Racism Is Stupid

Racism is stupid. There I said it. I feel better. Now let me explain why I think the way I do. (This is what happens when Charlie goes to sleep and leaves me up alone.)   

When I was in the 8^th grade, Greg G. called me a nigger on the balcony of some hotel in some city where we were playing in a basketball tournament. And, at that moment, I learned three very important lessons. I learned that Greg was not the friend that I thought he was. I learned to suspect that there were other people who smiled at me in one moment and secretly referred to me as a nigger in another. And, I learned that racism was stupid. I can still remember the misfortune of that moment as if it was 4 days ago.  I remember never wanting to pass the ball to Greg anymore after that incident. I remember not wanting to practice with him, speak to him, or be around him from that moment on. In that one moment, Greg by his statement and me by my response to it, made the team weaker and us more susceptible to loss. That is the price that we paid for Greg’s statement that I was, what he said I was.  Today, I wonder what it was that we paid so great a cost to achieve. What did we sacrifice out team’s strength for? What had Greg achieved by saying that? What had I achieved in my response to it? I was still taller than he was. He was still a better basketball player than I was. I was still smarter. He was still richer. Nothing was changed in that moment but our relationship and that strength of the team. There was no gain from his pronouncement that I was this thing that he said I was. And so much was loss from it. Racism is stupid.

It doesn’t gain any of us a single thing. If you say it is oppressive and it keeps “those people in their place” then you have to consider that no one benefits from the oppression of another. And, you have to see the empirical evidence that “those people” are still getting into places that were not originally theirs. What do we benefit from our racism? Our country does not benefit from it. Our communities do not benefit from it. Our work places do not benefit from it. And no person can be oppressed absent the constant effort and force exerted by another who is therefore free to do nothing else. Racism is stupid. It may grant individuals some fleeting sense of superiority. But, what good is that? And if that is all that you get by attempting to subvert the progress and growth of another individual, then you have “paid too much for your whistle”.  Racism divides our team and occupies our members in nonproductive exercises that lead to fleeting fruit if any at all.  So, why do we practice it? Why is it such a painful part of our culture and community, when it is clearly so stupid? Racism and our unhealthy distrust of and distaste for individuals solely because of their color keep our judicial scales from ever balancing. We make rules to “control” those that we see as uncontrollable. We create a judicial system that is less concerned about general deterrence and more focused on specific vengeance. So, when OJ kills and gets off some celebrate; not because they were sure OJ was innocent, but in part because they longed for the “other” to know their pain and live their existence, if only for one moment. And, when George gets off and blacks are thrust harshly and painfully back into the reality that brown boys’ lives may not be valued as much at their white counterparts, we cry foul and hurt and “damn this is never going to end”. We then turn our head toward the one that called us “nigger” and begin the process of depriving our team of the benefit of our talent and the talent of those around us. We start the process of setting our team up for loss. And the one who called us what they called us, (because he now fears for the life of “way” and “rightness”) attempts to kill any assertion that he was wrong for what he said, with no regard for and unapologetic for the hurt that he caused and continues to cause. Racism is stupid.

And so I celebrate every moment that goes by when one racist neglects to, or forgets to remind the children they are rearing that they too must be racist. I puzzlingly celebrate the life of every racist who dies not having had the chance to infect one of our babies. I pray that my children’s children will never have the stench of racism embalmed within their existence. I wish that the racists who win Pyrrhic victories would recognize them as such. And I hope that one day we will evolve to the point where as a country we can proudly profess that RACISM IS STUPID, and we aren't.

I love you each.

Stones on Graves (Charlie's Bible Question)

Charlie’s Question Concerning the Jewish 

Tradition of Putting Stones on a Grave

 

It is a Jewish custom to leave stones on graves.

Though anyone may put stones on a grave, the practice is based in Jewish tradition. Most graves in Jewish cemeteries have at least a few stones on them because Jewish visitors leave stones each time they visit a loved one's burial place. The origins of this tradition range from the symbolic to the superstitious.

Ancient Marker

• In ancient times, Jews buried their dead beneath markers made of gathered stones. Placing a stone on a grave symbolically contributes to the tombstone.

Symbol of Visit

• For some people, placing a stone on a grave is equal to the gesture of leaving flowers. Placing a stone pays tribute to the dead and leaves the mark of one's visit.

Symbol of Memory

• While flowers symbolize life's beauty and evanescence, stones symbolize the longevity of memory. By placing a stone on a grave, we enact our long-term commitment to remembering the dead.

Superstition

• Some Jewish people believe that stones placed on the grave help to keep the dead in the ground, preventing their spirits from haunting or harming the living.

April's Wrtten Sermon "Do Something"

Do Something

John 4: 11-30

"15": The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
"16": Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
"17": The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
"18": For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
"19": The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
"20": Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
"21": Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
"22": Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
"23": But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
"24": God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
"25": The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
"26": Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
"27": And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
"28": The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
"29": Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
"30": Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

I.                   Be honest with yourself

a.     (Start with reading Verse 29) This woman leaves the scene where she encounters Jesus, and goes to the city and ministers a message, come see a man who told me all things that ever I did. And when she comes with this message, the MEN, and I would suggest to you many of whom she had had previous dealings (STOP).  I slipped that in, and let me talk to you about why I slipped that in.  She has had five husbands, and a “situation”.  And, when Jesus comes to her about the situation she (Verse 17) "17": The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:  Stop lying to God about your situation.  Stop lying to yourself about who you are or who you used to be.  Why?  She has had five husbands, and a “situation”.  And yet God uses her to be an evangelist because she has had a Jesus encounter. Look at what God does here.  He sends her to talk to the Men of the city, and because of her “level of comfort” with many of them; isn’t it funny how God can use something that once worked against and use it to work for you for the Kingdom of God.  This is how you know all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord.  Not all things are good for you but all things works for your good by the power of God.  She is able to persuade them because she really knew them.  Jesus could have called someone else, but she may have been intimidated by the men.  (some of them went just because they wanted to see who was this that knew what they thought no one else knew, but it doesn’t matter, Hook or Crook.  If you just get them to Jesus, he will do the rest.  What am I saying to you.  I am saying that you can spend the rest of your life feeling bad and hurt and condemned for what you used to do and where you came from, or you can thank God that you survived it, and ask him how you can use what you have THIS for your glory.  He used her to save the city and she was a woman

                                                             i.      Good woman,

                                                           ii.      Moral woman

                                                        iii.      Married woman, but still he used her. 

                                                        iv.      GOD CAN USE YOU, IF YOU ARE HONEST WITH HIM YOU CAN DO ANYTHING. 

b.    And stop lying to yourself about why you are not working.  (HOLE IN MY BUCKET)

II.                Do it in strange places and do it small

a.     Samaria.  Why Samaria?  They did not worship God, they did not have anything to do with God. But says in the forth verse that "4": And he must needs go through Samaria. So he goes to Samaria, and sits at the well and waits. 

                                                             i.      The orthodox Jews won’t come to this place because it is too dirty, and he waits.

                                                           ii.      The good Christians don’t hang out here, but he waits.

                                                        iii.      The Jehovah’s witnesses don’t knock on doors in this neighborhood……..and he waits

                                                        iv.      The Methodists have developed a method for avoiding this place, … and yet he waits.

b.     So why does he wait. He waits because no one else is willing to be here.  He waits because he knows that if he can get his message of salvation into the heart of one woman HERE, he can start a revolution.  And so the disciples come back and see him sitting there and nothing has happened but he is smiling.  No one has come.  He has not baptized anyone yet. He has not saved hundreds or souls, but he has put the seed of his goodness in one heart, and he is celebrating the SEED.  We have a penchant to want to wait for BIG things to celebrate.  If it isn’t huge, we don’t want anything to do with it,

                                                             i.      If you do it to the least of them

                                                           ii.      If you can save one soul

                                                        iii.      My meat is to do what he sent me to do.  I don’t get fed by the harvest.  I get fed by doing God’s will. 

1.     if it’s not big, I don’t want to do it.

2.     if I am not going to get a lot of recognition, I am not going to do it. 

3.     if no one knows about it, I am not going to do it.  Just shut up and DO SOMETHING.

                                                        iv.      If you can just plant the seed, I don’t care if you never see the harvest.

c.      Why Samaria.  (Good Samaritan)  (Differences in Theology)  (He was setting an example for how we have to Do what we Do)

                                                             i.      He is trying to tell you that I am going to save people, regardless of what they look like

                                                           ii.      I am going to save people regardless of where they come from

                                                        iii.      (HURT) I am going to save people that you don’t like.

                                                        iv.      Deacon Roberson story

d.     You don’t have to save the world, just save one soul.  You don’t have to do it big.  Just do it.

III.             Do it Now

a.     This woman leaves the well, she drops her water pot and goes to the city and says come see a man who told me all things that ever I did.  She does not wait go get her stuff together she goes right now.  (That’s too easy to preach, I am going to leave that one alone).  She does not stand there and marvel at the fact that Jesus just told her every thing that she just did, she goes now.  Think about it.  He just told her everything that she has ever done and she doesn’t stay there entranced by the process.  (Stuck in the Awe phase of what God can do for us, that we are not willing to allow God to work through us.)  NOW I got to go and add a verse 35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?  Your problem is that you are always putting your blessing before you.  

                                                             i.      I cannot wait until 2010.

                                                           ii.      Cant wait until I get married

                                                        iii.      Cannot wait until I get there

                                                        iv.      Cannot wait until this happens.

b.     And the problem with that is that people who are always waiting for the right time to do something never get to the time when it’s right to do anything.  Stop counting down the days until you are ready to work, and get to work now.  And, I recognize my part in this.  I realize that I serve as a cog in a religious system that has peddled a prophetically powerful God. See religion has a tendency to  always put God’s power in the future of in the past.  (OLD TIME RELIGION)  (One glad morning when this life is over I’LL FLY Away)  Well the old time religion won’t help me now.  And Heaven won’t help me with what I am going through right now.  (I am so tired of people who are ‘BOUT TO PEOPLE.

                                                             i.      I need a God that will invade my present moment and illuminate it with light. 

                                                           ii.      I need a God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all and do it NOW

                                                        iii.      I need a God…………fiery furnace……..now

                                                        iv.      Open the red sea

                                                           v.      Heal the issue of blood

                                                        vi.      Raise Lazarus from the dead

Listening for God's voice

Friends,

Today has been a day of resignations and losses.  I never saw it coming, and yet it still came. One after the other, things started falling apart.  And, I was tempted to get down. I was saying that I was not affected. I was noting that people make choices and that I could not change any of those choices. I was doing a good job of putting on the mask of "whatever". 

But, on the inside I was torn. I was hurt. I was sad. I was mad. I was mad at people for doing what they did. I was mad at people for hurting others to the point of sadness. I was mad at myself for not listening to friends and just staying where we were with the family that we had and the peace that was ours. I was retracing my actions and trying to figure out where I made my fatal error.  What was I doing on this mountain? Why was I subjecting the people that I loved to this? Why was I subjecting my children to this? Maybe they were right; this is too much for any one person to do. I was praying for a Machine de Grace, and secretly hoping for a Coup de Grace. And, then I was really hurt. I remembered that it was God that directed me to this point. It was God that told me to stand on this mountain. Really!? I was not in a good place.

And so this morning I prayed to my God, and this is what happened.  The earth shook as one of my friends said they were done with the ministry. And, the voice of God was not in the shaking of the earth. The fire rung loudly with a phone call that another member was leaving our family. And, the voice of God was not in the fire.  The wind of hatred blew at my soul as another friend claimed I was no friend at all and that I had hurt them and their children. And, the voice of God was not in the wind.  I was almost ready to give up. I was standing in the cave of my own discontent staring into the "stuff" that is the service of God. And, all I could think of was how comfortable it was "before we took on this venture", and how easy it would be to find a nice dark spot in the cave and hide. It was at that moment (literally) that there was a still small voice speaking.

Sara, thank you for your note. Thank you for including me in that note. Thank you for reminding me that the service we do is important and it is worth whatever price we have to pay. God is everything. I will not abandon that which has been set before me. I will not give up. I will not give in. For, today God has again assured me that He neither slumbers nor sleeps. And so, as God spoke through Sara's still small voice, I heard what I need to hear. No! It was not a great proclamation that all was going to immediately get better. No! It was not a notification that everything was going to immediately right itself and we would sail off into the sunset of "easy" church. It was not even an affirmation that all I had did was correct and I therefore could rest in knowing that at least I was "right." It was none of these things.  Instead, I heard God ask the question "Jesse, what are you doing standing here?".
 

I heard God's gentle reminder that I need to get back to "running with a purpose". The race is not given to the swift, nor to the strong, but to the one who endures until the end.

I love you Sara. I am praying for you. Thank you for being the voice of God this morning.

Now, each of you go out and run for the purpose that you have been given. I love each of you.

Jesse

50 Shades of Christianity

Friends,

First, I need to apologize for being away from my blog for such a long time. I truly have missed sharing with you and I promise to do better. So, in a way, I am glad that this recent "episode" occurred.  It, at the very least, forced me away from the brevity that is my Facebook posts back to my blog.  

So, a great many of the women in my family and circle of friends have been reading E.L. James' 50 Shades of Grey. I have not read the book and have only been privy to a couple of veiled conversational references to it made by an assortment of these women.  However, several days ago I asked a friend what the allure was. After hearing what she thought, I started thinking about the book. I reflected on the global theme of the book and I read about 50 pages of the book. I found it "unappealing". But, that was all I thought of it. However, as I thought more about it, I wondered if the book was about more than just sexual submission. I wondered if Grey was not also submitting to Anastasia; the name does literally mean "she who shall rise up again". I just started thinking. And, in the thinking, I wondered if it would be worth looking at the writing from both a literary and religious perspective.  50 Shades of Grey: an Introspective Examination of Why God Intended for Men and Women to Submit to One Another.   I thought it would get a lot of women into a class and allow them to revisit a writing that most of them had already read. I thought it would be a challenge to examine the writing from a theological perspective. I thought it would illustrate the fact that church and God is life, and doesn't have to be limited to just Sunday morning and bible readings. And, even though I was literally dreading the thought that I would have to actually read the books in order to discuss them, I was prepared to do that.  Besides, this was just the product of my insomnia. It  was just one Facebook post. It was a budding thought that would probably die on page of my overly cluttered writing list.

Sunday came, and during the announcements at my 8:45 service, I mentioned that I wanted some feedback on this budding idea. And, the feedback was immediate. One parishioner contorted her face in what was clear disapproval of the idea. Another friend volunteered to send me more information on the book so that I would have a better understanding of the novel. Both agreed that "we should not discuss this in church."  As the day went on, more friends chimed in. (And, I am being neither contentious nor facetious when I refer to them as friends.)  One gently invited me to participate in a book study that was already established. One friend who was concerned that I would upset the apple cart too early in the life of my new church family, warned that I might want to not attempt such an edgy endeavor. Others could not see how there would be any "Christian" use for such a book or book study. And others wondered why I was seeking to be ousted from the church as a whole. People sent me Facebook posts and inbox messages. It was clear. This was not a good idea. The book was off limits. I heard them all. But, I would like to offer some observations before I lay this ill-planned venture to rest.

 The book is too raunchy to be discussed by good Christians in a church setting. According to my unscientific calculations over 70% of the women in my church, between the ages of 26 and 60, have read the book. They are all Christians. At the same time, less than 30% of my total membership, on any given Sunday, can raise their hand to affirm that they read the bible once during the previous week. This however, may make sense when you consider the fact that there are more than four times the references to illicit sexual acts in the bible than in E.L. James' writing. So, maybe Christians really don't like reading or studying books that reference sexuality. Or, maybe people just have not really read the bible and therefore have no idea as to how much "shady" stuff goes on in it. Either way, I worry that this is further indication that as Christians we seek to put on one face inside the sanctuary and another when we exit.  This does, however, make it difficult for others to know what mask they should wear when they come to visit with and investigate us.  Whatever you think about this issue, one thing is clear.  Being a Christian is neither natural nor easy. And, how we go about doing that is not as black and white as we would have the world believe.  In fact, one might even argue that figuring out how we help others understand our in the world but not of the world existence is a matter of navigating the grey areas of our lives.  

I love you,

Jesse

Forgiven By God......Now what?

Friends,

For the past 14 months, I have been reading and teaching from a little book called "The Journey".  It is not a common writing. It is not found in any of your major book stores. And there are several places in the book that I have found grammatical errors. Normally, I would have laid this book down to never return to it, when I found the second grammatical error. However, it was given to me by a friend who asked me to teach a series of lessons from it for a weekend School of Christian Mission.  So, tossing it into the pile of poorly edited rags in my basement was not an option.

So, as a result I began this Journey of reexamining forgiveness, restorative justice and reconciliation. For the first time in my life, I began to really look at forgiveness. And what I have discovered during this journey is soul stirring and heart wrenching.  I have discovered that forgiveness is not a single act, but a process. I have discovered that too often we erroneously teach people that granting forgiveness also releases them from being accountable for their actions. I have discovered that forgiveness is not an act for the other, but is really about releasing the victim from the bondage of hatred, anger and hurt. I have discovered that you can go over forgiveness in a 4 hour session, but to really teach it, you need months of discussion, thought, reteaching, pushing, crying, and praying. But, more than any of these, I have discovered that God forgives us a lot quicker than we forgive ourselves.

Too often we live with the guilt and pain of our past acts long after the victim of our sin and the God of our forgiveness has moved past it.  I am not sure why we do this, but I see the scars of this too often in our churches and on our people. We sit wrapped in the quilt of our own guiltiness in a way that is often unhealthy and unnecessary. I don't know how to explain this. I don't know how to teach people out of this. And, if I were being totally honest, I would admit that I don't know how to escape this state of existence, either. Some time ago, a friend suggested that this is indicative of one's inability to fully accept and appreciate God's forgiveness. I hope that is not true. This friend went on to suggest that we don't fully forgive ourselves because we don't really know how to forgive others. I don't think she was right. I really don't know why we punish ourselves in this way. What I do know is that this "thing" robs us of our lives and of our happiness. And, that is not what God would have for us.

Forgive others. Accept God's forgiveness. Seek the forgiveness of those you have offended or hurt. Forgive yourself and seek to live the life that God has for you.  And, when you have done all of this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul; and your neighbors as yourself.

Be forgiven,

Pastor Jesse