Psalm 145:8-9
The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love
The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.
Wow, what a fire storm over a building and community center at Ground Zero; the storm rages all the way to the White House and poses a difficult lesson and decision. I understand the hurt, agony, pain and anger of those opposed. I appreciate that some would want the ground at the spot to remain hollowed and the "enemy" kept away.
When an adversary is denied, slighted, pursued, marginalized or persecuted; or even if they FEEL persecuted then they are emboldened. Hard as it is; we must graciously allow those with whom we disagree to make their decisions even if those decisions lack wisdom and common sense. When we allow ourselves to be consumed with hate and anger then we diminish ourselves to the level of those that hijacked and flew planes into the towers and inflicted grievous pain and suffering on so many. Hard as it is we must find a way to dig deep and forgive or else we become consumed.
One of the most difficult lessons to learn and abide is God's unfailing love for us; all of US, even those of us who may not even know Him. When the hater hates he becomes hate and ultimately hates himself. Look to any number of despots throughout history. Look at what they became as they inflicted abuse on others; examine the life of Stalin; how warped he was, how fundamentally damaged her was, how in the end when he fell sick his brokenness killed him, he had a stroke and his minions were afraid to open his bedroom door. Look at those in South Africa during apartheid and what they became. Look at Idi Amin and where his life took him. Sadly, look at those folk who angrily proclaim the Gospel and yet rant about a vengeful angry God; look at how hard their hearts are, how broken they are, how dare I say it...how sad they are. Is this what God wants for us?
The Psalm says slow to anger, steadfast in love; Genesis says we are made in God's image, Christ was sent as our model, therefore we are called to be steadfast in love. Sometimes that steadfastness requires that we sacrifice and indeed make the ultimate sacrifice, better we martyr ourselves than make a martyr of an enemy; you see a martyr never dies and is impossible to defeat, but an enemy or adversary who is loved is defeated by that very love.
Matthew 22:36 Jesus said to him, ’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”
I had lunch with a friend a few weeks ago to talk about God. I still feel out of my element when asked to do so one on one. I am fine in front of a crowd, I can pray off the cuff at church, but when the rubber hits the road and I sit one on one. I worry, will I say the wrong thing, will I scare them off, will I come across as nuts, angry, vengeful, wild eyed? My prayer always is please God, let me come across as you would.
This friend had been "hammered" by the Old Testament. Yes, there are great, timeless and most relevant lessons in the Old Testament but as a follower of Christ I really have to go to the new and I have to go to Matthew. In God's own words through Christ we are given new commandments. These make all of it simple, we don't have to worry about blended fabrics, shell fish, milk and meat, hair, etc. we have to worry about two things. Loving God; that means spending time with God, praying to God, thinking aobut God and loving our neighbors. That means exactly what it says and loving ourselves. In theory these lines are "simple," in reality they are difficult and testing.
Involved in all of this loving is a remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice. In remebrance of that act we are called to feed the hungry, house the homeless, to be kind to others, to remember and serve those in pain, to remember those in joy and to sacrifice our own needs, wants and desires. Don't get me wrong, this is not a plea for work's righteousness, I don't buy that; there is one path to Heaven and that is Christ and through him God's grace, we can't work our way in. You see by God's kindness we are afforded Heaven and that model of His grace is how we are called to live. It is after all....the loving thing to do.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN): “If Walker says that Proposition 8 in California does not survive the rational basis test, then we need to ask ourselves this question, is he implying then that the majority of California voters who voted for this measure themselves aren’t rational when they took this vote on Proposition 8?“
The road to....is paved with good intentions and irrational thought. Perhaps Ms. Bachmann needs a bit of a civics lesson here. Frankly, I don’t have much of an opinion on the whole uproar over marriage, my live and let live attitudes are pretty much, if two people love one another, are committed to one another and will care for one another then they should be able to marry or civil union or whatever and they should be afforded the same rights and RESPONSIBILITIES as the broader society. Anyhow...back to Ms. Michele and the civics lesson.
By her statement above, I deduce that this duly elected official from Minnesota believes that “we the people” live in a democracy. Majority make a decision and the rest of the folk then must live with that decision without recourse. Well, we live in a republic, majority decide, courts review and insure that majority isn’t denying rights in that majority decision; and if rights are somehow abridged then courts can over turn decision. Sadly, the folk that typically get hung out to dry are the judges; they get accused of activism simply by following or interpreting the law. Ironically in this case a judge appointed by a conservative president. This makes the howling from the right even more interesting and profound.
Ok, so back on track. Consider what MIGHT happen without judicial review or republican ideals...notice the small (r). A majority elect a man with xenophobic tendencies. He wants to build a society-country; strong and vibrant, wealthy, vital and secure in identity. In office without review he passes with impunity irrational laws which aren’t subjected to review; these laws take away basic civil and property rights of the minority within this particular society. The citizenry which elected this leader are helpless after a time to rein him in, the laws become more draconian, more minorities are targeted, whether they be civil minorities like communists or liberals or free thinkers or ethnic minorities like Jews and Gypsies or religious minorities like Jews, Catholics, Lutherans, Jehovah’s Witnesses or moral minorities like gays and lesbians. See what well intentioned voters wrought? They may have even been rational when they cast their votes but the outcome was far from rational and after awhile completely insane.
I’m not saying that we’re headed in the direction of Nazi Germany or Stalinist Soviet Union; I am saying that yes, voters ARE allowed to make IRRATIONAL decisions and then those decisions are subject to judicial review; holding those decisions up to the Constitution to determine of the majority are attempting to abridge the rights of the minority. Maybe Michele should remember this. Maybe the voters in Minnesota should remember this too the next time they vote.
Yesterday I saw my ex. He didn't see me. I was glad for that. He was with his ex from before me. Seeing the two of them set off a whole bunch of anxiety in me. My ex's ex, doesn't have a career, he doesn't have much of a job, he's much older than we are, he's been somewhat home bound for 20+ years and my ex has all but supported him emotionally, understandably and financially, not so much.
I left the CVS after seeing them with all of those five year old questions bubbling up. Why didn't it work with me? Why are they back together? What is it that draws them back together? Why does my ex have nothing to do with me? When he left, he left, no call, no look back, no contact no nothing. Yet with the ex ex there is still relationship, there is still time together, there are still weekends at Myrtle Beach, perhaps, perhaps too evenings here in Durham and obviously trips to CVS.
When my ex left I had to come to terms with the fact that due to age etc. that the end for me and romance, companionship of an intimate source was over and that was tough. I'm beyond that now, life I know is rich, full of blessing, full of great people and joys, yet still I question.
When business is slow I have time to ponder. This isn't always good. Days, weeks, months and years feel like they are spinning by out of control. So much time it seems can pass in just a blink and say ten years have passed, or nearly thirty years since high school; goodness gracious it was just yesterday. College; well I read the alumni magazine and see that friends and teachers are now grandparents or they've passed away. That is so strange, in my mind they are trapped in their teens, twenties or thirties and now they clearly are not.
At times I feel anxious because events have slipped into foggy memory, the house on Mineral Springs Road, John, times in New Orleans, time with Chris; who spent nearly five years with me and in a snap of a finger doesn't call or return calls. Additionally there is a family anxiety too; well chronicled here. There is a longing to preach and find a place in ministry and yet and anxiety about leaving where I am to pursue that passion. I feel a keen sense of longing for more simple times which I know were really not that simple but the persistent ticking of the clock erases those anxieties.
It's funny though, in spite of all of this jumble; I feel centered and happy in my life. All in all I'm busy, healthy and fulfilled but yet I wonder, what more is it that I want? I have great friends, great family, co-workers who by and large are supportive, a neighborhood in which I'm engaged, creative outlets which I love. So the question is, why is my tummy jumping when I put these words down? Hmm, maybe I'll figure it out someday.
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
—Matthew 12:36-37
Obviously all people have feet of clay and all people are sinners. It really is just that simple. By God's grace we find redemption and only by God's grace, Jesus, I believe is the key to that grace. He is grace. To me it is that simple and clear.
As I get older I worry more and more about words. Words and often their judgements are mortal weapons. Often I don't think that people realize just how damaging their words can be. Today at lunch I was listening to judgments regarding Tiger Woods. I couldn't help feeling sorry for Tiger and I couldn't help but feeling sorry for the people talking him down. Yes, he messed up, sadly it is or has been front page news.
Why delight in this man's misery? Why delight in anyone's misery? What do we say about ourselves when we delight in another's agony? What light do we shed upon ourselves when we behave and use our words in such a way? What we do to the least we do to Him. I think that it is worth an effort to be gracious and to find a way to allow those that fall and more importantly those who fall publically a way to redeem themselves.
Sadly and all too often our culture verbally indicts without recourse to the indicted. Our words, glee and acerbic tongues act as judge, jury and executioner and that is sad. What is even more sad is the collateral damage, us. By not realizing what our tongues are doing we forget that at judgment day, before the throne, we’ll have to answer for our words.
What is it?
What is it that would compel a Southern Baptist preacher from his pulpit to proclaim on the Fourth of July, that the president of the United States is one of the antichrist? In reflection several questions come to my mind;
1. Where is the Christ driven love, grace and compassion in that statement?
2. What possible goal is contemplated with such a statement?
3. What possible good can come of such a statement?
First Timothy 4:4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected when it is received with thanksgiving.
Man, all men and women are made in God’s image and in each person resides God. When we demean, diminish men and women we are demeaning and diminishing the God within them. To paint another as him whose name I will not speak or as antichrist then we are killing God within that person and there is no Christ appointed love, grace or compassion in that. We can disagree with points of view, with behavior but the human is always human and therefore a divinely inspired creature.
The goal of such a statement is simple to advance a personal agenda, perhaps, to cover some sort of insecurity, to garner an amen from those assembled, perhaps none of the above, perhaps all of the above. There is no Biblical foundation for such a statement or belief. The blood of Christ washed all of that away.
What good can come of such statements; none. Any statement that kills God in another diminishes the glory and gift of Calvary. Statements as such make God’s gift to humanity less real to all because it blows open the door to kill God in all. Today the God found in the president tomorrow the God found in you or me. That isn’t to say that we cannot find individual actions of a human to be less than divine, indeed we can and our call in those instances is prayer and example.
What is the call to action? Prayer; all people are worthy of the cross. We may not like some of their actions, we may find that some of their actions are contrary to scripture and teaching; but they the person in which God resides in is always worthy of our love, grace and respect.
