The Forgotten 93 Percent

    Today, Governor John Kasich added Ohio to the list of several other states that are refusing to accept even one refugee from the war torn areas of Syria and other nations.  This announcement is purely political and is entirely lacking in common sense and human compassion. 

    Judging by the Facebook posts I’ve been reading for two days, I’ve just offended many of my friends. 

I don’t care.

    Why? Because if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are completely ignoring nearly every instruction that Jesus ever gave.

Let me explain.

    It is obviously apparent that terrorists have infiltrated the flood of refugees landing in Europe and elsewhere.  But while estimates of how many terrorists might be among them range from a few to as many as 15 percent, most estimates go no higher than 7 percent.  Still, considering that there are hundreds of thousands of refugees, 7 percent is a lot.  Allowing 10,000 refugees into the United States could mean admitting 700 terrorists.

That is unacceptable.

So why do I think that Governor Kasich and a whole host of other politicians have it wrong?

    Because closing the doors on legal immigrants, even in the face of this enormous threat, conveniently ignores too much human pain and suffering.  Before I get around to Jesus, let’s first take a look at who these refugees are and why they are fleeing to other countries.

    The civil war in Syria isn’t just about one group of radicals who are fighting against the government.  We think that way because we think of the Confederate States fighting against the Union, but that example is just wrong.  In Syria, there are literally dozens of armed factions that are warring, not only with Syria’s government, but against one another.  And so thinking that this is like the Rebs against the Yankees doesn’t really do it justice.  Instead, imagine that every church that you passed this week represented the headquarters of a different armed group.  Imagine that, in your community, the Baptists are fighting the Lutherans, the Catholics are killing Pentecostals, and the Republicans are at war with Democrats.  Not only is your neighborhood a war zone, every week or two, another group tries to capture it from the group that captured it the last time.  Some towns have been blown up and shot up multiple times, churches have been burned, women raped, and entire towns lined up in the streets and murdered.

This is daily life in much of Syria.

    And so, not surprisingly, a lot of people, both Christian and Muslim, have left their homes, their families, and all that they own, to literally walk across several entire countries in hope of finding something better.

Are there “bad guys” mixed in with the “regular” refugees?  Yes.

But those of us who claim to follow Jesus are called to see the world in a different way.  Not through the lens of Democrat or Republican, but through the lens of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.

    If we look at what Jesus taught, we won’t find words like revenge, retaliation, or retribution.  We won’t find instructions to hate our neighbor or to fear the foreigners.  Instead, what we find are instructions to be merciful, compassionate, loving, and helpful.  Our mission is to rescue the lost, heal the sick, clothe the naked, and help others find hope and a future so that they too might hear the message of the Prince of Peace.

    We have every right to be concerned about the possibility of allowing hundreds of jihadi terrorists into our country, but that fear cannot allow us to slam the door on the 93 percent who are only looking for a place to live that won’t get blown up next week.

    It is convenient and easy for politicians to preach from a pulpit of fear and xenophobia.  But as Christians, we are not called to follow the teachings of John Kasich or any other politician.  We are called to follow the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t expect us to be stupid or act foolishly.

We remember that Jesus teaches love, mercy, and compassion, but he also said, 

^“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16 NIV)

We are called to be merciful, but to be smart about how we do it.

Governor Kasich and other politicians are looking for easy, and popular, solutions but in doing so they sell Ohio, and the people of the United States short. 

We are smarter than they give us credit for.

We are more than capable of sorting through the refugees and discerning which ones can be allowed in safely.

It won’t be easy.

But we can do it.

And it’s the right thing to do.

Baltimore - A Rush to Judgement?

I wish everyone would shut up for a minute.

But probably not for the reason you think.

    I waited a long time to write anything about the riots in Ferguson, Missouri because I wanted to try to understand the issues.   

    But this time, after watching and listening to media outlets talk about what is happening in Baltimore I don’t want to wait.  I am posting now, not because I think I understand what is happening, but because I am convinced that almost no one does.

Every media outlet, every reporter, every politician, and a great many bystanders have taken sides.

    Just like the Ferguson case, and the Travon Martin case, and so many others, everyone seems to be absolutely certain that they know exactly what is happening and why.

Everyone is rushing to judgement.

    They judge the police.  They judge Freddie Gray.  They judge the mayor.  They judge the President.  They judge the protestors, the rioters (those are vastly different groups), they judge the victims of the violence, and people are even judging the parents of the people in the streets. 

    Christians are often accused of being judgmental, but this is ridiculous.  Everyone, Christian and non-Christian alike seems to think that they know so much about what is happening hundreds of miles away in Baltimore that they can stand in judgement of people they’ve never met and who they know almost nothing about.

I wish everyone would all shut up and listen for a change.

As I watch and listen to the reporting from Baltimore, all I seem to find is more questions.

What exactly happened in police custody that led to the death of Freddie Gray?

Did Mr. Gray really have surgery on his spine only weeks before his arrest?

Did that matter?

Did the mayor tell the police to allow the mayhem to continue when it might have been stopped much earlier?

I could ask questions all day but it seems clear that, so far, there aren’t very many answers.

    And without answers, all the self-proclaimed experts (left, right and center) should slow down their rush to judgement until they actually have some facts.  Right now there are too many things that we just don’t know.   

Instead of rushing to judgement, why don’t we listen instead?

We all want justice.

    But we should be careful to find the facts so that there can be justice for everyone.  There needs to be justice for the police, the demonstrators, the rioters, the politicians, and especially for the victims.

Investigating, finding, and sorting through the facts are all things that will take time.

While we wait, instead of judging everyone, why don’t we do something helpful?

    Why don’t we try to find ways to help those who lost homes, jobs, and businesses?  Can our politicians and academics find ways to reduce poverty and joblessness instead of just pointing fingers at each other?  Why not volunteer with some charity or aid group to clean up and rebuild Baltimore?  We should all take the time to listen and understand people with whom we disagree.

    Instead of pretending that we know exactly what is going on and who is to blame, our time would be better spent trying to fix the problem and help Baltimore heal.  And while we’re doing that, we should talk less and listen more.

Instead of judging, try donating.

And if you are so inclined, I’m sure that everyone involved could use your prayers.

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Baptism: Why Didn't I Feel Anything?

    After I wrote my recent blogs on baptism, my friend Tod Moses asked several questions regarding the supernatural participation of God in the ritual of baptism.  First, Tod found it odd that baptism is thought to be supernatural, when “most people feel nothing special upon baptism (other than knowing that they have done something good in terms of faith and duty.”  Later, Tod added, “I have known some pretty fine people of faith and had this baptism conversation with many of them. I've never come across one who said it felt supernatural or saving. Good, positive, affirming, obedient.... yes.”

    And so, the questions Tod is asking are these: If baptism is a supernatural experience, then why didn’t I feel anything?  Why have I not met people who thought that baptism felt “supernatural?”

These are all good questions. 

    Fundamental to the question is the assumption that because the act of baptism is supernatural, then baptism must therefore be miraculous.  Because we believe that God is the actor in baptism, we wonder why all baptisms are not like the one in Acts 19 where twelve men, immediately upon their baptism, began to speak in tongues and prophesy. But in fact, even in the New Testament, that sort of supernatural demonstration was rare. When Simon the Sorcerer came to faith in Acts 8, he is baptized by the Apostle Phillip, follows Phillip and was “astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.”  Luke never claims that the act of baptism was, in itself, at all astonishing.

Likewise, our theology makes no such claim.

    In Wesleyan theology, baptism is held to be a “means of grace,” a path through which God comes close to us and pours grace into our lives.  Moreover, even though baptism is a sacrament of the church and the sacraments are considered to be among these “means of grace,” in his sermons, John Wesley “does not list baptism in the places where the means of grace are discussed.”[i]  While baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace, and it is an avenue through which God draws near to us and through which chooses to pour out grace, and while it is a potent symbol of our membership in the body of Christ, baptism is not, in and of itself, transformative.

    Baptism is, however, a beginning.  It is the opening of a door that leads to grace.  When we choose baptism, we can choose to walk through that door and receive God’s grace and at an infant baptism, the parents vow to raise that child in an environment of grace.  But ultimately it is our choice whether or not we will follow the path that leads onward from that door.

    If baptism was transformational or at all miraculous, baptized people wouldn't go off the rails and do all sorts of unchristian things. We all know it happens and it isn't a new problem.  John Wesley once said, “Say not then in your heart, “I was once baptized, therefore I am now a child of God.” Alas, that consequence will by no means hold. How many are the baptized gluttons and drunkards, the baptized liars and common swearers, the baptized railers and evil-speakers, the baptized whoremongers, thieves, extortioners? What think you? Are these now the children of God? Verily, I say unto you, whosoever you are, unto whom any one of the preceding characters belongs, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the works of your father ye do.” Unto you I call, in the name of Him whom you crucify afresh, and in his words to your circumcised predecessors, “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”[ii]

    Baptism is a gift, an invitation, an opening.  It is, as Tod declared, “Good, positive, affirming, obedient” but not, in and of itself, saving or miraculous.  The supernatural aspect of baptism is not that we are miraculously transformed in some way, but that, as in communion, God promises to be present and uses that opportunity to open the door to grace.  So is baptism ever feel supernatural?  Sure, it happens for some people.  I have met one or two over the years, but for most of us, "Good, positive, affirming" and "something good in terms of faith and duty.” is about as much as we can expect.

    For most of us, that grace flows into our lives a little at a time, sometimes in waves but at other times in what feels like a trickle but truth be told, the limiting factor is not God, but us and our willingness “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly” with our God. (Micah 6”8)

    I once stood on a dock in England from which the HMS Beagle, the Mayflower and many other famous ships had set sail.  All along the dock, signs were erected to remember them.  It was not the dock that made those voyages famous or memorable, but the adventures themselves.  Likewise, we mark the occasion of baptism, not because baptism itself is remarkable, but because, knowing that God chooses to be a part of that life, we have confidence that the adventure that is beginning will be remarkable.

 Previously: 

What is Baptism?

Why do we baptize infants?

Why Don't We Baptize Older Children?

Others questions in this series can be found here: Ask the Pastor

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Other questions and answers in this series can be found here: Ask the Pastor

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[i] United Methodist Doctrine, The Extreme Center, Scott J. Jones, Abingdon Press, Nashville, p.244

[ii] John Wesley, The Marks of the New Birth

Sometimes Bad Things Happen

    It is no secret that life often seems unfair.  Bad things happen to people who did nothing to deserve it and sometimes we struggle with that.  Especially when it happens to us.  But the Bible is full of stories about people, often good people, innocent people, even the heroes of the faith, to whom bad things happened.

    Moses was adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter (which saves his life) but later runs for his life after he (accidentally?) kills an Egyptian while preventing that man from beating a slave to death.   

    Joshua and Caleb do everything right but spend 40 years wandering the desert because everyone else made a mistake.  

     David is anointed as king but is hunted by King Saul (and the entire army of Israel) and is reduced to what is practically criminal activity (almost a protection racket) while hiding in caves in the wilderness.  Later, as king, David once again finds himself on the run when his own son stages a coup and takes over his kingdom.  

    Naomi moves to a foreign country with her family to avoid a drought, but while there, her husband and both of her sons die. 

And Jesus talks with his disciples about a tower in Siloam (Luke 13) that collapsed and killed eighteen people.  

    None of these people did anything to deserve punishment and none of these things happened because God was punishing them.  All of them, however, are examples of how the world “is fallen”, which means that sometimes life just stinks because the world isn’t perfect.  Sometimes bad things happen, not because God is trying to punish you, and not because you must have done something bad, but just because sometimes bad things happen.  The good news is that while, for his own reasons, God doesn’t always protect us from bad things, we are never alone.  God loves us and cares for us, and is with us through the bad times.  In fact, God often uses the bad stuff that happens to us to make us stronger, to prepare us for something he has in mind for our future, or to allow us to help others when they go through hard times.  What do I mean?  Here are two examples:

    President Abraham Lincoln was married to a difficult woman.  It has been said that by today’s standards, Mary Todd Lincoln would probably be diagnosed as bipolar or to have some other similar psychiatric disorder.  President Lincoln could probably have had her locked away in an asylum, but cared for her instead.  Historians believe that because of the strength and patience that Abraham Lincoln had built by spending all those years with his wife, he was uniquely able to withstand the mental pressures of the presidency during the American Civil War.

    Several years into our first pastoral assignment, I conducted one of the hardest funerals I have ever performed.  The man I buried, Lloyd, was active in the church, a member of several church boards, was one of the first to make us feel really welcome in town, and had become a friend.  Although retired, Lloyd’s death was a surprise to everyone.  He was not in ill health in any way.  Nonetheless, his wife awoke one morning to find him dead on the floor.  No one really understood why it happened.  His death seemed meaningless.  I am certain that he was not being punished.  God did not “call him home” because God needed another hard worker.  

    But what God did do was to redeem, at least in part, the pain that his widow suffered.    A few years later, another of our dear friends died suddenly.  Larry was close in age to my oldest brother and had been an advocate and supporter of my ministry at a time when I really needed one.  Larry’s widow suffered just as much as Lloyd’s had, but this time there was a difference.  While I might try to be comforting, my wife was still with me.  I could say very little that genuinely resonated with her or brought real comfort.  But Lloyd’s widow, now more than a year into her healing process, lived just a few houses away.  She could speak about faith and healing in ways that I never could.  She could understand the pain and loss better than anyone who had not endured such a loss themselves.  And so, as painful as it was for both of them, these women were able to meet together and help one another heal.  As painful as the experience had been, God was able to use it to help another person to cope with their pain.

    We understand that life isn’t always “fair.”  We know that sometimes bad things happen.  Sometimes bad things happen to good people who didn’t do anything to deserve it.  But we must remember that it isn’t our “fault.”  Generally, God does not cause bad things to happen so that he can punish us.  Bad things happen because the earth has not yet been made perfect. 

Bad thing happen because sometimes life stinks.

But through it all, we are never alone.


(Next: Life Out of Control)

One Small Act Can Change the World

    Every day we make thousands of choices.  We go to the grocery store. We choose to stop at a traffic light.  Some decisions are so small that we don’t give them a second thought, but even the smallest of choices can make a world of difference.

    Captain Edward Smith chose to ignore warnings about ice in the path of the Titanic.  That one decision changed everything.

    In 1955, a seamstress at a local department store was riding the bus to work.  As the bus filled, she refused to give up her seat to another customer.  It seems like such a small thing, but with that one small choice, Rosa Parks changed the course of civil rights and American history.

    In 1989 a column of tanks descended on Tiananmen Square to crush the ongoing student.  As they did, one man stepped in front of the lead tank.  By doing so, he compelled the driver of the tank to choose.  Because of one man, the entire column of tanks came to a halt. Photographs of that moment appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world.  With one act of defiance, one man captures the imagination of the world.

    Last week (April 9, 2014), a student armed with knives entered the high school in Murrysville, Pennsylvania and attacked other students and a security guard.  Amid the mayhem, Nate Scimio, a student and one of the wounded, reached out and pulled the nearest fire alarm.  His quick thinking is saved lives and helped to evacuate the school.

    Even the most simple and mundane choices have the power to make a gigantic difference.  This is exactly what we find in the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  Two of Jesus’ friends are asked to do something so remarkably simple that we are stunned to discover how important their contribution becomes. 

Jesus tells his friends to go into town, find a donkey that he knows is there, untie it, and bring it back. 

How much easier could that be?

    What Jesus did was like asking someone to pick up a prescription.  We’ve already phoned ahead, we already know that it’s ready, all they have to do is show up, get it, and bring it back. 

And yet, as simple as it is, the task that these followers perform is significant.

    As simple as it was, the disciples did as they were asked.  As simple as it was, this act makes it possible for Jesus to arrive the way that the Kings of Israel had arrived.  One small choice transforms an ordinary arrival into an historic event. 

I want you to imagine what that might look like in your life.

Because God is the architect of our lives, he already has the big things all planned out. 

    God doesn’t ask us to build a multi-national pharmaceutical conglomerate, but simply to pick up a prescription.    Go, get it, and come back.

    A story, originally told by Loren Eiseley, tells of a man walking along a beach the night after an enormous storm.  The beach was littered with starfish which had been washed ashore and as he walked, the man came across a child who was picking up starfish, one at a time, and throwing them back into the sea.  After watching the child for some time the man said, “Why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. There are thousands of them.  You can’t begin to make a difference!”

    But after thinking about it for a moment, the child continued to throw starfish back into the ocean.  Each time saying, “I made a difference to that one… I made a difference to that one…”

    Before God asks you to do something big, I can guarantee that God will ask you to do something small.  Be ready.  Do not hesitate because the thing that God asks is small. 

In the hands of God, one small act can change the world.

    Volunteer an hour of your time to visit someone who is lonely.  Buy an extra can of food for someone that is hungry.   

Smile.  A kind word or a friendly face can change the course of an entire day.   

Donate blood.  

Cry with a friend, or offer a shoulder to cry on.   

Share Jesus with a neighbor.   

Take a casserole to a neighbor who has health problems.   

    Offer to watch the children of a young family that can’t afford a baby sitter.  This may sound small, but others did this for us when our children were small and trust me, this was a generous and amazing gift.   

    Invite a single friend to dinner.  Did you know that for singles away from home, as well as for widows and widowers, family holidays like Christmas and Easter are the hardest to get through?  What’s one more chair at the table?   

    Buy a box of diapers or a can of formula for a single parent.  Do you know how expensive that stuff can be?  

Offer to wash an elderly neighbor’s car or shovel their walk in the winter.

You can make a difference but you have to do something.

One.

Small.

Thing.

It doesn’t have to be a big thing to make a big difference.

But in the hands of God, one small act can change the world.