a quick thought from my morning playlist:
oh what good is it to live
with nothing left to give
forget but not forgive
not loving all you see?
forgotten faith
would they kill your Jesus?
Sometimes I wonder about this picture we have of Jesus. The one of the nice happy guy with long flowing blonde hair and bright blue eyes who always bent over backward to help people. I think it makes us feel really good to picture Jesus as a guy everyone would like – the friend you would invite to a party, not just because he could do some cool tricks, but more importantly because he really *was* the life of the party. I like that Jesus, and I suspect most people do. I’m pretty sure he’s easy to “sell”, and popular among crowds.
But would they kill him?
So often in our modern quest to make Jesus marketable to the masses, we’ve made him an impotent, gutless diplomat who wouldn’t make anybody mad. Ever.
And the problem I have with that idea is that nobody would kill that guy.
But when I look at the people who killed Jesus,
and realize that I look a lot like they did,
and when I realize that if he were here today
he might have a few things to say about me…
I wonder whether we’ve killed the real Jesus too.
so what if…
so what if we started every worship service with something like this…
Father
we come tonight
seeking to be a humble people,
desiring to encounter you in this time,
longing for crumbs falling from your table.Take from us,
O God,
the cares and distractions of our lives
and let us see you with clear eyes and hearts,
unburdened by our worry and fear.We praise you for the things,
seen and unseen,
you have done in our lives.We acknowledge your work and power in our world,
and trust that you are in control of your creation
even when we cannot see your hand.We confess that our lives too often
are lived in pursuit of our plans and agendas
instead of your kingdom.
For our selfishness,
forgive us.We confess that our desire for the things of this world
has blinded us to the needs and poverty of others
both far away and in our own neighborhood.
For our apathy,
forgive us.We confess that too often we choose to promote
our social status and popularity
instead of sharing the Good News of Jesus.
For our silence,
forgive us.As we enter into your presence tonight,
meet with us,
speak to us,
fill us.We eagerly await
the coming of the fullness of your kingdom,
and your return at the end of time.Be with us now as we open our hearts to you.
We present our prayer and praise
in the Holy and Glorious name
of Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.
social justice covenant
In the spirit of some of the discussions of the past few days, I remembered an email Lisa Davidson had sent me from one of her professors, Dr. Elisa L. Everts. These are her words, what she terms her “social justice covenant challenge”.
Moral Humility:
I understand that I may have inherited classist ideas through cultural transmission in the same way that I have inherited white privilege, an evil that I am likely to be completely blind to until someone (God or any of His emissaries) shows me what I cannot show myself.Moral Humility:
I will not assume that I know why another soul is poor, or that I know how they can fix the situation.Moral Humility:
I will not assume that fiscal irresponsibility, fiscal ignorance, or unwillingness to work hard are the causes of a person’s poverty.Moral Humility:
I will not recite unquestioningly the American mantra that education and hard work solve all social ills.Moral Humility:
I will not blame the poor for their poverty anymore than I would blame a person with autism for their incapacity, nor a cancer victim of their terminal disease (Jesus did not).Moral Humility:
I will acknowledge that my status in society is no evidence that I am more virtuous than my poor brothers and sisters—I will not contend that I work harder or smarter and therefore deserve my relative comfort to their relative desperation and dis-ease.Identity:
I will not assume that God’s will is for all poor people to become middle class people (which is not the same as saying that it is God’s will for people to be poor).Identity:
I will not behave as though I believe that poor people are failed versions of non-poor people (as Aristotle thought women were deformed versions of men).Respect:
I will endeavor to treat poor people with the same dignity and respect that I would afford any dignitary and most especially Christ Himself, who came to earth as a poor and illegitimate Jew and remained so until His resurrection.Respect:
I will not treat the choices, secrets and private lives of the poor as if they were more legitimately scrutinized by the public eye than I believe are my own (e.g., whether they brought lunch at McDonald’s).Respect:
I will not criticize the poor for making their needs known. On the contrary, I will criticize myself when needs I should have seen have to be brought to my attention by the needy.Active Compassion:
I will endeavor to discover who among those God designates “my neighbor” is in need.Respect:
I will endeavor to discover what that neighbor needs with the maximum secrecy and anonymity that I am able to achieve.Equity:
I will give sacrificially out of my abundance to the poor in maximum anonymity and in a manner that will protect the face needs and sense of dignity of the receiver.Equity:
I will endeavor and aspire to match the widow’s mite in my giving to God and others.Equity:
I will not pretend, like Ananias and Saphira that I am giving more sacrificially than I am.Relationship:
I will not merely “throw money” at the poor and hope their situation improves. Rather, I will give of my time and my heart as well as my material resources. I will covenant to pray for the poor regularly.Relationship:
I will develop a close lifetime relationship with at least one needy person or family and will endeavor maintain that relationship with the greatest degree of symmetry and equality between us as I possibly can.Relationship:
I will commit myself to understanding that the poor have something to give me, which no amount of money could ever buy and strive to earn the right to receive that gift.
I would certainly be interested in hearing your comments on these ideas – they are both challenging and humbing to me, and ring true on many levels.
“because they choose to be…”
For anyone who still is under the impression that a) poor people are poor because they choose to be or b) America is immune to the situation, I submit to you this NPR report on Hunger in America. I especially recommend this section which chronicles the story of the Hankins, a family of five in western Virginia that makes around $22,000 a year, with the husband working full time and wife working part time. They are one of 38 million families in America classified by the Department of Agriculture as “food insecure” – people who can’t be certain of having enough money to buy food.
While the text of the story is good, I would encourage you to listen to the voices of the people – real people – who work hard every day, and still have trouble making ends meet.
Here are some of the statistics listed on NPR’s site which come from the USDA report on food insecurity and Second Harvest’s survey of 32,000 families.
Rural U.S. population considered “food insecure”: 7.4 million
Percentage of U.S. adults defined as “food insecure” reporting skipping meals or cutting meal sizes: 6.6 percent
Proportion of all U.S. households with children reporting children often or sometimes don’t get enough food: 4.6 percent
Proportion of people surveyed at America’s Second Harvest emergency food services forced to choose between buying food and paying utility bills: 45 percent
Proportion of people surveyed by America’s Second Harvest forced to choose between buying food and rent or mortgage payments: 36 percent
Proportion of people surveyed by America’s Second Harvest forced to choose between buying food and paying for medicine or medical care: 30 percent
Proportion of households surveyed by America’s Second Harvest reporting at least one family member in poor health: 29 percent
I particularly appreciated Brian’s suggestion this morning that our generosity toward God is at least in some way reflected by our generosity toward others. It is particularly convicting that I will think nothing of purchasing a 3 dollar cup of coffee when there are people in my own city who don’t have enough food to eat. Statistics like this serve as a reminder to me, and hopefully to us all, that poverty is not a problem for someone else to deal with.
I believe Jerrell said it best this morning: “When we say, ‘Poor people choose to be poor,’ what we’re really saying is, ‘It’s your fault that you’re poor, and therefore I don’t have to do anything about it.'” I believe we are called to reach out to the poor, that God often associates himself with the poor and oppressed, and that ultimately using the blessings we have for others returns more to us than we give away.
if we were as diligent…
All perfection in this life has some imperfection mixed with it, and all speculative thought involves a certain amount of fuzziness. A humble knowledge of yourself is a surer way to God than any deep scientific inquiry.
Neither learning in general nor knowledge of even simple things ought to be condemned, since they are something good in themselves and ordained by God; but a good conscience and a virtuous life are always to be preferred. Because many people spend more time and effort in becoming educated than in living properly, it happens that many, therefor, go astray and bear little or no fruit.
If we were as dilligent in uprooting vices and planting virtues as we are in debating abtruse questions, there would not be so many evils or scandals among us … Certainly, when Judgment Day comes we shall nto be asked what books we have read, but what dees we have done; we shall not be asked how well we have debated, but how devoutly we have lived.
– Thomas A Kempis
now the body…
Now the body is not made up of one part,
but of many.
If they were all one part,
where would the body be?
As it is,
there are many parts,
but one body.
How well do we reflect the body of Christ?
Not only in gifts,
but in viewpoint?
in race?
in wealth?
in culture?
in background?
As individual gatherings of Christ’s people
do we look like a complete body
or like a collection of noses,
with a collection of eyes across the street
and a group of feet down the road?
Now the body is not made up of one part…
revenge
in thinking about justice and what it means, i was reminded today of this wonderful scene from les miserables between jean valjean and inspector javert. javert has chased valjean across france for twenty years, but through a fortunate turn of events, valjean has been ordered to execute javert for being a spy. after leading him out and away from the camp, this scene transpires:
Jean Valjean thrust the pistol under his arm and fixed on Javert a look which it required no words to interpret: “Javert, it is I.”
Javert replied:
“Take your revenge.”
Jean Valjean drew from his pocket a knife, and opened it.
“A clasp-knife!” exclaimed Javert, “you are right. That suits you better.”
Jean Valjean cut the martingale which Javert had about his neck, then he cut the cords on his wrists, then, stooping down, he cut the cord on his feet; and, straightening himself up, he said to him:
“You are free.”
Javert was not easily astonished. Still, master of himself though he was, he could not repress a start. He remained open-mouthed and motionless.
Jean Valjean continued:
“I do not think that I shall escape from this place. But if, by chance, I do, I live, under the name of Fauchelevent, in the Rue de l’Homme Arme, No. 7.”
Javert snarled like a tiger, which made him half open one corner of his mouth, and he muttered between his teeth:
“Have a care.”
“Go,” said Jean Valjean.
Javert began again:
“Thou saidst Fauchelevent, Rue de l’Homme Arme?”
“Number 7.”
Javert repeated in a low voice:–“Number 7.”
He buttoned up his coat once more, resumed the military stiffness between his shoulders, made a half turn, folded his arms and, supporting his chin on one of his hands, he set out in the direction of the Halles. Jean Valjean followed him with his eyes:
A few minutes later, Javert turned round and shouted to Jean Valjean:
“You annoy me. Kill me, rather.”
Javert himself did not notice that he no longer addressed Jean Valjean as “thou.”
“Be off with you,” said Jean Valjean.
Javert retreated slowly. A moment later he turned the corner of the Rue des Precheurs.
When Javert had disappeared, Jean Valjean fired his pistol in the air.
Then he returned to the barricade and said:
“It is done.”
oh danny boy
it didn’t take long to figure out that danny probably wasn’t going to make it through the week.
it was his first time at camp, and by dinner on monday night, he’d already had his first run-in with his counselors by refusing to clean his plate. every other kid behaving well didn’t help his plight. after derick, the camp director for the week came over to talk to danny in order to avoid an incident, danny cleaned his plate and everything was fine for a little while.
at the beginning of the week, i took danny for one of the dozens of punk kids that come through camp of the hills every year – someone who was just out to cause trouble and wanted to get sent home. i even though it was a bit funny that he wouldn’t stay the whole week, thinking that he’d get what was coming to him.
but soon i began to discover a problem: danny really wasn’t a bad kid. he was generally respectful. he didn’t cause fights. he said, “yes, sir” and “no, sir” when he was in trouble. it wasn’t that danny was a troubled troublemaker like so many kids who come through camp – danny and his brother simply couldn’t understand what was going on around them. “it’s like every two or three minutes, his brain just reboots and loses everything,” my friend mark, a counselor, said.
they didn’t understand the difference between “positive” and “negative” points, and had no concept of how many points they were earning, or why it was good to earn positive points and bad to earn negative points. they couldn’t seem to comprehend that doing good things (or even not doing bad things) would earn them credit to be traded in at the end of the week for rewards, while refusing to follow instructions would result in them going home.
adrian, danny’s brother, was far less antagonistic, and seemed to do fairly well. danny, however, did not. after dinner on monday night, things seemed to go ok, but by 10:00 on tuesday morning, danny had already “broken contract.” while everyone else had fun fishing or playing basketball or canoeing or playing on the ropes course, danny spent an hour moving rocks. he would take one rock from the first pile and move it about 50 feet away to a second pile. once there, he would take a rock from the second pile and move it back to the first. another broken contract would mean he was going home.
at first it was just annoying, and several of us joked about when he would be sent home. but it didn’t take long before we started cheering for danny, hoping he would make it. each completed activity lessened his chances of being sent home. he survived tuesday night only by the grace of his counselors. at 10:00 on wednesday, danny had a new lease life – contract free. wednesday was uneventful until bedtime, when he went on contract again.
this time, he didn’t make it past breakfast.
as chris drove danny home, he asked him about his favorite counselor – was it mr. robert, mr. asa or mr. josh?
“my favorite counselor was mr. derick”
“oh really? mr. derick? why was that?”
“i like mr. derick – he let me move rocks!”
“he did! how was that?”
“that was great! it was the best part of camp!”
as chris told me about his ride with danny, i wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.
danny’s favorite part of camp had been what was intended to be punishment. whether it was because he enjoyed the one on one time he got with derick or simply didn’t understand what was going on around him, or more likely some combination of the two, danny enjoyed moving rocks more than he enjoyed basketball, swimming, and the ropes course. the one thing that stuck out to him as “the most fun” was moving rocks between two piles while derick watched.
it would be easy to believe this is only a story. but for me, the troubling part – the splinter that is working its way through my mind – is the question of what to do with the danny’s i encounter in my life. there are so many difficult questions in his story, many of them without satisfactory answers. woven in danny’s story is a tale of justice and injustice, of punishment and mercy, of understanding and ignorance.
how do we deal with people who legitimately do not fully grasp how to function in their environment? can we necessarily hold them to the same set of rules as “normal” people? can ignorance/mental ability/history be an “excuse” (or explaination) for bad behavior? if so, what then do we demand in future behavior? what is our response to these people as Christians? how do we present the Gospel in a way that is both understandable and meaningful to people who have difficulty understanding the meaning of basic simple concepts?
how patient are we with those who need to be taken care of in a special way? as i watched mark take care of danny on tuesday night, going above and beyond the call of duty to make sure danny wouldn’t be sent home, i felt a tremendous amount of respect seeing my friend extend true unmerited favor so danny could make it through the night and stay at camp in the morning. i saw the love of Christ displayed in a special way in mark’s actions, and had to question what the love of Christ looks like to people like danny, not only on tuesday night, but wednesday morning and thursday, and however long they continue to remain in our lives.
in an ultimate Christian sense, is it ever right to send people away? in the situation with danny, part of the discussion was his effect on the cabin. his removal improved the situation for all of the other campers. as i reflected on the situation, the words of robbie seay’s song “go outside” echoed in my mind: “no one should be left out… no one should be left out… no one should be left out…” how do we turn this idealistic notion into a reality?
perhaps most condemning for me, what is my (our) attitude toward these people? it is easy to get caught up in our educated middle-class mentality and forget the vast majority of the world does not think or percieve the world in the same way i (we) do. first, do i (we) sincerely believe as Jesus did that these people are not only worth saving, but worth going to all lengths to save? second, do my (our) actions reflect that?
i doubt i will ever see danny again, and it is unlikely i will ever know how his story turns out, but in less than three days, he became a personal incarnation of many of the troubling questions i am wrestling with right now. my prayer is that God will continue to pursue danny, and that he will indeed draw him into the body of Christ. but i pray also that my eyes and heart would be open to the danny’s of the world, that my love would extend as far as the love of Christ.