Marlin & Sally in Jerusalem

"What Can We Do?"

We’re walking home from church on Sunday when someone calls out to me:  “Marlin. Marlin.”  The “a” is a long vowel sound in Arabic.  So my name is pronounced Maaahrlin.  I’m just learning about long vowels and short vowels.  Seriously messed up am I at the moment.  I can’t even speak English correctly now.  (Don’t say it!)

I turn to see who it is and I can’t find anyone on the street that I know.  My name is an Arab woman’s name, and so I’m used to hearing it and I’m also used to receiving second looks from those who first meet me.  (Story of my life by the way.  Thanks mom.)  We begin to walk away and then we hear it again, louder this time: “MAaahRLIN.  MAaaahRLIN.”

Dressed in a brown plaid suit, Bassem, our travel agent, a Palestinian Christian, steps out of a coffee shop and waves.  We walk over.  In Arabic, (no, don’t be impressed), we have the following conversation.

“Morning good,” Bassem to us. In Arabic and Hebrew the noun almost always precedes the qualifier.  This makes sense when you stop to think about it, first the object, then the descriptive word (glass big or glass small, that sort of thing – not big glass, small glass.  Get it?)

“Morning light,” me to him.

“How you?”  Bassem to us, so the you is 1st person, plural.

“Healthy, well, good, fine.”  That’s one word in Arabic and the one word means each of these, and more actually.  I use the 1st person, plural form to include both Sally and me, which is different from the 3rd person, singular male form or the 3rd person, singular female form.  (You getting this?  Never mind!)

“How you?” I ask him, 3rd person, singular masculine.

“Not well.”

“Why not well?” I ask.

“Sad/angry.”  It is the same word in Arabic.   The meaning depends on the tone of voice and the gesture that goes with the voice. Bassm is clearly sad, but I expect there is some anger in there somewhere as well, which is why the word has the duel meaning, I think.

“Why sad?”  I ask.  As of yet we have not used a single verb.  In this kind of simple conversation verbs are assumed.

“55 died in Qana, 35 children,” he says, his eyes searching mine.  I don’t know where Qana is.  I don’t know how they died.  The truth is, I don’t know much.

“Where Qana?  Who died?  What happened?” Still in Arabic, but I’m about to the limit of my ability to communicate and understand.  He knows this, and graciously switches to English.

“Qana is in Lebanon.  Israel bombed a shelter there.  Old people, children, others who were hiding there, people who couldn’t get away.  It’s terrible.”

“I’m sorry,” I say in Arabic.  (Sorry is a word we learned early on and we say it a lot.)

He shrugs a familiar Arab shrug and utters a familiar Palestinian response:  “What can we do?” Then he begins to quietly weep.  He knows he is powerless and he feels hopeless.  I see it in Palestinian folks all the time.

“I’m sorry.”  That’s all I know to say.  "I’m sorry."

I am comforted knowing that once again Israel deeply regrets the loss of innocent life, American leadership sees no need for an immediate cease-fire, and Britain's Tony Blair agrees, Syria and Iran claim no responsibility, and Hezbollah promises to retaliate with more rockets aimed at Israeli cities.

Acturally I’m not comforted at all.  I'm sad/angry.  And I’m sorry.

What CAN we do?  We who are not powerless, voiceless, or hopefully, hopeless, what CAN WE do?

Psalm 145

Good article in Christianity Today. Look left and give it a read.

This Sunday’s Psalm leads us in prayer – Psalm 145:10-19.

Let us Pray:

All your works shall give thanks to you,
O LORD, and all your faithful shall bless you.

They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,
and tell of your power,
to make known to all people your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The LORD is faithful in all his words,
and gracious in all his deeds.

The LORD upholds all who are falling,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.

You open your hand,
satisfying the desire of every living thing.
The LORD is just in all his ways,
and kind in all his doings.

The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth (Psalm 145:10-19).

Lord God Almighty we call to you and ask that you would bend heaven down and once again grant earth a divine house call.  Touch your healing lips to our fevered brow, whisper hope into ears straining to hear even the faintest sound of good news, and fill our breasts with holy breath so that our shallow breathing might deepen into fresh energy for the work of your everlasting kingdom. 

We pray for President Bush and for those who sit at his right and left hand in counsel.  We pray that your Spirit may infuse their deliberations in such a way that encourages them to weight all options on a balanced scale.  We pray that the leadership in all countries will be open to the influence of all, and equally so.  Give those in power ears to hear truth, even, and especially, truth that comes from the mouth of a hated, bitter foe.

We pray for suffering children no matter whether they are the children of friend or enemy.  We pray for all the dying, including those who die in the act of killing.  We pray that violent men and women will weary of violence and have eyes to see the futility and waste of violent ways.  We pray that you will grant to every human being the ability to see your image mirrored in every others' eyes.

Abundant Jesus open your hand and satisfy our desire for peace and justice.  Grant to us, your beloved children, peace and justice in our homes, our communities, our schools, our churches, synagogues and mosques, our countries, and thereby, peace and justice in this world so loved by you.

Even so, Come Lord Jesus!

Amen.

"It is I; do not be afraid."

(The Lectionary passages for the week are: 2 Kings 4:42-44; Psalm 145:10-19; Ephesians 3:14-21; and John 6:1-21.)

Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?" Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world."

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going. (John 6:1-21).

“It is I; do not be afraid.”

Well, Jesus, there are a lot of frightened people around this region: Palestinians in Gaza, Israelis in a few cities around the northern tip of the Gaza strip, Lebanese in all of Lebanon, and of course Israelis in the cities of Northern Israel.  The storm that rages around them is not of nature, but of man.  What drops on them from the skies is a rain of bombs, smart bombs of course, although not smart enough to distinguish a child from a soldier, a UN outpost from a rocket launch site – but it does help that Israel deeply regrets the innocent loss of life.  (23 Palestinians killed in Gaza on Wednesday, one a baby.  Israel deeply regrets the innocent lost of life.)  It would be good if Hezbollah did as well, or at least if they were smart enough bombers to say that they deeply regret the innocent loss of life whether true or not.  Arabs haven’t figured out the “sound bite” game yet.  Obviously!

“It is I; do not be afraid.”

Easy for you to say Jesus, you are able to walk on water, these folks can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound, and bullets do not bounce off their eyeballs.  When they die, they do not get raised in three days.

“It is I; do not be afraid.”

You always seem to know what you are going to do next, but we haven’t a clue here.  Jesus, give us a clue here, why don’t you?  We admit that we are at least as dense as the disciples.  Where are you?  Are you sitting on some mountain somewhere watching and waiting?  Waiting for what?  We pray that you stop praying and come walking.  Come Lord Jesus.

“It is I; do not be afraid.”

And why not let them make you king?  Why not let us make you king?  King Jesus, King of the Universe!  We like the sound of that.  We like thinking that in the end, we will be on the winning side.  We forget, of course, that you don’t have a side, except the side of justice and righteousness, whatever that means.  Obviously we don’t have a clue there either.  Certainly you could do better than the Herods, the Caesars, the Prime Ministers, the Presidents, the tribal chiefs, and all others who name themselves king by whatever name they use.  By the way, are you really a Republican?  Come Lord Jesus!

“It is I; do not be afraid.”

“Who is this who darkens counsel,
Speaking without knowledge:
Gird your loins like a man;
I will ask and you will inform Me.

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations:
Speak if you have understanding.
Do you know who fixed its dimensions
Or who measured it with a line?
Onto what were its bases sunk?
Who set its cornerstone
When the morning stars sang together
And all the divine beings shouted for joy?

“Have you ever commanded the day to break,
Assigned the dawn its place,
So that it seizes the corners of the earth
And shakes the wicked out of it?

“Can you send up an order to the clouds
For an abundance of water to cover you?
Can you dispatch the lightning on a mission
And have it answer to you, ‘I am ready’?”

“See, I am of small worth; what can I answer You?
I clap my hand to my mouth.
I have spoken once, and will not reply;
Twice, and will do so no more” (Excerpts from Job 39 and 40).

“It is I; do not be afraid.”

Okay Jesus, okay.  And, sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you with the crack about being a Repulican.

Insanity

(This is way too long and I know it, but I hope you take some time to read it.  It comes from my heart, but more importantly, I think it also comes out of the heart of the Gospel of Jesus.)

The Alcoholic Anonymous definition of insanity goes as follows: Insanity is doing the same things in the same ways and expecting different results.

To those caught up in the insanity of addiction, AA instructs radical change.  You must change, is the gist of it – change your habits, change your routine, even change your friends.  If you are addicted to alcohol, for example, don’t go to bars with your friends.  If the only friends you have go to bars, then find new friends.  If you are addicted to cocaine, then stay away from parties where cocaine is the party favorite.

The Greeks came, and the Greeks left.

The Romans came, and the Romans left.

The Russians, the Germans, the French, the Turks (yes, the Turks belong in this list) and the English have all come and gone, each leaving a mark on this “old” place.

Now Israel is here and is seen by many, I dare say most, of the Middle East as yet one more power from the West invading, pervading and occupying a portion of their land.  I know that Israel claims her roots as from here, and with good reason, but I’m telling you how much of the rest of the Middle East views Israel, not how Israel views herself, nor how we in the West view Israel.  Nor am I telling you how I think Israel ought to be viewed, only how Israel is viewed by much of the Middle East.  Israel is yet one more invading army, one more alien culture, another in a long string of occupiers.

So Iran talks of “removing the tumor” that is Israel.  Hezbollah and Hamas declare themselves to be the “resistance” movement in the Middle East.  What is it that Iran thinks she ought to remove?  Who is it that Hezbollah and Hamas, and by the way the vast majority of Arab people, see themselves resisting?  Israel is an alien culture here.  No, that is not Israel’s fault.  Israel is who she is, and mostly she is Western in culture and values.  That is because most Israelis have immigrated in from Europe and America.  And yes, I believe Israel has a right to exist.  I cannot think of another group of people who have suffered as the Jewish people have suffered.  I don’t blame them for wanting a place of refuge, a place to live in security, and without fear.  I don’t fault them for wanting to be here, the place of their ancestors. I only want to help you understand what the other side means when they say the things they say, those things that sound so extreme to us.  Okay?  It is primarily anti-occupier, and not necessarily anti-semitic, although there is certainly some of that as well.

When Condoleezza Rice declares that what is needed is “a new Middle East,” she is insulting most of the people here, except of course, the people of Israel who represent the “new Middle East.”  However, for what it is worth, and that’s not much actually, I think Secretary of State Rice is on to something even though I’m not sure she is aware of what that “something” is.  Pardon my arrogance here.  I only offer this is something for you and me to think about.

“Repent for the Kingdom of God has come near.”

Insanity is doing the same things in the same ways and expecting different results.

War won’t bring peace here, and it is insanity to think it will.  Israel, with the blessing of America, can pound Gaza and Southern Lebanon into the dust, and groups like Hezbollah and Hamas will rise again from the ashes.  Building a wall and declaring this wall to be your border, and using the wall to separate you from your neighbors, won’t bring Israel into the family of nations that make up the Middle East, and it is insanity to think it will.  Ask the Crusaders how well their fortress mentality worked here.  Squeezing the Palestinians out of the land, or into total subjugation, will not give Palestinians reason to work alongside Israel to build what could be one of the finest countries in the history of the world, and it is insanity to think it will.  Injustice will not bring peace, and as Martin Buber, the great Jewish philosopher, wrote, “A nation built upon unjust acts will be an unjust nation.”

What is needed in the old Middle East, and by extension, all around the world, is a new awareness of an old teaching about “new life” coming through radical change – that is, through “repentance.”  I address my comments to my country and her friend, Israel, because you are my audience, and because I believe that we can lead the rest of the world into a new way of dealing with old hatreds.

If we continue to do the same things in the same ways then we can expect the same results.

Stop killing.  Let America encourage Israel to take the lead here, and I guarantee you that the world will come alongside in support, including and especially the moderate countries of the Middle East who are looking for a reason to support Israel.  “Repent for the Kingdom of God has come near.”

Stop the wasteful destruction.  Children die everyday from preventable diseases because the world does not have the resources or the will to buy them medicine.  And yet we never seem short of resources to fuel the machines of war.   When Israel runs short on bombs, she sends word to America and a new shipment soon arrives.  Israeli children sign their names on these bombs and then the bombs are dropped on the children of Lebanon.  Tell me that’s not insanity.  “Repent for the Kingdom of God has come near.”

Stop the wall.  Stop the new settlements in the occupied territories.  “Repent for the Kingdom of God has come near.”

Start talking.  Winston Churchill said, “Jawing, jawing, jawing, is better than warring, warring, warring.”  I know that Churchill said a lot of things, but this is one of his best, and one that he fervently believed in, as his amazing career demonstrates.  Churchill was a talker.

We are addicted to the old ways of dealing with conflict.  We are addicted to the “war horse,” even though the Bible declares that “the war horse is a vain hope for victory.”

We ought to listen to John and repent.  We won’t, of course, because we really don’t believe the way of repentance will work in the real world.  Let’s admit it, we’re insane.

Hornet Nest

(The picture is of our street.  The young man is delivering fresh bread to a falafel sandwich shop around the corner.)

Walked into a hornet nest yesterday and got stung.

Several men were sitting in front of a television set watching an Arab station as it showed pictures of victims in Israel’s bombing of Lebanon.  These are my neighbors, people who know who I am and who have a certain level of ownership of me as their “American” friend.  The man who started the stinging is a quiet, bespectacled, small and trim shopkeeper who lives directly across the street from us.  He is normally the most gentle of men, a man who always greets us with a smile.  He and his wife have one son and this young man is extremely polite and respectful to Sally and me.  This small man’s anger caught me off guard, and put me back on my heels.

“Why?  Why?” He asked in Arabic, his face red with anger and frustration, his hands thrust out toward me.  I held my hands open in front of me, and with my expression asked him what he meant.

“Why?  Why?”  He asked again, waving his hand at the television screen.  A small child, bandaged and bleeding, lay on a hospital bed.  The child was writhing in pain, and her mother, her own burnt face covered with salve, was stroking her little leg and whispering softly in her tiny ear.

“I don’t know.”  I said this because it’s a phrase I know how to say in Arabic, and because it is the truth – I don’t know.  I didn’t know what he was asking.  I don’t know why grown men and women decide to do what they do when they do so knowing that it will be the little ones and the defenseless ones who pay the highest price for the big picture decisions they feel they have to make for the good of the all. I don’t know. 

“Why America not come to stop this?” This question came from the owner of the small restaurant in which we were gathered. He is also the best friend of the smaller man who was now sitting with his head in his hands.  “Children.  Children.” He muttered to no one but himself.  “Children.  Children.”

It’s true that your mind can do many things at once.  On one side, my brain was calculating what I should say and do, while on the other I was thinking of Martha and Mary.

You remember Martha and Mary, right?  Sisters who had a beloved brother who was sick.  They sent word to their best friend, a man with extraordinary power to heal and restore.  Surely he would come running to help, right?  Wrong.  Jesus didn’t come running, he came strolling, or so it seemed to Martha and Mary.  The brother died.  “Master if you had been here our brother would not have died.”  What took you so long?

That, of course, is the question being asked by Palestinians in East Jerusalem.  They know that America is not their friend, and that American will never come running to save them, but still they wonder how someone with the power to save lives, and to alleviate the pain and suffering of little children, could take so long to come running.  It’s a fair question, I think.  I wonder the same, don’t you?

And yet, there is another side to all this, isn’t there?  “America is not to blame for this,” I said.

Wrong answer.

After a bit, I got another word in: “Hezbollah started this.”

Strike two.

“Look,” I said.  “I’m your neighbor, right?”

“Right.”

“I live with you, right?”

“Right.”

“I’m an American too, right?”

“Right.”

“I think what Israel is doing in response is terrible.  I don’t like that either. I’m sorry for those children.  I wish America would say something to Israel about this.  I don’t know why they don’t.”

The owner is translating this to his fellows.  They are not happy with me, but they are listening.

“Hezbollah is wrong too.  That’s all I want to say.  I think there is wrong on all sides.”

Nothing.  No response.  Nothing.

“Should I leave now?” I ask.

Immediate response from the restaurant owner, and after he translates, from every man in the room.  “No, no.  Have a cup of coffee.  You are our friend.”

Jesus had a bigger picture in mind when he waited to come to save Lazarus.  Maybe our leaders do to.  I don’t know.  However, many innocent people are suffering and dying, and however powerful America is, we don’t have the power to raise the dead.  It would be good for all sides to remember that.  America might be the world’s only superpower, but her power is still limited.

Simply not That Simple

(Forgive us for shamelessly including pictures of our grandchildren on this site, but it is our site after all, and there is a point I'm trying to make, although I admit that I could probably do so without showing off our grandchildren.)

Emma is our four-year-old granddaughter; Brayden is her two-month-old brother.  Emma loves to read stories to Brayden.

We received the following email from our daughter, Leah.

“So today Emma is showing Brayden her ‘Who Loves Baby Book.’  Do you remember that book?  She holds up the book, showing Brayden the picture of her as a baby with Jory and me, and then she explains the picture to him. Next, she holds up the picture of Kim and Josh, Kim holding her and Josh looking on, and she explains that picture to Brayden. (Josh is our son and Kim his wife).  Next, she comes to the picture of Popa (that’s me) holding baby Emma.  Emma says, ‘This is Emma when I was a baby with Popa.  I loved him weally much when I was little.’  Then the next one is Nana (Sally, of course) and baby Emma, and Emma says, ‘This is Emma when I was a baby with Nana.  I weally like her.’”

I realize that this story, which means so much to Sally and me, means less to you because Emma and Brayden do not belong to you.  They are our grandchildren.  They belong to us.  We own them in the best sense of owning people, and they own us as well.  Lew Smedes, the wonderful writer, once pointed out that “you possess things, but you own people.  Things you can buy and sale, but not people.  People own each other for the long run.”

Almost 450 people are dead from the bombings in Lebanon and Northern Israel, countless others maimed.  Over 400 of the dead are Lebanese, fully one-third are children.  90% of those killed in Lebanon are civilians.  750,000 Lebanese are on the run, and most of these 750,000 are homeless, their homes destroyed in the bombing by Israel.  Nearly 40 of the dead are Israeli, two of these are Arab children killed by a Hezbollah rocket landing in Nazareth.  Half of the Israeli dead are soldiers, the rest civilians.  The people of Northern Israel live everyday in fear for their lives.  Add to the rockets the constant stream of rhetoric vowing the destruction of the State of Israel, and you can sympathize with their fear.

In Gaza, the destruction continues, though out of the limelight for now.  Hundreds are dead in Gaza, countless wounded, both physically and psychologically, and the tiny strip of land on the South and West has been blown back into the stone age.

In Iraq the dead are literally piling up in the streets, with no end in sight.

 

Enough already.  Enough.

Every death matters to somebody, because somebody owns every person who dies in the very same way that Sally and I own Emma and Brayden.  Each death is a tragedy to somebody, including the deaths of the soldiers who’s duty it is to die for their respective countries and causes.

Who is to blame?  We are all to blame, of course, and any attempt to cast blame more on one side than the other fails to convince us at the deepest level.  We know that we, the people, have chosen the way of war to settle disputes, the way of domination to achieve peace, tit for tat to keep some sort of score.  And deep down we also know that this does not please God, nor excuse the senseless killing, or the waste of resources coming with each explosion.

Enough already.  Enough.

We are the good guys?  Who are the bad guys?  It simply is not that simple, is it?  A Hezbollah militant triggers the firing of dozens of rockets into Israel, not knowing or caring where they land so long as they land among Israelis.  He is a bad guy.  That’s an easy call to make, isn’t it?  He is a bad guy.  An Israeli fighter pilot, uncontested in the air, fires a pair of missiles at a convoy of cars and vans heading north -- out of the war zone -- caring not who his missiles kill or maim as long as they kill or maim somebody.  He is a bad guy too, isn’t he?  The one is the enemy so he is easily labeled as a bad guy.  The other is a friend, so it’s painful to admit that his actions make him a bad guy too. 

Undoubtedly, someone who owns each of them would fight me over my labeling of either of them as “bad.”  “You don’t know him,” they’d argue.  “If you did, you’d never say he’s a bad guy.”

Maybe, maybe not, but I see a lot of men and women on both sides of this conflict doing bad things to each other and neither seems to see the other as having any good in them, only bad.  The labeling is consistent on both sides, as each sees the other in a different light than they see themselves, and of course, each sees themselves as the good guys and the others as the bad guys.  I just see guys and gals who are caught up in the hatred and bitterness that seems to have no end nor knows any bounds.

Enough already.  Enough.

It’s time for each of us to begin to own the other in the same way that we own family and friends.  That’s what Jesus had in mind when he ordered his followers to “love (own) their enemies.”

Personally, I have a tough time with that command of Christ.  Maybe you do too.  I have know idea what “loving your enemies” looks like in the real world.  The only example I have of this is the example of Jesus, of course, the fleshy, real Son of God who owned his enemies to death.

What that means in the real world is beyond me, and probably you too.  Although, I suspect we know more of what this means than we are willing to admit, even to ourselves.

Friday Prayers

“Every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart I will pray” (Negro Spiritual).

Let’s pray:

Mighty God, Author of Life and all that lives, we bless and praise you for the gift of this day, for each breath we draw, even those that are peppered with sighs and groans too faint to be noticed by any but you.  Receive the faith evidenced by our continual prayer as a gift given back to you, the One who initiates belief, even belief the size of a mustard seed. 

We believe, help our unbelief!

We believe that you spoke into the darkness and beckoned the light to shine, and shine the light did shine.  We believe you can speak again into this present darkness of terror and war and entice little beams of light to laser out to break hard hearts.  Break hard hearts, we pray, including and especially our own.  To those of us who have come to believe that the only way out of this present darkness is through faith in the machines of war and the power of muscle and might, reveal the way of steadfast words and stubborn wills that say and will a way that will not kill,  nor support ways that do.

We believe, help our unbelief!

We believe you called out a people and gave them the promise of your presence, and with them you entrusted the words of life and light, words empowered to bring justice to the widow, orphan and stranger, and wellbeing to the world.  Enliven these words in the hearts and minds of the sons and daughters of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob, Leah and Rachel.  Move the descendants of Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Amos away from a secular and godless realism that is blinding them to the divine ideals you set out for them in the teachings of Moses, the words of the Prophets, and the songs of the Psalm writers and singers.

We believe, help our unbelief!

We believe that you planted the divine seed into the ear of Mary, and in so doing you conceived the word that became flesh in the person of Jesus.  We believe this fleshy word was so infused with light and life that even a faithful touch on the hem of his garment produced healing and health.  Heal those in need of healing, the sick of body, heart and mind.  Heal those infected with hatred, bitterness and a passion for punishment.

We believe, help our unbelief!

We believe you raised Jesus from the dead and in so doing declared to the universe that death is never the final word in life.  Raise from death our faith in the way of Jesus as the way of life and light.  Lift our downcast eyes to see the vision of lion and lamb lying together in gentle repose.  Energize preachers to preach the way of the cross as the way out of the darkness of death and destruction now covering the world.  Give those with ears to hear and eyes to see the steadfast words to speak and the stubborn will to not lose heart when no one seems to be listening.

We believe, help our unbelief!

We believe that children have a special place in your spacious heart and that today your heart is breaking over the deaths and distress suffered by the children of the world.  We pray that you might open our eyes to see, really see, the images of mangled bodies, and tormented tiny eyes.  We pray that you will open our ears to hear, really hear, the beating of frightened little hearts, the muffled cries out of thin, quivering lips.  Let us see, let us hear and let us feel divine outrage at the callous disregard for the carnage now being carried out on all sides, and carried out with the blessing of evangelical Christians now in Washington lobbying for no relief for the suffering and no cessation of the violence.  God forgive them, and God help us all if we cannot feel God’s outrage at this baptism of darkness and death.

We believe, help our unbelief!

We believe that we can make a difference, that our puny effort at speaking words of light and life into the darkness is the Spirit’s work in us and in the world.  Mighty God, Author of Life, live in us and in our churches.

Amen!

Transfusion of Hope

The first piece of art is by Julius Schoor van Carolsfeld, a wood caver, depicting God "encouraging" the reluctant prophet.  The second is Rembrandt's interpretation of the dread prophetic task.  Both of these are public domain.

(A Lectionary is a listing of scripture readings for Christian worship.  Lectionary preachers use one or all of the given texts as the context of preaching.  In my early days at Southridge Reformed Church in Portage, Michigan, all I did was use the Lectionary.  I still look back on those days as some of my best days as a preacher.  Why?  Many reasons, but the main reason, I think, is because we felt like we were being chosen by the texts rather than the other way around.)

Here are the Lectionary texts for Sunday, July 23: Jeremiah 23:1-6; Psalm 23; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56; and Ephesians 2:11-22.

Listen to Jeremiah:

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD. The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness’” (Jeremiah 23:1-6).

In a day of terrorism and war, Jeremiah injected words of judgment into the collective arm of God’s people.  Jeremiah hated the job, by the way, complaining to God every step of the way.  God reminded his prophet that the prophetic word is a transfusion meant to keep hope alive.  What were those hope-sustaining words?  God had not abandoned them.  God was still active in their midst.  God was punishing the people for the failures of the “shepherds” of Judah – the leaders of the Southern Kingdom.  This punishment, as terrible as it was for those enduring the suffering and destruction, was necessary preparation for a restored and new type of kingdom to follow – a kingdom where “faithfulness and truth meet; justice and righteousness kiss” (Psalm 85:11 – last week’s Psalm)  A new kind of leader (shepherd) would be raised from the ashes, one who will do what is just and right in the land.  The people are encouraged to keep hope alive within the hearts of their children and grandchildren -- hope in God for this new type of shepherd.  God has not abandoned his people.  God is still active in our midst.  Punishment is preparation for peace and prosperity for all people.  Out of death and destruction God can create a just and righteous people, and with a just and righteous people leading the way, God can create a just and righteous world. 

Let’s hope so.

Sad Today

Sad today.

And I think God is sad too.

Sad because the crown of creation seems happy to have an excuse to kill one another.  Sad because the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve have not fallen very far from the tree.  Sad because being gods is more our pursuit than being God-like.

Sad because those dying in Afghanistan, Gaza, Israel, Iraq, and Lebanon did not choose the killing option, but are dying because a window of opportunity was opened and the only opportunity imagined by those with the power of choice was the opportunity to kill.  Sad because the window of opportunity included other options, but these are options that we no longer believe in because these options involve God’s intervention and we do not trust God to intervene.

Sad today.

And I think God is too.

Sad because the followers of Jesus who have been charged to lead the world are following the world instead.  Sad because the followers of Jesus really don’t believe that Jesus’ way will work in the real world.  Sad because many of the loudest voices speaking for Jesus are speaking words that Jesus never said and would never say because these words are words of death and not words of life.  Sad because followers of Jesus aren’t following Jesus.  Sad because if followers of Jesus followed Jesus, the world would follow along and there would be peace.

Sad today.

And I think God is sad too.

Sad because I know that the deaths of some are valued higher than the deaths of some others, because the lives of some are valued higher than the lives of some others.  Sad because we aren’t naming that for what it is because we don’t want to admit what it is – racism.

Sad today.

And I think God is sad too.

Sad because leaders in the world are able to see, and are willing to point out, the blind spots of others, but are unable to see, and are unwilling to receive the pointings of others toward, their own fatal flaws.  Sad to hear my own president, along with others that I respect and admire, speak words of criticism against nations who deserve to be criticized, without realizing that our own nation is one of them – and of course, our best friend in the Middle East is one of them too.  Sad because criticism that does not begin with self and friends falls on deaf ears of others, especially upon the ears of the enemy we are charged to love.

Sad today.

And I think God is sad too.

But, thank God, tomorrow is another day, and the window of opportunity will still be open.

A Jewel

(Please read the Article of the Week -- look to the left column of the blog page -- right under the cute kid.  Please, please, please!)

A group is here from Western Theological Seminary of Holland, Michigan, USA.  These folks are here to study Hebrew in a Moshav  located in the Judean Hills.  The daughter of one of the professors wanted a Jerusalem Cross necklace.  So we went shopping.  We shopped in the Old City.  We shopped in an Artist Colony near the Old City.  And we shopped in Ben Yehuda Square right in the heart of West Jerusalem.

His shop was about a block into the normally bustling Ben Yehuda Square marketplace.  Today, Sunday – sorry mom -- the square is not as busy as normal, but there are still a lot of people milling around.  The high school girl and I entered his shop.  At first we thought it was empty, no one there.  Then he came from around the corner.  He is Jewish.  He is old, and these days I use the word respectfully.  I also note that as I get older, old gets older.  He was old old – eighties old.  He immediately turned on all the lights that were built into and around the glass enclosed displays in his small shop.  What an affect light has!  The place sparkled.  Behind the main glass counter, on the wall, is a sign that declares the establishment to have been operating in Jerusalem since 1930.  That is significant information to those who know the history of this place.

We looked for a minute and then the young girl left.  As I was walking out the door, I said, “Sorry, she doesn’t see what she wants.”

“What does she want?”

“A Jerusalem Cross necklace.” I am a bit embarrassed to tell him this as this necklace has Crusader roots and so therefore is offensive to some Jews, and Muslims too, by the way.

“Oh,” he says, “I have them in the back.”  He rushes to the back of his store and opens this large safe that I can see tucked into a corner of the back room.  The back room reminds me a little of my parent’s grocery store in Boyden, Iowa.  There was a safe back there as well, as I recall.

He brought out several displays of pendants, rings, and bracelets of Christian symbols, or with Christian symbols on them -- crosses and the like.  There was a beautiful gold ring with the Hebrew letters of the name of Jesus engraved on the top.  It is our son's name as well – Joshua. 

“I don’t keep these out because it offends some of my Jewish customers.”

“I understand,” I say.  And I do.  We talk for a bit about that.  He is not wearing a kippa, the head covering of many Jewish males.  I note this and he shrugs, his shoulders going up, his eyebrows going along, his chin and the corners of his mouth going down.  “You a pastor,” he says – this was established in the course of our conversation -- “and where’s your white collar and gold cross?”  Ah yes, he has a point.  Our heads bob in mutual understanding.  Now we know a little more about each other and we also know that we are kindred spirits of a sort – the sort who do not like to wear their religion on their sleeves.  (No offense intended to collar wearing clergy.  In some places, and this is one of them, a collar is important.  I don’t wear one here because I’m not a church pastor here.  If I was, I might.  If I was Jewish I might wear a kippa too.)

I retrieve the young woman.  She and her mother come back to the store.  They find what they like.  The old salesman makes the new sale.

While he is packaging the purchase, the store fills up with the rest of our group.  He asks if we have been to the Israel Museum.  Sally and I have, but the rest of the group has not.  He is incredulous.  They must go there, he tells us.  “There is a model of Jerusalem during the time of Jesus.  It is marvelous.  They must go there.”  He can’t believe that people who live here can be so negligent as to not bring their guests to the Israel Museum.

Turning to me, he says, “There is a book there that you must buy, only 50 shekels.  It’s a very good buy, half price.”  I love these folks.  “I just finished it.  It is about the life of Jesus during the time of the Herods.  You would like it.”

I tell him that I will pick it up, read it, come back, and then he and I can discuss it over a cup of coffee.  “I’ll buy.”

“No, no, no.  You would be my guest.”

“Deal,” I say.

“You know,” he says, “Jesus lived under occupation.”

“I know.”

“The Romans,” he says, one eyebrow rising as he said it.

“I know.”

“Nothing much has changed, has it?  Still there is occupation here.”

“Yes,” I say, marveling at the direction this conversation has taken.

“But now,” he says, “it isn’t the Romans, is it?”

“No,” I say, “not the Romans.”

He shrugs.  I shrug.  Deal done.  We leave.  I’ll be back.  I need to hear more of what this man has to say.  I think maybe we all do.