I Will Obey My Special Orders

In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

In the political landscape of the United States, among the so-called Christian politicians and citizenry of all stripes and denominations, those who are supposed to hold the words of Jesus in the highest esteem and follow them, these words are not being demonstrated. We are now in the midst of tumultuous and contentious times where most everyone justifies selective unforgiveness, particularized hate and laser-focused malice towards those they believe “deserve it.”  A poison of hatred is now coursing through the arteries of the nation and is slowly killing our collective spirit. It has been present in our system for some time.  We have fooled ourselves into believing we’re still obeying Jesus by repeating his words, even as we rip into one another with unprecedented ferocity even to the point of justifying behavior we would “normally” call out as hateful or barbaric. 

Jesus did not want to be misunderstood, so he clarifies that we are not just to love those familiar to us and in agreement with us, but also and especially those we are inclined to hate and those we consider our enemies.  If we are to love declared enemies, how much more those who are compatriots with whom we strongly disagree?  For those who claim to follow Jesus, it’s time we stop imitating everyone else, and begin to imitate the One Whom we represent and Who has sent us to be salt and light in this world.  Our responses to those who vehemently oppose us on any issue must fall in line with the instructions of the Lord: Love them.  Pray for them. Greet them. Do good to them – striving for perfection in doing so. If they don’t reciprocate – it matters not. Our actions are not dictated by the actions or reactions of others.

In these times, I am reminded of the 2^nd General order of the United States Army which says, “I will obey my special orders and perform all of my duties in a military manner.”  When I am tempted to act like everybody else around me or in front of me on the screen, I remember this order and apply it to my service with my true Commander Above.  I must choose, time and time again, to obey my special orders – the instructions Jesus has presented to me with no conditions or caveats – and to perform my duty, always, in a manner that is pleasing to Him!  I am on a mission from God.  I must embrace that mission with more intensity than my enemies embrace theirs and continue on mission with more tenacity than my fiercest foe. That means loving them, seeking to do good towards them, and blessing them even as they seek to harm me.

This is not an easy mission. If it were, everyone would be doing it successfully.  I am recommitting myself to the ways of my Lord in dealing with the evils of our day. I must choose the discipline of love and forgiveness, expressed in words and actions.  I will seek to tell the truth, seasoned with love and I will strive to exercise self-control in engaging any opposition, even when I get hurt.  Jesus is not offering another plan. If I find myself acting like my enemy, chances are I’ve deserted my post, and joined a different Army.   

Are We There Yet?

Some days, events are so tumultuous and the world so wicked, one searches for the air evacuation in exasperation, asking, “How long, Oh Lord?”  Earlier this week, I read an account of a father and son from a nomadic people group were on a long journey.  Typical of kids everywhere, the son asked his dad, "Are we there yet?" The dad promptly replied, "We're never 'there' my child.  We're nomads." If that doesn't capture the essence of what our mindset should be like on this earthly sojourn as people of God, nothing does.

Hebrews 11:13 and the verses following says of people who have sojourned this planet during their lifetimes doing God’s work, yet never truly finding a place at which they feel at home, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.  People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.  If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

When the troubles of the world are so prevalent that you find yourself feeling as if you’re just not quite at home, remember that if you’re a Jesus follower, you’re not.  We press on through the struggles of life, comforted and energized by the knowledge that, by faith, there is a place being prepared for us –  a Grand and Glorious place - and we’re not there yet! Therefore Brothers, Sisters, and Friends - in faith - Press on! 

Keeping America Real

My Friends, I love the United States of America.  I believe in the American Way.  My family has either fought for America or donned a uniform and stood ready to do so in every generation of our family dating back to the Civil War.  My family has been tremendously blessed by America, in America, and we are forever grateful for the blessings of America that are ours.

Some recent Facebook exchanges I have observed and in which I have taken part, lead me to explain that when I address a tough American issue like the painting of the "n-word" on LeBron James' gate, or share my disgust at having been called that same word, yet again, I address it because I know America can do better. Please don't dismiss me, LeBron, or others who share with candor by spouting black crime statistics at us, telling us that we're lucky that we're not sitting in abject poverty or some other deflection of the issue of racial prejudice. Suffering around the world must be addressed, but that suffering does not make the racial belittling of others, regardless of well off they may be, anywhere acceptable.

America can be great even as its problems are brought to the light. When Americans discuss these problems, especially the ones dealing with race,it is not whining or playing the race card, or being a perpetual victim. Such discussion is an attempt to expose the truth so that we might together face the truth and overcome evil with good. I believe this is a good and helpful effort. Nevertheless, if such an effort is unacceptable, tell me. Then, the next time there's a high profile racial incident and you ask how I'm doing, I'll smile and say, "Fine, thank you!" Just know that if it comes to that, I'm being totally phony, completely spurious and absolutely insincere.

I believe we as Americans are better than safe superficiality, and I believe we have the ability to engage in respectful and meaningful dialogue that can encourage, heal and inspire.  I believe that sharing the personal impact of one of the most harmful, insulting, and degrading words in the English language can help to stem the casual use of that word and help to quench the stubborn resilience of the hate behind it. Of course, I've been wrong before.  Only time will tell.

Pressing on still with hope for a better day,
Sam.

Live Presidents (and the people who hate them)

Kathy Griffin's photo essay should give every American pause and cause us to do some serious reflection.  Her act and others akin to it, really aren't "left" or "right" issues. They reflect the development of a society where less people understand the concept of respect for themselves and for those who hold public office.

It seems that while everyone and their brothers,  sisters and cousins evokes Dr. King's name at the end of every cry for liberty and justice, they fail to incorporate the iron grasp he and other leaders in the movement had on the need to walk righteously and with dignity regardless of what one's adversary might be doing. It seems people want to lay claim to the premise of the message of justice without the substance of the power of the method of righteousness. Can you imagine an icon like Rosa Parks walking about with a representation of some prominent segregationist's bloodied head in her hands?

Would my classmates and I have refused to take a photo with an elected public official that we fully knew did not appreciate our presence in school during my early years of elementary education? Of course not.  She and we possessed too much dignity and respect for the cause and ourselves to stoop to such a level, understanding well the power of dignified, stubborn presence and intelligent engagement over the cloaked ignorance of those who would oppress.

Nevertheless, the disrespect we see now has been brewing for a while on both sides of the aisle.   President Bush had someone impale a likeness of his head on a spear and had someone else write a fictitious dramatization of him being assassinated.  President Obama had a picture of him over which was superimposed a sniper's sight, and had someone bellow "Liar!" during one of his State of the Union addresses. Talk show personalities all along the political spectrum feigned victimhood while out performing their victimizers in vitriolic tone and ugliness.

Dignity in our discourse is fading and respect is waning on many societal levels. Ms. K. Griffin's stunt is merely a pitiful demonstration of what appears to be our new normal.  For the last few administrations,  some Americans have been eager to declare where their loyalty isn't.  We'd better figure out for the sake of the stability of our Republic, where our dignity is.

Whose Side Are You Leaning On?

There are numerous Christians on most any point along the political spectrum who will confidently claim that their particular stance or perspective represents the voice of God.  I believe we need to proceed with caution before placing Jesus' agenda under ANY contemporary political banner. 

John 1:14 describes Jesus like this: "The Word became flesh and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth." "...grace and truth..." During his earthly sojourn, Jesus had the grace to approach the woman at the well, with the truth to gently, yet directly discuss her lifestyle that needed to change. He joyfully extended grace by dining with a greedy political henchman who collected taxes for "The Man" named Zacchaeus, yet His truth penetrated Zack's heart and caused him to repent and return all he had collected that was ill-gotten. Jesus called leaders of all stripes on the carpet, yet extended compassion to those who would repent. Brutal soldiers - the muscle of the state? Forgivable. Murderers and thieves? Forgivable. Terrorists - as in Saul of Tarsus - Forgivable. Sex offenders? They too, forgivable. 

No one who approached Jesus for forgiveness was rejected, but none remained as they were before. Jesus' agenda is both generous and demanding. It forgives all but demands all too. No one who truly encounters Him will remain unchanged, and whatever one's political agenda might be, a true encounter with Jesus will cause one to be less easily labeled but certainly more easily targeted - by every side,both "liberal" and "conservative"!

May we all embrace the humility to recognize our need for God's grace for ourselves as well as others and pray for the courage to apply His truth to our own lives.

Initial Reflections on My Last Days With Dad

Not quite one month ago, while I was sleeping, I received a call from the nursing home where my father was receiving care. Upon waking and noticing I had a message, I heard words I anticipated, but dreaded to actually receive.  A pleasant but strangely dispassionate voice informed me matter-of-factly that my father "was actively dying."  It was an odd choice of words and a message whose tone didn't sit well with me.  Fortunately, I had only missed the cal by  a few minutes, and informed the person who called to "actively" get Dad to the hospital.  What followed was a 3-week journey of walking with Dad to the finish line of his life.

I will share the details of the end of Dad's race in other posts. What I feel most compelled to share now are some of the issues I am processing and truths I grasped as Dad finished his race.

I learned that I needed to be proactive, aggressive and engaged in every aspect of Dad's care that was within my power.  I had to let the medical personnel caring for Dad know that I was present and involved, even if I was geographically far away, and I needed to be vocal and insistent regarding any issues I perceived or actually saw.  In caring for a loved one, silence is not a friend.

As one who does my best not to get angry, I saw several instances where anger was justified and needed to be unleashed.  Directed, purposeful anger is sometimes necessary, especially in long-term care and end-of-life situations. Some medical personnel will attempt to guilt, shame or intimidate you, and you must push back.  Over the course of Dad's care, had I not pushed back in a firm and unpleasant manner, he would have died several years ago.

Make the hard decisions and let your other family members know you are willing and prepared to do so.  When doctors come in with all those hard options no one wants to hear, just say, as I did, "I'm making the call."  It takes the pressure off of everyone else and lets them grieve and support as they are able, rather than being hindered by what the feel they cannot do.

Realize that communication is not limited to conversation.  Cherish even the glimmers of recognition, the instances of connection and the mere moments of lucidity.  If you have memories of loved expressed in the past, link the past to the present and communicate verbally to your loved one that you know they love you, you know they care and you are receiving the message loud and clear. Celebrate those tiny breakthroughs as the momentous moments they really are.

Let love abound and try with all your ability to understand when love is being expressed.  I realized the last year of my dad's life that it was love that motivated him to stay alive.  Just knowing we were there to be loved was all he needed to value his life.  As difficult and toilsome as his last days were, he lingered just to show us his love.  Whenever we voiced that we "got it" the joy and relief for him was evident. When love is all one has left and the bare bones expressions of it, one realizes the truth of the words attributed to the Apostle John, "If you love one another, it is enough!"  Brothers, sisters and friends, love your family and love one another. It is enough!

Ambassadors of Reconciliation - Duty Calls

Years ago, after beholding the wrath of a nation in conflict due to an unpopular verdict that found LA Police officers not guilty of the use of excessive force, citizen Rodney King asked his fellow Americans with tears, “Can we all get along?” Currently, our national community continues to be tested by persistent division, increasing intolerance and violence from all sides that present this question with renewed intensity.  We continue to witness shocking displays of hateful words, harmful actions and divisive declarations.  In spite of a history rich with calls for unity and pleas for togetherness, our society continues to struggle in everyday terms with the concept of being one nation indivisible.  Even the Church struggles with oneness in Christ, as Sunday Worship Services stubbornly remain representative of not only racial segregation, but political and social separateness as well.

Nevertheless, in spite of the painful realities of persistent divisiveness, the call remains for Christians to spread the Good News across all barriers and to live as ambassadors of consistent and unrelenting reconciliation.  As Christ followers we must remember the directives that are spelled out in the Scriptures for us and not be distracted by the traditions of our earthbound perspectives. The admonitions from God’s Word are numerous:

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”

“Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”

“We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;  that is, in Christ God was reconciling[c] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

To be effective ambassadors for racial reconciliation, we must rivet ourselves to the unchanging truth that reconciliation begins conceptually with God, requires inward transformation by God and calls for demonstrative action empowered by the Spirit of God.  For many years in the United Sates, we Christians have neglected to apply that truth and have instead sought to bring about change in our own strength and wisdom.  We have depended on the government or various movements to accomplish reconciliation for us. We have implemented numerous strategies to bring our people together across all types of dividing lines.  We have had it written into our founding documents.  We fought a Civil War to enforce it.  We wrote new laws when the War and the Constitution failed to bring about the degree of unity we sought.  We applied new educational emphases to help bring about togetherness, and spent a couple of decades teaching the world to sing about perfect harmony, and changing our own lives through peace, love and rock and roll.  Each of these actions accomplished some degree of change, but somehow, some way, flare ups of division, hatred and racial tension have found a way to dominate our national psyche, and sometimes they have infiltrated our churches and severely dampened our sense of hope and our resolve to be a reconciling people.  

With such painful setbacks in the face of significant yet uneven gains, should we continue the pursuit of peace, love and racial harmony? Absolutely.  But those of us who follow Christ must always remember Jesus’ directive, that if we are to bear His fruit, we must abide in Him.  Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”  We do not see the impact we desire to see in the area of racial unity, because we do not recognize it as a problem of the heart, with an ultimate spiritual solution.  We must acknowledge that our sinfulness and self-absorption prevents us as Christians from loving our brothers and sisters as we should, let alone our neighbors.  If we can’t model unity in our local churches with those whom the Bible says we are bound by “… one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all,” how can we preach unity to others? If we who are one by the power of the Holy Spirit and the victory of Jesus, cannot express that oneness in our community of faith in real life and real time, how can we expect the rest of the nation to experience it?  

We, those who love Jesus, must lead the way of reconciliation by living up to our calling as ambassadors, even though the process is challenging and the path, difficult.  We must “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and…run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…” Just as Jesus endured the pain and suffering of the Cross, we must endure the inconveniences that often accompany our efforts of reaching out to brothers, sisters and neighbors who are different.  We must risk the pain of misunderstanding and being misunderstood, while clothing ourselves with a humility that opens doors for second chances, forgiveness, and the building of trust. We must unflinchingly pursue the gains of reconciliation that come from a loving commitment to the pursuit of friendship no matter how rough the seas of relationship might be.  

We who follow Jesus must carry out the ministry of reconciliation by basing our every move on the transformation brought about by the Lord Who has saved us.  We must demonstrate our transformation by our example, and by our example, hold out the hope of transformation for others.  We must do this as individuals, as local churches and whole communities.  As ambassadors of Heaven, our true country, we must represent the One who sent us, not seeking to be comfortable, but seeking to be conformed to His image, committed to His purpose, engaged in the work of breaking down barriers of hatred and division by building bridges of love and unity in Jesus’ Name! Let those of us who belong to the household of God open the doors, step out in faith, reach out and apply ourselves to the worthy work of reconciliation.  Let us love our friends, love our enemies and make the love of Jesus’ known by sharing the wisdom of love wherever and whenever the foolishness of hate presents itself.  Let us commit ourselves to demonstrating the reality of Jesus being our peace by speaking words of peace and living lives of peace in a deeply troubled era.  Let us love boldly as peacemakers – the children of God - to walk the walk so that others may see what we do, and give God the glory by doing likewise! There is no other way!