Category Archives: peace

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Christians, Stop Shoving!

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.

“Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver

A number of years ago, before Chris Tomlin was a praise band must-know, Cathy and I went to a Steven Curtis Chapman concert which featured Tomlin and Jeremy Camp as openers.  Tomlin absolutely “stole the show” creating a worship space out of a concert center and leaving the audience so tired after standing and singing with him that when Chapman came out, we mostly just sat and listened politely.  We were apparently all thinking the same thing, “when Chapman finally stops singing, I am going to find that tiny Chris Tomlin booth in the lobby and buy his CD.”  And so, after the last prayer (for a safe ride home) we stormed the lobby where a crush of people were all trying to get to the swamped table at the same time.  As Cathy and I were being pushed, gouged and jerked around there was one of those odd unplanned moments of quiet, and then we heard a voice thick with 100% pure, honest, adolescent sarcasm say, “Christians, stop shoving!”

Of course, I know Christian people are still people and act accordingly but the memory of that night brings about a question I have been asking myself, God and others since I walked into Highland Park Baptist Church at the age of 17 and heard the gospel for the first time.

Why aren’t Christians more peaceful?

In Christianity we seem to have a long-distance relationship with peace.  We treat it like a spouse who happens to be in Antarctica doing research. We show peace’s picture around, telling people all about it and how much we love it and miss it, but we don’t have any real plans to make the journey to get it or unite with it full time.

Oh, good! Satellite radio! Now peace and I can Skype, or play a game of checkers together.

The key to the question seems to be that Christians don’t really have a place for “peace practices” as part of their expectation, liturgy or understanding.  Churches are full of programming – book groups, Sunday School, Youth group, Divorce Recovery groups,  Chronic Illness Support Groups, Mommy Groups, and Christian men’s breakfasts. We have plenty of space and  time devoted to Upward Sports and downward spirals.  But not peace.

Let’s face it – church worship is anything but peaceful.  We have so much stuff crammed into that hour (50 minutes if you go to the early service) – music, pastoral prayer, announcements of more activity, sermon, communion, children’s sermon, offering, special music – that churches who do “passing of the peace” often give the practice a very generous 2 minutes where people turn to the person next to them, shake hands and tersely mumble, “peace by unto you” before sitting down and waiting for the worship train to leave the station once more.  In church peace is simply a rest stop.

Every once in a while, a “peace trend” will hit the church. A few years ago it was Labyrinth walks – encouraging church members to come and walk the maze of contemplation gathering peace.  Some churches even committed all the way into digging up the grounds and building replicas of the Chartres labyrinth into their property. Others used the easier and more fleeting “Labyrinth In A Can”.

Just make sure to pack the peace up and put it away before the Swinging Seventies group comes in for tea and bible study.

But the labyrinths grew over or got put away because the Lenten family fair needed the fellowship hall floor.  Taize is another peace practice churches flirt with – holding it once a year as a special service and making sure to warn people there won’t be any talking.   We adore Buddhist monks and invite them to speak whenever possible, because we secretly envy their seemingly solid, enlightened peace.  We love peace – but our love for it and our church’s ability to encourage it don’t often work together.

Churches are made of people. And so, if we want a church and a faith more centered in peace – then we as the building blocks must have peace in ourselves first.  Jesus seemed to know we as a faith community would have problems with peace.  I think that’s why he said, “MY peace I give you.”  Because he knew we weren’t very likely to get some of our own. Listen to his words:

 “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  John 14:25-27

So what can we do to become a peace-filled people?

1.  Take responsibility for your peace.  Don’t expect the church to hand it to you or create a program for you to accumulate peace like so many glass beaded crosses we get from the Women’s Mission Project.  Don’t expect a TV guru or  a book with a lotus on the cover to overwhelm your heart with calm.  Jesus tells us the Holy Spirit will “teach you all things” — that means YOU have to learn.  Set aside space, time, attention for peace practices in your life.

Oh Geez – I can already hear you shouting, “Are you crazy? You must live in a fantasy world. I have KIDS, WORK, DOGS, CHORES, CHURCH, CHURCH CHORES, LIFE. I don’t have time for peace!!!”  Stop yelling, it’s not very peaceful. And stop making excuses while you’re at it.  People with children can still find peace.  Work with it.  Work with your kids – maybe teaching them to meditate (if only for 5 minutes) or sit a listen to a nice peaceful song with you would start them on a better road.  Ultimately – how are you gonna do it?  I don’t know.  But ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how — don’t just leave the spirit standing at the door while you say, “I’m too busy to learn peace today.”

2. Don’t be ashamed of your peace.  In America we value stress and productivity. The more stressful and harried you are – the more important you must be.  We have lifted Steve Jobs up as the pinnacle of American success and then mumble quietly, “he was a work addict, mean-spirited, and isolated.”   All this push for activity makes it seem as if you are some kind of freak or socialist-communist-hippie-loser if you manage to get to work on time, walk in calmly, and smile because you feel at peace.  It’s not popular to live at a sane pace – and sometimes it even takes sacrifices (sorry, I can’t be in another book club, take on another bible class, start another jogging group).  But the solid joy and peace it provides makes it worth it.

“I do not give as the world gives,” says Jesus.  The world gives with strings. The world gives with false promises.  The world gives with “karma” (what you do comes back to you). The world gives with stress.  Jesus gives unconditionality, truth,  grace, and peace.  Don’t be ashamed to have those gifts.

3.  Lose your peace when it matters.  Jesus wasn’t some prozac driven happy guy who never lost his cool. He was angry (we love that temple story, don’t we?), he was sad, he was annoyed, he was argumentative.  But, all of those times we see his less-than-overtly peaceful side — were for good reason.  Jesus got angry over corruption, sad over loss, annoyed with stupid entrapping Pharisee questions, and argumentative with anyone who tried to say the Kingdom of God should leave someone out.

Don’t lose your peace over political differences with your neighbor, whether the youth group spilled juice on the new carpet, or who at work doesn’t have to use a copier code like you do.  Don’t give up your peace fighting over whether God helps football players, or which translation is the ONE TRUE TRANSLATION of the Bible.   Lose your peace over the millions of hungry people in the world, the physical violence toward women and children that happens in countries large and small, the spiritual violence of intolerance aimed at so many vulnerable people.  You want to be upset? Be upset where it matters.  Leave the guy who cut you off on the freeway to God (and accept that he may get grace instead of karma).

I heard a young man say not long ago, “As far as I’m concerned Christianity is just another hate group.”  I grieved his opinion, but also saw the logic by which he had achieved it.  We have been so busy allowing the loud, angry voices of faith dominate the media, the church, and the grocery store that we are playing catch-up in trying to show the world that we really are a love group – that has somehow lost its peace.   Let’s make an effort as individuals who make up the body of Christ to get it back, and this time – stay with it.

Christians, stop shoving.

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Pieces of Palm Sunday

Pieces of Palm Sunday

Lectionary Reading: John 12:12-16 (also in Matt, and Mark)

Its Palm Sunday again – time for kids to march down church aisles waving freshly cut palm branches and managing to whack a senior citizen or two in the head during the processional. Time for songs about Hosanna! And tales of donkeys and crowds. We know the story by heart – but what we rarely do is look at it as a narrative – as a collection of major symbols and images. When we do, we see more about who Christ really is – to them and to us.

The Palms

The first thing we think about Palm Sunday is the Palms – the branches and leaves waved by the crowd as Jesus entered Jerusalem for the Passover. Preachers have a tendency to over-simplify this act and say – “they did this kind of thing to welcome a king” or “they were so excited they just grabbed whatever was available”. But both of those are not very accurate ideas. Kings were given various greetings, but rarely with this much fanfare (they hadn’t had a king that wasn’t an occupier or oppressor in generations), and desert dwellers realize all plant life is precious. They don’t just rip palm branches off trees for the first rabbi on a donkey who comes along! So, what’s the deal with the Palms?

In 167 BCE, a Hebrew Priest refused to make an offering to a Greek idol, and killed another Jewish priest who compromised and gave in. This killing and the war that followed it freed Israel from the oppression of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty. The Macabees, who led the revolt, created a “mini-army” that also let Israel have their own nation for almost a hundred years (from 164 BCE to 63 BCE). The small Macabbean army didn’t have a flag for the nation of Israel and no time to bring together a council to make one – so they used the palm branches of the Middle-eastern desert to be their flag. They would be waved in battle as a sign of the “nation” of the Jews who were going to war against religious and political oppression. Using palm branches as a flag was a banner of hope brought by the power of might.

So, when the crowds are waving Palms at Jesus’ entry and putting them on the ground for his donkey to walk upon (the idea being he was “uplifted” by the nation over the dirt of commonness) – they are remembering the Macabees and showing their faith that Jesus will deliver the people from Rome, just as the Macabees had delivered them from Greece. They wanted Jesus to bring about their hope to be a free nation yet again.

But Jesus isn’t about politics or nations. Its something we forget in American culture. God is not American. And to be American is not to naturally be godly. The palms they waved as a flag of nationalism at the beginning of the week, would be dead and trodden under the feet of the angry mob by Friday. Jesus is not subject to our nationalistic ideas or needs, and we should remember that when we turn him into a political tool or argument, we are subverting the true justice; meaning and power of the gospel which was give for all people, of all nations for all time.

Hosanna

The other thing the church has done wrong historically is the use of the word “Hosanna”. We tend to see it as a word of “praise” and is ‘Loud Hosanna’s Ring” or “Hosanna in the Highest”. But the more we decorate bulletins and liturgy with this pretty Hebrew word, the less we really get its meaning. Hosanna is not the same as “hallelujah” and is not a specifically a praise of joy. “Hosanna” is a cry for help. In Hebrew the word literally means “Save Me”.

So we have crowd of people waving a political flag shouting and crying out to Jesus “Save us” – “Save us first” (in the highest is a translator’s way of making sense of the praise “first priority”.). They are calling out to Jesus as oppressed people wanting justice. Roman occupation had led to the oppression of religious thought, the theft of their homes, livestock or farm products, the abuse of their women, and the humiliation of their men by Roman citizens and soldiers alike. As Jesus enters the city they cry out to him, “SAVE US. SAVE US FIRST. Hosanna to the Son of David! (The Son of David can Save!). “

Palm Sunday isn’t a time for our victorious entry parade with trumpets and clarion calls. Palm Sunday is a time of humility. It’s a time to cry out to Jesus in our need – Save Me. Save me from injustice. Save me from oppression. Save me from my sins. Save me from the sins of others. Save me first. You can save me! So the next time you hear that word in a worship setting – lift up your heart as it truly is, and call out to be saved – first and foremost.

The Donkey

Jesus comes through the open gate to Jerusalem like a king entering the city, that’s true. His people are ready for his to raise an army. “When he fights,” they say with confidence, “I’ll fight with him.” But almost as soon as he shows up they begin to notice something different, and the palms get tossed to the floor pretty early in the week. Jesus is isn’t entering the gate riding a horse (a symbol of victory in battle), he is riding a donkey (a symbol of a time of peace). Donkeys are slower, sturdier and more sure-footed than a high spirited horse on the trails and hills around Jerusalem. A kin or commander riding a donkey is sending the message that things are so peaceful and secure there is no need for war or rampage.

Remember, Jesus didn’t get a donkey by accident. Its not like the Rental Transportation Dealer was out of stallions so they gave him the only donkey on the lot. Jesus set this up before hand and sent his disciples to fetch the donkey from the man who was to give it to him. Jesus rides into a crowd of people waving the palm flags of Jewish war – on top of a symbol of peace.

It tells a few things to remember:
1. Peace must be planned for. It doesn’t just happen.
2. Peace is slower, but less likely to falter off the rocky cliffs of humanity. It’s the better way.
3. The Jesus movement was first and foremost a peace movement. He is not interested or willing to plunge the country in war. His goal, even surrounded by flag waving potential soldiers, is the goal of peace.
4. The best way to create peace is to come through the door with it already in your heart.
So there we have a few new windows on the old story of Palms and crowds, dirty coats and cheering crowds.

This Easter I pray you will begin to see Jesus as the maker of peace in your heart, and in your world. Let go of your agenda, and cry to him to save you from whatever keeps you down. Then expect him to enter or re-enter your life riding the donkey of peace.

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Spiritual Hearsay

Lectionary Reading: John 4:5-26

Hearsay – (def) –1: talk or opinion widely disseminated with no discernible source 2: a statement or report current without known authority for its truth. (Miriam-Webster Online).

As Christian people we are taught to avoid “heresy” (ideas or opinions contrary to the position of the official “church”). However our faith and our world would be much better if we were taught to avoid “hearsay” as well. Spiritual hearsay are the things we are told or believe about the Bible with almost no real evidence, scholarship or reason. Sometimes we repeat things other pastors have told us (repeating what they heard from someone else most likely) or we just hear something that “sounds right”. Either way, Spiritual hearsay is all around us. Think of the things we hear from pillar, pulpit and post:

“Well, the Bible says ‘God helps those who help themselves’.”
No, it doesn’t. Benjamin Franklin said it (and it was an Athenian Proverb from Ancient Greece before Ben published it).

“Mary Magdalene was a prostitute”
No, she wasn’t. There is no biblical evidence to support that view – just popular (and papal) gossip.

“The Samaritan Woman whom Jesus met at the well was a shameful woman who drew water in the middle of the day when the other women weren’t there because she didn’t want to face society.”

Not necessarily. She could be there at the time for any number of reasons including she was drawing water to feed livestock back from droving (like women in the OT), or she just wanted a drink in the middle of the day or the Holy Spirit brought her to the well to prepare her for an encounter with the Messiah. For centuries, this poor woman has carried a mantle of “shame” that is nothing but unnecessary gossip preached from the pulpit.

Dr. Frances Gench called this kind of church sanctioned character assassination “interpretive litter” in a lecture I attended last fall. To paraphrase her, “I often go to Wal-mart in the middle of the afternoon to accommodate my schedule or sometimes can’t sleep and shop at 2:00 AM. I would hate for people to announce from the pulpit I am a woman of loose morals, simply because I shop at odd hours.”

Yet year and after year, sermon after sermon – the poor Samaritan Woman is relegated to the “bad girls” of the bible on nothing but circumstantial evidence at best. In fact, clergy get so excited about talking bad about her and the fact that even though she must be a terrible sinner – Jesus talked to her – they miss so much of what this story really could teach us. Let’s look at a few of the real lessons in this wondrous tale.

A life of racism

We know she has lived a life separated from Jews, and has felt the sting of prejudice. She’s shocked when Jesus – a Jewish male – talks to her – a woman, and a Samaritan. She has been used to being treated “less than” because of her race, and her gender. She is astounded and taken aback by the equality represented in this conversation.

In our xenophobic country, where the immigration debate sometimes hinges on the fact laborers from Mexico don’t readily assimilate into American culture (because we are egocentric enough to think they should turn their back on their beautiful language, their rich heritage, and their family-centered lives), we need this woman’s experience to ring in our hearts more than ever. We need to remember Jesus encountered people on his life journey every day who had been separated and stung by racism and cultural ignorance and what he did was treat them with respect, guidance, generosity and hope. He didn’t suggest she should stop being a Samaritan (as if she could. As if any of us can truly stop being the person God made us to be) nor did he withhold the good news from her because she wasn’t a “citizen” of the temple. He explained that the day was coming when all people would have a chance to access the Messiah equally and worship in spirit and truth.

A life of loss

Of course, a lot of the “shame” people have dumped on her shoulders is due to the fact she tells Jesus she has no husband, and he rightfully assesses she has had 5 husbands and the man she is living with now is not her husband. Does that mean she’s a prostitute or loose woman? Certainly not.

She could have been legally divorced (“put away”) because she was barren, and the law allowed for that to happen so a man could have children by a wife. She could have lost her husbands to death – life expectancy was very low and disease, hunger, Roman occupation or farm accidents could easily take her men away. We don’t even know how old she is. We don’t know about the man she has now – is he a lover, a neighbor who has taken her in as a servant (to fetch his water in the middle of the day), a lame or blind man who requires her help but can’t marry her in the temple? In short – we simply don’t know.

What we do know is that this woman has had a life of loss. For whatever reason her marriages were ruined, lost or taken. She was involved with vows and promises 5 times and each time something disappointed her. How heart breaking her life must have been. Jesus rightfully tells her story to prove to her he is a prophet. He also rightfully understands that what this woman needs is not our judgment and scorn, but our empathy and our hope for her future. In meeting Jesus her life will change. She has found the one whom, in spirit, she will never lose.

In a world of divorce, multiple divorce, blended families and all kinds of family units – let us not be so quick to condemn, but be swift with mercy, hope and love. We don’t need to know someone’s “story” to know that the story of Jesus says we are to love first, foremost and always.

A life of thirst

The woman has lived a life of racism, sexism, injustice, disappointment and change. She, like any who have been denied justice, security and constancy – has developed a thirst. A thirst for a God who will never forsake her or take her loved one, a thirst for equality and spiritual freedom, and a thirst for hope and peace.

I’ve had that thirst. Maybe you too? I have had a thirst for a family who would love me without harm, and a community which would accept me without expecting to me fulfill their expectations of my personhood. I have had a thirst for justice for the poor and poorly educated, so that opportunities are given to them to know real peace, real hope and real escape from hunger and disease. I have a thirst to see people in community, and worship filled with diversity. I have a thirst to know the Messiah has come and because he has come, our world will be different, better and whole.

Perhaps I find myself frequently defending the Samaritan Woman because we have the same thirsts, and because we have the same experience. We have both met the Messiah, and he has told us both the truth about our lives. He gave us living water that will never run dry, and he sent us both into our community to tell the others the light of life has come. Once we dispel the need to cast her as a villain – we see her as she could truly be: as our sister, our mother, our daughter, our friend – certainly our neighbor.

Perhaps if we all stop with the spiritual hearsay, and look at spiritual truth – that we are all God’s children and all able to encounter the sacred (no matter what time we go to the well) – we would know a stronger forgiveness in our own lives, and feel a more sincere welcome in our churches, hearts, and homes.

Let us pray for that day, now and ever more. Amen.

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The Day of Peace: Stretch!

For each of our four advent Sundays the blog will have 3 components:
Read: the scripture of the week from the lectionary
Reflect: a short meditation about the topic
Respond: A chance to connect with the idea and share your wisdom or experience with someone else. You can email me, leave a comment or just talk with someone (or many) about your answers, but make sure to share the light with others this season. I will answer each question on the blog as my way of sharing with you.
Be blessed this Advent season, and be a blessing.

Reflect: A country farmer went into a local church and was greeted by the stern secretary in the church office.
“Can I help you,” she sniffed. He smelled of dirt and land to her.
“I’d like to speak to the head hog of this trough,” he muttered through a thick accent.
“What?” The secretary was taken aback by his crudeness.
“I”d like to speak to the head hog of this trough,” he said again, pointing as the pastor’s picture on the wall.
“SIR!” the secretary chided. “That is REVEREND JONES and he is one of the most respected leaders in our community. We do NOT talk about the Reverend that way and we do not deal with anyone who would. Please leave.”
“Alrighty,” the man said as he turned to leave. “Ya see, I just got me an inheritance of 2 million dollars from my uncle and I wanted to talk about giving a tithe.”
“Just a minute, Sir,” the secretary called as she looked out the window. “I see the Big Pig pulling into his parking space right now!”

Stretching – we all do it. Sometimes for good reasons; sometimes not. Physically and spiritually, stretching is an important part of life. Remember how the Day of Hope told us to wake up? Well, what do you do when you wake up? Stretch. Reaching out with feet or arms, sometimes even turning or twisting to wake the back and shoulders up – most people will stretch before they get out of bed. The message of the day of Peace is to follow that pattern in our walk with God as well. The day of Peace is God’s way of asking us to stretch.

When I read Isaiah’s prophecy – of the child who will lead us to peace instead of war, to justice instead of oppression and to collaboration instead of survival of the fittest – my first thought is, “Well, where is it???”. The child came a long time ago and we still have war, we still have poor, and we still have wolves that eat lambs. Where is this peace we were promised?

It seems as if we are missing an ingredient in this prophecy. Is this like National Treasure or Tomb Raider? Is there a secret knock or code we are missing? Can Laura Croft lead us to a vault that contains the answers to the world’s need for peace? We have the branch from the stump of Jesse in Jesus. He had all the things it says he needed – wisdom, knowledge, power, fear of the Lord, righteousness and faith. So, what do we need to do for him to bring peace? I think we need to stretch.

“Stretch: (Verb) To extend; To reach out.” – Mirriam-Webster Dictionary.

We have not been successful in allowing Jesus to bring peace to our lives, our church or our world because we haven’t been willing to stretch – to reach out.

Reach out past Judgement

Notice we are told he will not judge with his eyes or ears, but with righteousness. We will see peace at a personal and planetary level when we do the same. Our good friends at Mirriam-Webster who gave us the definition of stretch – have an interesting definition of righteous. “Acting in accord with divine law.” Unlike all those “church ladies” (and men) who view righteousness as a reason to be separate from non-Christians or anyone they disagree with – the definers of the word understand that righteousness is not a reputation, an attitude or a description – righteous is an ACTION. It is what you do. It’s a stretch in God’s direction instead of following the “eyes and ears judgment” we are prone toward. In practical example – reaching past judgment to righteousness means instead of looking at someone in the community as an “undesirable”, treat them as someone God desires.

Reach out past Privilege

In the “dog eat dog” (or wolf eat lamb) world we live in, we have all grown to be people of privilege. However, Isaiah prophecies that with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. The Hebrew word translated “give decisions” in the NIV is a word used for court cases. It’s really more like “pass a verdict” – when there is a trial and Jesus will decide for the poor to make things equitable. I often hear folks say, “I didn’t “get” what I have – I worked for it.” Yet, many of these same people went to college on scholarships, or loans or parents. They got a job because they had a friend who worked in the company or they became part of a family business. They rode on the shoulders of previous ideas and advanced a thought someone already had. They used the body God gave them, the brain God gave them and the blessings God gave them. It is time to stretch beyond ourselves and give to others just as we were given to.

Reach out past Fear

Woody Allen said, “The Lion may lay with the lamb, but the lamb won’t get much sleep!” In order for peace to be part of our picture – we must learn to reach out of our fear. Fear divides us. It makes us hoard food, resources, and ideas. Our fear of being rejected keeps us from communication or reaching out to others. Our fear of being different keeps us stuck in a rut with no new input. Our fear of being judged keeps us from opening ourselves honestly and forces us to hide shame and guilt. One of the phrases of Alcoholics Anonymous is “You are only as sick as the secrets you carry.” But to have personal peace, you must reach out past fear and into faith. God will provide. God will accept you. God will forgive you. God knows your secrets and God is ready to heal your fears.

My favorite image in the prophecy is “and a little child shall lead them.” – I get this image of a whole army of people – young and old, rich and poor, all races, all ages, all orientations, all life-walks following a toddler down the road. It’s a funny picture when you think about it. And yet – anyone who has small children knows – the one thing babies, toddlers and children do more than anything else – is stretch.

Respond: In what ways is God calling you to stretch for peace?

God is calling me to stretch for peace in many ways:

Learn to live without judgement – I need to stop closing my mind and start opening my heart. I want to continue to learn how to help people where they are, not just make a mental commentary about their situation and move forward.

Stop hiding my fears – This new year one of my personal development projects that God and I will work on is for me to stop hiding when I’m afraid, hurt, sad or troubled. I tend to be a “after the fact” sharer, as in “I was really scared” or “that really hurt”. This past year I knew I had a tumor in my throat for 2.5 months before I told anyone about it. Not good! I need to be open to my beloved Jesus, and my lovely partner – as well as myself.

Prayer for my world – I read the news every day (I’m an info junkie) – and as much as I want peace in Iraq, food and medicine in Africa, safe shelter in Mexico – I rarely pray for these things. This year I hope not to simply “know”, but to involve myself in prayer and guidance for the world and my part in it.