An Outloud Question to Myself

A disturbing question entered into my mind the other day I was wrestling with the severity of Amos' prophecy of the summer fruit basket and it is this: Why do so many white ministers leave seminary called to serve the poor only to abandon that call to be paid by the wealthy?

I posted my question to twitter and had two wonderful and very different conversations, of course neither really were able to fully answer the question. It is a hard question for me because I am deeply a part of this question. When I was exploring my call in seminary I constantly heard people say, "Invoke change but make sure you get paid." Over the past 7 years since beginning and ending seminary I have watched others I went to school with proclaim a very challenging gospel that railed against the wealthy and remembered the poor. Several went on to be missionaries for a few years advocating for the end of abusive power structures and an end to modern-day slavery. Several also went out and began working directly with the poor in real meaningful ways. As time went on and funding disappeared things changed.

When the funding disappeared for several missionaries they cried foul (rightfully so) and tearfully packed their bags and left a place they believed whole heartedly called to serve. Eventually they found their way back to America, accepted a position at an upper-middle class church, bought home, a car, a motorcycle, kayaks, and a whole host of other "American" ideals while still railing against the power structures.

Why didn't they stay?

I know there is are numerous reasons and I understand those reasons while understanding those reasons to be complicated; however the question comes to mind, "Why not stay? Why not become just like the people who you were helping, to live as they do, to work as they do, to really be a part of their lives? Why come back embracing the lifestyle you once called immoral? Why not stay?"

I do not believe having money or belongings is a crime or damns a soul to hell, yet the scriptures speak very honestly and harshly to those who have and those who have attained by unjust means. The hard truth is we are all participants in an unjust system. Sometimes we practice the justice of the kingdom of heaven but we, especially us white ministers, are all guilty of buying into the dreams and aspirations of the promises in an unjust system.

I write this as I prepare to go on vacation and participate in the unjust system of cruise travel and my heart is heavy and my soul is searching. Is it better to just not go or is better to go and extend every mercy and grace and hospitality I can to those who working?

I am deeply a part of the question I am asking. And I am asking it on my brand new Surface RT from my comfortable chair in my comfortable office.

Amos and Jesus are preaching right at me.

In response to my question someone asked, "Are we to abandon the wealthy? Are we all called to be poor" I honestly do not know. The scriptures, specifically Jesus, speaks to the selling of our possessions and giving the money to the poor because our wealth will prohibit us from fully following him. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of needle than it is for the rich to enter the kingdom. Are we called to be poor?

During my trip to Argentina several years ago we made a visit to the really wealthy side of Buenos Aires and visited with a local church start. The church start was done by a group of people from the poor side of town where we were staying. When the Argentine economy collapsed these people did not rejoice in the suffering of the rich, instead they saw a hurting people. In their vision, in their eyes, these were people who longed placed their treasures on earth and needed to know of a better way, a better place to store their treasures, and needed to know there were better treasures. The poor went to the wealthy and cared for them in the midst of economic turmoil. When the economy went into recession in America we cut jobs and funding to protect what was ours. There is a deep theological difference between churches in Argentina and churches in America.

In the church in America I read article after article from wealthy pastors and professors urging for young ministers to abandon their paying jobs in order to plant more churches and embrace a life of poverty and the possibility of being unemployed in a year or two, yet I do not see those wealthy pastors or professors giving up theirs to do the same. I have read post after post from white ministers clamoring for justice yet we proclaim such ideals from the security and power of our wealth. I have read post after post urging me to focus on my future and plan for my eventual retirement. These readings and suggestions have begun to not sit will within me and my question tears at my heart because of the encouraging to fill up my cup with as much as I can so I can lay back like the man with the good crop, eat, drink, and be merry.

I know not all ministers are called in the same way or to the same specifics but we are called to wrestle with what the scriptures say and with how our participation and comfortable acceptance of the benefits of the system which creates unjust laws and unjust markets. We are called to wrestle with the idea that Amos may just be preaching to us and not our congregation. Even then I am aware of how we can turn that inward search for humility into an outward expression of self-righteousness.

Henri Nouwen writes:

"Once we have become poor, we can be a good host. It is indeed the paradox of hospitality that poverty makes a good host. Poverty is the inner disposition that allows us to take away our defenses and converts our enemies into friends. We can perceive the stranger as an enemy only as long as we have something to defend. But when we say, "Please enter--my house is your house, my joy is your joy, my sadness is your sadness, and my life is your life," we have nothing to defend, since we have nothing to lose but all to give.

Turning the other cheek means showing our enemies that they can be our enemies only while supposing that we are anxiously clinging to our private property, whatever it is: our knowledge, our good name, our land, our money, or the many objects we have collected around us. But who will be our robbers when everything they want to steal from us becomes our gift to them? Who can lie to us when only the truth will serve them well? Who wants to sneak into our back door when our front door is wide open?" (Nouwen, Henri. Show Me the Way: Daily Lenten Readings pg. 31-32).

I believe Nouwen explores Jesus words, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth" in a deep meaning, along with Clarence Jordan who suggests Jesus was poor because he didn't want wealth. They are expressing how Jesus saw the utter futility of striving for something that was nothing, in the final analysis, but worm food. (Jordan, Clarence. "Was Jesus Really Poor?" The Substance of Faith and Other Cotton Patch Sermons pg. 85-86). It is indeed the exploration of the role of the minister as one who is a servant.

Maybe this is the long way of answering my question to myself.

I know I have asked this question before and have struggled with the answer. I believe Amos and Jesus are teaching us something, teaching me something specific and until I actually ever come to understand what that is, I guess the three of us will stay engaged in a very opinionated, heated conversation. They will stay the teacher and I the student.

Are We Wholy Present to the Unholy Unjust

The story of Mary and Martha is a story which on the surface is easy to preach from in many ways. We hear the story of two sisters whom are visited by Jesus. They are dear friends of his, as we will come to see in John’s gospel, and they are two very different women, as sisters often are. Martha behaves as an older sister would, she cares for the house, making sure everything and everyone is in order. She opens her home to a guest and extends a warm greeting, providing food and wonderful service to the guest. Mary, like her sister, is kind and welcoming, but she also has the ability to be fully present with her guest.

Martha is distracted by all she must do to see that her houseguests are well taken care of; she extends the warmest welcome and shows us the appropriate behavior in how we are to extend hospitality to our guests. In her distraction, in her busyness she sees Mary seating at the feet of Jesus and misinterprets what her sister is doing. Mary is listening to the words, stories, or simply talking with Jesus, and Martha becomes upset when she misinterprets this behavior. She asks Jesus to tell her sister to get up and help her. In fact it could almost be heard as an older sibling saying to the parent, “Mom/Dad, Mary’s not helping clean our room. She keeps playing with the toys before putting them away. Make her help me!”

Naturally we expect Jesus to say, “Mary get up and go help your sister,” followed by a parable about laziness or helpfulness, instead he says, “Martha, my dear Martha, you are so upset and distracted by all the details of our dinner. There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it and I will not take it away from her.”

In his response Jesus shifts our understanding of hospitality to become aware that we are not always the ones hosting. He urges Martha, not stop being a good host, but to become a complete host, one who is fully present with their guests, one who is able to not only give a blessing but to receive the blessing a guest may have to give.

The scriptures not only urge us to be a hospitable people (as an obligation of being a part of God’s people and following Christ) by opening our homes to strangers, they also tell us that guests are carrying precious gifts with them, which they are eager to reveal to their receptive hosts. In Genesis 18 Abraham receives the three visitors, offering them water, bread, and food, the visitors reveal themselves as the Lord announcing that Sarah is to give birth to a son. In 1 Kings 17, the widow opens her home to Elijah, he reveals himself to be a prophet of God offering her an abundance of oil (remember she gives her last bit to him) and meal and raises her son from the dead. In Luke after the death of Jesus, two travelers to Emmaus invite the stranger who had travelled with them to stay with them for the night, he made himself known when breaking the bread as the risen Jesus (Nouwen, Henri J.M. Show Me the Way pg 30).

Hospitality is a wonderful virtue, an important one, but even more than that as the stories show, the guest and the host can reveal their precious gifts to one another and bring new life to one another (Nouwen, pg 31). Jesus is urging Martha to allow Jesus to reveal to her the gifts that Mary is already receiving. He is urging Martha, not to be focused, but not to be too focused as to miss the important gift of her guest in her house. He wants Martha to give of her whole self by being wholly present, as Mary has discovered.

Are we wholly present to the needs of our neighbors? Have we become distracted by our “chores” to hear God say, “Bruington, my dear Bruington, you are so upset and distracted by all the details of your programs and buildings. There is really only one thing worth being concerned about.” As we think on our answer I invite us to hear from the prophet Amos.

“This was the Lord God showed me—a basket of summer fruit. The Lord said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by. The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” says the Lord God; “the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every place. Be silent!” Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, “When will the Sabbath be over so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and the practice of deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only child, and the end of it like a bitter day. The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.” Amos 8:1-2

Wow.

It would appear our story becomes a little more complicated when we compare it to the prophecy of Amos. In Amos’ context, Israel has become more concerned with their wealth by creating unjust, untrustworthy markets in order to cheat others. God is not, does not condemn markets, which will create prosperity for everyone and to be a fair means of exchange: You shall have only full and honest weight; you shall have only a full and honest measure” (Deuteronomy 25:15). In Amos’ world, units of weights and measure had not been standardized, so a measure (ephah) used in the markets of Jerusalem might be different than those employed in the markets of Samaria, or Damascus, or Tyre. Thus a merchant might need to have different sets of weights in order to trade in different markets. The merchants and people of Israel had taken to cheating the weights in order to make someone pay an unfair price. The markets had become untrustworthy and were contributing to an unjust system.

Amos is condemning those who long for the Sabbath (the first day) to end so they may go about deceiving and cheating their neighbors. We must remember that the Sabbath was not originally first and foremost about worship. It was a justice law designed to give rest to all of society—not just the property owner but to the livestock and the resident aliens in the town as dictated by Deuteronomy 5:14. If we were to trace these laws throughout the scriptures we would discover, what Patrick D. Miller calls “the Sabbatical principle” in which we see how these laws are creating a society in which more life can thrive. In these sabbatical laws, the poor and wild animals are provide with food (Exodus 23:10-11), slave are given release to freedom after six years (Deuteronomy 15:12-18, something our God fearing founders forget to include in the constitution), those in deep debt are forgiven their debts after seven years (Deuteronomy 15:1-11, again something our God fearing founders forgot to include), and there is a lot, lot more (Jacobson, Rolf ”Commentary on Amos 8:4-7” http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=752).

This sense of justice, of God commands, and been lost (are they lost today?). The people longed for the Sabbath to be over so they could return to their exploitation. Amos writes, “buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals refers to enslaving those who are in debt, even those who owed only a pair of sandals; as they were selling the “sweepings of the wheat” which was prohibited because they were to be left to the poor ([1] Jocobson, Rolf). Amos is crying foul on how far the people are from creating a just society.

Frederick Buechner tells it better:

“When the prophet Amos walked down the main drag, it was like a shoot-out in the Old West. Everybody ran for cover. His special target was The Beautiful People, and shooting from the hip, he never missed his mark. He pictures them sleek and tanned at Palm Beach, Acapulco, and St. Tropez. They glisten with Bain de Soleil. The stereo is piped out over the marble terrace. Another tray of Bloody Mary’s is on the way. A vacationing Baptist preacher plunges into the heated pool.
With one eye cocked on them, he has his other cocked on the Unbeautiful People-the varicose veins of the old waiter, the pasty face of the starch-fed child, the Indian winos passed out on the railroad siding, the ragged woman fumbling for food stamps at the check-out counter. When justice is finally done, Amos says, there will be Hell to pay. The Happy Hour will be postponed indefinitely because the sun will never make it over the yard-arm. The Pucci blouses, the tangerine colored slacks, the flowered Lillys, will all fade like grass. Nothing but a few chicken bones will mark the place where once the cold buffet was spread out under the royal palms. But according to Amos, it won't be the shortage of food and fun that will hurt. It will be the shortage "of hearing the words of the Lord" (Amos 8:11). Towards the end, God will make himself so scarce that the world won't even know what it's starving to death for (Buechner, Frederick. Peculiar Treasures pg 11-12).

The people of Israel had become distracted and concerned with their unjust system, they forgot about the just laws God established through Moses and God’s judgment is not a famine or drought, it is the loss of God. It is the loss of God’s voice that will be scarce and the people will be unable to hear it or perhaps unable to recognize it.

Are we wholly present to the needs of our neighbors? Have we become distracted by our “chores” to hear God say, “Bruington, my dear Bruington, you are so upset and distracted by all the details of your programs and buildings. There is really only one thing worth being concerned about.”

I wish to close with a story that has changed my life:

One Christmas, a group of developmentally disabled folks, accompanied by two assistants from “The Redwoods Group Home” entered the mall food courts. In the midst of hurried shoppers, these men and women lumbered through the crowd, smiling, clapping and yelling with genuine pleasure at the sights and sounds of the mall. The assistants helped, carefully, each person decide what food they wanted, stand in line with them, order a meal, pay, and carry the food back to the table. There was one man with Down Syndrome, who shook off every offer of aid by the assistants, made his gleeful way to McDonald’s line. When he reached the front of the line, he handed the cashier a coupon, spoke loudly, and gestured toward the cups and the coffee machine. A few moments later the young man returned to his friends holding a giant 32 ounce cup of coffee, his face beaming with pride.

The group eventually headed out the door, and standing under the awning as the rain poured down, the young man bent over his hard-earned brew, sheltering it from the down pour. One of the assistants brought the van around, and without any apparent direction from the other assistant, the young man took off from the side of the building, bolting for the warmth and security of the van. Startled by the heavy rain he stopped mid-run, and turned to return to the cover of the mall eaves. One of the assistants saw him turn back and yelled to him to continue his route toward the van. Increasingly shocked and confused, he twisted his body toward the voice of the assistant with a quick jerk that caused the 32-ounce coffee cup to slip from his hands and break open against the wet concrete. Across the gray sidewalk, the caffeine flowed like a mud slide. The young man froze, took in the sight of his lost purchase, and began to cry. Soon his body gave way, and he slumped down into the steaming puddle. He sat there, wailing mournfully, in a growing puddle of coffee, the rain soaking his clothes.

The Christmas crowd looked on helplessly when one of the assistants, a 20 something woman, stepped out of the van. She ran over to the young man, sat down in the cold wet coffee, wrapped her arm around him, placed his head on her shoulder, and let him cry. For several minutes she sat there with the patience of God, just holding the young man while the rain poured down. When he had calmed, the young assistant took his hand, lifted him from the concrete, and led him to the front passage seat of the van. She helped him with his seat, gave him a kiss, and shut the door. Her clothes slung with water, her jeans stained brown, she stepped in the van, slid the door shut, and then squeezed her body into the backseat (Yaconelli, Mark. Contemplative Youth Ministry, pg 117-1190).

Have we become so distracted by our chores of church that we have become blind to those who sit, mourning in the pouring rain? Have we become so distracted by our church chores that we have become deaf to the voice of Christ cry out beneath the injustice of us in power? Have we become so distracted by our church chores that we are mute on how God’s eye is on the sparrow? Then let us cast aside our distractions and become wholly present so that we too may sit in the rain with those who mourn, with the poor, the broken, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned.

Done Picked Up A Hitchhiker

Driving in for lunch today, a hitchhiker was thumbing for a ride. Car after car passed him by, including mine. I got about a quarter mile down the road and felt a strange tugging (good Christian descriptive), I switched lanes and made a U-turn, picked up the young man and took him into town. This was the following conversation:

"Where are you headed?"

"Food Lion in Tappahannock."

"Cool. I'm headed that way too, hop in."

"Thanks for the ride. You're lifesaver. It is so stinking hot."

"Well. I preached on Sunday that we should help our neighbors out, so I figured I better practice what I preach."

"You're a pastor"

"Yes. You're not going to jump out of the car, are you?"

"No, it's just funny. When you passed, along with the other cars, I prayed, "Lord, please open someone's heart, and what do you know."

That'll preach.

This isn't a post about my good deed. In fact, it's quite the opposite because in this story I am the one who passed on the other side, felt bad about it, turned around, and helped. That is all. There is not much good about it. There is guilt.

Several friends and I were having a discussion as to who our neighbor is and I said, "Maybe we get too caught up in defining our neighbors instead of letting them define themselves as circumstances come."

The circumstance came and I became caught up in defining my neighbor.

I preach a lot about caring for our neighbors and the people in our community and I have noticed when I do, a situation arises where I am asked to practice what I preach. This is where the parable of the Good Samaritan and perhaps the story of Mary and Martha meet, I find myself so focused on what is before and those within my circle that I miss an opportunity. I miss Jesus standing on the side of the road with his thumb out, looking for a ride.

And that bothers me.

I am becoming convinced every day that the church needs is not more programs or more books about culture or more concepts of worship; what we are need of most is just a sacred space where a hitchhiker can show up and Jesus says, "Stop fussing around with the budget. You're neighbors are here, and they need a ride."

There Are Times I Wish I were Batman

There are times I wish I were Batman
Hidden in the dark, my cape, my cowl
My voice striking fear
In the black heart of crime

Scaling the roof tops, listening to the screams
With my batrope in hand, I would swoop down
Bringing my justice to nameless victims
If I were Batman

If I were Batman, as I wish I were
My batmobile would shine
As we ride down Crime Alley,
Keeping my promise made at age nine.

There are times I wish I were Batman
In an unjust world, the innocent need someone
To stand watch over them,
Protecting the just from the corrupt

There are times I wish I were Batman
Then I think of the loss he suffered
Parents and sons, loved ones.
I think of how the cowl takes over the man

When I think I wish I were Batman
I see beyond the money and gadgets
Behind the cowl resides a broken man
One seeking to justice to an unspeakable crime

I see a nine year old child in Crime Alley
Crying out to no one there
His parents lay beside him
A broken necklace, it's pearls glimmer under a broken street light.

There are indeed times I wish I were Batman
For this world needs someone who keeps their promise
The injustice of broken laws and corrupt politicians,
Need to hear the fearful gruff voice from the shadows.

"I am vengeance" the voice would begin
"I am the night" the voice would grumble
"I am Batman!" the voice would ring in their ears

When there I are times I wish I were him.
I know I do not need a mask
For the message of justice is gospel
And I am Batman

What Being a "Good Samaritan" Really Means

http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=240811705

If you were to ask me what I believe our strength is as a church, I would say that we do a good job helping others in times of need. I believe we do a really good job being Good Samaritans to those in need. I know that if there is a family in need or someone needs help, I can say, “Call Bruington Baptist Church.” and I know that they will find the help they are looking for.

When we hear the story of the Good Samaritan, we naturally begin to think on ways we serve or can serve others that embody the services of the Christian life. It is not entirely wrong to think on those things or in those ways. I truly believe the Christian duty is to serve and help others except the question the scholar of the law asks Jesus is not about how to serve or why to serve. The question he asks is, “Who is my neighbor”?

While the helping and caring aspect of the parable are important, we overlook the importance of the question the he asks and we need to know that the scholar is not in the wrong to ask the question for a few reasons: 1) The scholar makes Jesus his teacher by asking a question, “What must I do to inherit life in its eternal fullness. Throughout the entire story the scholar remains the questioner and the learner. 2) His question is about what he must do in the here and now, in his immediate life situation. He sets up the question to test the man he has chosen as his teacher, something every student does with every teacher. It is not wrong for the students to question their teachers, how else is the student to learn? 3) Jesus and the scholar are in agreement that the Torah, the law, contains the answer: Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. 4) Then the student poses the correct follow up question: What does this mean for me concretely: Who is my neighbor? 5) The student asks a precise question and he receives a precise answer from his teacher: Be a person who pays attention and does mercy. This is what it means to act lovingly towards God. 6) The parable reinforces and makes Jesus' answer concrete, it is a matter of seeing and doing. (Schottroff, Luise. The Parables of Jesus pg 132).

The scholar is not testing Jesus in the same way several of the Pharisees have; he is wanting to learn and because he is wanting to learn from Jesus, not entrap him or prove him wrong, the scholar, like us, wants to know: what is the action God expects, here and now? What should we do in the here and now? And who is our neighbor?

Jesus answers the scholar's question with a story and he begins by identifying who the neighbor is: “He/she is a certain person, who exactly, I do not know. I do not know their name. Your neighbor is anyone toward whom you are neighborly. Your neighbor is anyone who lies in need at life's roadside.” Jesus does not identify this “certain man” as a Jew or Gentile or Roman or Greek, or American, or the immigrant, or Christian, or black, or white. Our neighbor is any certain person, anyone in need, “one of the numerous Jericho roads of life.” (King, Jr. Martin L. “On Being a Good Neighbor” Strength to Love, pg 22). Jesus defines a neighbor, not in a theological definition, but in a life situation.

The parable of the Good Samaritan is a rich story showcasing the vast tradition of active compassion as an expression of God's love; and this expression is not limited to a certain group. The parable frees us to understand the ambiguity of the answer to the question “who is my neighbor” as a story inviting us to see any who are in need, who are down, who have been beaten, stripped, or robbed. The parable encourages us to hear the psalmist, “For God stands at the right hand of the poor man” (Psalm 109:31).

The parable encourages us to understand that God stands at the right side of those who need love. Love for God happens when a poor (needy) person comes to our door. The intensity required by such love is described over and over again in the scriptures, “He (God) has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). As the prophet Ezekiel writes, “This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” The problem with our interpretation is we believe mercy to be the obvious while the text tells us the opposite. The text tells precisely that mercy is anything but obvious. The parable means to make us see the miracle taking place: It is possible to love God and other people in the deepest sense of the word love (Schottroff pg134).

Martin Luther King Jr writes, “One of the great tragedies of humanity's long trek along the highway of history has been limiting our neighborly concern to a tribe, race, class, (religion), or nation. The God of early Old Testament days was a tribal god and the ethic was tribal. “Thou shalt not kill” meant “Thou shalt not kill a fellow Israelite, but for God's sake, kill a Philistine.” The parable of the Good Samaritan expands our understanding of “who are neighbor” is. Our neighbor is not just our kinfolk, our friends, our family, or just members of the church, they are anyone who is need. To love the Lord, our God, with every ounce of our being, is to love our neighbor, the one in need, with every ounce of our being. We do this because it is commanded of us, “This new command I give to you: Love one another, as I have loved you”; being merciful to those in need is to express and extend the love of Christ.

In the parables Jesus includes a “shock” factor, in which he deliberately shocks the audience listening to the story, and the Samaritan is the shock factor. We give the Priest and the Levite a hard time for not stopping. We come up with reasons as to why, and each reason has to do with obeying the law, the Torah. We claim they do not go near the man because they do not wish to defile themselves but no where in the story does Jesus say why, he simply says, “they passed on the other side.” We expect a priest or member of the church to stop and help someone in a crisis; but we would not expect a Samaritan to stop. If we were a part of Jesus' culture we know that the relationship between the Jewish and Samaritan people was at times hostile, but Jesus chooses a Samaritan because of their closeness with the Jewish people.

The Samaritan people worship the same God as the Jewish people, except they worship in different places. The Jews worship God in the temple in Jerusalem while the Samaritans worshiped (the same God) in a temple on Mount Gerizim. Jesus knows that the Samaritan also regards the Pentateuch as a holy book, and he knows his Jewish audience, specifically the scholar, would be more inclined to expect misbehavior from the Samaritan than from his own people (Schottroff, pg 135). We are suggested to consider, as Luise Schottroff writes, “to answer the question of why the priest and the Levite look away to be closely bound up with Jesus' challenge at the end: Go and do likewise—do just as the Samaritan did.” (Schottroff, pg 135). We do not know if the scholar went and did likewise, and it is good that we do not because it is here we place ourselves in the story, we become the scholar and Jesus becomes our teacher. As we become the student we are confronted with the harsh reality of helping at times and at others passing by on the other side.

How often have we fed a family and seeing how the live, simply send them on their way? How often have paid someone's bill or helped with rent, and send them on their way without ever offering to go that one step further. In order for us to really be a good neighbor, we must be willing to invest in the lives of those we help. Remember the Samaritan does not just bandage the man's wounds. He picks him up and takes him to an inn, he then asks the innkeeper to watch over him, promising to return. The Samaritan invests in the man's life, indeed the Samaritan continues his journey, he will come back, he will return. We too must go and do likewise, investing in the lives all of our neighbors so that we too are expressing the love of Christ through our actions. The parable of the Good Samaritan is a parable which reminds of the ways we have missed the merciful opportunities and helps us see how the smallest of kind acts showcase fully our love for Christ.

In his sermon “On Being a Good Neighbor”, Martin Luther King Jr told this story, “A few years ago, when an automobile carrying several members of a Negro basketball team had an accident on a Southern highway, three of the young men were severely injured. An ambulance was immediately called, but on arriving at the place of the accident, the driver, who was white, said without apology that it was not his policy to service Negroes, and he drove away. The driver of a passing automobile graciously drove the boys to the nearest hospital, but the attending physician belligerently said, “We don't take ******* in this hospital.” When the boys finally arrived at a “colored” hospital in a town some fifty miles from the scene of the accident, one was dead, and the two died thirty and fifty minutes later, respectively.” (King, pg 24).

50 years ago tragedies like this one were the constant norm (and an argument could be made that tragedies like this one continue today because of our failure to see one another as neighbor). Whites had a clear definition of who their neighbors were. It was a definition that was spread across White society by politicians, Klansman, and even preachers. I once preached this same text from the same pulpit a pastor stood 50 years before me yelling, “God is not a God of equality.” The members of the church identified the neighbor as a specific person of a specific race, other members of the church helped change the identity of the neighbor to include all people, to reinforce Jesus' words, “A certain person”.

While we have come a little further since 1963 (not as far as we wished) we still struggle with who are neighbor is. We struggle with the issue of immigration and we struggle with how our certain inalienable rights are still rights that belong only to a specific group. We still struggle with who are neighbor is and to who we must show mercy. It is the same struggle the scholar wrestled with and perhaps cause for his justification. The parable of the Good Samaritan compels us to continue to wrestling with the question of who is our neighbor; while challenging us to show mercy to our neighbor, even if we still are not sure who that is.

The parable tells us what it means to be participants in the kingdom of heaven, to be citizens of a Christian community, because it tells of the failure of those who do not wish to fail, and of an action that brings the love of God to earth. The wounded man is not released from the inn as cured; the Samaritan will come back. Thus the parable ends with an open action and an open conclusion after Jesus' challenge. The scholar will act; and we the audience will act. (Schottroff, pg 137).

“More than ever before, my friends, people of all races and nations are today challenged to be neighborly. The call for a world-wide good neighbor policy is more than a short-lived expression; it is the call to a way of life that will transform our imminent cosmic lament into a psalm of creative fulfillment. No longer can we afford the luxury of passing by on the other side. Such folly was once called moral failure; today it will lead to universal suicide. We cannot long survive spiritually separated in world that is geographically together. We cannot ignore the wounded person on life's Jericho road, because they are a part of us, and we a part of them. Their agony diminishes us, and their salvation enlarges us.” (King, pg 30).

The parable of the Good Samaritan urges us to continue feeding those who are hungry, clothing those who are naked, giving water to those who are thirsty, visiting those who are sick or in prison. The parable, likewise, urges us to invest in the lives all who are neighbor, to not only feed them and go on our way, but to come back and continue to be in community with them. The parable urges us to see beyond the act of bandaging our neighbor, and to see how the Samaritan continued to care for the one who was a stranger but treated as if he was his dearest neighbor.

May the challenge in the midst of an injustice world be as it was then: Go and do likewise. Go and do as the Samaritan. Let us no longer see each other as strangers but as neighbors.

There Are Times I Feel Like Aquaman

There are times I feel like Aquaman
Caught between two worlds
Never fully accepted by either
Called to serve yet never the desired

There are times I feel like Aquaman
Calls going out to the likes of Batman or Superman
Regulated to the bottom tier
Not expected to be anything important

There are times I feel like Aquaman
Loved by a wife and a son
Staying faithful despite others' notions
Swimming deep within the sea


There are times I feel like Aquaman
And I am thankful
Thankful to be a citizen of one world
While serving the other I live in

There are times I feel like Aquaman
Floating in the ocean, surrounded by the stars
Realizing how vast the world is
And how small we are

There are times I feel like Aquaman
Unwanted king of a forgotten city
Keeper of the seven seas
Protector of the shore

There are times I feel like Aquaman
My orange and green suit, my trident in hand
There is more to me then they think
The unexpected hero

There Are Times I Wish I Were Superman

There are times I wish I were Superman
To soar high in the sky
Going where I wished to go
Avoiding airports and saving time

There are times I wish I were Superman
To speed across the land
Seeing whatever I wished to see
Visiting new lands and places

There are times I wish I were Superman
Wearing a bright red cape, having the power to change
Repair buildings, or lives
Nothing but a little green rock could stop me

There are times I wish I were Superman
With the power comes a responsibility
To rescue the perishing,
Hearing Lois say, "The world does not need a Superman."

There are time I wish I were Superman
Then I think of how lonely it can be in the fortress of solitude
Not being able to share your life with others
Hiding behind a persona to hide my true self.

There are times I wish I were Superman
And I think, what fun it would be
No. Not fun, no fun indeed
What I really wish is to be Batman.

Be Kind To Our Ministers

Yesterday two of my friends lost their jobs. One as Minister to Music and the other as Senior Pastor. One was let go due to budget issues and the other, as simply as I can put (which is not fair), due to upsetting the wrong family. Many more ministers will lose their jobs this year due to church budget issues, speaking out against wrongful practices, upsetting the wrong family, standing up against bullies, conflict with the deacons (elders), some will lose their jobs because they have stolen or cheated or lied or for some other moral dilemma. Some will even lose their jobs because the So & Sos are no longer attending.

Being a minister, especially a "professional" one, is risky. Our jobs struggle to find the balance between administrator and pastor, the ever present struggle of preaching the gospel in honest ways, caring for the church, caring for our own family, and an assortment of responsibilities that require meetings and conversations. I believe our profession may be the only one in which we can be removed without any due process and for any reason. A majority of the time, the removal of a minister can cause a lot of hurt to both the church and the minster and his/her family. I picked up a book at Barnes and Noble titled, The Devil in Pew 7, which tells the story of a pastor and his family being terrorized by an angry church member, to the point in which the church member took a gun and shot the pastor and his wife (his wife died). Eventually the pastor would pass away from a clot caused by the stress of the past years.

Ministry is already difficult enough because the minister is bound to preach the gospel and preach what they feel God is speaking to them. Because of this, it is expected that there will be resistance, anger, and conflict. The problem is we have come to believe that conflict is not allowed within the church and because of such idealism, conflict becomes hidden or it is pushed down until it boils over, causing such horrific chain reactions. When a church ousts a minister, they do not just oust the minister, they oust their family. The church removes the entire family from the church, often treating their spouses horribly and bullying their children. Inside the church is the hardest place for a minister and their family to feel truly safe.

The stories I could tell...

I have witnessed ministers lose their jobs due to a deacon wanting the job. I have witnessed ministers lose their jobs because the wrong kids were showing up. I have witnessed ministers lose their jobs because of the other ministers they worked with (maybe we're all guilty of this). I have witnessed ministers lose their jobs because of what they preached, where they stood on "hot topic" issues, church budgets, arguments, power struggles, even how they voted in the election. I have witnessed ministers stumble and fall in their marriages and as parents, and I have watched as the church eagerly removed them from their community. Rarely, only once really, have I ever witnessed a church seek to reconcile with their minister and the one time was when our music minister had an affair.

I came home from college one weekend and at the church the following Sunday, our pastor began, "I come here this morning with difficult news. A member of our community has sinned." Of course I was nervous, thinking it was all about me, but he continued, "My wife and I prayed all night, we have not slept, we prayed that we were doing the right thing.." And then he said it, "(Music Minister) has been having an affair with another woman. There was stunned silence as the MM and his wife came out from behind the sanctuary and sat in the front as the pastor urged the church to seek reconciliation and pray for him and his family. The pastor urged the church to not to forgive and fire but to forgive and help them become a family once again. It is the only time I have ever seen a church leader call out another in love and speak truthfully with a strong sense of grace and kindness.

The impact of the church's behavior...

I think the church really believes their behavior only affects the minister. I do not think we truly understand that our behavior towards our ministers not affects the minister but it will affect their spouses, their children, their family, their friends, other members of the church, and even their potential replacement. The impact of our behavior and how we treat our ministers is not limited to the minister. It is, as the saying goes, like throwing a pebble in a pond. The pebble may only land in one spot but the ripples can be felt through out.

How we treat one another in our churches matters and the church remains one of the unhealthiest places to work or attend. It remains unhealthy because we have yet to find the balance to speak in love and in truth and in grace and out of humility. Too many, in their conversations, refuse to listen as the other speaks, and too many await their turn to drop their "boom" statement; that statement to put the other in their place. We are willing to sacrifice relationships and community in order to feel superior or feel righteous.

This behavior is more vindictive than it is justice. When we treat our ministers with hostile voices or with hostile intent, we create an atmosphere where others are going to be treated the same. Once upon a time a friend, who believes in a lot of things differently than I do, spoke out against a group she once supported in their efforts to remove the pastor, found herself now removed from their community because, in her prayer time, she felt God was asking her to act differently. The same hostile attitude this group held toward the pastor, was held against her. They took on the attitude of "If you're not with us, you're against us."

Our hostile attitudes not only damage our relationship with our ministers but it can (will) damage our relationships with others; and too often that damage is irreparable. As someone once told my wife, "I stopped coming to church because I hated ______. She died last week and I rejoiced that I could come to church again."

The impact of our behavior extends beyond the recipient.

As Paul says perhaps even better as Christ says...

Paul writes, "Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:31-32).

Jesus says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35).

And if we are to be imitators of Christ, then how we treat one another matters and how we treat our ministers matters as much as well.

It is not your church...

A former minister once told me that a congregant came into his office and said, "This is my church. I was here before you got here and I will be here after you leave." It is a statement that may be seen as both positive and negative. The positive is a reminder, as a minister, that what we do matters and there is a history that we must come to know.

The negative is this: When we say, "This is my church" we place ourselves, our needs, desires, ideas, and philosophy, above others and we take the church away from the one who the church actually belongs to, Christ.

It is, and will always be, Christ's church and we need to remember this and trust that Christ is working in our churches. A larger number of congregation/minister conflicts arise out of the fear and worry of what's happening to "their" church. We need to remind ourselves that it is not "our" church. "And God placed all things under his (Christ's) feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his (Christ's) body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." (Ephesians 1:22-23).

Be kind...

It is okay to disagree with our ministers or our pastors. It is okay to email them or talk with them about our concerns or where difference in interpretations. It is even okay to not "like" them or be their best friend but it is not okay for us to treat them inappropriately or less than humanely. It is not okay for us to mistreat their spouses or their children. It is not okay to mistreat our ministers by bullying them or threatening them with their jobs or withholding our money, or any in form that we ourselves would not wish to be treated.

Just because it is a church, where grace is expected, does not give us the right to treat each other in anger or with malice. If we do, then we are not behaving in the manner of Christ and we have sinned against one another.

Simply put, be kind to your minister. Speak out of kindness and gentleness and love; and they too will speak out in such ways. Put away your stones.

What If Our Walk Became A Crawl?

My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads. Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher. Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

Galatians 6:1-10

I have some tough questions for you: What if your pastor (me) was not perfect and didn't have his (her) life together, would you be able to hear the gospel message from them? What if they had struggles, doubts, fears, and angst in their faith, would you be able to hear the gospel message from them? What if they were a sinner, would you be able to hear the gospel message from them? What if they stumbled and fell or wandered off the “straight and narrow” path from time to time, would you be able to hear the gospel message from them? What if a letter in the bible was written by a hypocrite, would you be able to hear the gospel message from them?

Must the one bringing the message to us be of purity and holiness, or is there room for sinners to preach and teach the gospel within the church walls?

What if your neighbor was a sinner, would you be able to worship with them? What if you are a sinner, would you want others to outcast you? What if you have stumbled and fallen, should we pass you by? Should we remove you from our faith community?

Today's scripture passage comes from a hypocrite, a sinner, the worst of sinners; and this sinner urges us to forgive someone who has transgressed against us and to restore such person in a spirit of gentleness. This sinner urges us to take care so that we are not tempted, not in a way that we do as they do, but tempted in the way that ignores the plank in our own eye, while we take our tweezers to remove the speck from the one who has fallen.

This great and terrible sinner, one who held the coats of the men who stoned Stephen, who went to Damascus, not to find God or Jesus or salvation, but to persecute, destroy, and murder, urges the people of Galatia to bear one another's burdens, and in this way fulfilling the simple law of Christ which is, as this sinner writes a few verses before, to love your neighbor as yourself (Galatians 5:14). Because if those who are really nothing thinking they are something, they deceive themselves.

A sinner, worst among them, urges the readers not to deceive themselves to believe that they are something and their neighbor is nothing. He urges them to remember not to be like the Pharisee who prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like some other people—robbers, gamblers, liars, cheaters, addicts, or that person there at the other end of the pew. I never sin and I give a tenth of all I get!” Our sinful apostle reminds us to be like the tax collector who stood at a distance, not even looking to heaven, but beat his chest and said, “God. God, have mercy on me. I...a sinner.” Our sinful apostle reminds us of what Jesus said, “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Paul, our sinful apostle, knows what it is like to be the exalter. He knows what it is like to pass judgment on sinners and ride tall on his high horse. He knows exactly what it feels like when the blinding light of Christ's infinite mercy and grace knock us to the ground, blinding us so that we may see what Christ sees. Paul knows terribly well what it means to be a hypocrite, to be a sinner, and because he knows this terribly, he knows the power of God's amazing grace and amazing love. He know what it means to love his neighbor as himself and what it means to be redeemed by Christ. Our sinful apostle knows this because he often refers to himself as such, a lowly sinner redeemed by Christ.

So, I return to my earlier question, “Must the one bringing the message to us be of purity and holiness, or is there room for sinners to preach and teach the gospel within the church walls? What if your neighbor was a sinner, would you be able to worship with them? What if you are a sinner, would you want others to outcast you? What if you have stumbled and fallen, should we pass you by? Should we remove you from our faith community?”

The Christian faith is hard. It is a difficult path to travel and we are not traveling alone. Each of us are running the same race as the other. Each of us traveling down the same path, jumping the hurdles before us, and at times, each of us, catching our foot when we thought we cleared, tumbling hard to the ground, scrapped, bruised, and battered. Yet, we act like parents who take their sick child to the doctor and become upset that other sick children sit, waiting to see the same doctor.

When a member of our community's race turns to a walk and then that walk turns to a crawl, when they stumble and fall; instead of reaching down and offering a hand, instead of sitting beside them awhile, we lift our stones ready to cast them. We become like Job's friends who refuse to listen and instead judge. Paul urges us not to make a judgment because judgment of a brother or a sister is something someone of the flesh does. If we sow of the flesh then we will reap of the flesh. If we sow judgment as one who is not of the Spirit does, then we will have judgment given to us in return. We too will be judged as we judge.

This is not a new concept. Paul is not creating something original, he is borrowing from the words of Jesus, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, “Let me take the speck out of your eye”, while the log is in your own eye?” Hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “The weak must not judge the strong and the strong must not despise the weak. The weak must guard against pride, the strong against indifference. Neither must seek their own rights. If the strong persons fall, the weak ones must keep their hearts from gloating over the misfortune. If the weak fall, the strong must help them up in a friendly manner. The one needs as much patience as the other. As the writer of Ecclesiastes writes, “Woe to the one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help!” (Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, Life Together pg 102).

One who stands laughing or judging over a struggling brother or sister, saying, “Haha. What goes around comes around.” or claiming to be the victor in a dispute between another, is one who does not live by the fruit of the Spirit. Instead they live by the fruit of the flesh because the flesh, the world, taking solace and finding justice in the misfortunes and struggles of others. Those who live by the fruits of the Spirit do not take joy in the suffering of another. They do not seek to crush them as children seek to crush the ant hills.

Paul writes, “By contrast (of the works/fruits of the flesh, which are obvious: fornication, impurity, intemperance, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, etc.), the fruits of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:22-26).

Allow me to rephrase my earlier question: What if you stumble or fall in your walk, would you want the person down the aisle to stand over, spitting on you as they say, “You have gotten what you deserve.”? If it were you, laying where they lay, would you want them to respond as we have often responded?

There is a golden rule that says we are to do unto others as we would have them to unto us. It is not an excuse to exact revenge or punishment out of self-righteous anger disguised as godly justice. It is the recognition of what Baptist statesman, Hardy Clemons, once said, “Every single one of us is 100% responsible for 50% of the relationship with your neighbor. I have heard about how hard you are to try to manage the other's 50% but not much about how you'll manage your 50%.”

The golden rule is not right to exact self-righteous justice but a reminder, as Paul writes, “All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads.” We are responsible for own actions, not the actions of another. While we are to bear one another's burdens, we can only be responsible for how we interact in community with the other. We are responsible in helping others in a spirit of gentleness, out of love and peace, and with patience and kindness. That is our responsibility as members of the Christian community and we are responsible for behaving in such a manner to everyone, not just those we feel deserve it. We are to treat others as Christ treated others, not just his dearest friends, but even those who sought to remove him.

Evangelical activist, John Perkins, while speaking to a group of church leaders in New Zealand, encouraged them to be open to good things found in the Māori culture (the indigenous people of New Zealand). He urged the church leaders to let the Māori people express their faith in their own cultural forms, and with their own music. When he finished making his plea, one minister said, “You don't understand, Dr. Perkins, everything about the Māori culture is permeated with the demonic. We can't embrace anything of their culture or allow Christian Māori people to use in worship any of what's in their culture because it's so demonically influenced.”

“You're probably right!” John responded, “But before you look for the expressions of the demonic in their culture, maybe you should look the expressions of the demonic within your own Pākehā culture (the white culture of New Zealand).” (Campolo, Tony. Red Letter Revolution, pg 234-235).

I believe one of the (many) things missing or lacking in our churches today is a spirit of mercy, grace, kindness, love, patience, and forgiveness. We are a people who seek forgiveness for ourselves and deny it to others. We are a people who seek mercy and grace for our own trespasses while denying the same mercy and grace to those who have trespassed against us. We are like parents who take their sick children to the doctor, looking to be healed, and become upset to discover a waiting room full of sick children, terrified they are going to get our child even sicker.

This morning, as we do every first Sunday of the month, we partake in the breaking of the bread and the pouring of the wine (or juice in our case) in the form of communion. We make a big deal out of this event, such a big deal that we deny anyone who has not been baptized the right to eat and drink with us because we have misunderstood Paul's words “of unworthy manner” in 1 Corinthians; if we fully understood them, as they relate to Galatians, we would see that we ourselves are taking part in an unworthy manner when we eat the bread and take the cup when we deny rooms for others at the table. For when we partake in this sacrament or ordinance, we are embodying the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom ushered in by Christ, where all have enough, and people are not treated differently because they sin differently or struggle differently than you and I do. As imperfect as we are, we come to this table as one, and when we deny others room at this table, or we come to this table divided, in anger or in self-righteousness, or with hatred or envy, or strife and quarrel, we come in an unworthy manner.

I'll close with one more story:

Shortly after Jim Bakker was exposed for his sexual misconduct and put on trial for financial fraud, Tony Campolo spoke at a conference of Presbyterian ministers and Tony recalls, “The moderator of that group, prior to introducing me, said, “We must learn to distance ourselves from the likes of Jim Bakker, lest the world out there think that we are all like him.” When I got up to speak, I said, “First of all, this is no time to distance ourselves from Jim Bakker. This is a time to embrace a Christian brother who is suffering. If we don't do that, we negate what Jesus is all about and contradict all that we say about unconditional love. We should be embracing him, not establishing distance from him in his loneliness and time of need.”

“Second,” Tony continued, “the only difference between Jim Bakker and the rest of us is that they haven't found out about the rest of us yet. There is enough garbage in each of our lives that if all that was true about us flashed up on a screen in the middle of a Sunday morning service, almost all of us would have to resign and run away and hide ourselves. Almost all of us have secrets, but we haven't been exposed, so it does not befit any of us to condemn someone else who actually has been exposed.” (Campolo, pg 28).

In the words of Christ, let those without sin, cast the first stone.

I ask once again, and I will rephrase, what would happen if you stumbled or fell? What if your walk turned to a crawl? Would you not want the love to continue? Then let us be responsible and worthy by extending that unconditional love to those in our midst who have stumbled, and let us surround them with love, grace, and mercy, so that they may know Christ words, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” (John 10:28-29).

Lord, make us an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that we may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen