We seem shocked when someone takes a tool that is created to kill a person a second and does just that.
We ignore the pain of the victims then, and try to justify owning tools of death.
In fact, we quickly get over the shock and make the tragedy a reason to get more tools of killing.
We are a violent culture. It is played out in the box office, on the small screen, in our music, in what we get obsessed with and what we buy and how we get it. Instead of investing in the tools of life, we invest in the tools of death. Instead of seeking "the things that make for peace" (Romans 14:19), we fill our lives with the things that make for war and then claim that we do it because we love peace and want to keep the peace. We jump to war when we can't get what we want by peaceful means, whether that is war in our own neighborhood, on our own streets or war across the world (James 4:1-3). We have learned this well as individuals and as a nation. We contribute to the violent nature of our society, but put the evil "out there" when horrible things happen to innocent victims. It absolves us, in our own minds, from any responsibility in what is happening in the world which we help to create. We justify owning "a sword" even through our misuse of scripture, ignoring that even in the worst cases, war was contextual in the Old Testament, and ignoring a preponderance of scripture on peace and living peaceably. This allows us indirectly to blame it on God, or at least to be able to say, "Hate the game, not the player." But we are all players in this most offensive game. We vote for politicians specifically because they are not "soft" on war or because they support the "right to bear arms". We support those who are supported by gun lobbyists. We refuse to ban tools of death that have one purpose - to kill one person per second. To be clear, I am not talking about weapons designed for hunting or even personal protection now, but offensive assault rifles. We want it to be easy to obtain such a weapon legally. We want no limits on the number of weapons or the amount of ammunition we can buy. We turn a blind eye, deafen our ears and even champion the accumulation of weaponry in every home in America. ... and I am just talking about American "Christians" here! And then, we turn the tragedy into an argument to arm MORE people with such tools of assault and death, rather than eliminate or even limit them.
Instead of having a value for what God wants -
"God shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they LEARN WAR anymore." Isa. 2:4
Instead of believing what Jesus said -
"Put your sword back into its place; for ALL who take the sword will perish by the sword." Matthew 26:52
Instead of seeing the Wisdom that Paul saw -
"...Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all... Do not BE
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:14-21
Instead of living the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22,23... instead of... instead of... instead of...
We use our resources to produce, purchase and maintain weapons of mass destruction (60 people at a time) in our own land, having created the need for them because we are a warring culture. Then we write laws that allow us to carry weaponry in public and use them against unarmed persons if we FEEL "threatened". We are increasingly turning defending ourselves into the right to provoke war among our own people and likewise across the world with our immediate response being the positioning of our war machines outside of someone else's door. People of peace do not go into situations with those tools displayed or the exhibiting the postures that go with them. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." and "By their fruits you will know them." seem to be very telling quotes of Jesus about our warring culture.
I will not support, purchase or own one. I will not vote for anyone who wants them. As a follower of Jesus my Lord, I value peace. Shalom means wholeness and well-being, and without peace we have none. We have none. Our wholeness and well-being as a nation is shaken because we are increasingly a people who do not love the peace of the Kingdom of God above our own, warring natures. I will speak for, work for, write for, vote for peace - so help me, God.
Pastor Jamie
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Hospitality, Compassion and Justice
All my political positions and economic positions come from The Word. I know, for some of you that makes no sense, but I am a child of God and Pastor... I am a student of The Word and I love what Jesus and the prophets had to teach about society and how we are to live in THIS part of God's Kingdom... so I offer this for those of you who do not know what I mean:
We are instructed in Torah, the Prophets, The Gospel of Jesus and the Epistles this -
"You shall not defraud your neighbor, steal or keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning..."
Leviticus 19:13 instructs us to treat laborers fairly with their wages... not lay them off for personal
profit or bust organizations that would help them be treated fairly
"When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides
with you shall be to you as a citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were
aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 19:33,34 instructs us to treat the
aliens in our land as citizens and loved ones, not exploit them for cheap labor because they have
no official papers and therefore no one to which to complain, and not scapegoat them for our
nation's problems and kick them out or round them up like criminals so we feel better about
our control (which is an illusion).
"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather
the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord
your God." Leviticus 23:22 instructs us to make intentional provision for the poor and aliens in
our land and not keep it all for our selves.
"You shall not pervert the justice due to our poor in their lawsuits. Keep far from a false charge, and do
not kill the innocent and those in the right, for I will not acquit the guilty of that. You shall take no
bribe, for a bride blinds the officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. You shall
not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of
Egypt." Exodus 23:6-9 instructs us to not do tort reform that throws out lawsuits as "frivolous",
and not to let lobbyists bribe officials of government. And, unless you are a pure blooded native
American, you were once immigrants here and should know better than to treat aliens in the land
shamefully.
Why? So glad you asked! "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God,
mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and
widow (most vulnerable in society), and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.
You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt..." Deuteronomy 10:17
-19 instructs us that God loves them, and those whom God loves we had better love.
"You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who
reside in your land in one of your towns. You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset,
because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord
against you, and you would incur guilt... You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of
justice; you shall not take a widow's garment in pledge. Remember that you were a slave in
Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this. When
you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it;
it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in
all our undertakings. When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the
alien, the orphan and the widow (the most vulnerable). When you gather the grapes of your
vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. Remember
that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this."
Deuteronomy 24:14-22 instructs us to help the poor, aliens and most vulnerable in society and
not to exploit, abuse, neglect, scapegoat them for our own personal gain as individuals, companies
or a nation!
I remember some "theologians" claiming that the Katrina disaster was a plague from God on
the sinful people of New Orleans. I do not hear them saying that the drought is a plague from
God on farmers and society because we have refused to treat "illegal" aliens with respect...
but have recently started targeting them and scapegoating them... interesting, don't you think?
"Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humbles our selves, but you do not notice? Look,
you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only
to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not
make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it
to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a
fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of the
injustice; to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your home;
when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then
your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your
vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall
call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and God will say, Here I am."
Isaiah 58:3-9 and also read 10-12, Amos 5:21-24 and Mark 7:6-8 instruct us that any piety or
outward shows of faithfulness or worship and praise are meaningless when we are unjust as
individuals or a nation with workers, the poor, minorities, the vulnerable and any in need.
See also Matthew 25:31-46 about how many who think they are sheep will find that they are
goats in the end... and how Jesus takes VERY seriously how we treat the most vulnerable...
Amos 5:10-15 instructs us about those who want to subvert the justice due others in order that
we might exploit the needy in our land for our own wealth and power, and how evil that is.
Amos 6:1-7 instructs us on how those with ease will not be the favored they think they are.
Micah 6:8 instructs us on what God has told us all along is acceptable to God.
Jesus in Matthew 5:42 instructs us to give to those who have no income.
Jesus in Matthew 21 instructs on evil tenants who think they can abuse others in God's Kingdom.
Jesus in Mark 14:7 says that we need to value Him above all, but help the poor as we are able,
always.
Jesus in Luke 10:7 sides with laborers in their pursuit of making a living (I Timothy 5:18).
Jesus in Luke 12 instructs us about being foolishly selfish (Rich Fool).
Jesus in Luke 16 instructs us on the sin of ignoring the plight of those most vulnerable (Rich Man
and Lazarus).
II Timothy 2:6 reads "It is the farmer who does the work who ought to have the first share of the crops." But we don't honor the workers as we do the owners and managers... it is backward according to Kingdom values.
James 2:14-17 instructs us on giving spiritual lip service to love, but not really helping someone,
and how useless that is in the Kingdom.
James 4:1-6 instructs us on how our mean-spirited, ruthless greed and willingness to do whatever
it takes to get what we want as a nation is sinful.
James 5:1-6 instructs us on how corrupt we are for the sake of the wealthy at the expense of others,
and how disgusting it is to God.
We, as a nation are in trouble, NOT because of the sexual sins we are obsessed with or the "liberal"
leanings that many label, but because we have treated people within our own land and those
abroad, people whom God loves, shamefully...
Politicians are voted on, and put into office by the people... and when they represent us in backing
the wealthy and powerful over the poorest in the land, writing laws that hurt the poor and make
it easy for the wealthy and powerful to exploit them...
cut programs that help the poor, rather than "entitlements" that help the rich...
actively engage in class warfare and then claim others are when they stand up to it...
intentionally break organized labor so that people will no longer make a living wage...
engage in voter suppression so that the wealthy and powerful can stay in office...
make it impossible for people to get justice, which they label "frivolous lawsuits"...
send jobs overseas and lay people off and then complain that they should not have to pay their
fair share of taxes because they are "job creators"...
scapegoat, target and oppress resident aliens in our land on whose backs we have gained
inexpensive food and manual labor for years...
keeping the poor and middle class working families from equal healthcare, while benefitting
those in the industry with greater profits and less accountability
keeping people from making a living wage while stockholders and corporate execs already
making 300x what the average worker makes, pursue limitless profit for themselves
not even to mention polluting, destroying and wasting the creation God loves, along with all the
people whom God created who inhabit it... and all for more profit for a few... oops, I guess I
did just mention it :-)
... and the people doing this "confess" with their lips to be "CHRISTIANS"?
No!
The God of the Law and Prophets is clearly not pleased.
Jesus, fulfiller of the Law and Prophets is not pleased.
We need to stop obsessively focusing on the sexual things that Jesus never mentioned, and go after the
REAL IMMORALITY of America, according to the Word of God - Greed and Lust for
Power, Prestige, Position and wealth... which we count as normative behavior in our nation, which
is rarely if ever mentioned in the church, and which is destroying our nation.
We have met the enemy. They are not "out there", and they are not "those people". The
worst enemy we have is US in the U.S..
Pastor Jamie
We are instructed in Torah, the Prophets, The Gospel of Jesus and the Epistles this -
"You shall not defraud your neighbor, steal or keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning..."
Leviticus 19:13 instructs us to treat laborers fairly with their wages... not lay them off for personal
profit or bust organizations that would help them be treated fairly
"When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides
with you shall be to you as a citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were
aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 19:33,34 instructs us to treat the
aliens in our land as citizens and loved ones, not exploit them for cheap labor because they have
no official papers and therefore no one to which to complain, and not scapegoat them for our
nation's problems and kick them out or round them up like criminals so we feel better about
our control (which is an illusion).
"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather
the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord
your God." Leviticus 23:22 instructs us to make intentional provision for the poor and aliens in
our land and not keep it all for our selves.
"You shall not pervert the justice due to our poor in their lawsuits. Keep far from a false charge, and do
not kill the innocent and those in the right, for I will not acquit the guilty of that. You shall take no
bribe, for a bride blinds the officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. You shall
not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of
Egypt." Exodus 23:6-9 instructs us to not do tort reform that throws out lawsuits as "frivolous",
and not to let lobbyists bribe officials of government. And, unless you are a pure blooded native
American, you were once immigrants here and should know better than to treat aliens in the land
shamefully.
Why? So glad you asked! "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God,
mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and
widow (most vulnerable in society), and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.
You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt..." Deuteronomy 10:17
-19 instructs us that God loves them, and those whom God loves we had better love.
"You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who
reside in your land in one of your towns. You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset,
because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord
against you, and you would incur guilt... You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of
justice; you shall not take a widow's garment in pledge. Remember that you were a slave in
Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this. When
you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it;
it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in
all our undertakings. When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the
alien, the orphan and the widow (the most vulnerable). When you gather the grapes of your
vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. Remember
that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this."
Deuteronomy 24:14-22 instructs us to help the poor, aliens and most vulnerable in society and
not to exploit, abuse, neglect, scapegoat them for our own personal gain as individuals, companies
or a nation!
I remember some "theologians" claiming that the Katrina disaster was a plague from God on
the sinful people of New Orleans. I do not hear them saying that the drought is a plague from
God on farmers and society because we have refused to treat "illegal" aliens with respect...
but have recently started targeting them and scapegoating them... interesting, don't you think?
"Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humbles our selves, but you do not notice? Look,
you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only
to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not
make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it
to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a
fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of the
injustice; to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your home;
when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then
your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your
vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall
call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and God will say, Here I am."
Isaiah 58:3-9 and also read 10-12, Amos 5:21-24 and Mark 7:6-8 instruct us that any piety or
outward shows of faithfulness or worship and praise are meaningless when we are unjust as
individuals or a nation with workers, the poor, minorities, the vulnerable and any in need.
See also Matthew 25:31-46 about how many who think they are sheep will find that they are
goats in the end... and how Jesus takes VERY seriously how we treat the most vulnerable...
Amos 5:10-15 instructs us about those who want to subvert the justice due others in order that
we might exploit the needy in our land for our own wealth and power, and how evil that is.
Amos 6:1-7 instructs us on how those with ease will not be the favored they think they are.
Micah 6:8 instructs us on what God has told us all along is acceptable to God.
Jesus in Matthew 5:42 instructs us to give to those who have no income.
Jesus in Matthew 21 instructs on evil tenants who think they can abuse others in God's Kingdom.
Jesus in Mark 14:7 says that we need to value Him above all, but help the poor as we are able,
always.
Jesus in Luke 10:7 sides with laborers in their pursuit of making a living (I Timothy 5:18).
Jesus in Luke 12 instructs us about being foolishly selfish (Rich Fool).
Jesus in Luke 16 instructs us on the sin of ignoring the plight of those most vulnerable (Rich Man
and Lazarus).
II Timothy 2:6 reads "It is the farmer who does the work who ought to have the first share of the crops." But we don't honor the workers as we do the owners and managers... it is backward according to Kingdom values.
James 2:14-17 instructs us on giving spiritual lip service to love, but not really helping someone,
and how useless that is in the Kingdom.
James 4:1-6 instructs us on how our mean-spirited, ruthless greed and willingness to do whatever
it takes to get what we want as a nation is sinful.
James 5:1-6 instructs us on how corrupt we are for the sake of the wealthy at the expense of others,
and how disgusting it is to God.
We, as a nation are in trouble, NOT because of the sexual sins we are obsessed with or the "liberal"
leanings that many label, but because we have treated people within our own land and those
abroad, people whom God loves, shamefully...
Politicians are voted on, and put into office by the people... and when they represent us in backing
the wealthy and powerful over the poorest in the land, writing laws that hurt the poor and make
it easy for the wealthy and powerful to exploit them...
cut programs that help the poor, rather than "entitlements" that help the rich...
actively engage in class warfare and then claim others are when they stand up to it...
intentionally break organized labor so that people will no longer make a living wage...
engage in voter suppression so that the wealthy and powerful can stay in office...
make it impossible for people to get justice, which they label "frivolous lawsuits"...
send jobs overseas and lay people off and then complain that they should not have to pay their
fair share of taxes because they are "job creators"...
scapegoat, target and oppress resident aliens in our land on whose backs we have gained
inexpensive food and manual labor for years...
keeping the poor and middle class working families from equal healthcare, while benefitting
those in the industry with greater profits and less accountability
keeping people from making a living wage while stockholders and corporate execs already
making 300x what the average worker makes, pursue limitless profit for themselves
not even to mention polluting, destroying and wasting the creation God loves, along with all the
people whom God created who inhabit it... and all for more profit for a few... oops, I guess I
did just mention it :-)
... and the people doing this "confess" with their lips to be "CHRISTIANS"?
No!
The God of the Law and Prophets is clearly not pleased.
Jesus, fulfiller of the Law and Prophets is not pleased.
We need to stop obsessively focusing on the sexual things that Jesus never mentioned, and go after the
REAL IMMORALITY of America, according to the Word of God - Greed and Lust for
Power, Prestige, Position and wealth... which we count as normative behavior in our nation, which
is rarely if ever mentioned in the church, and which is destroying our nation.
We have met the enemy. They are not "out there", and they are not "those people". The
worst enemy we have is US in the U.S..
Pastor Jamie
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