Wait, Wasn't Jesus a Refugee?

Photo by Magnus Wennman, http://www.refinery29.com/2015/
11/97460/where-syrian-refugee-children-sleep#slide-10

Last week our sisters and brothers in France were wounded in a brutal terrorist attack claiming the lives of 129 people and wounding over 350 more. This, like all other such attacks, have a blatant disregard for life...a heinous crime that can never be condoned or supported by anyone in their right mind. My congregation held them up in prayer on Sunday as well as teaching our young ones about God's presence in the midst of pain and suffering. Across various social media platforms I witnessed people changing their pictures to have a watermark of the French flag, plenty of #prayforparis posts, and yes...lots of prayers offered up to God. 

And yet this event also provided a proof for people to reject refugees from Syria on the basis that they might be letting in a terrorist. Such sentiments stem from one of the cancers of humanity, fear. I agree that we do not want any sort of attacks...ever. But are we willing to turn away from people in need?Will we tell people there is no room in the inn? I get it. We are scared of the possibilities of what could be, but that doesn't excuse us from being disciples.

North Dakota has been struggling with this issue. Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota has been facilitating the resettlement of refugees since the 1950s, yet just this year people have been voicing strong opinions against such activity. In fact, it has been such a heated topic in the area that police squad cars have had to watch over the executive director of LSS ND's house because of  threats to her and her family.

But here is the thing...

LSS is not taking as many as they can get in order to earn as much money as they can get, these new Americans have been placed here by the U.S. government. These new Americans are not sucking up all of the social services funds and resources, in fact according to Cass County, only 15% of  county assistance goes to New Americans. These new Americans are not hurting our economy, they are helping because they are taking the jobs that nobody wants! Yet that does not stop that insidious and infectious part of humanity we call fear.

So perhaps it is because of the fear of rekindling the flames of protest against the work of resettlement, or maybe it is because ND does not have a Syrian population in which to connect new immigrants, Lutheran Social Services of ND has made a statement that they are requesting not to have any of the Syrian refugees placed in this state. Instead they want to focus on settling the people they have in recent decades (people from Bhutan, Sudan, Iraq, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Cuba, Liberia, Rwanda, Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia). While both may likely be driving factors, it seems as though LSS of ND has taken the easy way out of this conversation.

So what should the church do? 

We should live into our baptismal identities as God's children, as God's agents in the world, as God's disciples. 

You see discipleship is all about going out of the church walls and into the world to answer the cries of our neighbor. It is a deepening of engagement with the world, not a personal achievement. It is the Triune God who reshapes all of us in our baptisms to follow the new obedience of Jesus Christ and not our own wants, or fear for the matter. German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote:

But because Jesus' disciples act in simple obedience to their Lord, they view the extraordinary as the only normal act of obedience. According to Jesus' word, the disciples can do nothing else but be the light that shines. They do not do anything to accomplish this; they are the light while following Christ, looking only to their Lord. (Discipleship, 150)

Indeed, such an obedience to minister to people in need as that of refugees may seem to be extraordinary to the world, but for Christians is should not be. Not so much that this is a common occurrence, rather that the call to go to this neighbor is something which is readily and willingly done. This is because all cries from our sisters and brothers are met by the obedience of disciples in their calls of service.                                                                                                                       

But for those who need a refresher, here's what Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew about what it means to serve God and the world:

...for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

Now is the time to look at ourselves and take an inventory of what we are doing in our discipleship. Are we going to lock our doors, our hearts, our minds, our borders, our lives from those who so desperately need God's love? Are we going to declare to people that there is no room in the inn when we could find some? Now is the time for the radical hospitality of God. To see that lived out in a frightened world is going to to take bold and courageous action.

We are called to be the light that shines.
     W are called to be disciples.
          We are called to love our neighbors. 
               We are called to love the least of these.

I pray that as we look to the coming season of Advent, a season of hopeful waiting for the coming of God, we find ourselves welcoming the refugee infant. The lowly babe born in a manger, Jesus.

-Tom

Come Out!

Let’s not sugar coat the issue of the All Saint's Day text, death sucks. The prospects of the process of dying scare us because we do not want to suffer and we do not want to leave our loved ones in pain. Death seems like the ending point in our lives because we will cease to exist as our minds can fathom. Death certainly seems like the end.

This is the sort of attitude that the disciples, Mary, Martha, and the gathered community were operating with at the time of Lazarus’ death. They cry and weep before Jesus, “If you only you had been here to save him…” These people who have been following Jesus around Judea had seen miracle upon miracle and they certainly believe that he has powers, but they couldn’t understand what kind. Jesus turns water into wine, Jesus heals a blind man, Jesus walks on water. But they could not grasp the idea that death could be defied. They could not envision Jesus as the resurrection and the life overcoming death’s stronghold. It’s no wonder that Jesus cries, because they simply do not understand what is going on…why Jesus is here…

Who do you identify with in this gospel reading? My guess is that we all feel like Mary and Martha more often than not. We believe in a loving God that is gracious and merciful and can do miraculous things. Yet when it comes to death we lash out in lament. Why did you let all of those people die? Why is there so much suffering and pain in the world? Why don’t you do anything? Why didn’t you come and save my brother? Why?

Such a way of life, of looking to the future without hope, is attractive because it does not require us to move out of our grief and pain. We find it comfortable to wallow in despair, but that is not the life God calls us to.

To make his point Jesus goes to the place where they had buried Lazarus. Why? Because he is going to show the people that he doesn’t have the power to stop death. God has the power to overcome death. “Lazarus come out!” These three words crack open the door, enough for us to peek through and catch a glimpse of what God will be up to in the resurrection. God is giving us new life not just after our deaths, but in the here and now.

Where does God beckon you to come out? Which one of death’s relatives keeps you behind a stone? What sin keeps you from living into discipleship? How does despair pin you down? How does division separate you from God’s love? How is our community trapped in old ways that keep us from participating in God’s mission in a new time and place? Lazarus, come out!

This call is a call of resurrection that God is not afraid to offer to me and to you in all of the dark, dank, stench ridden places of our lives. God goes to such extents not to usher us into heaven, rather to lead us to a life of service. If we look at the end of the passage, Jesus calls for the community to come to Lazarus to unbind him from his burial wrappings. Jesus calls for us, the community, to enter into the miracle in order to finish it. That is the life we are called to.

On November 1^st we celebrated All Saints Day. It is a day where the church gathers together to remember with honor those who have died in the last year. But why do we call them saints? Simply put saints are people who have been declared holy. Now I do not mean that a special committee gets together to decide who is holy and who is not, rather, it is God who declares us holy. You see we are not holy by any merit or work of our own, rather God does because it is God who sets us apart in the world to do God’s work in the world. All Saints Day then takes on new form, it honors those who have been living into their various vocations in service to God and it encourages us to continue our journey of faith and life.

You see whatever we do in faith is considered holy. And when we do it…we can see moments of God’s transforming presence. We can see miracles today. We can see resurrection. We can hear the divine voice calling, “Lazarus, come out.”

When I coached high school football in Minneapolis, some of the coaches who were teachers and myself would hold a study hall for those struggling academically. And there is one young man in particular who I will always remember. His family immigrated to the U.S. from an African country and he adjusted well to the US culture, but academics were a tough road to travel for this young man. We would sit together for the entire study session going over math problems where I would have to put it in terms that he could understand…football terms.

It was an awesome sight to see him catch on and eventually excel in math and other subjects. It was an awesome sight to see him develop into a stellar high school football player. And it is now an awesome sight to see him fulfilling his dream of playing college football at a division one school. Looking back I have no doubt God was working a miracle in this man’s life. And it took a community of family members, football coaches, and teachers to make this miracle happen. He heard God beckoning to him, “Lazarus, come out!” And he did. And there was a community surrounding him to help God finish the miracle.

All Saints Day celebrates those who have done that work and have died. All Saints Day directs us not to look up to heaven in the hopes of resurrection, that will come. It directs us to look at our neighbors, the ones who are left on the margins of society, the lonely, the hungry, the least of these. All Saints Day, is a day in which we are reminded of our baptismal calling of new life in Christ and creating such a way for others.

All Saints Day is a reminder that we shouldn’t be perpetually stuck like Mary, Martha, and the other disciples. Rather we are called to a faith that trusts that Christ is the resurrection and the life, a faith that hears the call to come out of our own tombs where death wants to keep us trapped, a faith that works with one another to do God’s work. Indeed we are called and we must respond. Lazarus come out.

-Tom

Coaching as a Model for Pastoral Leadership

My colleague in ministry, Pastor Nate Luong of Trinity Lutheran in St. Peter, MN, and I wrote this article for Word and World during our last semester. Yes, we were able to write an article for publication during senior slide...a true miracle! Coaches and sports fans please read and comment!

Coaching as a Model for Pastoral Leadership

Best,
Tom

Good News in a Tough Text

Mark 10:2-16 is one of those texts that no pastor really wants to preach on because it is a tough text that has Jesus responding to an issue that is very real for us in ways that at first do not appear to be too friendly. In fact they seem offensive. As people of the year 2015 we look at this text from thousands of years ago and we squirm in our seats, or even worse we do not hear or feel the good news, rather we feel like we are less of a human being. This text is hard and I do not claim to have any concrete resolutions to make this text a bright and shiny, happy go lucky text. All I can offer is a response from one who has listened to the broken hearts going through divorce and speak to their experience as the vulnerable being lifted up and cared for by a loving God.

Perhaps the first thing we need to do is to look at this text within its context. First, it was a patriarchal world where men had say over women and were often treated more like property than human beings. Second, marriages were not based on love as it is today, rather marriage was based on property, status, and honor between two families. And lastly, divorce was acceptable in some cases at the time Jesus was speaking as he references a law from way back in the Old Testament when Moses was leading the Israelites (Mark G. Vitalis Hoffman, www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2638).

Working from this cultural worldview, divorce was something that had horrible consequences for women: they were marked with disgrace within their families and publicly, they likely now faced economic hardship, and faced a very limited future for her and her children. In a word, divorce made women vulnerable.

Jesus’ admonition against divorce then served one purpose, to protect the vulnerable that are treated as objects. Jesus seeks to move from viewing women as property to that of equal status and worth as God intended in the Garden of Eden where both Adam and Eve were equal partners. For God’s intention in creation was for humanity to be in relationships of mutual dependence and health.

And yet, as someone who had not been directly impacted by divorce, I am left wanting more from this text for our current time and place. It is a similar sentiment shared by those whom I have spoken with who have gone through or are going through divorce. How is this good news today when women share equal rights in this country (or at least they should)? How is this good news to children who may not comprehend what is happening to their family dynamic? How is this good news when it is a mutually decided upon divorce? But really, how it is good news at all?

For the past few weeks in our gospel readings Jesus has included children in some form or another to teach the disciples what it means to follow him. In Mark 7:24-37 we heard about the Syro-Phoenician woman with an ailing daughter who displayed the truth that God’s mission is not to a select people, but to all. And in Mark 9:30-37 we saw Jesus pick up a little child and teach us that whoever welcomes a child in Jesus’ name does indeed welcome God. And then we have today’s text where Jesus tells us that if we do not receive the kingdom of God like we would receive a child, we will never enter it. Why? 

You see children were just about the most vulnerable thing in the ancient world (Matt Skinner, workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=401). They were considered not fully developed humans and they had virtually no political standing. In essence, they were not much of anything. For Jesus then to take one on his lap and to say that to welcome the Kingdom of God you must accept this child was a command for us to reach out to those who are suffering, those who are ill, those who are hurting, and those who are vulnerable.

How is this passage good news? I suppose that living out this text will depend upon whether or not it is received as gospel or as another antiquated biblical passage that makes people wonder whether or not the Bible has anything to say to us in 2015. We as the community of believers in a God who gives us love, mercy, and kindness must live out these virtues and more for all of those going through divorce no matter who they are or what has transpired. That is what Jesus is telling his disciples, that they must welcome all people even the most vulnerable and those living within the open wounds of divorce. We are called to love our neighbors, especially those who are vulnerable.

Mark's text confronts us with the issues of the broken, the abandoned, and the vulnerable. Mark places these people right in front of with no escape...this is an issue that must be dealt with as a disciple. Yes, divorce is always a tough and terrible thing because a relationship between two people in some way has been severed. Yet, there are circumstances when staying married is worse than divorce (Bonnie Wilcox, Currents in Theology & Mission, 10/4/15). But here is the good news, God is mindful of all those caught up in this difficult situation so much so that God sent God’s only son to care for them and to show us that they must be tended to because such love and compassion to the vulnerable is what the Kingdom of God is all about.

My hope and prayer is that all people may live into the vision of my current congregation, that all are welcome. Furthermore, I pray that those who are hurting and finding themselves vulnerable in a tumultuous time may find sanctuary among God’s people in this place. If you find yourself in such a situation, you are welcomed, you are loved, and you are embraced by a most merciful and kind God. And that is good news.

Best,

Tom

Be Opened - Mark 7:24-30

My brother lives in Tucson, AZ with his wife. They moved down there from Minnesota because he is a student to become a research psychologist, in other words a college professor. His interest is in bias, stereotypes, and prejudices and how they impact people’s decision making processes and life in general. For example, a few of his friends and him submitted a study to ESPN about the correlation of personal fouls committed by NBA players who entered the league right after high school compared to those who played at least one year of college basketball. Pretty interesting stuff right? Well it is for a sports nerd like me.

But I mention my brother because he also is an assistant football coach at one of the local high schools where he has the privilege to mentor and coach kids who are the product of such bias and injustice. If you are not familiar with the geographical location of Tucson, it is located about 70 miles north of the border shared with Mexico. Now the reality is that there are many illegal immigrants who live in this city, and no matter your political persuasion, the fear of being deported is real. One of my brother’s players is 15 years old, he works 30 hours per week at McDonald’s, lives in an efficiency apartment by himself, plays football, and is a full time high school student. Why doesn’t he go to social services and get placed in a foster care facility? He is an economic refugee that is seeking a better life and so he does what he has to do in order to survive in the U.S.

Stories like his are all over this country and the world. People who are subject to such harsh injustice because of their social and political standing are leery sticking out of the crowd for numerous reasons. But the gravest ill is that they are silenced, their voices are muted, or even worse not heard or willfully ignored. For this young man his silence could be because he doesn’t speak the English language very well or maybe because he is too tired to raise his hand in class from long practices and shifts, or maybe it is because he is scared of being singled out. But it seems to me that he has a lot to teach all of us about life, about faith in the midst of struggle, about loving the neighbor.

Our text from Sunday morning in the Gospel of Mark confronts us with something we do not like to do very much, telling the truth. And the truth is according to Mark, and my brother’s research, is that we are biased creatures that often fear going outside what is comfortable because we fear change, we fear being wrong, we fear other people’s insights, and we fear a whole lot more according to our own personal histories and stories.

But what happens when the truth gets told? Theologian Karoline Lewis says that it is in truth telling our lives are changed from the lies we tell ourselves to maintain the status quo, to that of an entirely changed world.[1] Such a changed world is that of the Kingdom of God. Let’s look back at the text.

A woman who was a Gentile, meaning she was culturally not Jewish, begs on her hands and knees before Jesus to heal her daughter from a demon. And his response…rejection and insult. Yet she did not deem that this was going to be the end of this encounter and possibly the end of her daughter’s life. It is as if she said, “No Jesus, not good enough to simply dismiss me and insult me.You are so much more...” Why would she do this? This woman knew that God’s love, mercy, justice, and redemption is not to be kept for a particular people, it is meant for the entire world whether they are the friends or complete strangers.

It is out of such truth telling of our bias and God’s comprehensive inclusion that comes an awesome opportunity, the chance to live into the gospel, to live into the good news. I think that if there is any good news from this difficult passage, it is that we are called outside of our self-prescribed lies that keep us in an induced stupor of “normalcy.” And instead we are shocked to life by hearing God’s grace through the insight, wisdom, and faith of our neighbors that we call the other.

What does this mean for you and your context at church, at work, or at home? It seems to me that we need to stop pretending that we care about people’s opinions out of striving to be politically correct. We need to care about what others have to say and what they think out of a gospel oriented life. In doing so we need to sit with people we don’t usually sit next to. It means we need to talk to people we don’t usually talk to. It means we need to step outside of the lines we have drawn to box the world away from ourselves. We need to be humbled by the edgy, controversial grace that God gives to the entire world. We need to be opened up.

So who are we overlooking in this community? Who are our biases prohibiting us from listening and seeing? Is it our sisters and brothers on reservations? Is it those whom we deem immoral? Is it those with tattoos and piercings? Is it anyone who is different? The cost of such an attitude is the good news. That’s right, the gospel. Because when we say “no” to being with our neighbors out there in the world, we are saying no to the radical grace of God that seeks out everyone. That is the power of sin that we must fight every day as children of God.

That young man who is working 30 hours a week at McDonald’s, a full time high school student, a football player, who lives alone in an efficiency apartment, and who is seeking a better life…what stories might he have to share with us about his faith in God? My guess is if he told his truth, his life and ours might be changed. But are you willing to listen because he is different or are you going to pretend he doesn’t exist?

We must get out of ourselves and our cozy corners of familiarity. Why? Because God is pushing us into the gospel, the good news, that is spreading all over the world because God’s grace is for all.

-Tom

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[1] Karoline Lewis, “God Said Yes to Me,” Dear Working Preacher, www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3679. 

It's Been a While!

My apologies to whomever might be reading this blog, a lot has happened in life over the past few months. I graduated from Luther Seminary, I got my first call so Emily and I have moved, my sister got married, tons of friends got married, as well as my ordination. Yes, life has been a bit busy.

With all of that said, I am 8 days into my call at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Devils Lake, ND. I am still getting used to flow of this place and planning for the coming program year. Yes, it has been a busy week. And yet I am absolutely astounded by the generosity and graciousness of the people in this congregation. They have been patient with me as I learn names, they have put up with all of my questions, and they have made this new place feel like a home for Emily and I.

I vow to post much more frequently now that I am semi-settled into a routine!

Peace,
Tom

Now What?

Have you ever felt stuck in between two things? For the past few weeks I have felt like I am living in the "in between time" of school and first call. On the one hand I am done with all of my school work and am set to graduate from Luther Seminary this coming Sunday. But on the other hand I am still figuring out my first call and trying to plan an ordination around a handful of schedules. This in between time is exhausting! I have done so much planning and preparation for some things to be finished and others are still coming up on the horizon leaving me wondering whether or not I am moving. I feel a little stuck.

Last night I was flipping through the channels and I came across the end of one of my favorite Disney films, Finding Nemo. One of the side plots in the overall narrative of Marlin, a clown fish, finding his son Nemo is the epic escape attempts of the fish in a dentist's office. Time and time again they plan and try, but ultimately fail. However, in the very last scene we see all of the aquarium characters finally escape by dirtying up the tank and being placed into bags while the dentist cleaned the tank. To our surprise, the fish rolled themselves out the window and on to the street below to plop down into the ocean. But here's the catch, they still aren't free! Bloat, the puffer fish asks, "Now what?"

Now what?

That is exactly how I feel. Living in the in between time leaves us begging for more. I am done with school, but I want to graduate, I want a first call, I want to move, I want____. You know how this goes. The story of the disciples is no different. After the death of Jesus on Good Friday they were left in a difficult situation not knowing what to do. And then Easter Sunday happened, resurrection happened. It is from this new reality that they went out into the world, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the good news of God.

But getting to that other side is difficult, it takes faith. Faith does not mean that the journey will be short, nor does it mean that it will be easy. Joyce Meyer says, "faith is courage that has said its prayers." But it is so much more than that. Faith is God's free gift to all people, and it makes even the most horrible situations tolerable because faith makes God known.

So as I continue to wait in this in between time, I find myself emboldened by that faith God has given. And when you find yourself in a similar situation, may you too find that faith abounds!

Peace,
Tom