today, a passage in the Gospel lesson that is something of a “mission statement” for Jesus the Christ. In this Gospel of Luke, it’s the very first time Jesus speaks publicly about his ministry, his purpose, and his mission in the world. In his hometown of Nazareth, and they hand him a copy of the scroll of the book of Isaiah. He opens it and read these words:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” He gives them back the scroll and tells them that this very day these words of prophecy are finally being fulfilled.
Now Biblical scholars will tell you that these words Luke has Jesus say are almost word-for-word the same as the Septuagant version of the Book of Isaiah Chapter 61, down to the passage about “recovery of sight to the blind.” So what is Jesus’ mission—and by extension our mission—in the world: bring Good News to the Poor, proclaim release to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, free the oppressed, proclaim the Year of the Lord.
An observant preacher friend noticed something about this passage this week. She went back and read Isaiah, Chapter 61, and she noticed that Jesus/Luke cut of the words he says at a very interesting point. The last line Jesus reads in Luke is “To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” But my preacher friend noted that actually Isaiah says something else, “To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance for our God!” Jesus, we might assume, then, does not find the concept of a “day of vengeance” to be a helpful part of his mission statement. I wonder if anybody reminded Pat Robertson of this? He clearly has no idea what he is talking about. He clearly is not a person who knows Haiti, and I’m not sure anymore he really fully understands the grace and compassion of God.
Pat Robertson took what was a Haitian folk myth—something that arose from the people like the Boston Red Sox’s “Curse of the Bambino”—and treated it as if it was historical fact or theological truth. But it’s neither. I’m not angry with him. I’m just absolutely certain he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. And I really feel more pity and sorry for him than anger. I hope you will join me in continuing to pray for him.
The God I know, love, and serve does not rain vengeance down upon the poor and the suffering.
The God I know is especially present with them.
The God I know and love has a mission statement to BE with the oppressed. The suffering. The poor. The outcast.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Why Gay is Okay
Rev. Dr. Diana Brown Holbert is pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Dallas who has participated regularly in our Good Friday Walk, providing a beautiful sending for the first walk. She delivered this sermon on May 17, 2009 in response to a sermon by First Baptist Church of Dallas pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress.
I would like to share a blessing that one of our members sent me on Tuesday, which is my sermon-writing day. As I read it today, let it be for all of us:
Blessed one...
My prayers are with you as you prepare your sermon. May God's word open hearts and minds, removing bricks from walls of hatred and stones from the hands of prejudice and fear. May you find peace in standing with the Holy One; strong in Him and one with His divine words. Amen.
When the marquee outside First Baptist Church on November 8, 2008 displayed the sermon title, "Why Gay Is Not OK" I knew that I wanted to respond. I had no wish to argue or even defend. Instead, I resolved to champion biblical teachings that offer the opposite message, e.g. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
The Bible has often been used to attack gay and lesbian persons. Let's put a stop to that. Let's take time this morning to consider our scripture for today from Acts 10 to show how the Bible actually gives us a positive claim about how we relate ourselves to one another and what it means to be accepted by God.
Okay, so here it is:
Cornelius has a vision to send for Peter. Peter is preaching. The Holy Spirit interrupts and Peter has a vision about what's clean to eat that is repeated twice more, a vision that questions the tradition he has known, loved, and followed about "unclean" dietary restrictions. Peter is puzzled.
Three "unclean" (Gentile) men come to Peter's door, interrupting him further. They have been sent by Cornelius. The Spirit sends Peter to answer the door and to offer lodging and food to them. Big deal in the ancient Middle East. I think Peter is beginning to understand that the mission of the church is to offer hospitality to strangers.
Peter leaves Joppa to go north along the coast to Caesarea where Cornelius lives. Cornelius has gathered friends and family around to hear him. Peter begins preaching, "God has shown me not to call anyone profane or unclean."
The Holy Spirit is making it clear to Peter that salvation isn't only for the Christian Jews, but for everyone. Even people who are "different" from him: the Gentiles. Gentiles don't have to become Jews to be accepted. They can be who they are.
He ends by asking, "Can anyone withhold water from baptizing?" And the answer is apparent, "God's actions have priority." Of course you can't withhold water, love, acceptance. Even when things appear unclean, or were taught that they were unclean, the church must not participate in labeling it such. God teaches differently.
If you had to make a map of Cornelius, the Gentile centurion, and Peter, the disciple who was given the keys of the kingdom, it would be one of coming closer and closer to each other. I like that map. It doesn't mean it was easy. It means that when the Holy Spirit intercedes, our lives get interrupted, our thoughts get interrupted, our words get interrupted, and we began to move towards each other, not away. The way becomes clearer. We don't go down blind alleys and dead ends. That is the interrupting work of the Holy Spirit: when "out of many" God moves us toward each other and makes us one.
God often moves beyond our boundaries, guiding us to accept and to include those on the margins. We see Jesus doing that over and over with the company he kept, especially as he shared a meal, caught in the act of radical hospitality with the discards of society.
God doesn't discard or discriminate. "The Holy Spirit is no respecter of persons," I often heard at Hamilton Park. "If you're not careful, the Holy Spirit might just jump on you!" It's a scary thing, this Holy Spirit that interrupts. Scary until you realize that the Spirit is motivated 100% by love, sent by a trustworthy God to a people who think they have all the answers. I like the interruptions of this Spirit that draws us in its tether.
Okay, so back to the issue that was raised last November.
Right now, in the beginning of the 21st century our country seems to find this issue of homosexuality urgent and historic. Rev. Adam Hamilton has found that people between the ages of 15-28 are leaving the church because of its view on gay rights. That makes me sit up and take notice.
My question is this: How can we possibly be so stuck on this issue of using the Bible to condemn gay and lesbian persons? We quickly give up, readily give up our allegiance to all the other abominations in Leviticus, like not eating shellfish or not stoning sassy children to death. This "issue" doesn't even make the Top Ten! If we're so stuck on sexual behavior, why don't we look at the commandment about adultery? There's plenty of that going on in this country, but it surely doesn't get the press that this issue does.
And what about the word itself getting caught in biblical interpretation? The word "homosexuality" never occurs once in either Testament. It would appear that this issue is a tempest in this teapot.
What's at stake here?
Are we afraid of The Other? Of what seems "unnatural"? Are we afraid of our own sexual appetites? I don't particularly want to go down that road with you in this sermon, but it is an important question to ask: What is at stake here with this condemnation?
If we're going to be afraid, why don't we focus on being afraid instead of the Holy Spirit and how it grabs us and interrupts our lives? Why not be afraid of the way God can transform even us? Maybe that's at the root of this fear. That those like Peter among us who speak God's truth will question our fear of the other by demanding, "Can anyone withhold water for this baptism? Can anyone deny equal rights, equal respect, or the belief that all manner of people can be faithful Christians?"
Some have come today who have family members and friends you love dearly and want to protect from Hate Crimes, perhaps especially the Hate Crimes of the Church.
Some have come today wearing scar tissue inside your heads and hearts and souls. You have tried to live another life, and you may have been mercilessly scorned and ostracized. I can't think of anyone who would choose such disrespect and pain, so what is this about thinking that being gay is a choice? Who would choose all this scar tissue??
Some of you have come because it's a God thing and your religious belief will not tolerate condemnation. "For God so loved the world, that God gave the only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have eternal life. Jesus came into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him..." (John 3:16-17) Some of you cannot tolerate this condemning any more.
Some of you have come as United Methodists, wanting the Church to widen the Lord's table - that table where Jesus sits and offers his body and blood and blessing to everyone. To challenge the received tradition.
These sound like decent challenges and questions to me. Not knee jerk reactions, but carefully thought out responses. So back to my question: What is at stake here with those who call this an abomination? What is the Holy Spirit trying to interrupt in this world? I think it is how we have used the Bible to promote an agenda of partiality.
I look at our congregation, filled with decent men and women who give their time and intellect to our church, freely. Who take classes on prayer and the Bible, who struggle with finances so they can decrease their debt and begin to approach a 10% tithe. Folks who are working to speak the truth in love and be fruitful in their connection to Jesus, the vine.
Am I talking only about heterosexuals and the celibate in our congregation? Heavens no!
I look at Penny, who is so filled with joy at being with our old folks at the nursing home, that as Mickey and I talked with Marie a few weeks ago, Penny slyly went into Marie's bathroom to clean the bathtub because Marie had totally worn herself out trying. Do I condemn Penny to a burning, fiery hell for being whom God created her to be - a gay Christian?
What is the issue here?? What is at stake??
The verses in the Bible that are thrown my way to say that Jesus condemns gays don't carry any credibility with me. Jesus never once speaks on the issue, so why don't we talk about money instead, since he does talk about that -- a lot?
I'm concerned with how we use the Bible to support our cultural agenda. Many people have used the Bible as a club to attack. For years the Bible supported slavery. For years it was used to keep women silent. It has been used and abused to justify systems that enslave and oppress and judge - so that those in power can justify their power-over. So that they can keep others from seeing the sin we all carry within us - the sin of bigotry and idolatry. Believing that someone else is less than we are. That somehow they are unnatural. It is the sin of scape-goating someone who is different from me and mine. We'll gang up together, pin the sins of the world on him, and propel him outside the walls of the community.
What is the issue here?
I've read what people want me to read about Paul's ideas in the Book of Romans concerning same-sex relationship. Can we please notice that it comes in a list of behaviors that include envy, murder, deceit and gossip? When anti-gay groups will give as much energy, scrutiny, power, words, campaigns, writing, and grief to the destructive power of gossip, the character assassination of bearing false witness, then I might pay more attention.
But for me now, this is a non-issue because Paul is not talking about what we refer to today as homosexuality. Paul knew nothing about that; he knew about the Three P's, and he would have found these reprehensible:
They are:
Pedophilia
Pederasty
Promiscuity
Those have their idolatry wrapped around them like moth-eaten blankets, leading them down a dead end street to cold death. I believe those are sins - actions that separate us from God and each other - actions that destroy community and damage souls forever. I am against the Three P's.
But that's not what I'm talking about here. I am instead talking about long lasting, loving relationship that are the building blocks of any healthy society. Not what Paul was talking about in Romans. He had no concept for long lasting, same-sex relationships that can be building blocks of any healthy society. He's talking about people being out of control. Being idolatrous. Instead, let's look at a world where old divisions like Jew and Gentile, male and female, straight and gay dissolve like Alka-Seltzer in water.
In our Acts passage we see Peter being staunch in his white-knuckled adherence to what he was taught: that some food is unfit to eat because it is called "unclean" in ancient Judaism. He was also taught that people were unfit to tolerate. We see it clearly in verse 28. But the Holy Spirit comes and says, "Uh, excuse me. Let's interrupt this for a second. Let's widen up our understanding. Ummm. It looks to me like there is no room for partiality here, Peter."
Peter is puzzled. He's dumbfounded because he hears from God - the heavens open! - and he knows it's God, but God is saying things that differ from what he was taught.
But watch Peter allowing himself to be interrupted: He allows the Spirit to interrupt him and lead him down a new street. Not a dead end street, but an avenue that glorifies God. He doesn't need to make sense of it yet. He just needs to let go and let God guide him.
Friends, I was sent here to preach a message of reconciliation, transformation, and love. I am sent to be with you to tell the truth in love. In your daily meditations, I pray that you will join me in asking to have confidence in yourself and confidence in God to interrupt your life and guide you on this spiritual path.
How can we help people create a connection with God, not inhibit it? If we preach hate, what are we doing to the people whom we hate? We aren't creating a connection; we're building a wall.
I often wonder why First Baptists and others give this issue of condemnation so much play. I wonder why reporters are interested. I wonder why we give this so much energy.
Why not focus instead on folks who have been tortured and show up at the Center of Survivors of Torture across our parking lot? Why not focus on health care as Big Business? Or focus on catastrophic greed that has occurred recently in trusting, economic relationships? Why not focus on the killing of little children through bombings in the Gaza strip or through Internet porn?
Why are we spending energy and time on this issue when Jesus says to us, "Be about your Father's business!"
Why would we sever our ties with a loving, giving church over this issue?
I hope that we all will find a way to let go of our grip on what we have learned from others that builds walls of hatred, prejudice and fear. I pray that we can move off this non-issue and begin to enjoy those interruptions by the Spirit that lead us down the avenue of glory. I'm saying let's honor and glorify God by our love that doesn't call people unclean but calls them children of God. Just like you. Just like me.
"The voice said to him again, a second time, 'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.'"
Blessed ones...
My prayers are with you as you prepare your own sermons. May God's word open hearts and minds, removing bricks from walls of hatred and stones from the hands of prejudice and fear. May you find peace in standing with the Holy One; strong in -- and one with -- Him and His divine words.
Let us keep silence...
Holy and merciful God, for the times when we think we know all the answers, thank you for interrupting us. For the times when we have justified our idolatry, thank you for interrupting us. For the times we have built walls and thrown stones, thank you for interrupting us. For the times when we have crumbled in depression or hidden in fear, thank you for interrupting us. O God of love and God of power, unite us by your grace. We ask this in the name of the One who came to make us his body, praying: Our Father and Mother who art in heaven...
I would like to share a blessing that one of our members sent me on Tuesday, which is my sermon-writing day. As I read it today, let it be for all of us:
Blessed one...
My prayers are with you as you prepare your sermon. May God's word open hearts and minds, removing bricks from walls of hatred and stones from the hands of prejudice and fear. May you find peace in standing with the Holy One; strong in Him and one with His divine words. Amen.
When the marquee outside First Baptist Church on November 8, 2008 displayed the sermon title, "Why Gay Is Not OK" I knew that I wanted to respond. I had no wish to argue or even defend. Instead, I resolved to champion biblical teachings that offer the opposite message, e.g. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
The Bible has often been used to attack gay and lesbian persons. Let's put a stop to that. Let's take time this morning to consider our scripture for today from Acts 10 to show how the Bible actually gives us a positive claim about how we relate ourselves to one another and what it means to be accepted by God.
Okay, so here it is:
Cornelius has a vision to send for Peter. Peter is preaching. The Holy Spirit interrupts and Peter has a vision about what's clean to eat that is repeated twice more, a vision that questions the tradition he has known, loved, and followed about "unclean" dietary restrictions. Peter is puzzled.
Three "unclean" (Gentile) men come to Peter's door, interrupting him further. They have been sent by Cornelius. The Spirit sends Peter to answer the door and to offer lodging and food to them. Big deal in the ancient Middle East. I think Peter is beginning to understand that the mission of the church is to offer hospitality to strangers.
Peter leaves Joppa to go north along the coast to Caesarea where Cornelius lives. Cornelius has gathered friends and family around to hear him. Peter begins preaching, "God has shown me not to call anyone profane or unclean."
The Holy Spirit is making it clear to Peter that salvation isn't only for the Christian Jews, but for everyone. Even people who are "different" from him: the Gentiles. Gentiles don't have to become Jews to be accepted. They can be who they are.
He ends by asking, "Can anyone withhold water from baptizing?" And the answer is apparent, "God's actions have priority." Of course you can't withhold water, love, acceptance. Even when things appear unclean, or were taught that they were unclean, the church must not participate in labeling it such. God teaches differently.
If you had to make a map of Cornelius, the Gentile centurion, and Peter, the disciple who was given the keys of the kingdom, it would be one of coming closer and closer to each other. I like that map. It doesn't mean it was easy. It means that when the Holy Spirit intercedes, our lives get interrupted, our thoughts get interrupted, our words get interrupted, and we began to move towards each other, not away. The way becomes clearer. We don't go down blind alleys and dead ends. That is the interrupting work of the Holy Spirit: when "out of many" God moves us toward each other and makes us one.
God often moves beyond our boundaries, guiding us to accept and to include those on the margins. We see Jesus doing that over and over with the company he kept, especially as he shared a meal, caught in the act of radical hospitality with the discards of society.
God doesn't discard or discriminate. "The Holy Spirit is no respecter of persons," I often heard at Hamilton Park. "If you're not careful, the Holy Spirit might just jump on you!" It's a scary thing, this Holy Spirit that interrupts. Scary until you realize that the Spirit is motivated 100% by love, sent by a trustworthy God to a people who think they have all the answers. I like the interruptions of this Spirit that draws us in its tether.
Okay, so back to the issue that was raised last November.
Right now, in the beginning of the 21st century our country seems to find this issue of homosexuality urgent and historic. Rev. Adam Hamilton has found that people between the ages of 15-28 are leaving the church because of its view on gay rights. That makes me sit up and take notice.
My question is this: How can we possibly be so stuck on this issue of using the Bible to condemn gay and lesbian persons? We quickly give up, readily give up our allegiance to all the other abominations in Leviticus, like not eating shellfish or not stoning sassy children to death. This "issue" doesn't even make the Top Ten! If we're so stuck on sexual behavior, why don't we look at the commandment about adultery? There's plenty of that going on in this country, but it surely doesn't get the press that this issue does.
And what about the word itself getting caught in biblical interpretation? The word "homosexuality" never occurs once in either Testament. It would appear that this issue is a tempest in this teapot.
What's at stake here?
Are we afraid of The Other? Of what seems "unnatural"? Are we afraid of our own sexual appetites? I don't particularly want to go down that road with you in this sermon, but it is an important question to ask: What is at stake here with this condemnation?
If we're going to be afraid, why don't we focus on being afraid instead of the Holy Spirit and how it grabs us and interrupts our lives? Why not be afraid of the way God can transform even us? Maybe that's at the root of this fear. That those like Peter among us who speak God's truth will question our fear of the other by demanding, "Can anyone withhold water for this baptism? Can anyone deny equal rights, equal respect, or the belief that all manner of people can be faithful Christians?"
Some have come today who have family members and friends you love dearly and want to protect from Hate Crimes, perhaps especially the Hate Crimes of the Church.
Some have come today wearing scar tissue inside your heads and hearts and souls. You have tried to live another life, and you may have been mercilessly scorned and ostracized. I can't think of anyone who would choose such disrespect and pain, so what is this about thinking that being gay is a choice? Who would choose all this scar tissue??
Some of you have come because it's a God thing and your religious belief will not tolerate condemnation. "For God so loved the world, that God gave the only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have eternal life. Jesus came into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him..." (John 3:16-17) Some of you cannot tolerate this condemning any more.
Some of you have come as United Methodists, wanting the Church to widen the Lord's table - that table where Jesus sits and offers his body and blood and blessing to everyone. To challenge the received tradition.
These sound like decent challenges and questions to me. Not knee jerk reactions, but carefully thought out responses. So back to my question: What is at stake here with those who call this an abomination? What is the Holy Spirit trying to interrupt in this world? I think it is how we have used the Bible to promote an agenda of partiality.
I look at our congregation, filled with decent men and women who give their time and intellect to our church, freely. Who take classes on prayer and the Bible, who struggle with finances so they can decrease their debt and begin to approach a 10% tithe. Folks who are working to speak the truth in love and be fruitful in their connection to Jesus, the vine.
Am I talking only about heterosexuals and the celibate in our congregation? Heavens no!
I look at Penny, who is so filled with joy at being with our old folks at the nursing home, that as Mickey and I talked with Marie a few weeks ago, Penny slyly went into Marie's bathroom to clean the bathtub because Marie had totally worn herself out trying. Do I condemn Penny to a burning, fiery hell for being whom God created her to be - a gay Christian?
What is the issue here?? What is at stake??
The verses in the Bible that are thrown my way to say that Jesus condemns gays don't carry any credibility with me. Jesus never once speaks on the issue, so why don't we talk about money instead, since he does talk about that -- a lot?
I'm concerned with how we use the Bible to support our cultural agenda. Many people have used the Bible as a club to attack. For years the Bible supported slavery. For years it was used to keep women silent. It has been used and abused to justify systems that enslave and oppress and judge - so that those in power can justify their power-over. So that they can keep others from seeing the sin we all carry within us - the sin of bigotry and idolatry. Believing that someone else is less than we are. That somehow they are unnatural. It is the sin of scape-goating someone who is different from me and mine. We'll gang up together, pin the sins of the world on him, and propel him outside the walls of the community.
What is the issue here?
I've read what people want me to read about Paul's ideas in the Book of Romans concerning same-sex relationship. Can we please notice that it comes in a list of behaviors that include envy, murder, deceit and gossip? When anti-gay groups will give as much energy, scrutiny, power, words, campaigns, writing, and grief to the destructive power of gossip, the character assassination of bearing false witness, then I might pay more attention.
But for me now, this is a non-issue because Paul is not talking about what we refer to today as homosexuality. Paul knew nothing about that; he knew about the Three P's, and he would have found these reprehensible:
They are:
Pedophilia
Pederasty
Promiscuity
Those have their idolatry wrapped around them like moth-eaten blankets, leading them down a dead end street to cold death. I believe those are sins - actions that separate us from God and each other - actions that destroy community and damage souls forever. I am against the Three P's.
But that's not what I'm talking about here. I am instead talking about long lasting, loving relationship that are the building blocks of any healthy society. Not what Paul was talking about in Romans. He had no concept for long lasting, same-sex relationships that can be building blocks of any healthy society. He's talking about people being out of control. Being idolatrous. Instead, let's look at a world where old divisions like Jew and Gentile, male and female, straight and gay dissolve like Alka-Seltzer in water.
In our Acts passage we see Peter being staunch in his white-knuckled adherence to what he was taught: that some food is unfit to eat because it is called "unclean" in ancient Judaism. He was also taught that people were unfit to tolerate. We see it clearly in verse 28. But the Holy Spirit comes and says, "Uh, excuse me. Let's interrupt this for a second. Let's widen up our understanding. Ummm. It looks to me like there is no room for partiality here, Peter."
Peter is puzzled. He's dumbfounded because he hears from God - the heavens open! - and he knows it's God, but God is saying things that differ from what he was taught.
But watch Peter allowing himself to be interrupted: He allows the Spirit to interrupt him and lead him down a new street. Not a dead end street, but an avenue that glorifies God. He doesn't need to make sense of it yet. He just needs to let go and let God guide him.
Friends, I was sent here to preach a message of reconciliation, transformation, and love. I am sent to be with you to tell the truth in love. In your daily meditations, I pray that you will join me in asking to have confidence in yourself and confidence in God to interrupt your life and guide you on this spiritual path.
How can we help people create a connection with God, not inhibit it? If we preach hate, what are we doing to the people whom we hate? We aren't creating a connection; we're building a wall.
I often wonder why First Baptists and others give this issue of condemnation so much play. I wonder why reporters are interested. I wonder why we give this so much energy.
Why not focus instead on folks who have been tortured and show up at the Center of Survivors of Torture across our parking lot? Why not focus on health care as Big Business? Or focus on catastrophic greed that has occurred recently in trusting, economic relationships? Why not focus on the killing of little children through bombings in the Gaza strip or through Internet porn?
Why are we spending energy and time on this issue when Jesus says to us, "Be about your Father's business!"
Why would we sever our ties with a loving, giving church over this issue?
I hope that we all will find a way to let go of our grip on what we have learned from others that builds walls of hatred, prejudice and fear. I pray that we can move off this non-issue and begin to enjoy those interruptions by the Spirit that lead us down the avenue of glory. I'm saying let's honor and glorify God by our love that doesn't call people unclean but calls them children of God. Just like you. Just like me.
"The voice said to him again, a second time, 'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.'"
Blessed ones...
My prayers are with you as you prepare your own sermons. May God's word open hearts and minds, removing bricks from walls of hatred and stones from the hands of prejudice and fear. May you find peace in standing with the Holy One; strong in -- and one with -- Him and His divine words.
Let us keep silence...
Holy and merciful God, for the times when we think we know all the answers, thank you for interrupting us. For the times when we have justified our idolatry, thank you for interrupting us. For the times we have built walls and thrown stones, thank you for interrupting us. For the times when we have crumbled in depression or hidden in fear, thank you for interrupting us. O God of love and God of power, unite us by your grace. We ask this in the name of the One who came to make us his body, praying: Our Father and Mother who art in heaven...
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
The True Meaning of Christmas for Christians
The letter below expresses the true meaning of Christmas and what it means to be a Christian. It is what Jesus wants us to do, rather than get so upset about whether or not Nativity scenes are allowed on government property, and whether or not we say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays", and whether we call them "Christmas trees" or "Holiday trees". As for "In God we Trust" on money, Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."(Matt. 22:21) It matters more to God what we do with our money, not what is printed on our money. Jesus cares about our regard for God and mankind. He said,"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself."(Matt. 22:37-39) "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine (those in need), you did for me." (Matt. 25:40) And as for praying in public schools and at public events, Jesus said, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like some who think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Matt. 6:5-8)
Peace to you and blessings, now and in the coming year,
Barbara Lloyd
Letter from Jesus about Christmas --
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. How I personally feel about this celebration of my earthly birth can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you really want to celebrate My birth, just get along and love one another.
Now, having said that, let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just put a Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that, there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be so many Nativity scenes all around town.
Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a Holiday tree instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grapevine if you wish. I actually spoke of a grapevine in my teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that teaching, read John 15:1-8.
If you want to give a present in remembrance of My birth, here is my wish list:
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know; they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up... It will be nice for Me to hear from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children and grandchildren a lot of gifts that they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
5. Pick someone that has hurt you and forgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.
7. Instead of nit-picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas", that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sundays. If the store didn't make so much money on that day, they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families.
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.
9. There are individuals and families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally, if you really want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.
Don't forget, I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work. I'll help you, but the time is short. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love.
And remember : I LOVE YOU. JESUS
Peace to you and blessings, now and in the coming year,
Barbara Lloyd
Letter from Jesus about Christmas --
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. How I personally feel about this celebration of my earthly birth can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you really want to celebrate My birth, just get along and love one another.
Now, having said that, let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just put a Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that, there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be so many Nativity scenes all around town.
Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a Holiday tree instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grapevine if you wish. I actually spoke of a grapevine in my teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that teaching, read John 15:1-8.
If you want to give a present in remembrance of My birth, here is my wish list:
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know; they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up... It will be nice for Me to hear from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children and grandchildren a lot of gifts that they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
5. Pick someone that has hurt you and forgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.
7. Instead of nit-picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas", that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sundays. If the store didn't make so much money on that day, they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families.
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.
9. There are individuals and families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally, if you really want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.
Don't forget, I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work. I'll help you, but the time is short. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love.
And remember : I LOVE YOU. JESUS
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
December 2009: Pope Benedict XVI's Charity in Truth
In this season of promotion of consumption, we take a moment to consider words from a recent Encyclical from Pope Benedict XVI, focusing on charity, justice and the common good. The reflection is extracted from the 49-page Encyclical, some parts with which many readers might disagree, but much is here that is important for all Christians to consider as we work to progress toward the reign of God "on earth as it is in heaven." An asterisk in brackets indicates that text has been edited for space.
Charity in Truth"Caritas in veritate" is the principle around which the Church's social doctrine turns, a principle that takes on practical form in the criteria that govern moral action. I would like to consider two of these in particular, of special relevance to the commitment to development in an increasingly globalized society: justice and the common good.
First of all, justice. Ubi societas, ibi ius: every society draws up its own system of justice. Charity goes beyond justice, because to love is to give, to offer what is "mine" to the other; but it never lacks justice, which prompts us to give the other what is "his", what is due to him by reason of his being or his acting. I cannot "give" what is mine to the other, without first giving him what pertains to him in justice. If we love others with charity, then first of all we are just towards them. Not only is justice not extraneous to charity, not only is it not an alternative or parallel path to charity: justice is inseparable from charity, and intrinsic to it. Justice is the primary way of charity or, in Paul VI's words, "the minimum measure" of it, an integral part of the love "in deed and in truth" (1 Jn 3:18), to which Saint John exhorts us. On the one hand, charity demands justice: recognition and respect for the legitimate rights of individuals and peoples. It strives to build the earthly city according to law and justice. On the other hand, charity transcends justice and completes it in the logic of giving and forgiving. The earthly city is promoted not merely by relationships of rights and duties, but to an even greater and more fundamental extent by relationships of gratuitousness, mercy and communion. Charity always manifests God's love in human relationships as well, it gives theological and salvific value to all commitment for justice in the world.
Another important consideration is the common good. To love someone is to desire that person's good and to take effective steps to secure it. Besides the good of the individual, there is a good that is linked to living in society: the common good. It is the good of "all of us," made up of individuals, families and intermediate groups who together constitute society. It is a good that is sought not for its own sake, but for the people who belong to the social community and who can only really and effectively pursue their good within it. To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity. To take a stand for the common good is on the one hand to be solicitous for, and on the other hand to avail oneself of, that complex of institutions that give structure to the life of society, juridically, civilly, politically and culturally, making it the pólis, or "city". The more we strive to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbors, the more effectively we love them. [*] The article continues at http://dallaschristians.org. Share your thoughts.
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