The Death Penalty Is an Abomination

The death penalty is an abomination. It fails on every count, other than the blood-lust revenge factor.

And, please, don't quote the Bible at me ... while I love the Bible, every cruelty can be found therein and justified. Bible quoters, at this point, and others, are notorious in their disregard for the large picture, and if they're Xns, more than eager to ignore Jesus as Jesus and reduce him to some kind of hyper-spirit saving-machine to get folks into glory, while more than happily leaving a whole of other folk in hell.

The death penalty degrades those who affirm it, those who manufacture the devices, the drugs; those who pull the switches, and those who witness it.

They are all, one and the same, killers, in spite of "state sanction," a despicable piece of casuistry used to defend the worst kinds of human behavior.

Hats off to Washington State for abolishing this stupidity. Of the people on death row, their sentences were immediately commuted to life.

Of Wheat and Weeds ...

"We're not against the ones that work,' the writer said.

... in response to a piece I wrote about the GOP and it's irrational fear of someone somewhere getting a handout.

I've been thinking a great deal about the response, with some questions: Does anyone not work? Even street people work hard all day long, with their limited means of mind and body and soul to survive. I guess folks on the bottom of the heap who might turn to crime might be a problem, but there numbers aren't all that high. Who in the world doesn't work?

Who in the world lays around all day? Enjoying a government handout? (We could have some fun with this one ... visit a high-end gated community, or country club - but, hey, they work hard, too ... and much of their work depends heavily on government handouts - but that's a discussion for another day.

As I thought about the writer's comment, a Jesus Parable came to mind - the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 23.24-30).

When the weeds were discovered, the workers were eager to get into the fields and pull 'em up, but the owner offered wise advice. "We have to wait until the harvest; if we try to separate them now, we'll pull up the good with the bad and ruin the entire field."

Right now, conservatives are fretting and fussing about the "weeds" as they see them, and their running two and fro across the fields trying to pull out the weeds, and they're yanking up the wheat along with the weeds.

In the end, says Jesus, to his all-too eager disciples, "we can trust history; it'll work itself out. In the end, we'll know, but for now, let 'em all grow together."

With regard to immigration, we have slowed it down, and if we identify criminals, deport them. But right now, we're yanking up the good with the bad, whole fields of humanity, entire families and communities, and for every "weed" we'er pulling up, we're yanking up thousands of viable wheat plants.

We're behaving with the worst kinds of instincts, driven by irrational fears and anger at these "strangers in our midst." Spiritually and politically, Jesus offers sage counsel.

Sometimes We Get Along, Sometimes Not

It doesn't take long in the #PCUSA to see what a diverse group we are. Much of the time, we manage to get along; some of the time, we don't.

Diversity pushes and pulls us, and sometimes pushes or pulls us beyond where we're comfortable ... and sometimes challenges us to rethink, to reconsider, review those things we deem "essentials."

We love to quote authorities, and, of course, THE Authority, Scripture, but even that seems to fail us finally, leaving us without resolve, and all those pesky Bible verses that refuse to fit into our otherwise neat and tidy systems.

If we take sin seriously (as Presbyterians, we have too!), then we're stuck with a curious kind of humility toward one another, and toward those views that either challenge us or strike us as even heretical.

We'd all like to claim that "our system, our version of things, our take on God and the Gospel, are bigger, brighter and better" than all the other competing versions.

But history refuses us such a claim.

All we can do, and humbly do, is put forth our view of things, and try to apply the best tools of scholarship and science, engaging in steady prayer and the practices of humility (often saying, "I don't know" or "I'm not sure"), bringing to bear upon our ideas the best of Christian scholarship, the vast and often contradictory traditions of the church, including hymnody, social justice practices over the centuries and the day-to-day learning from one another - in other words, all that God provides us in and through the church and the larger world.

In reality, we're mostly on target, and sometimes not.

Who can contain the whole counsel of God in any system of thought?

Who dares to say they comprehend the will and character and purpose of God throughout the ages?

If any of us muster the "telling Bible verse," someone else offers another verse.

So we serve one another best of all when we raise critical questions for one another, and provide ample room and time for one another to express his or her views.

If we come to the #PCUSA or to a particular congregation to have all of our a priori notions confirmed, we may well find a congregation that suits us perfectly, but not likely the entire denomination ... which is why some are so eager for schism - as if the balkanization of the church could lead to greater purity of thought. It never does, and never will. To seek purity at the expense of fellowship is to sacrifice the very purity so eagerly sought.

Anyway, much of the discussion here is thoughtful and kind ... God be praised.

Perhaps we might take Jesus at his word in John: "I am the way, the truth and the life" ... not Calvin or Knox or Kuyper, not the Book of Confessions or the Book of Order, neither Aquinas nor Barth, certainly not Jerry Falwell (God rest his soul) or James Dobson, nor Rob Bell or Max Lucado. But from all of them, we learn about Jesus, yet Jesus does us the favor of "walking through our midst," lest we crown him(John 6.15) or try to kill him (Luke 4.29).

Our systems are all approximations ... and we humbly bow down before the LORD of all ... honoring the Holy Spirit in each and every believer who utters the name of Jesus in faith, hope and love, fragmented as every heart is, with but a fragmentary grasp of Jesus, whose grasp upon us is sure and certain, unto the end of the age, and then some.

What Does God Love?

Heard this hymn on radio yesterday ...

Impacted me ...

The first verse ...

Breath on me, Breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love
What thou does love,
And do what
Thou wouldst do.

I've sung that hymn ten thousand times.

But yesterday, I heard the words.


That I may love what thou does love ...

And what is it that God loves?

And yesterday, it was Bible Study.

The first 5 Chapters of Isaiah.

What is it that God loves?

The justice proclaimed by Isaiah?

Help the oppressed.
     Defend the orphan.
          Plead for the widow.

Or the glorious Year of the Lord.
Proclaimed by Jesus in his home-town sermon?

And, then:


That I may do what thou wouldst do ...

And what is that God does?
     God creates and empowers?
          God saves and makes new?
               God raises the dead?
And makes life where none previously existed?

Is this what God does, among other things?

Isaiah offers it clear:

God will judge between the nations.
     And settle disputes
          Of mighty nations.


Then they will beat 
     Their swords into iron plows
          And their spears into pruning tools.
Nation will not take up sword
     Against nation:
          They will no longer learn how to make war.

Is this what God does?

Paul says, He's the one who comforts us in all our trouble.
So that we can comfort other people who are in every kind of trouble.
We offer the same comfort that we ourselves received from God.

I want the breath of God, for sure.
     I want life.
          For myself, my family, my friends.

Like Miss American, I want world peace and everyone to love one another.

But do I love what God loves?

Do I do what God does?

Big questions?

Yeah ... big questions.

And they hurt.

If I let them roll around in me, bumping up against my
     Carefully placed spiritual furniture.

Big questions, for sure.

They cry out for some answers.

Preaching for Commitment???

42 years of ministry ... did some preaching ...

Some of it on commitment ... like, get with the program ... decide.

Maybe a lot of preaching on commitment ... don't be spiritually ineffective.

Lazy ... sloppy ... self-serving ...

It's not about convenience, it's about commitment.

But I wonder ... did my preaching sound like a commercial?

Self-serving ... after all, without commitment, no congregation.

Without a congregation, no job.

Without a job ...

As of late, I think: maybe all this preaching for commitment is an act of "little faith."

Does not God create the heart and shape it?

Did not Jesus promise to build his church?

Preaching for commitment deprives the congregation of something vastly more important.

The fullness of the gospel story.

Jesus and the prophets ...

Jesus and John ...

Rewriting Israel's history.

Hebrews ... Jesus becomes the very center.

He's the Lamb and he's the Priest.

He's the Temple and the Curtain.

He's our all-in-all.

Preach that, and lives are changed.

Maybe not the big numbers big institutions need.

But real numbers.

Real vision.

Real love.

What Would Jesus Say? ... by Bob Orr

From my good friend and fine writer, Bob Orr ... written in reflection on the possible burning of a Quran at a Florida Church.

What Would Jesus Say?

The Jesus I know from the Gospels was a friend to all and demonstrated in his actions God's love and forgiveness to men and women especially the ones we would condemn and count as unworthy.   This Jesus calls us to live in community with one another.  Jesus was a Jew and his disciples were Jews.  As a  man of his time Jesus would have spoken  and understood Hebrew, Aramaic, and probably Greek.  Where he was born, grew to manhood and conducted his ministry  was a cultural stew and a cross roads of trade and beliefs. 

 The United States is a pluralistic nation made up of many religions - Christianity is one of them.  We pride ourselves in the freedom of worship.  It's one of our cherished values.   Just last week in my home town of Canton, MI we joined a Hindu community in celebrating the dedication of their new temple.  Their center can accommodate a thousand worshipers.  Down the road from where I live  is a Sikh temple where we visited a few months ago to better know our neighbors.  Dearborn, MI  (just 15 miles to our east) is home to the largest Arab community outside of the Mid East.  Islam is their religion.  We're all citizens of the United States, we're all neighbors and we all fly the same flag.  I don't appreciate hate speech, fear tactics, or race baiting.  When times are rough like they are now  we search for someone to blame.  This divides us and drives us apart.  We're weaker as a country as a result.  

What would Jesus say?  I think Jesus would cry over our fearful bickering with one another.  Jesus would meet hate with love.  Jesus would meet ignorance with knowledge.  Jesus would extend an open hand to the neighbor and not a clinched fist.  Jesus would speak a kind word and offer a generous embrace to the stranger and the different among us.  That's what I think Jesus would do.  --Bob Orr

Don't Be Afraid

Never fear the grace of love to lead us aright along the byways and highways of life.

Love opens doors, and at first, like a child frightened of a stranger, an open door frightens us … for it’s a big world out there on the other side of the door, and it’s full of strange languages and cultures and people and needs … and most of all, filled with God.

Love always leads us to God in the strange and wonderful places of life.

And sometimes even dangerous places. We don’t live in a fairy-tale world; Jesus said to us, “Take up your cross.” But in the cross, we find Jesus; in the cross, we find grace; in the cross, we find the meaning and purpose of our life.

Love can be trusted.

Jesus trusted the Father’s love all the way to the cross. Yet even Jesus was afraid and questioned the faithfulness of God: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The open door frightened him, too.

But in the end, “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” In the end, God!

Jesus invites us to trust love and to walk through the open doors God sets before us – doorways that lead to engagement and service and sacrifice and love upon love, as we look around and discover God in front of us, behind us, beside us, above us, beneath us, and within us.

For there is nothing in all of this world, or the world to come, that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our LORD.

Sometimes I’m afraid of love.

Afraid of the commitment it requires, the changes it evokes and the challenges it offers.

But in commitment, in the changes wrought by the Spirit, and the challenges of faith, we discover communion with God.

Let us then, without fear, love God with every fiber of our being, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves … for therein, everything that counts is realized and fulfilled.

Indeed, a great love is our pathway through the open doors to wholeness and peace.

Tom

Whom to Choose? Pilate or Jesus?

Pilate asks: “What’s truth?” and Jesus remains silent.

Why?

Because truth is Jesus the Christ, standing there in front of Pilate – now get the picture: here’s Pilate, wearing expensive clothing, hair well-done, in a palace, surrounded by Imperial Guards with shiny weapons, beautiful draperies, servants attending to Pilate’s every need, fine food and drink … the lap of luxury … and then Jesus, hands bound with tough leather straps, blood seeping through his tattered robe, hair tangled with spit and sweat … already half-way to death …

Between these two, you’re standing there in the corner – you’re witness to this encounter – a Jewish prophet from Galilee and mighty Pilate in his palace … and you ask yourself, “Who’s telling the truth?”

How might you answer?

Come one now, tell yourself the truth?

Might you not be inclined to go with Pilate?

Rather than this beaten and tattered man swaying unsteadily on his bloody feet.

Pilate questions him with an imperious voice.

Jesus is horse from thirst, his mouth swollen from the fists that easily found their mark.

Who might you choose?