If only we could say we didn’t sin, the Lamb of God
wouldn’t be nearly so busy. But we do. It’s been said that a preacher should
preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. But with all
of the news of this past week, rarely have I wanted to get rid of that paper,
and TV and internet so quickly as events in our world are spiraling.
Paul Raushenbush writes, ‘there’s a sense of
despair and disbelief that the world can unravel this fast and anger at our
(powerlessness). But we are not
powerless and this is not “happening to us.” We as the human race are doing
this to ourselves. These are not natural disasters or “acts of God” – these
events are just us, humans, having completely lost our humanity- warring,
hurting and killing each other- intentionally or unintentionally, through
direct assault or indifference or neglect.” We have forgotten that we belong to
one another, we are connected, we are brother and sisters, and that we need
each other.
He suggests its time to take back the power- in
keeping with today’s reading – it’s time to turn up the light.
We hear in I John- This is the gospel message we
have heard from him and announce to you- God is light and in Him there is no
darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him and yet keep on walking
in the darkness we are lying and not practicing God’s truth.
But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the
light- we have fellowship with one another and with God, and the blood of Jesus
His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are
deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God
is faithful and just, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all
unrighteousness.
If we say we have not sinned- we make a liar of God
and his word is not in us. That’s pretty heavy.
Thanks be to God that we know that in spite of our
failings our salvation is assured and our sin removed!
That’s not God’s only concern- Because we are part
of God’s community, and what is happening in the world is our concern because
it is God’s. And the news is not the sin of some other world, but ours.
The opening
line of the gospel last week spoke of the Word that created all things in the
beginning. And then I John shifted the focus to the “Word of life” as the
Christian message. This life finds its beginning in the incarnation- Jesus is
God in a body. The point of the message is to create “koinonia” often
translated as fellowship. But it’s more. My Greek professor in seminary said it
is a “Participatory partnership.” The word God speaks is an embodied love. That
love and mercy are shown through us- our speech, and action and presence.
That is authentic faith and authentic community.
And that means that what happens around us is not some other person’s world,
but ours. And we are saved to participate in making known God’s work for the
world. That Christ who died for our sins- died not only for our sins, but for
the whole world, promising that darkness is passing away and the true light is
already shining.
It’s too late to bring back the innocent lives lost
in the Middle East but it’s not too late to get serious about real peace, and
to stop the killing that is happening now. And shine the true light.
It’s too late to save the lives of those lost on
that disastrous Malaysian Airlines flight- but we can insist that this is
unacceptable and not let it be a springboard for further violence and hatred.
Shine the true light.
It’s too late to spare the victims of death and
destruction in Honduras and around the world who have lost their lives- but it
is never too late to advocate for peace and to provide life for those children
who long to be whole and not fractured. Shine the true light.
Because if we say we are in a participatory
partnership with God, yet walk in darkness, we are lying and not doing the
truth. There is a contradiction between saying we are partnered with God and
God’s kingdom yet living in ways that contradict that relationship. We’re
kidding ourselves. There’s a contradiction between saying we love God but
conveying a lack of love by what we say and do. We can say we care, but what do
we do to embody that love and participate in that partnership?
It’s hard to know exactly what to do in these
times, but we need to continue to insist upon the possibility of peace and
light, starting with our own hearts. We can give to the ELCA earmarked for the
church in the Holy Land to keep those schools I read about in Bishop Eaton’s
letter-open. And we can pray.
You already heard the letter of our Bishop in
response to the escalation of conflict and bloodshed in the Middle East. It
might seem too big or far away but we can pray for peace and wellbeing for
Israelis and Palestinians and to refuse to accept that war is inevitable or
hate is natural. We could pray for God to empower us for peace. We can pray
that while we are indignant at the loss of life that we not be swept into a
rage calling for revenge. And since I’ve said it several times now that we
could pray, let’s take a moment and do that… Lord in your mercy, hear our
prayer.
We continue to watch with horror at events in the
Ukraine. At the beginning of Lent, our Bishop wrote that she “watched with
dismay, along with the rest of the world, as tensions rise and peace is
jeopardized in Ukraine. Recent dangerous developments in the Crimean region of
the country put the lives of many innocent people at risk, and threaten peace
and security far beyond that region of the world.” Now we see more. We could pray for all of those involved --
whether governments, movements or individuals -- to repent of aggression and
violence, and turn instead to the way of peace through dialogue. That wisdom,
peace and justice to prevail. And pray for those who are grieving losses because
of this aggression. And we can pray for
the world’s church leaders including the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches. So let’s take another moment of silence and
pray…Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
This past week Bishop Mike Rinehart of the Texas Louisiana
Synod and others traveled to Texas to the border to learn what’s going on in
the surge of unaccompanied minor children. Bishop Rinehart shared that the
misinformation about unaccompanied minors is staggering. News of the surge of
60,000 unaccompanied minors since last fall makes people think that border
crossings are up. In fact border crossings are down, way down. Border crossings
in the 80s and 90s were over 1.5 million. Now only 420,000. So what’s going on?
Violence in Central America is on the rise.
Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world. Jennifer K. Harbury is an
attorney in Texas. She’s a first generation Jew, the daughter of a man who came
to the US to rebuild a shattered life. Fortunately, her father’s boat was not
turned away like the SS St. Louis, when European Jews were seeking asylum in
the US. After the Holocaust, the US promised, never again will we turn away
asylum seekers. If we send these children home we send them to die.
Harbury housed a refugee from Honduras. At 13, the
gangs told this refugee he had to join or be murdered. He refused and they beat
him nearly to death. A year later they came back again with the same demand.
After refusing they ran him over with a car. His mother gave him $30 and told
him to go north. Hitchhiking on trains he made it to Mexico, where he was
kidnapped and held for ransom. Escaping, he crossed the river and was picked up
by US Border Patrol. He was treated poorly in a harsh detention facility until
the local sherriff stepped in. In time he was settled with a foster family, but
after a month he was picked up by immigration. Harbury now meets him through a
glass window in jail, fighting to bring him home. When the issues are in real
live flesh before us- it brings the truth home.
Rhinehart writes, “Look into their eyes. These are
not cartels smuggling drugs across the border. These are children seeking
asylum. They’ve been battered and mistreated. Who, with a heart, could deny
them protection? The Gospels tell us that Jesus was once a refugee, who crossed
the border into Egypt fleeing for life under the threat of violence by Herod.
Jesus welcomed children into his arms when the disciples wanted to turn them
away, saying, “What you do to the least of these, you do unto me.” And told
stories like the Good Samaritan, in which a victim is shown kindness by a
stranger. Fear teaches us the lie of seeing others as enemies. Love in Christ shows the truth and teaches us to
embrace strangers, even enemies.
The good news is that churches are partnering through
Catholic Charities, Baptist churches, Lutheran Social Services and people who
seem to understand the problem better than the mainstream media.
Unaccompanied minors journey a week to 2 1/2
months. Some were mistreated on this trip. Once they present themselves, border
patrol has 72 hours to process them. If possible they are repatriated. If not,
border patrol gets them into a transitional facility, like the one operated by
Lutheran Social Services. Thank God for our church’s response. This surge has
overtaxed facilities, but Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is currently
helping connect close to 100 generous families every day to programs around the
country who are seeking loving placements for the children and youth they
serve.
Some people suggest that these children are running
drugs. Border patrol told us this is not the case. Drugs are being run by
Mexican cartels, not from children seeking asylum from Central America. These
children are not running from border patrol. They are running to border patrol
and presenting themselves as refugees and asylum-seekers wondering if there
room in the inn? I believe so.
This is a challenge now caused by an escalation of
violence and poverty in Central America. And hopefully funds will be made available.
But what can we do? We can learn, we can
advocate, we can give to Lutheran Disaster Response.
And we can pray- for the children, for their
families, for the border patrol, for the communities affected here and in
Central America, for our government, and for compassion in our hearts. We could
pray that while the throng of children trying to come here is overwhelming that
we might be guided by God’s love to see this as a humanitarian concern. That as
we have before we have offered a haven to those fleeing darkness and fear and
ask God to help us set aside our own fears and bring peace and empower us to
live out the gospel.
Let us take a moment now…Lord in your mercy, hear
our prayer.
We’re called to tending and mending of
relationships. It starts with being honest about damage that’s been done while
saying that what has happened does not determine the future. A future that has
been blocked by something that has damaged a relationship can be opened up by
the word that offers release and a new relationship.
This is what God in Christ offers us- this is the
true light for the darkness of our world. This is the word that breaks the
pattern.
God knows real people will not always act this way-
no matter how truthful the gospel is, we are all capable of kidding ourselves,
capable of believing nothing new is possible, so why start. But Jesus didn’t
die for us to continuing living the world’s lies. Easter is God’s refusal to
leave the world in a lurch. This is the message we hear and can embody- that God
promises to reclaim us and everyone else. Our prayers matter, our voices
matter, our resources matter.
Let us pray- Lord, empower us to be faithful in
embodying your love and your word for the sake of your world. Amen
