I DON'T LIKE THE 'SINNER' PART

"For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God" -- Romans 3:23

              Richard Beck, author of the blog, "Experimental Theology," recently posted about what he believes is broken within progressive Christianity. Beck related the story that while hosting a much publicized progressive Christian event he was approached by a woman who inquired about the prayer rope he was wearing on his right wrist. "You recite the Jesus prayer on each knot," he explained, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."                                                                                         "Oh, I like that," the woman exclaimed. "But, I don't like the 'sinner' part; I'd leave that out." Beck says that is a classic progressive Christian response. We do not like to think of ourselves as "sinners." To be honest, I don't know anyone. including myself, who likes 'the sinner part.' In fact, I once met someone who asserted that he had never committed a sinful act in his life! Right. At the same time I don't know anyone who would deny that, what we can call sinful acts, exists in the world. Right and wrong, sin and righteousness, good and bad/evil, are all constructs of the human condition and that distinguishing rightful acts from those that are wrong in a given society is the result of a great moral awakening that happened thousands of years ago. Whether this “awakening” came about through the grace of God or in Platonic intellectual reasoning, we can all agree that some acts committed by human-beings can be labeled 'good,' while others are, most assuredly, 'bad' and, therefore, sinful, if not down right evil.

Animals act out of a sense of survival, thus they can strike against prey or enemy at will without scruples, shame or remorse. Emotion, as we humans understand emotion, doesn't even enter into the equation in the animal world. There, might makes right. We humans are, on the other hand, sentient beings aware that we possess a conscience and are, therefore, constrained from wonton acts of violence by the constructs of the social contracts we make within our civilized societies in recognition that we are all in this together. Still, it is apparent that among we humans are other humans who often choose to act outside such constraits; the news cycles are full of their acts some of which appear more animal than human. What is truly sad is that some seem to wear their depravity like a badge of honor.
Polish poet (and winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature) Wislawa Szymborsak called such roguish behavior the "sign of bestiality," conjuring up images of Rev. 13:11 regarding the "Mark of the Beast." Now, I'm not a psychologist, I am a theologist, but it doesn't take a theologian to understand the meaning of Gen. 4:8-14 where, upon having slain his brother Abel, Cain is given a 'mark' by God as a sign of recognition so that others would know who this man was. But, what was that mark?Scripture is rather vague on this making it open to much speculation which is why I would like to propose that such a "mark" is most apparent in those humans whose thinking is so impaired that they are incapable of making sound moral judgements. Most peculiar is that, while such persons may well know the difference between right and wrong, they lack a respect and a compassion for others and are, therefore, unable to respect the social contract and the moral boundaries placed upon each of us. Such roguish behavior is labeled either sociopathic or psychopatic and refers to a condition of total self-absorbtion that, in effect, says, "I can disregard you because you are nothing to me." Such lack of a moral compass justifies deviant anti-social behavior such as theft, assault, murder, sexual perversion and all mannder of moral depravity. It is an attitude that says, I am so much stronger than you and you can't stop me. In a world of beasts, “might makes right.”

One of the first questions posed to me as a young philosophy student at the University of Missouri was, "define 'freedom.'" Is it unrestrained behavior, or behavior tempered by law? It is a question that has been debated for thousands of years. There are those who would insist that freedom is unrestrained behavior and everyone else be damned. We are seeing some of that attitude on full display during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Wearing masks, social distancing, altering our lifestyle to limit social contact seem foreign in a socitey where people are "free" to do whatever they want, and yet, in the face of a dire medical emergency, they can be seen as reasonable limits to social contacts in an effort to get the virus under control. Still, such concerns are of little interest to those whose only interests are their own. However, no social contract founded on the moral principle of social obligation allows for that kind of freedom. In a society we all act for the good of the whole. No one in any societal setting is allowed to act as they please without expectation of some sort of reprisal. No one in a societal setting is allowed to live as if the only law that matters is their own. This was the moral awakening I alluded to earlier and has been true since the beginning of human communities and is the basis for what we call, civil-ization. To those who say the government cannot tell one what to do, I would quickly point out that it happens all the time. Paying taxes comes readily to mind as does speeding tickets and parking tickets. Required professional training and the payment of fees are required for certain professional licenses; and how about licensing and registering your car, or being required to maintain liability insurance? And, let's not forget the military draft. Though it no long existss Federal Law still requires 18-year old males to register. Should the country go to war the government has a ready base from which to call up, i.e., compel, all able-bodied male citizens to fight for the country.

Historically, a number of legal codes have guided societies around the globe compelling its citizens to be law-abiding. The first known attempt was done by the Sumerian king, Urukagina, who, around 2380 BCE, enacted laws to end the corruption that took advantage of the poor, orphaned and widowed. Other codes followed, the most famous being "Hammurabi's Law" in the 17th Century, BCE. The Law of Moses is codified in the Jewish Torah (the Old Testament). In Greece there was the Athenian Code of Draco, while Rome enacted "The Twelve Tables of Roman Law." Thus, moral codes to restrain our behavior so that we might live together in a peace that promotes happiness and the common good has been part of human history for a number of millenia.

Secularly, we say that those who transgress the law have committed a crime while, religiously, we say they have "sinned." "All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God," said the Apostle Paul. Still, few among us like to think of ourselves as, "sinners." I'd leave that part out.
If the word 'sin,' is troubling, then I suggest a reading of Paul Tillich's, "The Shaking of the Foundations" (1948) wherein Dr. Tillich confirms that this word, 'sin,' though familiar, remains a strange concept for we mortals to grasp. The professor asks, what exactly does this word, sin, signify? A violation of God's Law? Most certainly. Still, the word seems a strange and harsh condemnation conjuring up images of unrepentant souls burning in Hell for ever and ever. But, me, a sinner? I'd leave that part out.
As a solution, Dr. Tillich suggests that we moderns might consider replacing the word sin with another word -- separation -- a softer, less damning-sounding word, if you will, but nevertheless, one that implies alienation. If we stop to analyze Tillich's reasoning, I think we might all agree that an act considered "sinful" certainly signifies separation. In breaking the law, man-made or God's, we have separated ourselves from within our society; separated ourselves from within ourselves; and, most certainly, separated ourselves from the Ground of All Being.
To be separated from the very ground, purpose and meaning of our existence means, simply, that we are living a life where any over-arching distinction between right and wrong simply does not exist because the only law is the law perpetuated in the mind and soul of the individual so separated. To my mind this is the "sign of the Beast," mentioned in Genesis 1 by marking us as "separated out" from the spiritual presence of God. When Paul remarked that, "All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God," it was just another way of saying that all of us have experienced separation in the very depth of our lives at one time or another.
While animals are free to act wantonly, we humans must live within a constrained relationship with other humans who are, themselves, entitled to live free from wanton acts of violence. And if we define violence as any act that injures someone either physically or psychologically, then we can say that even an act of petty theft is violent in that it deprives another of their right to happiness and to feel secure in the possessions. Abuse, physical or emotional, is another form of deprivation towards another. In my view, this is the point of the Ten Commandments. Each one prohibits an injury, to either God, or to others and at their essence is the prohibition against selfishness and the urge to covet, especially to covet that which belongs to another. Even in disrespecting one's parents is to covet one's own selfishness.
If, then, sin is separation, what can be said of the word 'grace?' Grace means forgiveness and it is a word that goes to the very heart of Christianity (and the one that gets overlooked the most). We who call ourselves Christian, followers of Christ Jesus, are compelled by our faith to recognize that no life is irretrievable, even if that life has been one so depraved that it faces extinction in an execution chamber. A sign of our forgiveness towards such a person is our prayers for the salvation of his or her soul. For those not separated at a point of extinction, Tillich, again, offers a suggestion for how we might address this word, "grace." He says, if we have replaced 'sin' with the word, "separation," how about we replace 'grace' with the word, "reunion?"
Conscience aside, we humans are free to make choices. Biblically, we call this freedom to choose, 'Free Will." Thus, we are free to be either a warm-hearted human or a cold-blooded beast. Those of us of the Judeo-Christian heritage believe we are called to a true humanity in Jesus Christ via a transformation, the 'new being' (2 Cor. 5:17) that mirrors God's Holiness and Love towards all others; a love that calls us to embrace our neighbors -- the 'others' in our lives be they spouse, children, the stranger or immigrant, the neighbor next door or down the street -- and to live a life more concerned about their welfare than our own. Christians are called by Christ to live a life grounded in a reunion with that which is the meaning of all human existence. Man may be an animal by nature, but at we are animals called out of that nature by God into a "reunion" with what God intended humanity to be.

Consider, if you will, the Genesis story of God creating man "in his own image" (Gen. 1:27) as alluding to this "calling out" from nature. A call to be more than the 'beast' that covets only self-interest in order to survive; the beast who knows no law save his own and who makes no distinction between right and wrong because might makes right. To choose to continue to act like a beast -- to separate ourselves from others and, therefore, from God in roguish behavior -- is what can, deservedly, be called, "sin."
Addiction therapists tell us that the first step in recovery is the recognition that a problem exists. Those of us who assume to minister to others are called to address such problems, but from a spiritual perspective. We do not offer therapy. Leave that to the professionals. What we do offer is "reunion" in a recognition that in the course of human existence we make mistakes; sometimes, terrible, terrible mistakes; sometimes deeply irreversable mistakes. Such mistakes reflect the choices we make in life. Happiness or unhappiness is a choice. Love or hate is a choice. To be angry, resentful, or jealous is a choice. To covet what another has, simply to please ones self, is a choice. In recognizing that I am a sinner -- someone who has sinned, and am still sinning if only by having sinful thoughts -- is to acknowledge my separation from my fellow human beings and, ultimately, from God. But, such an acknowledgement is only the beginning. An intense struggle will insue as we move away from our addiction to sin and begin the journey to find our way out of our separateness. Evil does not let go of its prey easily.
Perhaps no other figure in the Bible illustrates the struggle towards reunion that the Apostle Paul, who wrote, "...all have lived (for) gratifying the cravings of the flesh; following its desires" (Eph. 2:1). His open honesty about his own battles with "the desires of the flesh," and how he struggled to do the right thing but ends up doing the wrong thing speaks to all of us. No one is perfect and in our imperfection we all make mistakes. For Paul, the joy of being liberated from the temptation of desire was found in the forgiveness he received from Jesus who opened his eyes to the redemptive possibilities of his own imperfection because redemption can only come from imperfection. Reunion with that which is the Ground and Meaning of all Existence as found in the life of one man, Jesus of Nazareth, seems, to me, to be the point of each of Paul's epistles.
So if you, like the lady who asked about the prayer bracelet worn by Richard Beck, don't like the "sinner part," then I suggest you try the "separation" part. A confession that admits we are separated from our Higher Power, if you will, is one that clamours for forgiveness. Forgiveness comes about through the Grace of God in an act of "reunion" with that Higher Power, an act that begins with holding out the hand that says, "Welcome," to all those society has rejected for their sinfullness.
Don't like the "sinner part?" Perhaps, then, you will like the "separation" part as we find our way back from such separation to reunion.

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

"So Moses said, 'I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight' " -- Exodus 3:3

    

     Look at the graphic above. What is it?  Can you describe it? Most certainly it is unusual and a marvel of graphic technology and a designer's imagination. Now, imagine that you, like Moses, saw such a sight off in the distance on the side of a mountain. Would you not, too, say, "I must see this marvelous sight." Still, having seen it, how would you describe it? My step-son said it was a "colorful rainbow donut." Moses called what he saw a "burning bush;" a bush that wasn't being consumed by what he described as "fire." But, was it a really a bush, or something only the word "bush" made sense of? Look, again, at the graphic and try to describe what you see. Even today, our modern minds, used to wonderous new discoveries, find it difficult to describe the indescribable? Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, standing on the surface of the Moon in 1969, described what he saw as "magnificent desolation." But, how does the desolation on the Moon differ from the desolation in the Wilderness of Israel, the Gobi Desert, Death Valley or the vast Sahara?  In such moments adequate words escape us.        God has been described as speaking in, or from, "a whirlwind" (Hos. 8:7, Job 38:1, Jer. 4:13 and Is. 66:15), but the ancients, like we moderns, spoke only in terms of what they could understand. In our sermons, lectures and theological writings we continue to search for the words that describe an encounter with the Holy? God is often described as a "Mystery," so how do you describe the mysterious? For starters, I suggest that we step outside the box to get beyond quick and literal interpretations of what we see. I believe that is precisely what we are being asked to do when God calls. Step outside of our dogmas and predisposed expectations for the ground we are walking on is Holy. Yes, Moses described his encounter as with a "burning bush," but was that, perhaps, the only way he could describe what he saw? Again, I ask, what do you see in the grapic above? I am not suggesting that this beautiful graphic represents the Holy, but I am suggesting that we be open to how God reaches out to us. Is it in the helping hand of a stranger; the comfort and understanding of a friend; the sudden realization that our lives are not what we had imagined it would be, or can we see it in a mysterious, whirling, twirling graphic? How do you describe that which is mystery?                                                                            Jesus said that understanding comes to those with "eyes to see and ears to hear" (Matt. 13:15). Such understanding requires us to think beyond what our eyes are telling us. We, too, long to see such a "marvelous sight" and to hear a voice say, "the ground you walk upon is holy." Such an encounter brings us into the Presence of God, just as it did for Moses. But to get there requires us to think outside the box of our predispositions and attitudes.                                           The problem of salvation is in the sanctified thinking that once saved they can continue to live their lives as before with all their prejudices and jealousies, pettiness and sin, just as they did before though, now, sanctified. The truth is, it doesn't work that way. Sanctification means to change one's heart; to become a 'New Creation' open to the Call of God to be a light to the whole world. Like the woman taken in adultery and about to be stoned to death (John 8:1-11) who was saved by the Presence of Jesus who told her to "Go, and sin no more." That is the point of salvation. Of course, the penalty for not following Christ's admonition to "go and sin no more" is death the next time the woman is brought to the stoning ground only to find that, this time, Jesus isn't there.                   To be confronted by the Presence of God, in whatever form or shape one is presented, requires us to think outside the box of our preconceptions and, thereafter, to walk humbly with the Great Mystery that surrounds us and moves within us and drives us to be vessels of His Glory to the world.  

ARE YOU LISTENING?

"(Elijah) said, 'Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.' And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a calm voice" -- 1 Kings 19:11-12

     Perhaps you've noticed that today there is a lot of talking going on. Talk radio, the 24-hour News cycle, blogs, tweets, and social networking media ramble on to dominate the lives of many. I, personally, know people who live on Facebook. How they manage to get things done as they are constantly checking their Facebook page is beyond me.

     All too often what's being said amounts to nothing -- at least nothing that is of any profit to a child of God. And, all too often, the voices spouting these "nothings" howl like the wind, disrupt like an earthquake, and spread like wildfire. Mostly, these voices criticize, divide, and destroy in their slander, gossip, and misinformation.

     In the scriptural passage that headlines this post, we are reminded that when God revealed Himself to Elijah, He was NOT in the wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire. We should not be looking for Him to be there, today, either. Noisy, nagging, negative voices are anthema to God because it prevents us from hearing His voice as he speaks to us and, today, we dearly need to hear Him.

    One of my favorite poems -- The Desiderata -- begins with the words, "Go placidly among the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence..." and reminds us to, "avoid loud and aggressive people for they are vexations to the soul."  I believe it is time to be silent and avoid the noise and listen to that calm voice that speaks to us through the rage.

     James wrote in his epistle that children of God should be slow to speak and swift to listen (James 1:19). Pretty good advice for this twenty-first century by reminding us to resist the urge to be talking (arguing?) all the time. Too often our words run so freely they only to point to how spiritually empty we are and how little we really care for the other. God calls us into serve to these 'others,' but we cannot serve when spirituallyempty.

     My prayer is, that as we go about our daily lives amidst all the clutter may we take time to pause and listen for the calming voice of God, the voice that never shouts, but speaks words of gentleness and kindness to touch our hearts.  Are you listening?

WHEN GOD CALLS WE ARE CALLED TO....WHAT?

"He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God!" -- Micah 6:8

     I believe that I have been called by God to minister in the Christian faith as a servant to our Lord Jesus Christ. I am, of course, not alone. We are all called to be servants of God to one degree or another. Those called into a pastoral ministry often struggle with the nature of this calling because we are frustrated in fulfilling our expectations of our by the corporate nature of the Church and its orthodoxy that requires a conformity that represses our true feelings, distorts our theology and brings on a depression that we have fallen short in our calling. It shouldn't be that way.

     Through two-thousand years of growth the Church Universal has become an institution and, like all institutions, members are required to submit to the dogmas and rituals of that institution. Clergy are judged by how well they conform to teaching the Church's dogma and admission is based on perceived orthodoxy to that dogma. I, myself, was denied admission to the Presbyterian ministry because the Head of my Presbytery concluded that I "wasn't ready" for the ministry and, thus, my admission to a seminary was canceled. My offense? I confessed that I had a "problem" with the Trinity. But, isn't seminary where such "problems" are worked out? The result was, that although I continued to pray vociferously, to read theologically, and mainitained what I would called a "private" religious faith, I left the Church and did not return for nearly thirty-five years.

     In 2010 I once more felt the pull of God calling me to join the ranks of those who advocate for Him. However, due to age and circumstance, pursuing a path to a traditional ordination wasn't feasable, so I took a very untraditional route. I found a progressive, non-denominational community online, one professing a distinctly liberal interpretation of scripture, and whose only criteria for membership was to "Do that which is right." I enrolled in online seminary work leading, eventually, to Masters degrees in Divinity and Sacred Theology. It took time, but the end result is that Iwas ordained a minister of the church. 

     As for the direction for my ministry, this blog has been the starting point. In calling this a REDEMPTIVE CHURCH, it expresses my belief that no human being is beyond salvation. "All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God," wrote the Apostle Paul (Romans 3:23), and is something we all should remember, especially when pointing fingers. As someone once told me, we should remember that when one finger is pointing away, three are pointing back. Redemption informs my reading of scriptures that God loves all of us and is always prepared to forgive our transgressions.  

     Within the next year, the Redemptive Church ministry will go beyond this blog to become a ministry geared towards those whom society has marginalized: the homeless whom we see everywhere on street corners begging for change or rummaging through trash bins seeking discards of clothing (and food?), and whose 'home' may be a cardboard box beneath a freeway. And, then, there are those whose background includes drug use or prison and who are, in some cases, "registered persons," often for years after they had paid their debt to society. Such marginalized individual are, all too often, viewed through unsympathetic eyes, and seen as pariahs who not only are objects of derision but have lost the right to participate in society all together. I know of churches in the Oklahoma City area that will not allow a convicted felon or a registered person to worship with them and who turn up their noses should a homeless vagrant wander in during Sunday service..
     However, in my view, taking care of the marginalized -- those forced to live in a prison of perpetual shame by a society that is either blind to their plight or they just don't care -- is in keeping with the ministry of Jesus (Matt. 25) and is, therefore, the impetus for the Redemptive Church.

     But, this ministry is not only directed at the marginalized. We shall endeavor to reach out to those whom retired Episcopal Bishop, John Shelby Spong calls, the "Church Alumni Association." Believers, like me, who left the church for one reason or another and long for a pathway back but who who have lost all comfort in that "Old Time Religion" as salvific. What they are waiting for is the New "Good News" as embodied in the story of the woman taken in adultery and about to stoned when Jesus said, "Let those of you without sin cast the first stone" (John 8:1-11). In Christ her past was forgiven when he said, "Go, and sin no more." A progressive look at scripture reveals a compassion that doesn't look back but looks to the future to help us address and understand the personal crises we, and our neighbors, face today and the impact those crises, if left undressed, have upon tomorrow. The Redemptive Church will be a place that practices a radical hospitality and welcomes all.

     That is my vision and the nature of my calling.  It also is my invitation to you as, together, we explore what it means to be called into a New Being as a "Child of God." It is a participatory calling, for God calls us into partnership with him. And, what does this call entail? He has told you, O Man, what is required of you. To do JUSTICE, to LOVE KINDNESS, and to WALK HUMBLY with your God. 

THE NEW "GOOD NEWS"

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the meek; to heal the brokenhearted; to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prisons to them that are bound (and) to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD" -- Isaiah 61.1

     As I meditated on these words from the Prophet Isaiah I couldn't help but wonder what actually is happening here? These are not vacuous words. They proclaim "good news!" Something was breaking into human history in this little sliver of the Lavant called, Israel, that was not the "old" news. The "old" news was that following the Law of Moses in behavior and diet produced salvation. But, tell that to a starving man! Tell that to the weak who are oppressed by the strong. Tell that to a wife thrown into poverty and prostitution in order to care for her children following the death of a husband. Tell that to those languishing in a prison cell while their families starve. No, this news was new "Good News." Jesus would make a similar proclamation at the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:19), and though they were echoed centuries apart, both have an existential message whose power transcends time and which is still valuable to us, today. 

     Looking at this passage in Isaiah let us start with the Good News for the meek. The Prophet preaches that meekness is a virtue. It is most visible in a humble attitude that expresses itself in a patient endurance, especially in the face of offense. It is the type of meekness that doesn't get riled at an insult or angry at a motorist who suddenly cuts in front of us. It is the spirit of "gentleness" toward, not only others, but most importantly, to ourselves such that the response to insult is to "turn the other cheek." Thus, a meek, humble, gentle person is one who embodies mercy and self-restraint; one who "suffers the little children," and finds ways to bring comfort to the downtrodden. Such an attitude is not weakness, although it is often seen in that vein. Meekness, gentleness, humility, mercy and self-restraint constitute a state of mind that is a choice we can make and is the sign of a truly meek human being. The new "Good News" is that God loves the meek; seeks their companionship and partnership. God loves the meek over the oppressively strong and arrogant which is why they -- the meek -- will inherit the earth. If there is one character trait we can ascribe to Jesus, it is that he was meek. 

     A broken heart can bring one to one's knees in feeling empty inside. It's companions are loneliness, helplessness, and depression. Those who suffer from a broken heart often feel as though there is nothing that can be done to fix it; especially, if the heartbreak is due to the death of a loved one. When my parents died, I went out to their grave sites the night after they were buried and there, in the darkness, I drove my arm down into the freshly piled dirt as far as I could hoping that, one last time, I might touch and hold on to them. I still grieve over the loss of a son. The hurt can be so great that tears turn into wails of anguish. Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). But, the new "Good News" is, there is comfort, there is healing and there is a refuge from the pain. 

     As we weather though this world-wide pandemic of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus there are many who have lost loved ones. There are millions of others who felt the loneliness of having to watch from afar as their loved one suffered through the illness. We have been locked down and felt the anxiety that there is no way to fix this thing and having jumped to an early "reopening" we are seeing this virus spread rapidly with the result being additional loss of life. It should give all of us pause to think that the United States of America, my home, leads the world in coronavirus infections and deaths. How could that be? Aren't we supposed to be better than that? And, that, in itself, is a source of disappointment, sorrow and heartbreak. That there are those among us who disregard the threat of this pandemic and arrogantly say that these deaths are the result of "underlying conditions" are callous human beings and another reason why Jesus wept and decried the "hypocrites." But the new "Good News" is, there is comfort, there is healing and refuge from the pain.

     Isaiah speaks of liberty for "the captives" and the opening of prisons. Many will find that a scary proclamation, but consider this: The United States  of America, this land of freedom is a world leader in criminal prosecutions and imprisonment, and ranks only behind Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia in the number of its citizens executed. "An eye for an eye," many say, but at what cost to our collective soul? Contrary to how its portrayed in any number of "cop shows" on television, our criminal justice system seems (emphases on seems) bent on criminalizing even the most minor of misbehavior. According to a recent study by the University of California/Irvine, 80% of all arrests and 80% of all criminal court dockets in America are for minor misdemeanors and more than half of all prisoners in state and federal penitentiaries have been convicted for low-level, non-violent crimes having received sentences that would have better served society had they been given supervised probation rather than incarceration.  

     Recently we have witnessed the deaths of a number of citizens of color that were suspected, at best, of committing a misdemeanor. Breonna Taylor was killed in her own home by police acting with a "No Knock" search warrant on a suspected "drug house," where nothing -- I repeat -- nothing was found. She was shot eight times by the police when her boyfriend, thinking their house was being broken into, fired at the officers. Yes, the police need the power to apprehend criminals and make arrests and in such a volatile environment, we give them guns to defend themselves and protect others. No one disputes that. However, to brutaly do so, to kill innocent people for minor -- or imagined -- offenses, especially against our neighbors of color, MUST come to an end. 

     Additionally, we must address the dumbest aspect of America's criminal justice system and that is when an offender, having served their time in jail or prison -- having paid one's debt to society -- is released to find that a criminal record is a stumbling block to a good job and making a decent living. Some states make a convicted felon ineligible for certain licenses and professions, not to mention the heinous (and, as far as I'm concerned, unconstitutional) notion of "disenfranchisement" whereby an offender losses all of their civil rights including the right to vote. 

     Every state in these United States requires anyone convicted of a sex offense, from a misdemeanor urinating in public to more severe felonies, to register with the state. Some states for a period of years, others for life. Is this justice or is it just another way of placing a "Scarlet Letter" on those we disapprove of? One has to ask, where does the injustice end? As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere." I could understand if this were some third world, back-water country led by despots embroiled in tribal warfare; where one is executed for adultery or homosexuality, or having their hands chopped of for theft, but this is the United States of America. Aren't we supposed to be the "light shining on a hill?" How could this happen here? But the new "Good News" is, there is a pathway out of this quagmire. There is comfort, there is healing and there is refuge from pain.

     Isaiah proclaimed this relief as the "acceptable year of the LORD." What is it and what makes it so acceptable? To understand this we must look back in time to when Moses was at Sinai conversing with God. This is during the Exodus and God is setting down his laws for the future of the Hebrew people. 

   Chapters 25 and 26 of the Book of Leviticus are, perhaps, the most often overlooked chapters in the Bible. Here God tells Moses that the Hebrews are to set aside one year every fifty years as a Sabbatical to God. During this year the fields remain dormant; crops neither reaped nor harvested (food must be stored during the previous three years); cattle and sheep are allowed to roam freely in the fields; friendships among the people are to be restored; no one shall be wronged; the stranger is to be welcomed; the widows and orphans cared for; prisoners are to be pardoned and freed; usury is forbidden and all debt is forgiven and lands lost to debt restored to their rightful owners; the sin of the nation shall be healed and individual sins forgiven. God called this His "Jubilee" year as a reminder, not only of His Covenant with the Hebrews as His Chosen People, but as a reminder that the land He has given them is His and they are nothing more than sojourners in that land; visitors to God (Lev. 25:23).

     Think on that for a moment. We exist through God's eternal Mercy. Would you not agree that here, then, is "Good News?" Most certainly. Isaiah, like the rams horn that announced its beginning, was announcing its arrival. Still, this only happens once every fifty years.

     Now, fast forward four-hundred years and Jesus standing in the synagogue and reading Isaiah 61 to the congregation. It wasn't time for a Jubilee. It had not been fifty years since the last one so for his hearers it was a nice reading from the Torah by this young rabbi, one of their own, reminding them of the prosperity and hope to come. But, what followed was something that would set the tone for his ministry and become the timeless lesson that remains with us today. Jesus says, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). 

     What was Jesus alluding to? Was he saying that he was the expected Messiah? No wonder many in Nazareth thought his words scandalous. How could this young, "whipper-snapper" be so bold as to proclaim the "acceptable year of the Lord?" Only the Temple priests could exercise such right. In a rage the people of Nazerath threw him out of the city (Lk. 4:29), literally ran him out of town, and he went and took refuge in Capernaum. But, the nagging question remains, what was Jesus really saying? What did he mean that this particular scriptural passage was being fulfilled? The message meant to impact those 1st-Century Jews would have, and has had, a profound impact on the faith we Christians claim as our mantel and is, what I describe as, the new Good News.

     Many biblical scholars and theologians have made the claim that in Luke 4 Jesus, in comparing himself with the prophet Isiah, is making the claim that he is the expected Messiah. I disagree, because I just cannot bring myself to see Jesus making any such claim about himself. To me it smacks of arrogance and narcissism. Such a claim seems wholly counter to an attitude of meekness and in Jesus we certainly see a meek, humble and gentle man. It is a meekness that does not make claims about oneself, but rather asks of another, "Who do you say that I am?" What, in affect, Jesus was claiming is that the Kingdom of God is not some future event, but that it has arrived; it is here, in our midst; prophecy has been fulfilled. And that is what life in this kingdom will be like? It is a kingdom where meekness is the primary sign of its existence. 

     Jesus said in Matthew 5... 

     "The meek shall inherit the earth," in sharp contrast to to those who believe that "might makes right," "only the strong survive," or that "the future belongs to those with the will to take it." 

    "Blessed are the poor in spirit," as opposed to those who claim a cloak of righteousness, make public their prayers and supplications, and are smug and self-assured that their form of righteousness "saves" them from damnation.

  "Blessed are the merciful," against those who take pleasure in another's misfortune; charge exorbitant fees and interest on debt; force widows and orphans into poverty or some form of indentured slavery all for their own advantage and profit.

  "Blessed are they that mourn, " and not a word to those who are callous to suffering.

     I don't have to recount the whole of the Be-attitudes for you to get the picture of what Jesus was saying to the synagogue congregants that "this scripture has been fulfilled." What he was saying, and what made Jesus' claim so scandalous was that he was rewriting and reinterpreting the Torah. How hypocritical, he was saying, to live sinfully  for forty-nine years and then, in the fiftieth year to live a life of harmony with God and neighbor where everything is forgiven and peace and love reigns. Scandalous? Indeed! 

    By invoking Isaiah 61 Jesus was, in affect, announcing that the Kingdom of God had arrived and at the center of this kingdom is God's "Jubilee;" not once every fifty years, but every day! Jesus was saying that every day should be sanctified to Him whom we address as "Father." Every day we are justified by our attitude of meekness. Everty day we confess that our inner-spirit is not what it should be and asking for strength to shore up this weakness. Every day is lived so that our empathy is focused to the needs of others such that we look after the poor, the widowed, the orphaned, the hungry, the thirsty, and the naked. Every day we seek justice for the persecuted and the imprisoned, especially for those imprisoned for minor offenses or debt. And, since in this kingdom God's Jubilee is a daily occurrence, our sinful lives are forgiven every day. 

     For the Jew, life was all about following the Law; the same Law handed down to Moses on Mt. Sinai centuries earlier. It was tradition and for the Jew, tradition is everything. Years later, the Apostle Paul would say that it isn't the Law that justifies, but faith in the risen Christ that assures of a life everlasting and that, too, is thetradition within the Christian church. But nowhere in Leviticus or Matthew or any of the Gospels do I find Jesus telling people to believe this way or that. I see him teaching us how to pray; healing the sick; comforting the grief-stricken; restoring the fallen sinner; resurrecting those whose souls are dead. But, in none of this does he say anything about how or what to believe. Have you ever noticed that the Be-attitudes is all about how to live and not what to believe, whereas the Christian Church for the last seventeen hundred years recites the Nicene Creed which tells us what to believe and not one word on how to live.

    The Kingdom of God is like a precious stone found in a field whereby a man goes and sells all his possessions to buy that field. It is a place of great joy, and what better joy than in God's Jubilee. That was the new "Good News" for Roman Palestine where one had to wait for fifty years for relief. Many would never make it. Although there were those who lived into old age, the average life expectancy in the 1st Century CE was 35. Few would make it to the fiftieth year. Jesus brought a new message: sanctify every day as God's Jubilee? Look at the advantages! To make it happen all you had to do was start living a life in which you loved God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might, and love your neighbor -- everyone, including the stranger -- as much as you love yourself. If you can do that, in a spirit of gentleness, kindness and humility, then the meek shall truly inherit the earth. Poverty will be overcome; the poor in spirit, knocked down by the burdens of the world, will be restored; the needy, the widow, the orphan, the sick and the dying will be cared for with tender mercy; the imprisoned will find justice, and the mournful will be comforted. 

     So, now, imagine, if you will, what the world would be like if we were, indeed, the "salt of the earth;" the "light of the world" which, like a city built on a hill, "cannot be hidden." What Jesus proclaimed, and what all Christians should confess and embrace is that the acceptable year of the Lord -- His Jubilee -- is here, right now, EVERY DAY! That is the meaning of the Kingdom of God. Celebrate it. Wow! Now that would, indeed, be new Good News.

   

THE REDEMPTIVE POSSIBILITIES OF IMPERFECTION

“Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear"  (Is. 59:2)

“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23)

     If there is one sentence in the Bible that expresses an absolute universal truth it is in this third chapter of Romans. "All have sinned," says the Apostle Paul. "All have fallen short of God's glory." "(God) makes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust," says the writer of Mattherw 5:45. No one has been born perfect or has lived a perfect life. Each of us has known the tugs of temptation to lust, to covet, to walk away from God, to dishonor our parents. Each of us has grown angry, hateful, revengeful, argumentative. We may pat ourselves on the back and say there are things we have not participated in, but there have been moments in each of our lives when we were not walking with God and to not walk with God is to be separated from God. Theologian Paul Tillich echoed the words of Isaiah that headline this post when he reminds us that "separation" from God is the very definition of "sin."

      Physical defects aside, each of us was born a perfect human child. However, each of us have our own unique story to tell regarding our growth and the cultural and emotional environment in which we were raised. Too much discipline, or the lack of it; love, or the lack of it; a value system that included a cultural emersion in politics and religion, or the lack of it, produced certain character traits that influenced who we would become as adolescents that would carry over into adulthood. The intense influence of "peer pressure" from those whose upbringing may have been totally different from our own cannot be discounted. For example, my former wife and I did not smoke and yet all our children's friends smoked. The result was that they, too, were smoking by the time they became young adults.

     I've known people who never allowed alcohol into their homes, yet their children grew up to become alcohol or drug addicts. No one is immune from heartache and tragedy. And that includes families of faith who have known the heartbreak of their teenage daughter telling them that she is pregnant, or a son calling them from a jail cell after having been arrested for rape or murder or some other crime. How many wives or husbands suffer under the heartache of a spouse who left them for another? In the midst of such turmoil and darkness parents, children and spouses cry out, "Where did I go wrong?" All of these very human encounters with the world serve to illustrate how truly imperfect we humans are. Nothing can be made right unless something has been made wrong.    

     "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death," the author of Proverbs wrote (14:12). And the Prophet Isaiah reminded us that, "We, like sheep, have all gone astray; we have turned -- every one -- to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (53:6). 

      I once met a man who made the amazing claim that he "had never done a wrong thing in his entire life." I have heard preachers declare that they have "always walked in righteousness," and, who hasn't heard those whose lies are so clearly evident yet are steadfast in their claim that they are not lying? 

    All of us, you and me, are perfectly born but we develop imperfectly. Whether it's biology, sociology or psychology, the vagaries of this life lead us astray and, yet, it is those same vagaraies that help us to find our way back to God. Once cast out of the metaphorical "Garden of Eden," humankind has spent eons trying to find its way back. And, I happen to think that is precisely how our God, who is the very Ground of our Being planned it. How can we find our way back to God if we are not at first lost? How can there be redemption if there is nothing to be redeemed from?

    "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own" (Phil. 3:22)

     I confess that I am not much of a fan of the Apostle Paul, although he intrigues me greatly; mostly because of his forthrightness. Paul is a sinner. He makes no bones of it. He freely admits that he has sinned and that he continues to sin. What that sin is never made clear, and has been the source of specultation for two-thousand years. What he says, in Romans 7:19, is that "the good I wish to do I don't do, but the bad that I do not wish to do, I do." Speculation on what the "bad" is, is irrelevant and a waste of time. The important thing is Paul presses on in his quest for righteousness in Christ, continually fighting against whatever demons plagued his soul in order to bring his message of the risen Christ to the world. Without struggle there can be no revival. Without imperfection there can be no redemption.

     And, where do we find such redemption? In church? Certainly the church should provide a nurturing environment for such redemption. Yet, I have known churches that do not welcome someone whose sins have become public. Other churches disallow participation in communion unless you are a member of that particular congregation. What about the community, can we find redemption there? Perhaps, however many communities across America have placed those convicted of certain misdemeanors or felonies on registries that ban them from housing or living in certain areas, and from even going to church without announcing their registered status, and even then they must receive the church's permission before they can worship. Separating people out, putting them in niches to be watched, prohibiting them from freely participating hardly seems the way to any kind of redemption. We are all sinners we must remind ourselves. Thinking that we are better than "that" person, whoever "that" person is, should give us all pause to rethink our belief and our relationship with our Lord.

      My maternal grandfather often said that redemption "is found on our knees." It is there, on our knees that we confess our wrongs, our mistakes, our sins. It is on our knees, where we are forgiven and where we promise to try -- and I emphasize 'try' -- to go forward and live a sin-free life through a reunion with our God. Jesus told the woman taken in adultery and about to be stoned to, "Go, and sin no more." What happened to her we do not know. But, I can tell you what will happen to the woman if she does sin again and is brought to the stoning ground and Jesus isn't there. Once redeemed from our sins we must not return to our sinful ways. We have been given a great gift when Jesus says, "Neither do I condemn you." It is this totality of love for the other that flows from God through Christ that restores us. This is at the core of the redemptive possibilities of imperfection.  

   But forgiveness requires us to forgive and forgiveness means we reach out and embrace the "other" whose only sin -- though it hurt us and offended us -- is that they, too, have been separated from God. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," the Apostle reminds us. We are all in need of redemption and there can be no redemption without imperfection and it is in the midst of our imperfection, our falleness, that we discover the love of God that leads us away from our imperfections and into the possibility of redemption. It comes when God offers us his hand; a hand that holds untold possibilities for  redemption to us all.

IN HIS FOOTSTEPS

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" - Micah 6:8

     To walk in the footsteps of Jesus; to humbly follow the path that God has laid out for us, often seems the most difficult of tasks. Even clergymen and women know the tug of temptation and, some, find it hard to resist. Why is this so?

     Well, first of all, to walk with Christ requires a commitment that places upon us certain obligations: the obligation to feed the hungry; clothe the naked; care for the poor, the widowed, the orphaned; to visit and have concern for the prisoner (Matt. 25). However, everyday we encounter those whose attitudes towards the poor, the naked, the hungry, the prisoner run counter to what Christ has called us to do. I often find myself at odds with this charge every time I come across a homeless person with a sign that says they are hungry while holding out their hand begging for change. I struggle with how often should I reach into my pocket to satisfy their need? If I ignore them does that make me an evil person? I try to comfort myself in the reality that I cannot stop on every street corner to give in this way. So I give what I can to the United Way, or the local soup kitchen, or food pantry, and when I can, I give of myself by working towards alleviating their misfortune.

    But, there are those who just don't care about them? What do we say to those who callously call such unfortunates lazy or drunkardly or addicts? To those who turn their backs on the needy and label those who were led into drug or alcohol addiction, or into a life of crime as "criminal" and deserving of their fate? How often do we hear references to certain parts of our cities as, "crime infested" or "drug laden," trigger words said to gain cheap political points without regard for the underlying social issues that produced such conditions. Do we call them "Evil?" I can't say if they are, in fact, evil, but it is evil, plain and simple. And, what is evil if nothing more than indifference? Indifferent to need, indifferent to solutions, indifferent to life. In my view, anyone who just stands around and watches evil is complicit in that evil. It is a conflict that has afflicted the world from the very beginning. After all, it was 'Evil' that tempted Eve, and it was 'Evil' who drove Cain to slay his brother, Abel, and we've only just gotten started with the Book of Genesis!

     To walk in the footsteps of Jesus means to commit ourselves and all of our energies to the creation (not just the ideal) of a world where love, peace and community prevails and where everyone (emphasis on EVERYONE) can live in an open, loving and tolerant environment in their pursuit of peace and happiness. To do God's Justice means to denounce hatred and division and to stand for that which is right and just for all. It means to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with all our brothers and sisters and to do so without regard to the color of their skin, or where they came from, or what they may believe, or their sexual orientation. This is true love and solidarity. In doing so God's justice is practiced in the home, in our schools, in our economic system, the criminal justice system, and in our political institutions. This is what it means to follow Christ who welcomed all: the tax collector, the Roman, the leper, the prostitute, the adulteress. This is what it means to follow Christ who told us to "suffer the little children" (Matt. 19:14), who forgave those who killed him, and who proclaimed to the thieves who were crucified with him that, "today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). 

     Jesus calls us to take up his cross (Matt. 16:24-26), and that, my friends, is a heavy burden. It means that we are to become engaged in the crises, the social suffering and in confrontation with all the evil forces set against us. I consider myself a man of faith; a man who believes in Jesus Christ and am, therefore, a man who calls himself a Christian. But what does that mean? Does it mean that I stand up in public as an advocate for God's Justice, to protest, to take on 'the system?'  It would seem so. Or, is it enough to get up Sunday morning, go to church, recite the creeds, support missionary service and give lip-service to a doctrine of faith that often has stood in opposition to all the things that the name, Jesus Christ, stands for, then leave the pew and go to the golf course? Or, is being a Christian, as theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, committed to "the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple gives up all and leaves his nets and follows him." (Bonhoeffer, 'The Cost of Discipleship').

     What does all that mean? It means, to me, that to call oneself a Christian, there is only one way to truly walk in His footsteps and that is to stoop down and pick up the cross, the same cross Christ took to his death at Golgotha, and to fearlessly walk hand-in-hand with Him into a future filled with uncertainty, yet filled with Hope that depends on us to create. Such hope is heard in a voice that softly whispers to us the words, "Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30, NASB).