December 2019 The Word of God is Living and Active

 

With Christmas just past, Christians are again reminded that we have little information on young Jesus.

 

January 6, Epiphany, celebrates the visit of the wise men. Popular imagination has them visiting Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in the manger, but scholars believe they gave their gifts to a two-year-old, not an infant.

 

This young family is then warned that their son is at risk from King Herod, and they should flee. And so they do, intending to stay in Egypt until they hear that it is safe to go home. While there, they likely heard of the “Slaughter of the Innocents,” thousands of children slain, of mothers’ “wailing and loud lamentation” for their children, refusing to be consoled, because their children are no more.

Eventually they would hear that the first threat had passed, but before they could return home, they learn of a new menace. And so it is that they never return home (Matthew 2:13-23).

This is not the most familiar story for many, including weekly worshippers. It is a painful reading, and if presented with the opportunity to skip it, many do. But we do so at our own risk.

For those of the Christian faith, the Bible, both the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, are foundational. These words of God are incarnated, made flesh, in Jesus, the Word of God.

How these words are understood, however, is an entirely different matter. Some people understand the Bible to be without error in science, history, and theology. For others, it is essentially a history of the religious and moral experiences of the people of the time. And many others are somewhere in-between.

How we read Scripture is one thing. How Scripture reads us is another. In Hebrews 4:12 it is written, ^“Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

One way to understand “living and active” is that, however you understand Scripture, you can believe God’s Spirit blows through it, charging 5000 year-old words with meaning that is relevant and life-changing right now. And that in turn gives new meaning to our world today. As the theologian Karl Barth wrote, Christians should “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”

Imagine then, a young family living in a dangerous place. The parents are warned that their toddler is in danger from powerful and evil forces, and so one night they go to a foreign land, and plan to stay there until it is safe. No doubt they hear the stories, even from afar, of the many who are not safe, who did not get away. Of mothers weeping for children who are no more. Over time, they get word that their homeland is no longer dangerous, but as they return, they learn that the former threat has been replaced by a new one. Once again, they cannot go home.

In these days of a immigration crisis, these words are often read through political lens. But for people of faith, it is far more than that.

If we take our faith seriously, then we must be prepared for this two-edged sword to “judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” here and now. To be faithfully horrified by what happened to Jesus and his contemporaries calls us to be equally horrified by what is happening to our contemporaries in whom he lives today, suffering from family separation and lost children. Dead children.

 

It is not enough to read newspaper or Bible. Nor is it enough to understand the news through the lens of the Bible. People of faith must challenge newsmakers with biblical principles. The justice and mercy embodied in this Prince of Peace demand not just stories of yesterday, but realities for all, today.

November 2019 Walking a Mile in Their Shoes

 According to the Harvard Business Review, the Ford Motor Company is trying to live out its founder’s philosophy to “get the other person’s point of view.”

Its staff of mostly male engineers was asked to wear a device that allows them to experience symptoms of pregnancy firsthand: back pain, extra weight, being off balance. They can even feel the baby kicking.

The idea is to get them to understand the challenges that pregnant women face when driving. Give them credit. They are trying to walk in another person’s shoes, even if sometimes it’s an uncomfortable fit.

Harper Lee writes in her classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, that “You never really know a man until you understand things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

In Jesus, God became flesh, and put on shoes much too small. God knew sorrow as Jesus experienced loss. God knew oppression as Jesus chafed under Roman occupation. God knew homelessness when Jesus had no place to lay his head.

Christians often say “I want to be like Jesus.” Are we prepared to put on an uncomfortable skin?

The author of Hebrews writes “Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured” (13:3).

This is a call for us to overcome our assumptions and put aside our expectations, and to put on the mercy and compassion that allows us to see beneath the surface to deeper truth.

We are all more than we appear. When a man looks at a woman, she is that, and she is so much more. Same when a women looks at a man. When a person of one race looks on a person of another, or a different sexual orientation, they are that, and so much more. When we look on someone differently-abled, or struggling with addiction, or homeless, they are that, and so much more.

The person who hurt you is that. And they are more than the pain they caused. There is a bigger story to all of us.

In faith, to see someone as God sees them is to know they are so much more than what we can see. It’s to see them how we are like them, and could be just like them. Realizing that we might have walked in their shoes is a first step to loving them.

To hear Jeremiah’s words, “The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge,” invites us to remember that many who abuse others were themselves abused, and that many addicts are children of addicts. It’s not an excuse, but it is understanding, a step toward compassion.

We might remember that people rarely choose to be hungry. Obesity can develop from eating unhealthy food that is cheaper than nutritious food. You can eat too much, and still starve to death. A California experiment had people feed their families on the average food stamp benefit per household, about $1.40 per person, per meal. Just imagine. Would that help you understand hunger?

Look at that homeless family sleeping in their car. Today, there is not one county in the country where a minimum wage earner can afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment. In San Francisco, you would need to work a minimum wage job 203 hours a week. That’s the equivalent of 5 full-time jobs. There are literally not enough hours in the week.

Remembering others, as though we are them. As St. Francis prayed, “May we seek not so much to be understood as to understand.”

That is what we are called to feel toward friends and enemies alike. Mercy, and compassion enough to walk a mile in another’s shoes. Even when it’s an uncomfortable fit.

May 2019 Twin oars to propel us forward

    After years of contributing to The Morning Call’s “Faith and Values” column, I remain grateful for this forum to share thoughts on faith with a wider audience. That said, I am often challenged by the editor’s instruction “to avoid topics that are truly political and would more properly belong on the opinion pages.” Thankfully, only once have I received an email that gently, but clearly, instructed me to provide a new column by the end of the week.

In my life before seminary, I studied international politics, where we learned that politics is, as Wikipedia sums it up: “the capacity of an individual to influence the conduct or behavior of others.”

As a preacher, each week’s sermon has some measure of “God loves you and forgives you,” and “God loves those who are unlike you and who don’t like you, and God expects more of you.” Both are valid. I think the wise pastor will intersperse both of these themes within any one sermon and from week to week. But both of them are truly quite political. God intentionally seeks to influence our conduct and behavior, empowering and inviting us to live and act out of love rather than fear.

People of faith are invariably in the position of trying to influence the conduct or behavior of others. Some of us are trying to explain our faith tradition, so others will find us less mysterious, fearful or threatening. Others are exploring nuances in the understanding of God, to say there is more to this faith than you may think, and as we behave in a certain way, you should consider doing likewise.

To be sure, to name persons of power, particular stances they take, and specific issues of the day, are matters for the opinion page. Without care and boundaries, “Faith and Values” risks becoming as politicized as too many of our other establishments are today.

At the same time, however, “This is the word of the Lord,” often accompanies religious tenets that while “political” as seen through one lens, are part and parcel of what it means to be faithful when seen through another. People, including people of faith, can disagree on how to care for the poor and stranger, and, dare I say, even the immigrant. But adherents of Abrahamic religions and beyond have a clear, undiluted message: you shall care for such persons.

To those who say “you are getting political when you say such things,” I unapologetically agree. Because as I understand my Jewish roots and Christian faith, God is very political, trying to influence our conduct and behavior to love God and neighbor. And doing so with unlimited capacity. God will get God’s way, one way or another, however long it takes. As Martin Luther King Jr., wrote, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

If deeply held values are under debate, shouldn’t other deeply held values inform that debate? For the faithful, religion guiding politics means that our faith informs and energizes our capacity to influence the conduct or behavior of others. “I believe this, therefore…” From a faith-perspective, things go astray when politics, the capacity to influence, steers what we say we believe. “I want you to believe this, therefore…” Then winning means more than what is won.

Religion and politics. Two of the three big no-no’s for “polite conversation.” Yet we need courage and safe spaces for planting the seeds that may one day flower in thoughtful and compassionate conduct and behavior. If “a rising tide lifts all boats," then we need both oars, religion and politics, and we need them moving in tandem. That will allow us to have the healthiest of discourse, the kind that this country was founded on, and now so desperately needs.

April 2019 The Serenity Prayer in the Midst of Adversity

 

Among the many devastating events this year, the one that likely drew the most international attention did not result in any loss of life. That would be the sight of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame ablaze. Although so different in so many ways, from cause to casualties, it was difficult not to think back on the Twin Towers, each reaching to the sky, twisted by fire.

In the days following, popular sentiment was loud to rebuild Notre Dame exactly as it was, and those with ample means were praised for pledging up to a billion dollars in support. While the immediacy of crisis promotes snap judgments, the passage of time ought to give time for reflection. Alas, the French Senate voted for an exact restoration as late as last week. 

I certainly understand the impulse to rebuild such a beautiful place, a landmark felt to be holy by so many. In the wake of 9/11 that same impulse was certainly expressed. Time and reflection led to constructing a beautiful place. But a new place.

One wishes that Reinhold Niebuhr’s “Serenity Prayer” was among those prayers said in the wake of the fire: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change…” There is no original Notre-Dame to restore, only the Notre-Dame known in our lifetime. It is a beloved place, but one that has been modified, renovated, and vandalized in its 850 years.

Moreover, the church as we have known it is changing. Once a cultural norm, church attendance is now the exception rather than the rule. Notre-Dame was built as a place for people to worship, but now it is now known largely as a tourist attraction; as one website reminds, “but it is also a church.” If its worship attendance is anything like much of the world’s, it is a fraction of what it once was. We cannot change that this Cathedral is no longer a centerpiece of religious life, and no longer home to so many worshippers.

“… the courage to change the things I can…” Jesus said almost nothing about building churches, but he had much to say about caring for others, especially the poor and needy. For the many around the world who contributed amounts small or large in the wake of the fire, how does that compare to their giving to that which Jesus did testify: sharing the Gospel, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick.

Some believers give 10% or more in support of such charitable efforts, some congregations pledge 50% of what they receive to the mission outside the church. Certainly those without religious affiliation can be just as generous. That is changing something that we can, as those dollars large and small can make a significant difference in someone’s life.

“…and the wisdom to know the difference” between giving a gift to rebuild a building and building the kingdom. No doubt there are mixed motives behind the pledges toward repairing Notre-Dame. Some are acting out of faith, a connection to their beliefs. Others may be doing so out of national pride or a love of beautiful architecture.

If rebuilding a landmark, that may be generous, but it is no more laudable than a team owner building a stadium. It is a choice. It is not simply a choice between repair or not repair. Ask for the wisdom to determine the difference between needed repair and exact restoration, the latter coming at an immense price.

If repair is a matter of faith, however. then ask for the wisdom to know this difference: when supporting God’s church, are we called to care for people or steeple?