The Gift
Just stop and think for a moment--just as last month opened, 500 people were shot in Las Vegas; then, Halloween weekend a couple score were run over by a rental truck in bike lanes in New York City; and yesterday, another couple score were shot while attending church in Texas.
There is an illness within us.
The numbers are staggering. They are wartime statistics.
Moments of silence do not seem to be curing much of anything.
Perhaps it is time for the church of Jesus to begin truly acting like the church of Jesus. Mother Theresa, on a North American visit, repeatedly answered a nun's question about how Mother Theresa could attract so many nuns to her order with the same response. The nun wanted to know techniques, skills, rules, disciplines, and so on--what was the administration of her success? Theresa kept uttering the same simple answer, We give them Jesus. There is a cry rising from the people--a cry for help, a cry for hope, and a cry for healing. We need to give them Jesus.
Nearly everyone can see why our society is suffering. Those with too much do not seem to listen to those with nothing at all. We refuse to limit gun use in any meaningful way. We ignore the mentally ill among us. We refuse to see the illness in us as an illness. We cling to moments of silence, thinking that somehow miraculously will end the suffering. Of course, it's a useless approach. Most of us see that inescapable truth.
Yet, nothing changes. It is like having strept throat and refusing to go to the doctor, thinking somehow if we just keep still, it will leave us.
We need to give them Jesus.
The church needs to speak up. We exist in a moment when any and all differences are chasms. Political affiliation is akin to building an unassailable fortress. Once inside, there will be no opening to anyone outside. They will be declared evil, reprehensible, and beneath contempt. Any attempt to reach out is seen as total treachery. Ethnicity is now tribal. Each ethnic group retreats into its own circle, cutting off from all others. Privilege is now a citadel to be guarded and defended from any and all attempts to share what is there. Usurpers will be denounced. Pundits draw mobs by throwing gas on the fire, breathing hate to fan the flames that burn us day into day. The church needs to speak up. In the eyes of Jesus, every human being is a beloved child of God. Every human being. The church needs to proclaim this word at every opportunity.
The church needs to speak that word through direct action--direct engagement--with the world around it. We proclaim Christ's healing grace, then we should meet every person with healing grace.
When someone tells the church after Sunday that the way to safety is to arm a congregation, respond by Christ's own refusal of a sword in Gethsemane as the mob came for him. No, the church will be a fellowship of peace. There will be no guns here. Peter, sheathe your sword...
When someone refuses to admit mental illness is an illness like mumps, cancer, the flu, and so on, speak up. Illness is illness. The patient needs compassionate care, intervention, and healing. We wouldn't leave our children to fend for themselves while they battled chicken pox, so why would we leave someone to battle bipolar disorder on the street to fend for themselves?
When someone loudly declares it an infringement on freedom to set limits on gun ownership, the types of weaponry for sale, and rapid fire shooting of said weaponry, speak up. The Apostle Paul wrote, I may be free to eat of all kinds of meat, but if my brother or sister is unable to do so, or is bothered by my doing so, then I will refrain from my eating. I will set limits on my freedom to ensure we can all live together in peace and that I meet someone else in full compassion.
When someone loudly declares that immigrants are a scourge upon us, bringing their strange religions, their incomprehensible tongues, and alien mores into our world; speak up. Alienation and isolation are cancers on the human heart. Shove someone into isolation and they will break. But Jesus welcomed the stranger into his midst, not worrying about where they came from or how they practiced--Never have I seen such faith in Israel, he cried over a Samaritan woman. Welcome the stranger. Give them a place to be. Surround them with hospitality. The shadows of alienation and isolation fade.
When someone berates a person of color for calling attention to the double-standards at work in our society, speak up. Taking a knee is not an offense to anyone. It is a cry for acknowledgement. Why are so many people of color dying on the streets? Why are so many people of color fearfully going to church, afraid ICE agents will be waiting in the parking lot? Why is a person of color more likely to get beaten by a government officer than a white person? Jesus saw only God's children as he looked over Judean, Roman, Greek, Ethiopian, Samaritan, Egyptian, and on through the quilt of the Empire. Whom do we see?
We need to give them Jesus.
There is an illness within us.
The numbers are staggering. They are wartime statistics.
Moments of silence do not seem to be curing much of anything.
Perhaps it is time for the church of Jesus to begin truly acting like the church of Jesus. Mother Theresa, on a North American visit, repeatedly answered a nun's question about how Mother Theresa could attract so many nuns to her order with the same response. The nun wanted to know techniques, skills, rules, disciplines, and so on--what was the administration of her success? Theresa kept uttering the same simple answer, We give them Jesus. There is a cry rising from the people--a cry for help, a cry for hope, and a cry for healing. We need to give them Jesus.
Nearly everyone can see why our society is suffering. Those with too much do not seem to listen to those with nothing at all. We refuse to limit gun use in any meaningful way. We ignore the mentally ill among us. We refuse to see the illness in us as an illness. We cling to moments of silence, thinking that somehow miraculously will end the suffering. Of course, it's a useless approach. Most of us see that inescapable truth.
Yet, nothing changes. It is like having strept throat and refusing to go to the doctor, thinking somehow if we just keep still, it will leave us.
We need to give them Jesus.
The church needs to speak up. We exist in a moment when any and all differences are chasms. Political affiliation is akin to building an unassailable fortress. Once inside, there will be no opening to anyone outside. They will be declared evil, reprehensible, and beneath contempt. Any attempt to reach out is seen as total treachery. Ethnicity is now tribal. Each ethnic group retreats into its own circle, cutting off from all others. Privilege is now a citadel to be guarded and defended from any and all attempts to share what is there. Usurpers will be denounced. Pundits draw mobs by throwing gas on the fire, breathing hate to fan the flames that burn us day into day. The church needs to speak up. In the eyes of Jesus, every human being is a beloved child of God. Every human being. The church needs to proclaim this word at every opportunity.
The church needs to speak that word through direct action--direct engagement--with the world around it. We proclaim Christ's healing grace, then we should meet every person with healing grace.
When someone tells the church after Sunday that the way to safety is to arm a congregation, respond by Christ's own refusal of a sword in Gethsemane as the mob came for him. No, the church will be a fellowship of peace. There will be no guns here. Peter, sheathe your sword...
When someone refuses to admit mental illness is an illness like mumps, cancer, the flu, and so on, speak up. Illness is illness. The patient needs compassionate care, intervention, and healing. We wouldn't leave our children to fend for themselves while they battled chicken pox, so why would we leave someone to battle bipolar disorder on the street to fend for themselves?
When someone loudly declares it an infringement on freedom to set limits on gun ownership, the types of weaponry for sale, and rapid fire shooting of said weaponry, speak up. The Apostle Paul wrote, I may be free to eat of all kinds of meat, but if my brother or sister is unable to do so, or is bothered by my doing so, then I will refrain from my eating. I will set limits on my freedom to ensure we can all live together in peace and that I meet someone else in full compassion.
When someone loudly declares that immigrants are a scourge upon us, bringing their strange religions, their incomprehensible tongues, and alien mores into our world; speak up. Alienation and isolation are cancers on the human heart. Shove someone into isolation and they will break. But Jesus welcomed the stranger into his midst, not worrying about where they came from or how they practiced--Never have I seen such faith in Israel, he cried over a Samaritan woman. Welcome the stranger. Give them a place to be. Surround them with hospitality. The shadows of alienation and isolation fade.
When someone berates a person of color for calling attention to the double-standards at work in our society, speak up. Taking a knee is not an offense to anyone. It is a cry for acknowledgement. Why are so many people of color dying on the streets? Why are so many people of color fearfully going to church, afraid ICE agents will be waiting in the parking lot? Why is a person of color more likely to get beaten by a government officer than a white person? Jesus saw only God's children as he looked over Judean, Roman, Greek, Ethiopian, Samaritan, Egyptian, and on through the quilt of the Empire. Whom do we see?
We need to give them Jesus.
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