Warning!: This isn't for Wimps
May 29, 2005
Mark 13:9-13
James 1:1-4
This is the summer of moral attacks. Haven’t you heard? Christian morals are under attack! The morality war is in full force. So, for the rest of this season of Pentecost, I thought it would be fitting to prepare ourselves with a deeper understanding of what it means to be a moral Christian. One of the small books of the New Testament is a letter attributed to an unknown James. This book focuses on the vibrancy of practical faith, active love and how to talk and walk a theologically sound moral, Christian life. It’s time to do some body building, community of First. And, I believe it’s time that those of us here on the left commit to working our muscles, both mind and body, in order that we might participate in what it means to be a Moral Christian.
The book of James begins with a series of proverb-like exhortations. And the one for today goes basically like this, “Consider trials nothing but joy because the testing of faith produces endurance.” The first thing to note, is this is not about God’s testing. God doesn’t test us. God creates, calls, and loves us. The proverb today is an exhortation to walk our talk, even when it’s not popular, safe, or filled with political or financial gain. Today’s exhortation is about the witness to the gospel when we are persecuted for talking and walking the Word of God. This is an admonition to those who talk but refuse to walk. This is about external persecution for talking and walking the vision of God’s Kin-dom.
These proverbs we’ll study over the next few weeks aren’t new mantras. It’s not a new way of looking at the world like we hear in other Scripture passages like, “Christ is the Bread of Life” or “Love is the greatest commandment”. But just as other proverbs function, it’s more of a state of affairs that everyone agrees upon. In both the gospel of Mark and the letter of James the Roman Empire under Nero’s leadership was persecuting Christians. This proverb comes from their very real sense of seeing, experiencing, hearing about the persecution of persons because of their Christian faith beliefs.
This ancient proverb comes from a society similar to the modern story of Nazi Germany. Where people were rounded up because of their faith beliefs and put to death by brutal civil power. As the people were being tortured and pushed to their limits, this proverbial statement from James reminds that this is nothing but joy because in spite of this current hell, we will endure. We will endure because God’s love endures forever and we are on our way to God as we stand for God. The Jews as well as many in the death camps questioned and refused allegiance to any God but Yahweh. Hitler couldn’t stand for that. He wanted to be god of this world.
So where are the persecuted of today? Do we have any relevant application for this proverb today? We must look and weigh all of the issues. What are those things that create huge passionate, emotional, personal, visceral reactions in our current society? Where do we see division, tempers, people who are out and people who are in? I can think of three examples.
The first example dates back to 2001 when three planes went into three American Icons, the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, killing thousands of people. We were devastated. We felt afraid, sick, worried about what tomorrow would bring. It was a phenomenal outburst of emotion. In 2001 when one suggested we don’t attack anyone. When one suggested we don’t go to war. When one suggested we didn’t want revenge. And, even today four years later while stuck with an occupation in Iraq the opponents who cry peace are called terrorists, anti-American, unpatriotic. Those cries of peace were accused of supporting the deaths of all those people. Those cries of peace were accused of causing this heinous crime to occur. To cry peace in 2001 and in some ways still today is likened to being part of Osama Bin Laden’s regime. Being a pacifist means standing in the midst of persecution.
Second, as direct fallout from 9-11, we have focused on closing our borders. Today, if you take a stand and cry out for migrants, poor people crossing our border to earn slave wages and work in extreme conditions to revolutionize the lives of their family, village and life as they know it at home, if you cry out on behalf of these migrants, who due to brutal civil programs are forced to sneak through our most deadly desert like criminals. Today, when you suggest that migrants are human beings, these days you are accused of supporting future terrorist activity. You are accused of supporting another Twin Tower, Pentagon, Pennsylvania attack or worse. You become a distant cousin supporting the work and efforts of fundamentalist Osama Bin Laden. Today standing with the migrants and defending their rights as human beings means standing in the midst of persecution.
Third, if we suggest that same sex couples marry, and have all rights guaranteed to heterosexual families, we are accused of destroying the morals of society and turning away from God. If we suggest that all families have health care, child care, social security benefits, hospital visitation by loved ones or that all people can own property together and get the city discount at Parks and Rec we are accused of supporting the demise of society, the loss of Christian values and widening the movement and efforts of evil. Today standing with the lgbt community and defending their rights as human beings means standing in the midst of persecution.
We find out through our history why it was so easy to persecute Christians. We have actual documents written by Clement of Rome in 35 AD. In his letters he describes the jealousy and envy that corrupted the pillars of the church creating much discord within the community. It was a picture of family betrayal and division, for when the soldiers came to arrest one Christian he would immediately betray others from within the community and all would be unjustly executed by brutal civil power. The faith community had become so embroiled in bitter debate about the hows and whens of community life, they saw one another as opponents instead of family. And, as opponents, when they were arrested, they made sure all were going down. Instead of looking out for the rights of the persecuted they were looking out for their own self interests. Their own version of things.
We believe in this country that it is a good thing to be a person of faith. Our society believes that going to church, synagogue or mosque is beneficial to being a productive US citizen. However, when our beliefs begin to push us to live out the compassionate tenets of our faith. Faith morals and values that teach us all to look out for those who are persecuted. Then, we are accused of bringing politics into the church. In the day of James and in the days following the death of Jesus during the first century, to disassociate your faith from your life was passive acceptance of persecution. The gospel of Mark and the book of James cry out to us today to stand up for the persecuted, and to avoid or deny them is the opposite of being a disciple. When we look back to Nazi Germany, we see people rounded up because they were people of faith, because they were anti-war, because they were religious, because they were gays and lesbians, because they were migrants. Those death camps were filled with people who were minorities and the persecuted. And, Hitler used the divisions in the human family to create jealousy and envy against these persecuted communities and subsequently brutally execute them for crimes of being. Where were our Christian morals?
Let’s make sure today we remember the first Christian moral. That we experience joy from our persecution for it brings endurance to the witness we bring of the gospel. We must not fear persecution but rather hold ourselves to the ever enduring God. We must believe we are all part of an enormous body of Christ that sees the gospel of love as the final solution. That we will not let go of that unified picture where all of God’s children are embraced in unconditional love. And, we will gather strength from the experience of standing against the world. That we might recognize all will see the gospel through the conviction of witness and the endurance of our presence. Let’s be those people of faith filled with the Christian moral of recognizing the persecuted and being willing to stand in their shoes standing against the world. Let’s be the Christians filled with enough morals to be the pacifist, to see the migrant, to accept all families. And, let’s put our faith into action in honor of James’ true understanding of our call as people of faith by spending time this Pentecost filling water stations out in the desert with Humane Borders, making migrant packs, riding along with Good Samaritan Patrol or attending a No More Deaths meeting. Let’s put our faith into action because of our Christian morals and write to those who represent us in government telling them we want to end the occupation of Iraq. Or get on line and find out when the next peaceful protest is against the occupation. And pray for those who are over there on the front lines every day. Let’s put our faith into action because of our Christian morals and talk to our families about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered families and people we know today and how we respect their families. Let’s volunteer for the Arizona Coalition for Fairness and use our gifts to defeat hate-filled legislation. And, as we do these things this summer and early fall, let’s recognize that our participation in standing with the persecuted is building our endurance to fight longer, harder, and with more passion for we’re doing so because of our Christian morals based on a God who is still speaking.
This is a summer where our Christian morals are under attack. I plan on being prepared to stand for my morals and values and walk the faith God calls me to. I hope our first lesson in Christian morals has you prepared to walk with me…Let’s pray.