Peace or Vengeance?

Today I read an article by David French, a blogger on Patheos Evangelical, on his blog, "French Revolution." The blog was entitled, "How Should Christians Expect Our Nation to Respond to ISIS? With Wrath and Vengeance." Go ahead. Read it. Ponder the hatred that imbibes this blog.

I was going to post a comment in this article, but comments are no longer allowed. I can understand why. This is a very tough topic to deal with.

As a pacifist, I am horrified that a Christian would advocate "wrath and vengeance" as a legitimate means for dealing with ISIS. I can understand the author wishing to make a distinction between individual and governmental responsibility; however, I also note that in the Bible, governments are often singled out and criticized stringently for showing no mercy to the weak and the poor. (See Amos 6:12, Micah 3:1-3, and Zechariah 7:9-14.)

I would like to suggest that even Jesus' Sermon on the Mount could be applied on a governmental level. Imagine: What would happen if on a governmental level, we treated other countries like we wanted to be treated? What would happen if we served others instead of forcing others to bow to our demands?
 
I know that the United States (to quote President John Adams from his Treaty of Tripoli) "is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion," but most countries in the Levant (Middle East)  assume that we are a Christian nation (a common misunderstanding, to be sure). So, if our nation acts out in revenge and wrath towards ISIS, how will that bring about peace? How will that make us peacemakers?

What if we, as a nation, would "turn the other cheek?" Yes, someone has hurt us. Yes, someone has killed our citizens. Why don't we break the cycle of violence and show love and mercy instead of "wrath and vengeance?"

Some would say that I am naive in this presumption. They may be right. However, I believe that advocating for peace instead of revenge is preferable and more Christ-like.

Leave vengeance to God. God says it best:  "Revenge is my domain, so is punishment-in-kind." (Deuteronomy 32:35)

Traveling Vietnam Memorial

This past week I was asked to be a chaplain for a couple of hours while the Traveling Vietnam Memorial came to Ludington. The Traveling Vietnam Memorial is 80% the size of the actual Vietnam Wall and occupied one city block in Ludington. It was my privilege to be there. I was also disturbed by a couple of things. Some were small trivial things. Others were not so small.

For instance, part of the memorial included a wall, describing those who lost their lives during World War II.

In talking about the United States, this board claimed that the United States' religion was Christianity.

This is, of course, not true. The United States was founded as a country that would not establish a State Church. Even though some of the authors of the Constitution were Christian, they agreed that to establish a State Religion would not be conducive to the freedom of its citizens. The statement that we are a "Christian Nation" is also a slap in the face to all other citizens who have a different faith than Christianity.

I know that many American Christians would love for the United States to be a Christian nation, but too many of them go about it by legislation rather than evangelism.

I also listened to a speaker, who seemed to justify the War in Vietnam, saying that they were protecting our freedom. In fact, the motto of the tour was "Freedom is never free."

I agree that freedom is not free. I believe that there are various ways of insuring that we maintain our freedom. I am more reticent using the military to do this. I am more doubtful, however, of the purpose of some of our military actions and how they protected our freedom.

This leaves our soldiers in the lurch. They are forced to enact the political will of government officials. Unfortunately, the soldiers were often the brunt of abuse from those citizens who disagreed with the government, especially during the Vietnam War. For our veterans who served in the Vietnam War, I have nothing but admiration for the suffering they went through. I am saddened by their loss of their friends, comrades, and loved ones.

My own problem comes when the deaths of the soldiers and the death of the citizens are justified as being in defense of our freedom. I do not see how killing people in Vietnam secured my freedom. Perhaps I am simplifying the issue. However, as I understand it, the United States was trying to prevent the spread of communism, which was seen as going against freedom. Hindsight has given us the wisdom that such systems collapse in on themselves. Even the communism of China is no longer communism. It's certainly dictatorial, but it's not the communism that Karl Marx envisioned.

What did those soldiers die for? They died for political decisions. They did not die in the defense of our freedom. I mourn their deaths. I mourn the suffering that our veterans have to go through with PTSD, loss of limbs, health, etc. I mourn that often they are suffering because of a lie. What is the lie? They died for our freedom.

Perhaps an even more pertinent question is this:  What did the Vietnamese and Cambodians die for when they were killed by American soldiers? Do we mourn their deaths? During the ceremony, a veteran yelled out, "58,286 names." How many Vietnamese and Cambodian names are there?

One ceremony that always chills me is the 21 Gun Salute. I am never prepared for it. It unnerves me. Last night, there was a 21 Gun Salute as part of the ceremony. That will always haunt me.

In thinking about this Memorial, I tried to come up with an appropriate selection from the Bible. I am reminded of Ecclesiastes 4:1-3:

When I next observed all the oppressions that take place under the sun, I saw the tears of the oppressed—and they have no one to comfort them. Their oppressors wield power—but they have no one to comfort them. So I declare that the dead, who have already died, are more fortunate than the living, who are still alive. But happier than both are those who have never existed, who haven’t witnessed the terrible things that happen under the sun.

Let's Talk About Sects

I have had the privilege and the pleasure of being a guest on Online Corps' Gospel Stories. During that time, Major Kevin Jackson, one of the regular moderators, has asked me to help moderate a new series on world religions.

Online Corps has had the theme of "Stories" for their various shows:  "Gospel Stories," "Life Stories," etc. (Click here to view my own interview for Life Stories.) In our discussions, we were trying to come up with a new title for this theme on world religions. I, with my warped sense of humor, suggested the title, "Let's Talk About Sects." I immediately gave a disclaimer for the title, but they actually liked it.

So . . . starting this Thursday at 1:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time) (8:00 PM GMT), you can expect yours truly to help out with this new series! I'm actually very much looking forward to it. We will first be discussing what religion is and then looking at all religions:  from Orthodox Christianity to Islam (and almost everything in between).

Our goal is not to show why Christianity is better than other religions. Our goal is to show where we have things in common and to discuss these things. The forum allows for online discussion. So we hope to see you there!

Partial Assurance

I feel torn. I want to help. I want to feel needed. I want to know that things are reciprocal and not merely one-sided. Is that selfish? Of course it is.

The silence is deafening. The assurance is partial and incomplete.

In the end, I am left with my doubts and insecurities.

It seems the only way to get rid of the insecurities is through the lapse of time.

Having been hurt too many times to count doesn’t help either.

I either become a recluse or persevere. Neither option seems appealing, but only the risky one bring rewards.

All My Work is for the Master

I'm not certain if my congregation noticed it or not, but when we came to our closing song this morning, I got all choked up. As we came to the last verse of this song, written by General Albert Orsborn, his words hit home to me like they hadn't before. The melody we used was from an old Civil War lament, The Vacant Chair.

I must love thee, love must rule me,
Springing up and flowing forth
From a childlike heart within me,
Or my work is nothing worth.
Love with passion and with patience,
Love with principle and fire,
Love with heart and mind and utterance,
Serving Christ my one desire.

All my work is for the Master,
He is all my heart's desire;
O that he may count me faithful
In the day that tries by fire!

Love needs to be the main motivation for everything I do in life. It must rule me or else my entire work means nothing. To love with passion I equate with the original meaning of passion:  "suffering." I am constantly reminded that love is not merely an emotion. To love produces loving feelings. It makes you vulnerable and open. It is risky, difficult, but also rewarding when requited.

When we go to the source of love, God, we will never have unrequited love. (Although God experiences this so very often!)

I realized when I was singing this that my love for God needs to permeate everything I do. In that brief instance, I felt once again in the presence of God and was overwhelmed with his love for me.

Tears of Joy

Some of you might recall the blog I did earlier about my dear friend, Christoph, entitled "My Penance" and the follow-up blog, explaining my position more fully regarding LGBT inclusion within the Church.

Today while I was looking through Facebook, my friend, Christoph, added this picture above. It is a beautiful portrait of a man returning to Jesus. Of course, I liked it right away. Almost immediately I received this note from Christoph, which he has given me permission to share. It stated simply,

"Dear Tim, this picture is in my profile because you have given me something back: The hope that Christ will not send me away in the last hours from the Gate of Paradise. I thank you for that with all of my heart."

I started crying when I read that. It was a validation from my friend that I was doing something right. He had lost hope that God had shut him out forever from Heaven, but somehow through my writing, he realized that this was not the case and that God loves him just as he is.

I cannot begin to imagine all of the pain and hurt that others have gone through simply by being disowned by the Church. We use many euphemisms for this:  Shunning, striking from the roles, excommunication, but in essence what we are telling these people is:  You are not worthy of having fellowship with us. We are better than you.

Truth be told, I had a hand in all of this. I am only ever so grateful that I am able to somehow rectify the situation.

Looking at this from a broader perspective, we as a Church are going through some serious growing pains. We are beginning to realize once more that there are certain aspects of our lives that we need to get rid of to become more like Christ. In the mid 20th Century, it was racial discrimination. In the early 20th Century, it was women's rights. In the late 19th Century, it was slavery. I believe that in this first part of the 21st Century, we will realize that God is now calling us to love all of humanity and especially those that we as a Church have marginalized:  the LGBT Community.

Let us listen to the voice of him who loved those whom society had rejected. Let us love the LGBT Community unconditionally and leave out all talk of "judging," "correction" and "discipline."

Gedenktag

Dieser Bild stört mich:

Am kommenden Montag ist ein amerikanischer Feiertag:  "Gedenktag", was auf Englisch "Memorial Day" heißt. Er ist ein amerikanischer Feiertag, der jedes Jahr am letzten Montag im Mai zu Ehren der im Krieg für das Vaterland Gefallenen begangen wird.

Zehn Jahre in Deutschland haben mich wirklich anders geprägt! Meine Freunde in Deutschland werden sich sicher erinnern, wie ich den damaligen Präsident George Bush unterstutzt habe. Das ist mir jetzt so peinlich, dass ich mich wirklich schäme.

Hier ist etwas ganz komisch in Amerika, besonders in der Kirchen und sogar in Heilsarmee-Gemeinden:  die nationale Feiertage werden ebenso mit religiösem Eifer gefeiert. Es wurde mir sogar gefragt, ob ich am kommenden Sonntag unseren Gedenktag erwähnen werde.

Plötzlich war es mir peinlich. In Deutschland war es relativ einfach. Feiertage in Deutschland sind öfters christliche Feiertage. Ich kann nur an 3 Feiertage denken, die nicht religiös im Ursprung sind:  1. Mai, 3. Oktober, und Neujahr. Es könnte sein, dass es mehr gibt, aber sie sind mir zur Zeit unbekannt.

Warum war es mir peinlich? Ich glaube, dass nationale Feiertage keinen Platz im Gottesdienst verdient haben. Wir sind da, um Gott zu dienen, nicht den Staat. Was ich ja komisch finde, ist dass man öfters Bibelstellen dazu erwähnen, um diese Feiertage zu unterstüzen.

Sie sind, zum Beispiel:  "Wohl dem Volk, dessen Gott der HERR ist, dem Volk, das er zum Erbe erwählt hat!" (Psalm 33,12)

-und-

"Niemand hat größere Liebe als die, dass er sein Leben lässt für seine Freunde." Johannes 15,13

Die erste Stelle handelt sich um Israel. Die zweite Stelle geht es um Jesus selber, aber manche Christen in Amerika nehemen diese Verse und behaupten, dass die erste Stelle für jedes Land gilt, nicht nur Israel. Die zweite Stelle behaupten sie, dass es auch für Soldaten gelten, die im Kampf gefallen sind. Einige Amerikaner behaupten sogar, dass unsere Vorfahren Amerika auf göttlichen Prinzipien gegründet haben. Das ist nicht nur Unsinn, sondern auch Blödsinn.

Beten tue ich für meine Abgeordnete und für die Menschen in meiner Regierung, die ganz schwierige Entscheidungen treffen müssen, aber dass vermehrt meine Liebe zum Vaterland nicht.

Die Gefahr in Amerika liegt daran, dass Menschen überzeugt sind, dass Amerika besser als alle andere Länder ist. Das finde ich lächerlich. Mein Bürgerrecht spielt keine Rolle, wenn ich am jüngsten Tag vor Gott stehe. Aber ehrlich gesagt, finde ich es ein Bisschen gefährlich, wenn ich sehe die Liebe zum Vaterland mit Gottes Liebe verbunden ist.

Es ist genauso mit diesem Lied hier oben von dem Musical, Cabaret. Hier ist die Text auf Deutsch:

Der morgige Tag ist mein (Nachdichtung zu Cabaret)
Die sonnige Wiese ist sommerlich warm
Der Hirsch läuft in Freiheit waldein.
Doch sammelt Euch alle, der Sturm ist nah
Der morgige Tag ist mein.
Das Lindengrün leuchtet, die Blätter sie wehen
sein Gold verströmt meerwärts der Rhein
Doch wenn geht ein Stern auf noch ungesehen
Der morgige Tag ist mein.
Das Kind in der Wiege liegt selig im Schlaf.
Die Blüte lädt Bienen sich ein
Und Liebe
doch bald sagt ein Flüstern: „Wach auf, wach auf!
Der morgige Tag ist mein.
O Vaterland, Vaterland, zeig uns den Weg,
Dein Gruss soll das Wegzeichen sein,
Der Morgen kommt wenn der Welt ist mein
Der morgige Tag ist mein.

Wir, die Deutsch sprechen können und die Geschichte von Deutschland kennen, wissen ganz genau, wie gefährlich solche Vaterlandliebe sein könnte. Ich habe oft Angst, dass solche Vaterlandliebe in Amerika zurückkehren wird. Am Montag werde ich nochmals diese ganze Geschichte auf Englisch erzählen. Dieser Blog wird nicht übersetzt, sondern werde ich nochmals für meine englischsprechende Freunde meine Gedanken erzählen.