The Prayer Room--11/09/14, 22nd Sunday After Pentecost.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I in 1914.  Four years later, on November 11, 1918, the Armistice at Compiègne went into effect at 11 AM, Paris time.  This signaled the end of the fighting in western Europe between Germany and the Allies, and for all intents and purposes was the end of first world war.  This day was later set aside, both by the USA and other countries, as a day to honor those who had served in the military.

As we come across Veteran's Day this year, 2014, the service and sacrifice of men and women in the armed forces is heavily on many of our minds.  The events that followed 9/11/01 shaped our country's history and spawned a new age of Veterans.  Instead of being a day when we often thought of World War II, Vietnam, or Korea, now we have young men and women who are returning from, and dying in, places like Iraq and Afghanistan.  Whether you agree with these wars or not, whether you agree with policies that helped bring them about or not, the uniform and the sacrifice of the American marine, soldier, sailor, airman, or coast guardsman should be revered and respected.  In the last year we've found out that not all of these men and women have been receiving the care that they should when they get home, and that should be something that all of our politicians should be desperate to fix.

So as we enter this week ahead, I invite you to join me in prayer for these men and women, and their families.  Let's not forget the sacrifice of those in the service now or those that came before.  I would like to mention both of my grandfathers, both long past from this earth:

Walter D. Carter, US Navy, World War II
Edward L. Moore, US Army, World War II

Also I'd like to mention some other friends and family who have served, or are currently serving:

Greg Pierce--US Navy, my uncle.
Jeff Newsom--US Air Force, Afghanistan.  Jeff was the best man at my wedding,
Greg Miller--US Army, Afghanistan.  The Millers are great friends of ours, and I remember Greg as just a little kid!  Here he is receiving the Purple Heart from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in 2011:

THANKSGIVINGS:

--That we live in a land where we are indeed free to practice our beliefs

--For the willingness of men and women to put their lives on the line for our country.

--For elections and the peaceful transition of power in our country.

CONCERNS AND PETITIONS:

--For veterans who are homeless or who otherwise are not receiving the kind of post action care that they need.

--For the families and loved ones of those who have been lost in recent military actions.

--For men and women in the American uniform still stationed throughout the world, many of whom will not spend the Holidays with their families and friends back home.

How To Tell If Your Religious Freedoms Are Under Attack

Some folks have really been making hay recently by trotting out an argument that religious freedoms in the United States are under attack from the vile, tyrannical federal government.  Of course, these people are pretty much all Christians, as I'm sure you'd be hard pressed to find all that many Americans that really care about the freedoms of religions other than theirs. So I decided to sit down and think critically about it, to really examine how religion works in our society and whether this claim has any merit to it.  The argument is out there, and those that are making it are loud, but is it really happening?

Let's start by examining some things that we might expect to happen if our government was attacking religious freedom, and ask if these things are happening.

1. Has the government taken an official stand for or against any particular religion?
One might expect that in an attack on religious freedoms, the government or agents of the government might take a stand for or against particular faiths.  For instance, if Christian freedoms were under attack, the federal government might make a law banning Christianity and it's practices, or they might issue a statement denouncing the faith as a whole.  Perhaps the government decides to officially endorse Hinduism over Christianity, or even atheism over Christianity.  Of course this hasn't happened and isn't happening.  The first amendment prohibits congress from making laws with respect to religion.

2. Can you go freely practice your religion where you want and when you want?
Throughout history governments that have attacked religious freedom have prohibited the free and open exercise of religion.  The Christian church in particular has had to operate underground in many places over the years.  So, can you go to whatever church you want, when you want without the government sanctioning or arresting you?  Sure you can.  I get up every Sunday and go to Community United Methodist Church.  Nobody prevents me from doing so.  There aren't cops sitting outside the church saying that I can't go in, or arresting me for wearing a cross necklace in public. Congress opens sessions with prayers, usually Christian, as do many government agencies throughout the country.  The Ten Commandments are emblazoned throughout the country.  The President proclaims a national day of prayer every year.  Do you honestly think those things would be happening if religion was under attack?

3. Do agents of the government try to intimidate you in religious settings?
Are there FBI agents sitting in your church parking lot giving you a cold stare from behind their official looking shades while you go into your church?  Do uniformed guards enter your church and watch from the back?  Do police officers take names or license plate numbers from people who go to church?  Maybe these things happen in the minds of black helicopter conspiracy theorists, but you know where they don't happen?  In the USA. Well I don't doubt that the government watches various Islamic elements, but if you see an FBI agent giving you the stink eye as you walk into your church, ward, or synagogue, snap a picture, send it to me, and we'll talk.

4. Are religious leaders thrown in jail or otherwise sanctioned for questioning the government?
Oh hey, we might have something here!  What about those pastors from Houston that had their sermons subpoenaed for being anti-gay?  Well, when you drill down into it, it's not that simple. These pastors had been part of a drive to collect signatures that would have required the city to put a controversial non-discrimination ordinance on the public ballot.  It was found that these signatures did not totally meet the City of Houston's requirements for a petition drive, and thus most of them were disqualified.  A lawsuit was filed against the city in regards to the disqualification of the signatures.  In the process of gathering evidence about the process of gathering signatures, the City of Houston subpoenaed the records that five pastors and their churches had in relation to the petition drive and the ordinance itself.  The original subpoenas did ask for sermons, but after they were served, the City itself agreed that they shouldn't have done that, and refiled the subpoenas without the request for sermons.  Later, after meeting with various clergy members, the mayor of Houston, an openly gay woman, agreed to withdraw the subpoenas altogether.  So, as you can see, this wasn't the City of Houston coming down on pastors for being anti-gay.  It was the City of Houston seeking to defend itself against a lawsuit brought by some of the people who had organized the petition drives. Imagine that.  Maybe next time the people who collect the signatures should dot all their "I's" and cross all their "T's".

Now, certainly throughout American history there have been various pastors and religious leaders who have engaged in acts of civil disobedience and been arrested for it.  Martin Luther King Jr comes immediately to mind.  However, what you don't see is pastors or religious leaders being arrested or fined for preaching various things from the pulpit or having legal gatherings in public.

5. Is the government attacking the central principles of your faith?
For Christians, the central ideas of the faith are that Jesus Christ was the son of God, that he died for the forgiveness of sins, and that he rose from the dead and ascended back into heaven.  Belief in this gives the Christian salvation through grace.  Has the government attacked any of these ideas?  Is there a law somewhere that says "Believing in Jesus Christ is a crime?"  Nope.  Again, if you have proof of any of these laws existing in the United States, pass it along and we'll talk.

Now of course, there could be MANY other things that might happen if the government was honestly attacking religion.  But come on, don't you think we'd at least see one of things above happening if it were a problem?  The United States has long been a place where people are left to do as they please, and that includes practicing religion as they please.

So what religious liberties are really being threatened then?  Where does the argument come from? Of course it's all about homosexuality.  There's a bee in many peoples' bonnets because of the striking down of gay marriage bans.  People think that they have a right to a religious belief that homosexuality is wrong and that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

They are right, of course.  They definitely have the right to believe that.  Churches even have a right to preach it if they so choose.  You can also believe in all sorts of other things like alien anal probes or the thought that one human being is inferior to another because of their gender or the color of their skin.  Nobody's going to throw you in jail for any of those beliefs.

The issue arises when you try to give a particular religious belief the force of law and use it to discriminate against others.  You can believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Your church is free to practice that as well.  What is generally being held (with the exception of the 6th circuit) is that you don't have a right to inject that belief into the government and use it as a tool to deny civil benefits to gay people and same sex couples.

Religion and government, they're different.  Church and state, they're separate.  Why is this so hard to understand?

Look.  The President is a Christian.  You may not think he is, but he is.  In fact, EVERY PRESIDENT has been a Christian of one flavor or another.  I couldn't put an exact number to it, but I bet that upwards of 90 percent of lawmakers and judges in this country are Christians. We LITERALLY run the place.  Which is just another reason why the argument that Christians are being discriminated against seems totally incoherent to me.

As a final thought, don't assume that all Christians think like you do.  The Bible was pro slavery in many places, we don't do that anymore.  Many, if not most denominations have done away with various teachings about women.  I'm proud that the United Methodist Church ordains women.  Many of us have also moved away from those ancient teachings on homosexuality as well.  Why do many Christians feel the need to cling to those few verses?

In the end, just because the government doesn't agree with you doesn't mean you're being discriminated against.  As Christian blogger and missiologist Benjamin L Corey puts it "One doesn’t become the victim of bullying when they’re told that they can’t make others the victim of bullying. That doesn’t even make sense." He also says: "Being persecuted for our faith is different than being persecuted because we’re acting like jerks."  I urge you to read some of his thoughts on the issue here
and here.

I hate to disappoint guys like Phil from that duck show, Rick Santorum, and apparently Eric Metaxas (who is a fantastic writer, but I just can't agree with him politically), but the Nazis aren't coming for you.  Barack Obama isn't going to show up on your doorstep in jackboots and a brown shirt and haul you off to jail.  It's sure fun to use fear as a weapon to drive your agenda though, isn't it?  Christians should know better.

Church and State: Can the Church Be Too Nationalistic?

What happens when the church and the government, or the church and political parties, become close bed fellows?  This is something that's been on my mind a lot over the last couple of weeks for two reasons.  First, those of us in the United States have elections coming up tomorrow, and second, I've been studying the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who was executed by the Nazis in 1945 for his role in a plot to kill Hitler as well as being openly against the way the Nazi party had co-opted the Christian Church in Germany.

This is a huge issue in today's United States, whether you like it or not.  You can be the most irreligious person on the planet, but if you live in the USA, the interaction between the Government, particularly political parties, and Christian churches has an effect on you.  You may or may not think it should be that way, but for now anyway, it is.  The question before us now is: can it go too far, or perhaps has it already gone too far?

Let me give you a little background on what I'm talking about with Bonhoeffer, the Nazis, and the German Church of the World War II era.  In March 1933, the German Reichstag passed what was known as the "Enabling Act," granting then Chancellor Adolf Hitler plenary powers over the German state.  With these powers in hand, he and the Nazi party dismantled the machinery of state and all political opposition.  They also went to work on the church in Germany.  In April of that year, various protestants in Germany (likely Nazi stooges) began to advocate for a "German National Church."  This came to pass over the summer as the machinery inside the German church became steadily Nazified.  There was even a broadcast plea from Hitler to German protestants calling on them to join this movement.  Eventually one of Hitler's cronies was installed as the head of this new church as the "Reichsbischof."  In late summer of 1933, the new "Protestant Reich Church" adopted the "Aryan Paragraph" which included tossing out any clergy with a drop of Jewish blood or any clergy who was married to anyone with a drop of Jewish blood. The seminaries in Germany began cranking out pro-Nazi clerics, and with all of this in place Hitler and the Nazis had full control over the German church.  Throughout the Third Reich era it would be used as a propaganda arm for the Nazi government, an indoctrination center, and a tool to further eliminate Jews from German society.

Not all German Christians were thrilled with this.  One of these was a young pastor and theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Bonhoeffer and others broke away from the Protestant Reich Church and formed what would be known as the "Confessing Church."  These Christians contended that any government regime, including a dictatorship, had limits when it came to the church.   They renounced the Reich Church and their interpretation of Christianity.  This was of course, illegal. Bonhoeffer and others were persecuted for this, and some were even sent to concentration camps, including Bonhoeffer himself.  Bonhoeffer had also become a courier with the German resistance and was allegedly linked to Operation Valkyrie.  This was discovered and he was eventually executed by hanging at Flossenburg concentration camp in April 1945, just two weeks before the camp was liberated by Allied forces.  His body was never found.

Now I'm not saying that Christianity in the US is becoming Nazified.  The example of the German Church in the Third Reich is obviously an extreme case, but I am concerned that we are seeing elements of the politicizing of churches in our country.  This is problematic on a couple of levels. First off, the United States Constitution specifically set up the government as a separate entity from any religious organization.  Some conservative Christians disagree with this, but it's true.  The word "God" does not exist anywhere in the US Constitution.  However, the use of religious litmus tests for candidates and making laws about the establishment of religion are expressly prohibited.

As a part of this, churches and religious organizations in the USA are allowed to operate as charitable organizations that pay no taxes to federal, state, or local governments.  They are meant to be apolitical entities.  Questions have arisen in recent years as several churches have not only taken high profile positions on specific proposed laws, but they have also given church (tax free) money to interest groups fighting for or against these laws and have also began to advocate for or against these laws from the pulpit.  Now, this might be one thing if churches were out advocating for the poor, the homeless, the sick, and the dying, you know like Jesus did, but instead much of the church in America seems overly preoccupied with LGBTQ people.

This came to a head in Houston, Texas, in recent weeks.  Some churches in Houston had been gathering signatures that would require the city to put a controversial non-discrimination law on the ballot for public referendum.  The mayor of Houston, an openly gay woman, met with clergy members and came to believe that some pastors were advocating against the law from the pulpit. Five pastors, 4 men and 1 woman, had their recent sermons subpoenaed by the city as they sought to determine if this had actually taken place.  There was an immediate outcry against this by religious groups and conservatives, and the mayor decided to recall the subpoenas.  I will admit that even as a very liberal minded Christian, this made me a bit uncomfortable, and perhaps seemed a bit heavy handed.

However, this is an interesting test case for our nation in which churches have became more and more politically orientated, particularly in Conservative political circles.  I'm not trying to pick on conservatives here, but let's face it, you don't really hear people wondering if the American church is going too far in advocating liberal policies, do you?

Should the church have any role in politics?  Should the church somehow function as the "conscience of the state?" If it should, should there be limits?  Where should the line be drawn on these limits? Can our churches become too nationalistic?  These are important questions that we will continue to face in the years ahead, and as I mentioned earlier, the way these questions are answered will affect both religious and nonreligious people alike.

In order to illustrate my opinion here, I turn again to Bonhoeffer.  In 1933, in the midst of everything that was happening in Germany, he wrote an essay entitled "The Church and the Jewish Question." In this essay, he argued that the church should indeed be the conscience of the state, and he described three ways that the church can interact with the state.  I'll list them here as illustrated in Eric Metaxas' book "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy."

1. The Church can ask the state whether it's actions are legitimate and in accordance with it's character as the state, i.e. it can throw the state back on it's responsibilities.  

2. It can aid the victims of state action.  The church has an unconditional obligation to the victims of any ordering of society, even if they do not belong to the Christian community. "Do good to all people."

3. The third possibility is not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to jam a spoke in the wheel itself [to stop the state from perpetuating evil]. Such actions would be direct political actions.

These things are in line with what Bonhoeffer believed about Christianity.  He believed that as Christians, we are required to speak out for those who cannot speak.  He believed that this was the very least that the Bible requires of us.

My opinion is based on these three assertions and the belief that Christ requires me to speak out for those who cannot speak, for those who do not carry the power to influence government, those who cannot escape the crushing wheel that Bonhoeffer speaks of.  Yes, the church has a role in politics. Yes, the church should function as a conscience of the state.  However, yes there should be limits. Churches should not be aiding specific agendas of political parties.  The church should not be pushing the perceived moral absolutes of the ultra right wing on people whether they are Christians or not.  This was not the concern of Christ.  The role of the church is to advocate, and advocate strongly, for the those whom Christ advocated for: the poor, the needy, the sick, and the dying.  These people are becoming more and more ground down under the wheel of the moneyed elite and their powerful political interests in our country, and for the most part, the church is not even asking if that's the right thing to do or aiding those who are damaged by our system.  I would prefer to see Christians drive a spoke into the wheel of the political machine myself, and that's how I vote.  Instead much of the Christian church seems to be caught up in advocating against certain ideals that don't fit their archaic version of morality. much of which Jesus himself had nothing to say about.  In my mind, we've become distracted from the real purpose.  Much of what passes as "Christian advocacy" these days is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Republican party and their ultra right moral agenda. People are not asking what Jesus might say or think, they're too busy buying up books from the Duck Dynasty guys, who seem to be prophets and spokesmen for a new generation of Christians who care about nothing more than money, fame, and strict adherence to an Old Testament morality.

This is all leading to a national, American brand of Christianity, and that frightens me.  We have begun to cloak the cross of Christ and the Bible in the Stars and Stripes.  Want proof?  Click here.
This process attempts to connect our history specifically to Christianity, which is exactly the opposite of the secular republic set up by the Constitution.  This leads to Americans feeling superior to other Christians and non Christians alike and is resulting in negative and un-Christlike behaviors towards many people including poor people, gay people, and Muslims.  A couple of months back, one of the Duck Dynasty guys was on Fox News saying that ISIS members should be converted to Christianity or killed.  Many Christian circles have become hotbeds for anti-Muslim sentiment, and in this climate, I fear that we are only one terrorist incident away from having that sentiment explode into some very nasty outcomes, outcomes that might be sanctioned and advocated for by many Christians in our country.  In the end, is it all that different from earlier times?  Is wrapping the Bible in the Stars and Stripes really any different that wrapping it in the Swastika?

THE GERMAN PATRIOT'S BIBLE connects the teaching of the Bible, the history of the Reich, and the life of every German. Discover Biblical truths that formed the foundation of the Reich's values and how they apply to today's culture. Experience spiritual milestones in Reich history with beautiful, full-color insert pages. Examine the intersection between Reich history and the Christian faith through unique articles spotlighting the people and events that have made the Reich great.

Does reading that make you even a little bit uncomfortable?  Does that sound like something the Nazi propaganda machine might have put it out?  Does it sound like a Bible for the Protestant Reich Church?  All I did was take the paragraph on the "American Patriot Bible" and switch the word "American" with "Reich" or "German."  It makes me sick to my stomach.

That is what I have to say on all of this.  You may disagree or agree with me.  You may think I'm flat out crazy and reading too much into things, but the reality is that these questions and issues will continue to face our country for awhile to come.  They WILL have an affect on all of us no matter which faith we belong to, and even those of us who don't belong to any faith.  These questions are worth asking and it's a conversation worth having.  I've told you what I think, what do YOU think?

The Prayer Room--11/02/14, 21st Sunday After Pentecost; All Saints Sunday

"For once you were in darkness, but now in the Lord you are light.  Live as Children of Light--for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true."--Ephesians 5: 8-9

Greetings and peace to everyone in the name of Christ!  I really enjoyed doing the "Prayer Room" post from last week and I got some notes on Twitter from a couple of folks who liked it as well.  So here we are again, coming to the end of another Sunday but the beginning of another week in which we all have joys, thanksgivings, struggles, and shortcomings.  I invite you to join me in turning all of theses over to the love of Jesus.

I've had two things that have been on my mind in recent days.  The first of which I'm sure has been on many of your minds as well.  This is the election coming up on Tuesday for those of us in the United States.  I've been thinking about it even more as I've been reading and studying about Dietrich Bonhoeffer and how Germany, under control of the Nazi Party, basically co-opted the church in Germany in the 1930s.  This has really led me to ponder the relationship between church and state. There will be more about that on the blog in the coming days, but for now, let's just keep the country in mind as we go to the polls on Tuesday.

The other thing that's been on my mind is terminal illness.  Specifically I've been reading about this young woman in Oregon, Brittany Maynard, who had decided to end her own life after being diagnosed with incurable brain cancer.  Today her life ended.  She had been working as an advocate for the "right to die" movement and her story had been controversial in some circles.  Even now, when it's all over, there are people who are judging this woman, mostly on religious grounds, saying life "isn't meant to be ended on our own terms."

Look, I'm not a theologian, nor do I pretend to know the mind of God on this or any other issue, but I can't imagine being in the place that this young woman was.  Personally, I fear death to such an extent that I don't think I could ever do something like that, but I really can't argue with a person who wishes to pass peacefully and spare themselves the final, horrible stages of an illness like that. Whatever our positions are on this issue, the truth is this:  the decision was hers alone to make.  I believe that what Christ would have us do in regards to this situation is to have compassion for her and for her family and friends as they cope with the loss of their loved one.  That should be something that we can all get behind.

So with those things being said, here is some of what I'll be bringing to God in the coming week:

THANKSGIVINGS
--For the changing of seasons. In the beauty of autumn, we can start to grasp the cycle of life and renewal that takes place every spring.

--In honor of All Saints Day, let us give thanks for the men and women of faith who have gone before us and helped shape our lives in Christ.

--For the right to cast a vote in our republic.

CONCERNS AND PETITIONS
--For our country as we go to the polls, that somehow, when all of this is done, that the people who represent us can find a way to work together for the common good and overcome petty, partisan politics.

--For Brittany Maynard, may she rest in peace, and for her friends and family as they go through this time of loss.

--For all those who are terminally ill, they may find comfort and peace in their lives, and for their families as they struggle side by side with them.

--For the people who continue to suffer from the Ebola virus, and for the men and women who take it upon themselves to treat them.

--For charity and aid workers who will be working throughout the holiday season to help others in need.

"I know that I shall one day see the goodness of the Lord, when God will wipe away our tears and death will be no more.  I know the my redeemer lives, that I shall rise again."--Scott Soper, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives."

"Father, guide us this week and help us live as Children of Light in a world of darkness. Make us imitators of Christ and hear us as we pray as he taught us:

Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.

Amen."

Book Review: The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg

Trying to find books about the emergent view of Christianity on a book store shelf in Utah can be a tricky proposition.  There isn't much there.  You can find plenty of Mark Driscoll or Duck Dynasty and their take on the faith, but don't bother looking for Brian McLaren or Marcus Borg.  That's why I was a little surprised to find this title and my local store a few weeks ago.  I gave it a shot and wasn't disappointed.

It's a challenging book, to be sure.  Some of Borg's propositions are very challenging to someone like me who was raised in a very orthodox American Christian home.  If you read my blog regularly, you'll know that I'm hardly a stickler for traditional doctrine or dogma, but Borg ends up more leftist than myself in some respect.  Of course, that's a bit of an injustice to Borg to label him that way, but that's really the best way I can think to describe him.  It might be more accurate to say that he's even more comfortable with things which sit outside of the realm of current Christian orthodoxy than I am. That's not a bad thing either.  In this book Borg is out to challenge what we think is traditional Christianity, and even though I didn't always agree with him, his points were always well thought out and gave me a lot to chew on.

He cuts right to the heart of the matter early in the book.  Borg asks "what does faith mean?" "Does God exist?"  "How should we view the Bible?" Also: "How should we view Jesus?"  These issues around faith, God, the Bible, and Christ are the foundational beliefs of Christianity.  I could spend multiple blog entries talking about his views on all of these things, but we'll suffice it to say that in his mind, a lot of what we think is traditional, orthodox Christianity is really fairly new, coming about in the last 200-300 years as a response to the Enlightenment.  Borg often advocates for what he sees as more accepting, and maybe a bit more of a mystical, pre-enlightenment view of these issues, and for the most part, I like that.  I enjoy exploring the more mystical side of life and faith.

The second half of the book talks about how now, after reconsidering these basic aspects of Christianity, we should live our lives as Christians.  He sees it as a two sided coin.  The first is love God with all your heart and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself.  This can entail disciplined practice both within the church and as an individual, but it also involves a greater sense of social justice, advocating the view that Christians need to do more to stand for the poor and marginalized and also to stand against the systems of power and government in the world.  He sees these systems as rigged in favor of the already powerful and wealthy, and it's hard to argue with him.

I highly suggest this book, especially for two groups of people.  First, for people who aren't Christians that think that Christianity today only exists on the far right of the political spectrum.  This book shows that it's just not the case.  I would also recommend it for Christians who are interested in reading more in depth about their faith, and perhaps exploring different disciplines to help them deepen their faith.

The Prayer Room: 10/26/14, 20th Sunday After Pentecost

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.  He alone is my rock and salvation, my fortress;  I shall never be shaken.--Psalm 62:1-2 (NRSV)

This morning in our class we talked about how when Dietrich Bonhoeffer visited Rome he saw men, women, and people of all colors and races come together as lay people and members of religious orders.  This encouraged him to really think of the Church as a universal entity.  There he was, a German Lutheran, finding unity with Roman Catholics.  

It inspired me to really think along those same lines.  So I decided that I would reach out to all of you with the offer of prayer.  On Sundays I'll write an entry called The Prayer Room, where I'll list some of my own thanksgivings and concerns about the world as a whole.  I may also list some personal things.  I'll be praying for each of these things throughout the week, and I invite each of you, no matter your religious affiliation, to join me in praying about these things.  If you have something that you would like to add to The Prayer Room, feel free to leave a comment, drop me an email at brandonlbc@gmail.com, or contact me on Twitter @BrandonLBC.  I'll be happy to add it to the next entry of the Prayer Room and pray for your concern throughout the week.  If you would like me to pray for you privately, I'm more than happy to do that as well, just use the email or send me a DM on Twitter.

There's only one rule to this.  I don't want it to turn into some political thing or theological argument, especially with elections pending in our nation.  Let's keep it respectful, positive, and apolitical.  So I'm NOT looking for stuff like "Let's pray that such and such party wins the elections."  I truly believe that the church, as a community, is made up of people with different opinions on a range of issues.  However, when we realize that we are one in Christ, we realize that what unites us is truly bigger than what divides us.

So with all that being said, here is what's on my mind for the coming week.

THANKSGIVINGS

--For the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and all of those who work tirelessly, and sometimes give their lives, to bring the love of Christ into the world.

--For organizations like food banks and the Salvation Army, who will be working throughout the holidays and winter months to give people food and necessities, as well as to provide a Christmas for many children of folks who can't afford it.

--For the ability, for those of us in the USA and other countries, to express our belief (or lack of belief) freely without fear of government sanction.

CONCERNS AND PETITIONS

--For those who are not free to worship or express their belief (or lack of belief) freely.

--For the victims and families of the victims of the latest school shooting in the United States, which happened last Friday in Marysville, Washington.  Also let us not forget the family of the young man who committed the act.

--For the victims and all those affected by the shootings in and around the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, especially the family and friends of  Nathan Cirillo, the Canadian Soldier killed in this event, pictured here with his 5 year old son Marcus.

--For all those affected by the Ebola virus, as well as the brave doctors, nurses, and others who risk their own health and lives to help and care for the sick and dying.

--For the safety of children who will be participating in Halloween activities during the coming week.

--For people, who due to injury, disease, or disability, are no longer able to perform their jobs and must rely on others for assistance,

--For American and allied service personnel and their families, and that the current armed conflicts can be resolved with the least amount of violence done to the least amount of people.

--For people who do not have basic essentials of food and shelter heading into the winter months.

"Do not be afraid, I am with you. I have called you each by name.  Come and follow me, I will bring you home.  I love you and you are mine."

--Dear Lord, thank you for the week you have given us, and help us to seek to better the world around us through your son, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray:

  Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
[For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.]

Amen.

The God of Liberation and the Ten Commandments

Moses said to the people "Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, because the Lord brought you out from there by the strength of his hand."--Exodus 13:3a (NRSV)

How often do we forget that one of the main themes of the Bible as a whole and the life of Christ is LIBERATION?  For Jesus, liberation was about freeing us from sin and excessive self interest and moving us into a place where we can live his Kingdom on earth, perhaps even bringing freedom and liberation to others.  Many of the great abolitionists of the 18th and 19th centuries were men and women of faith, folks like William Wilberforce.

The thread of liberation runs through the Old Testament as well.  Nowhere is it more pronounced than in the Exodus narrative where Moses leads the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.  This occasion is still marked by Jewish people all of these years later in Passover meals and traditions.  This was also an important aspect of the life of Christ.  It was at Passover that he sat with his friends for the last time and instituted the new covenant of Communion.

The fact that God stands with the slave and raises the oppressed is a part of the Biblical and Christian narrative that is often downplayed or totally forgotten in modern times.  We're all slaves to different things, be it money, power, or social position.  Then of course there is the very real situation that many people on this planet still live in cultures that keep them down because of lack of money, lack of power, lack of social position and such.  The governments and systems of power that run our world are largely neglectful to the needs of the most vulnerable among us, those to whom Christ was the closest.

It's this God of Liberation that Brian McLaren introduces us to in Chapter 10 of "We Make the Road by Walking."  He follows the Israelites from Egypt to Mount Sinai where this God, the God who freed the people from their bonds, gives them commands for their new lives,  This is of course, the Ten Commandments.  At the heart of this chapter is a restatement of these 10 Commandments as opposition to continued slavery and the slave economy.  Let's take a moment to consider these commands.

1. Put the God of Liberation first, not the God of Slavery.

We read this first commandment as "You shall have no Gods before me," and chalk it up to the fact that God is a jealous God.  That's true, but is that really all that's going on here?  If we restate it as McLaren has, then no.  When we put the God of Liberation first, we are free to live our lives in his kingdom ethic, an ethic that not only frees us from the slavery of the culture that surrounds us, but also inspires us to stand up for the rights of others and the least among us, people to whom the God of Slavery seems very real.

2. Don't reduce God to the size of an idol--certainly not one made of wood and stone by human hands, and not one made by human minds of rituals and words, either, and certainly not one is whose name people are enslaved, dehumanized, or killed.

The first level of understanding this command, or the Sunday School level as I call it, is that you don't make an idol to worship out of anything physical or in your mind.  However McLaren looks deeper. Can we make an idol out of our religious traditions and dogmas, emphasizing them over God? Sure, we can and do.  Can we use these traditions and dogmas to oppress others?  I would say we absolutely do.  The "gospel of wealth" has come to America and given us all kinds of excuses not only to "lay up treasures on earth" but to look down upon people who are less fortunate.  Instead of seeing folks as worthy of a hand up, we tend to see them as lazy people looking for a hand out. The particulars of their situation are given little to no thought as we continue in our selfish ways.

3. Do not use God for your own agendas by throwing around God's holy name.  If you make a vow in God's name, keep it.

Again the Sunday School version of this is "don't take the Lord's name in vain."  Truly this is something that Christians who love God shouldn't do.  But again, there's more. In the 18th and 19th centuries the God of Liberation himself was used to justify keeping slaves.  Today many Christian fundamentalists and people on the far right continue to use God to push their own agenda.  We use God to attempt to deny same sex couples the right to legal benefits of a marriage contract.  We use God to justify a culture of selfishness and wealth, where we have now talked ourselves into thinking that the God who came to earth in a manger wants us to all be fabulously wealthy.  We use God to justify a culture of violence, where the ownership and use of weapons is seen as the highest expression of freedom.  We use God to keep women in lower stations: many Christian denominations still exclude women from various positions in the church .  This shows the world around us that we're not living our lives as God would have us live.  Many of my atheist or nonreligious friends, whose opinions I respect greatly, see this as the biggest practical problem with Christians.

4. Honor the God of Liberation by taking and giving everyone a day off.  Don't keep the old 24/7 slave economy going.

Oh we Christians love to use this to get out of having to work on Sunday.  The funny thing is that maybe you don't work on Sunday, but I bet each and every one of us patronize businesses  that require others to work on Sunday.  It's not just about Sunday either. We expect people to be there for us at a business when we want it, when it's convenient for us.  We don't stand up for the rights of people who work blue collar or service jobs: rights like sick pay, personal days, and a living wage. This perpetuates the modern version of the slave economy.

5. Turn from self-centerdness by honoring your parents.  Honor is the basis of freedom.

None of us do this all on our own.  We succeed only with the help of others.  For many of us, including me, that begins with our parents and our families.  These people, while never perfect, deserve a place of honor in each of our lives.

6. Don't kill people, and don't do other things that frequently incite violence, including: 7. Don't cheat with others' spouses, 8. Don't steal others' possessions, and 9. Don't lie about others' behavior or character.

While the previous commands talk about how we, as people living under God's liberation, interact with God and our families, these next four deal with how we interact with others in our lives day to day.  Certainly don't kill people, and don't do anything that might incite violence against you or others.  Don't cheat with someone else's spouse and ruin their marriage covenant.  Don't steal from others, and don't lie about or defame people.  Though many of us claim that we live in a "Christian Society" violence, adultery, theft, and dishonesty are all rife in our culture.  These practices should not only be shunned, but confronted.

10. If you really want to avoid the violence of the old slave economy, deal with it's root source--the drama of desire.  Don't let the competitive desire to acquire tempt you off the road of freedom.

A couple of entries back we discussed the temptation of Christ and the temptation to be slaves to things and the acquisition of things.  This comes into play here in Exodus as well.  The God of Liberation wants us to be from these desires.  We shouldn't be focused on wealth or things.  We shouldn't be focused on the desire for power, or the desire to fulfill our sexual drives at all costs. These desires often to lead to negative, destructive, and sometimes even violent behaviors.

As we see throughout the Old Testament, including just a couple of chapters down the road in Exodus, the ancient Israelites weren't pros at keeping these commands.  Each and every one of them is broken multiple times throughout the story of the Bible.  The Israelites conquer and enslave others. There are also many stories of theft, violence, adultery, and other behaviors exhibited by people who would become known as heroes of the faith.

They were not perfect, and neither are we.  Much like the narrative of the Old Testament, our live are often a daily battle between our own excessive self interests and the interests of God and others around us.  Where we can be gracious and merciful, we are often cruel and judgmental.  Where we can stand for others, we often go on our merry, selfish way.  When we might use some of our resources to help others, we are often overcome by the drama of the desire to acquire, so much that it may even destroy our own lives and financial situations.

But there is good news, there is the Gospel.  Later in the Bible a man came along who did not give into these desires.  This man truly stood up for the interests of others.  This man gave us an example of how to live our lives in humility and service.  We will never totally live up to the example set by this man, but that's ok, because his death and sacrifice help make up for our shortcomings.  Then because Christ lives, he is able to guide us, be alongside us, and help us start over when we fall short.

Christ is the God of Liberation, and through him we are indeed set free.  My prayer is that we all live in this liberation and seek to stand up for others: the oppressed, the sick, the dying, the poor, the orphans, and those who are discriminated against by our worldly systems of power.  That is the life of his kingdom, the life of liberation.