Memorial Day - 2018

I hate war.  I hate the thought of countries being at war.  I’ve never been in a war.  War is not something I need to experience in order to know how I feel about it.  The Bible, and world history, tells me that we will never escape war while here on Earth.  This frustrates me. 

Those in my family who have seen war rarely ever talk about it.  My uncle saw war in Vietnam.  My brother saw it in Afghanistan.  I’m grateful that they both made it back alive.  They would both tell you that their experience has deeply affected them.  

I have close friends who met in the second Iraq war and got married while on deployment.  Having been home from the conflict for over a decade, this couple quietly leave the country on the fourth of July. The explosions that are meant to celebrate and commemorate the independence and freedom of this country, put them mentally and emotionally back in the hell they escaped years ago.   Fortunately, living in the Pacific Northwest, Canada is only a few short hours drive.   No bombs bursting in air up there at that time in the big maple… it’s a refuge. 

My friends and family are home, and are alive. For that, I am grateful.  

I don’t ever expect to understand the depth of their hurt.  I see it though when every once and a great while, they speak so highly of the men and women they served with who didn’t come home.  They speak of their character, grit, leadership, and wisdom.  That these individuals demonstrated what Jesus calls the greatest love,

“No greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13).  

It’s usually said of them that they were the best among them.  

My brother wrote this on Facebook a couple years ago, "A smaller group of Americans experience this in a very personal way (Memorial Day) because when we think about Service Members who gave their lives, we start missing all our dead friends. We think about their kids who don't have their mom or dads, we wonder if we could have done something to prevent it, then we hope they're family is getting along ok and feel guilty for having lost contact with them." It's deep, it's significant, and it's life altering. 

On this memorial day, may we stop for a moment and remember.

Let us remember those who laid their lives down and did not get back up.

Let us remember the families and friends who grieve their loss.

Let us remember the character, grit, and values exemplified in these men and women.

Let us remember to pray for those that are hurting.

Let us remember to pray for our leaders in government.

Let us remember to pray for peace.

Let us remember to be that peace in our interactions with others.

Let us remember that one action of love can have a ripple effect that transforms a community and a people over time.

Let us remember that we can lay our lives down for those around us, as we seek to serve others, in honor and in memory of those who have fallen down range. 

Just about every week, as a pastor, I preach for us to look unto Jesus Christ as our example in life, service, and love.  I’m confident of those that my family and friends speak about, those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, are worthy examples to imitate in their character, grit, dedication, and love.  If everyone in this world could take a page out of their play book, that maybe… just maybe… war could be avoided. 

I pray that this memorial day will be one filled remembrance.  Remembrance of the lives that were given, the lives that live on, and the life that can be lived.  As Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father, who is in Heaven… Your kingdom come, Your will be done, here on Earth as it is in Heaven.”  Heaven, where there is no more war.  Heaven, where there is no more pain.  Heaven, where this no more death.  Heaven, where there is no more tears.   Come Lord Jesus, come. Even so, come quickly.

Finding True North

In Boy Scouts, when navigating on a map in the wilderness, we learned how to find true North by knowing the declination based on where we were on the Earth. Because of the curvature of the Earth, magnetic North (which shows on the compass) and truth North (applying the degree shift of declination) are different.

If you would consider yourself a Christian, our culture and politics (in light of current events) would point you in a direction that is fear based, self-insular, and ok with the potential mass murder of 100's of thousands of people. I would argue, a few degrees off of true North.

Jesus is our true North as Christians. If Jesus is the exact imprint of God's nature, then we really do know what God thinks of life, war, and the potential at being harmed at the hands of others. 

My hope is that in these difficult times, the Church of Jesus would be the bringers of peace and not the ambassadors of war. Rather than "peace through strength", our cry would be "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven".

May we accurately reflect what it means to be the ambassadors of Christ. 

Megan

Today my heart was moved.  We’re trying to get this initiative off of the ground where we’re filming stories of people in low-income housing, hoping to tell these stories to help motivate other churches to enter into relationship with the neighborhood. 

The director of the neighborhood we're building a relationship with encouraged a young girl to ask her moms if they would be interested in sharing their story.  In explaining to this young girl, whom we’ll call Megan, that we are a church and we just want to help people in the neighborhood.  The 12 year old girl hesitated.   They removed themselves from our presence.  They came back and Megan stammered trying to ask a question, “I don’t know how to ask this.”   I tried to assure her to just get out there and I’ll do my best to answer her question.

“Do you help even if the people are gay or lesbian?”

I responded with the hope of assuring a visible doubt, “Yes, it does not matter what your sexual orientation or preference is, we want to help”. 

Megan seemed assured, said “Ok, thanks.”, made eye contact with her friend the neighborhood director, a smile came across her face, and she was off.  The director then shared with me that she had been to five churches over the last year and had left because her moms were in a lesbian relationship. 

Where is there room for people who don’t agree with us in our church?  Do they have to have their life in order before they come?  Or can we only accept those whose sin we can be comfortable with?  

Are we OK with the glutton, but ostracize the homosexual?  Are we OK with the one that is engaged in a premarital sexual relationship, but a same sex attracted individual can not be in community to know what a Christ centered loving community looks like? Have we forgotten that sin comes in all forms, one not more egregious than another in God's eyes?  Have we forgotten that we are to be IN the world, amongst people who we disagree with and are not like us? 

My hope is that Megan and her moms will be able to experience and see in a tangible way, the love of Christ.  That through relationship they may understand the breadth, depth, and height of the love of Christ for them.  That they will have a loving community that will come around them and not abandon them as the Holy Spirit is faithful to convict them of sin, righteousness, and judgement... just as He continues to do the same work in me. 

Prayer: Father, please help your church to love well.  Not holding the sins of others as a personal offense, but rather we might look to be an extension of Your grace in their lives as we ourselves experience Your grace.  Amen.

"I could have gotten one more..."

“I could have gotten one more person... and I didn’t!”

- Liam Neeson in Schindler’s List as Oskar Schindler.

Schindler’s List… wow.  I haven’t thought of that movie in a very long time.  What a fascinating, powerful, and sobering movie.  If you have not seen it, Steven Spielberg directed this masterpiece that will shake you to your core… if it doesn’t, I don’t think you are human.  It is the movie that tells the story of a particular group of Jews during the Holocaust of World War II and a man who becomes concerned for them witnessing their persecution.  This movie highlights one of the most vivid and heart wrenching times in recent human history where the depths seemed to be reached regarding wickedness and depravity of the human race, and it is on full display.

I saw it in High School (loooooong time ago), and once or twice since then, but not recently.  The story surrounds a man by the name of Oskar Schindler. It is based on true accounts by those who were saved by Mr. Schindler and close surviving family members.  Oskar is a business man looking to make money off of the war in Poland during the height of the Nazi occupation.  While witnessing the persecution of the Jews, in the ghettos and concentration camps, Oskar seeks to use the resources at his disposal to save as many as he can from being murdered. 

A colleague of mine had just watched the movie for the first time.  He shared with me the quote above where Schindler was weeping, realizing he could have done more in his efforts to save these people.  My colleague continued about how that moment in the movie impacted him in a powerful way (as he was saying it, it was hitting me too).  “I could have gotten one more person… and I didn’t!”.

As we look at our great affluence and privilege, the question will be and needs to be asked, “How did we use it?”.   I confess, this doesn’t always cross my mind.  I’d like to think it does, but I know by the power and the depth in which this thought hit me, there is room for much improvement and self examination. 

When this life is over and we are accountable before God, will these words pour forth from our lips?  It may not be saving individuals from genocide like Oskar Schindler, but maybe pulling children from the brink of starvation. Or maybe we will regret not even trying to be about providing the common needs shared by all people like clean water, food, shelter, clothes, education, or even love. 

You are responsible for you, and I have to take responsibility for myself.  As we examine our hearts, weigh the blessing and privilege we experience, see the need before us, and it’s my prayer that God will lead us in being His hands and feet to those in our sphere of influence.  That as you sense that leading or feel that prompting, that you would be obedient, extending His grace, love, and kindness meeting needs that are within our power. 

Oskar didn’t save them all.  He knew he couldn’t.  What broke him at the end were those people that he could have saved, but didn't.  May we spend our lives for the things that matter.  May we use our resources and skills to improve lives, sewing peace, giving thanks to God, being ready to share about the Hope that lies in each one of us as we are asked. 

Be empowered!