The Separation of Church and Hate

To begin with I want to state clearly that I think that any church protesting at a child's funeral because the state they live in supports gay marriage is horrible.  I think that the Wesboro Baptist Church protesting at the funerals of twenty murdered children is no less than evil.  That being said, I have serious qualms about one of the ways my friends on the Internet are fighting back.

I received an invitation to sign a petition that is being sent to the President that asks him to declare the Westboro Baptist Church a hate organization, therefore taking away their rights as a church.  I agree that something has to be done.  Someone should sit them down and talk to them about the all loving and all forgiving savior that they say they follow, but President Obama is not the person to do it.

Before you get up in arms, I am not making some kind of critique of the President.  I am saying that it is not the President's job to determine what is a valid church and what is not.  You may have heard of a concept called the separation of church and state.  Even though it is tossed around for some silly reasons (your kid can't pray over his lunch, that is a violation of the separation of church and state, or some such silly complaints...) this is what the separation of church and state was made for.  The government doesn't have the right to tell a church whether it is a legitimate church or not.  There are many churches out there that probably were not formed for the right reasons, but the government can't make that decision.  In fact, really, only God can tell what is in the heart and make that call.

Even though I would not be sad to see hate mongering churches go the way of the Dodo, government determination would be the wrong way to go.  Just imagine for a moment that President Obama is so enraged that someone would be that hateful as to harm the families grieving over their babies, and decides to ratify your petition.  OK, he decides to say that church is not a church but a hate group.  How many other petitions would follow?  You know how well all we religious brothers and sisters get along.  How long would it be before one church asks for another to be declared not a church?

In my first call, I was in a really small southern town.  Our little Presbyterian church was proud to have a female associate pastor, so every time I preached they would put my name and sermon title on their message board.  So, every time I preached the local Church of Christ, which had it's own radio program at noon on Sunday, would preach about how evil the Presbyterian church was because they let a woman speak in church.  We were all going to hell, etc...  That was hateful and directed specifically at me!  However, I would not ever dare ask anyone to invalidate their ministry.  They still fed the hungry, and did their best.  OK, yes, I think they had some serious things wrong with their theology, but as I have said before, we are ALL sinful people.  We all hold wrong ideas.  We all make mistakes.  As my brother's bumper sticker in High School read, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."

And then a really scary thought:  My own denomination is very divided over the ordination and marriage of homosexuals.  Every time it comes up both sides threaten to leave the denomination if they don't get their way.  What if the government could tell a church whether or not it was a church.  One side would argue that the other is theologically wrong and shouldn't be a church.  The other side could say that their opponents were prejudiced and hateful.  Aren't those the same accusations against the Westboro Baptist church?  I know, and love, and minister to people on both sides of this argument.  I strongly believe that one side is wrong, but that doesn't make them not Christians.  It doesn't make them any less our brothers and sisters.  One day Jesus will correct us all where we have wrong, hateful, or prejudice thoughts.  One day Jesus will return and fix the mess that we have made of the church and religion, but we are very arrogant if we say that WE can determine which churches should and should not exist.

By all means tell anyone you know who would be hateful enough to picket funerals that they need to have a long talk with Jesus about love and forgiveness.  Make your voice heard on the Internet, or TV, or wherever you can.  But please don't have emotional knee jerk reactions.  That is what the hatemongers are doing.  A petition to the President is not going to accomplish anything, nor is it the wise way to deal with the problem.  To be honest I don't know what the wise thing is.  Actually, I think it is hilarious that hackers keep attacking their web site and twitter account.  Maybe that is the answer.

What I do know is the Christian response should be to shower those families that lost their children (or wives, or husbands, or parents) with the love of God.  Support them.  Uphold them.  Send cards, e-mails, flowers and let them know that they are loved.  That is what will combat the evil and hate of the narrow minded.  Drown out their hate with love.

Grace and Peace to all of you!

Slow Down and Smell the Pine

It has been a couple of weeks since my last blog.  Christmas is coming and things have been crazy! We have a Cantata and Christmas Eve service to plan at church, the tree, presents, and decorations at home.  Don't forget to bake cookies for the cookie exchange.  In the midst of that the boys have plays and concerts at school.  It is enough to make your head spin.

So, how come we celebrate the coming of peace on earth by getting crazy?  Shouldn't Christmas bring calm and peace?  Shouldn't we take time to sit and quietly contemplate the lights and the tree and what they represent?

Well, maybe we should consider what the first Christmas was like.  Caesar decided to have a census so everyone had to travel to the home of their ancestors.  Joseph had to take a very pregnant, teenage Mary cross country on a donkey.  Why?  So that they could be taxed properly!  (So don't complain about sitting on your chair having to do your taxes online!  You don't have to travel for miles in the cold via donkey to get your tax info.)

When they got to Bethlehem it was NOT peaceful.  The town was completely packed with people who were probably grumpy about having to travel to be taxed, too.  On the plus side, since most of them came from that town, there was probably a lot of family reunion stuff going on.  Any of you who have a big family reunion know that it is fun, but peaceful doesn't always describe it.  OK, sitting on the porch by the fire at Darlene's is peaceful as long as its not too cold, but Amy and her water balloons, not so much!

So baby Jesus was born in a manger to exhausted parents.  Oh, and the "no crying he makes" is not from the Bible.  God came down to be human for us, to experience what it is to be human.  Jesus cried and needed diapers changed.  Any of you who are parents know that having a new baby is anything but peaceful.

So if we are not celebrating peace, what are we celebrating?  To quote C3PO from the Star Wars Christmas album (because it is ohhh so theologically correct...)  "We have a day when love came to stay."  Love came down at Christmas. 

Christmas is the day that "For God so loved the world that He sent his only begotten Son" happened.  The thought that an all powerful and all knowing God would love us enough to come down and be one of us is mind blowing.  God loved us enough to want to know what it is like to be us.  God loved us enough to suffer and die to pay for our sins.  That should make us want to turn into one giant flash mob singing "Joy to the World."

I would love to have a peaceful Christmas, but I will settle for a joyful Christmas full of love and loved ones.  Maybe once I retire we can have a peaceful Christmas... except that we might have grandchildren to spoil...

Whatever your situation I wish you love and joy this Christmas, and to those who need it most - peace!

For Our Four Footed Friends

      Today, I will have to take one of our family dogs to the vet to stay overnight and have surgery in the morning.  When I think about asking for prayer requests it reminded me of several church members over the course of my ministry that seemed embarrassed or apologized for asking for prayers for their family pet.  I don't think that you should ever apologize for wanting prayers for a member of your family, even if they have four feet and fur (or even feathers or scales.)

     Our pets are God's creatures, created with care and love.  They bring love and joy to our homes, which I think are two of God's greatest gifts.  They love and trust us unconditionally, even when we don't always deserve it.  We could learn to be better people and better Christians if we could love and trust like our pets.

     So why are some people embarrassed or afraid to pray for their four footed family members?  I think my college Sunday School teacher gave me one example (a bad example in my opinion.)  I don't remember what brought the topic up, but our teacher made the statement,"You won't see your dog in heaven, because animals don't go to heaven.  They don't have souls."  First off, I believe strongly that he was wrong and so did the rest of the class.  We argued with him for the whole hour.  His main argument was that in the creation story God only breathed life into humans, that gave us a soul...  That is not what that says.  God's breath gave us life.  The soul is not mentioned there at all.  In fact the Bible doesn't say one way or another whether animals have a soul.  The only thing it says in the creation story is that when God made them, God said that they were good.

     OK, so NOWHERE in the Bible does it say either way that my dogs will or will not be in heaven.  That doesn't mean that they won't.  It means that we haven't been up there to see for ourselves.

      So, here is some things that I think about when I consider the furry members of my family who have passed on.  In the End, God will be giving us a new heaven and a new earth.  That IS in the Bible.  God will be recreating things like they were before sin.  There were animals in the garden in the beginning, so why wouldn't they be in the kingdom in the end.  In fact it says that the lamb will lie down with the lion, and a child will play safely over the adder's den.  Yes, I know that this is metaphor, not literal, but it does mention animals being in the kingdom.  Many of the Psalms also talk about ALL of creation praising God.  Is God going to just ignore that praise?

     My second thought is what a waste it would be.  God spent a lot of effort creating all the wonderful variety of life that we find here on earth.  So, are we just going to assume that in the end God is just going to toss out 99.9% of creation and just keep, what, us and the angels.  That would be kind of a boring way for God to spend the rest of eternity don't you think?  This is also my argument for life on other planets, but that is a discussion for another day.

     So, I believe that these loving, trusting, beautiful creations of our God will be there in heaven.  Heaven is supposed to be a place of light, love, joy, and praise.  To me it would be so much more joyful with out kitties winding about our ankles, our dogs faithfully by our sides, and while I am at it, the dolphins happily frolicking and squeaking their praise.

     Please pray for Snoopy and his surgery tomorrow (Nov. 27).  And while you are at it remember to pray for your friends who have lost a four footed family member.  Don't be ashamed to pray for the pets that you love, because love comes from God!

Blessings

On Being a Gracious Winner and Reconcilliation

     When I was little and learning to play Candy Land, Uno, and Go Fish I would get very excited when I won.  I would laugh and squeal and clap my hands.  So my mother pulled me aside and said, "Honey, you are playing with your friends.  How do you think it feels for them when you act like this when you win?"  The answer of course was that it makes them feel bad.  So, I learned to say, "Nice game" and shake hands and be a gracious winner.

     Now, I have been very careful to try not to take political sides during this campaign, because of my 319 "friends" and family on Facebook they are almost 50/50 liberal and conservative.  I try to be sensitive so that I will not hurt the feelings of those I care about.  Last night showed that our country is divided about the same.  The popular vote was almost exactly 50/50.  Our nation has never been so divided.

     President Obama in his acceptance speech last night showed that his mother (or whomever taught him how to play well with others) taught him how to be a gracious winner.  He complemented Romney on a good race.  He talked about working together and reconciliation.  So I went to Facebook this morning hopeful.  Unfortunately, not everyone listened to Obama's speech...

     I was actually very surprised at where the mean and hateful stuff was coming from.  My conservative family and friends were quietly reflective.  They talked about all things working out for good for those who love the Lord, and God wiping away their tears.  But I was saddened and discouraged by many of my more liberal family and friends.  (Those of you who are being good winners about this, I am sorry.  I am not talking to you, but you should be as embarrassed by your colleagues as I am!)  My feed was filled with pictures of Big Bird, comments about freeing binders full of women, and mean, snarky comments like "Ding Dong, the witch is dead."  I don't think this is what is going to bring about reconciliation to our divided nation.

     What worries me is not that they are being really poor winners, but that the comments infer that because they disagree the other side must be either stupid or evil.  As I said in a Facebook post yesterday, these are your brothers and sister.  They disagree with you politically, that doesn't make them evil.  Name calling and gloating is not the way to reconcile with someone you disagree with.  Neither is (as one of my liberal friends suggested this morning) dividing the country down the middle and letting the two parties become two countries and go their separate ways.

     Now, I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, but if we really want to heal our nation, we need to remember a couple of things.  The second greatest commandment is "to LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."  When asked, Jesus told a story saying that showed a Samaritan, a hated person of a different race, culture, and political view was the neighbor Jesus was talking about.  We are called to love our neighbor. 

     If you really truly see the opposing party as the enemy and evil, here is a word for you.  Luke 6:27ff  But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

     There needs to be some loving, doing good, blessing, and praying on both sides of this fight this morning.  We are still one Nation under God.  We need to forgive, and try to accept each other in spite of our differences if our country is going to begin to move forward again.  I am basically a peacemaker at heart, and I will be praying for all of my family and friends both conservative and liberal to find a peaceful path TOGETHER.

Grace and Peace...

On Fidelity

They were passing around a great picture on the web yesterday, maybe you saw it.  It was a picture of the soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the pouring rain.  The caption explained that these brave souls were going to stay faithfully at their post no matter how bad Hurricane Sandy got.  They risked their safety, probably got completely soaked, for their calling.  That is fidelity!

As Christians we are called to be faithful.  So why are the pews empty when it rains, or when it's cold, or when there was a big game or party the night before.  We could stand to learn something from the honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  It is considered one of the highest honors in the military to be chosen to guard the tomb.  We have been chosen by God to represent the body of Christ on earth...  Shouldn't that be the biggest honor there is?  Shouldn't that make us want to be more faithful?

For the next couple of weeks our lectionary gives us readings from the book of Ruth.  This is an amazing little book.  If you haven't ever read it, look it up.  It is only a few pages long.  In the Old Testament there is a Hebrew word, Hesed.  It means unending, faithful, love.  It is often used for God's faithful love of us.  It is not often used for humanity.  One of the few times the word Hesed is used to show a human showing God like love is here in Ruth.  Ruth gives up her way of life, he country, and her gods to go with her mother-in-law back to Israel.  She loved Naomi too much to leave her.  How many of us would be that faithful to our Mother-in-law?

Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbors.  We are called to show Hesed, faithful, unending, Godlike love.  Most of us have trouble showing this kind of love to God, let alone to our neighbors. 

The honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier risked way more than just getting wet to show their faithfulness.  What do we risk to show Hesed to those we come in contact with every day?

Blessings!

Drowning in Minutia

There is an old story about a college professor that brings in an empty jar and jars with rocks, pebbles, and sand.  He asks his class if they think that he can get all three jars full of stuff into the one empty jar.  They of course say no way.  He lets one of them try it.  They put in the sand first and there is barely room for any pebbles, let alone the rocks.  The the professor shows them.  He puts in the rocks first.  They are the important things, God, love, family, education, a job.  Then, he asks if they think more will fit.  He then pours in all the pebbles.  The fall down in the cracks around the rocks.  These are semi important things like hobbies.  Then, he pours in all of the sand, and it fills in all the cracks between the pebbles.  The sand is the unimportant things. 

There is room for everything in our lives, but only if we take care of the important things first.  I think that our society has gotten so used to focusing on the grains of sand that we are bumping what is important.  I look at what the headlines are and shudder.  Is what celebrities have speeding or DUI arrests really the most important thing going on in the world today?  I know that who gets custody of Michael Jackson's kids is one of the big things to them, but should it be one of our rocks or should it be sand?

I can't wait for the election to be over!  This is where I think that we are actually drowning in minutia.  After the debate last night they actually counted how many times each candidate insulted or called the other a name.  With all the important "rocks" we need to think and decide about, all the media is giving us is "sand."  You know what?  Both candidates are human.  Both candidates are sinful.  Both candidates truly believe that they know what is best for the country.  Is it more important to know where they stand on the issues or whether or not they color their hair?

Confession time:  I color my hair.  I consider this to be a grain of sand thing.  It makes me happy, but the world would not come to an end if I stopped.  The fact that I color my hair doesn't tell you anything about who I am, what I believe in, what is important to me.  It is irrelevant to who I really am. 

I think we need to start insisting on getting "rocks" first.  Remember, that when we start with the rocks, that there will still be plenty of room for pebbles and sand.  (Although if there isn't room for Justin Bieber's latest haircut, I think I will live.) 

Jesus knew that we were prone to worry about not only big things, but all the silly little things too.  Here is his advice from Mathew 6:25-34.

25

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you

will drink,or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food,
and the body more than clothing? 
Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap
nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more
value than they?

27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?

28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field,

how they grow; they neither toil nor spin,

29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith?

31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we

drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’  

32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

33 But strive first for the kingdom of God

and his righteousness, and all these things will

be given to you as well. 

34

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.

Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Musings on the Bacon Shortage

OK, I don't know if you heard the news story that because of this years drought there was not enough pig feed, so that next year there will be fewer pigs.  One farmer even went as far as feeding his pigs gummy bears to supplement there feed.  (Hey, that would make the part about the Prodigal Son wanting to eat what he was feeding the pigs have a very different twist!  But I digress....)

So the news media is predicting a bacon shortage next year.  That would not have been a problem for Jesus or his disciples, because of course they were Jewish and forbidden to eat pork products.  We , however, are descendants of Gentile Christians, and thanks to Paul did not have to follow all of the Jewish cleanliness regulations to convert.  So we can eat bacon to our heart's content, which is very good news to the men in my house.

Our Family eats bacon at least once a week when we do breakfast for dinner, and I was happy to find that bacon really isn't that bad for my diet.  Two pieces are only 70 calories.  So a bacon shortage is going to make our household very sad.  But as I read and heard people whine about the bacon shortage it made me think about how faithful was that response...

There will still be bacon.  It will just be more expensive next year.  Our family will probably still buy it just as often and "eat" the price increase.  We may have to switch from name brand to generic, but we will not go without.  But what about those who can't afford bacon or many other foods that we consider staples.  There are so many hungry people in the world, even here in our own communities.  The DeSoto Food Bank has been desperate.  Because of the economy the number of people needing food each week has grown and the number of people donating has shrunk.  They run completely out of rice, beans, and peanut butter every week.

Those of us who can afford to put food on our tables shouldn't complain or whine.  We have been blessed!  We need to be very thankful and not take for granted how much we are blessed.  But between the drought and the economy, many of our brothers and sisters are suffering.  God created enough food for everyone if we are just willing to share.  So, while our budget is still OK, I am trying to pick up something for the food pantry every time I go to the grocery.  I get peanut butter, or beans, or rice, or pasta, or canned goods for the food pantry.  So often we overlook the fact that we have food, clean water, clothes to wear, and a roof over our head.  Many people don't.  So in your daily prayers, thank God for what you have been blessed with, and in your daily lives, ask what you can do to be a blessing to others.

Peace.