Month: December 2007

Resounding Gongs and Clanging Cymbals

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So when I first read the news report about American Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s unfortunate remarks about AIDS, I was annoyed. Saying in 1992 (and standing by those words in 2007) that AIDS patients should be isolated/quarantined because we don’t know how AIDS spreads is a bit out there. Perhaps if it had been 1982, it would have been vaguely understandable. But 1992, that’s just sad.

I don’t mean to pick on Huckabee. He isn’t my top choice among the candidates, but he isn’t my absolute last choice either. His statement was stupid and unbelievable, but it was just a mere blip on the sensational news radar. What I think made it continue to bug me is the underlying attitude of rejection of the Other that it conveys.
The messages of the culture I inhabit and the belief I follow teach me to be inclusive of the Other. Values of tolerance and respect are assumed in the postmodern climate of this globalized world. My faith encourages me to love my neighbor and my enemy, treating them as I myself would desire to be treated. I read stories of Jesus hanging out with the lepers and of him promoting the actions of a good Samaritan who helped out a bleeding and dying man. In essence loving people no matter what was wrong with them. Embracing the Other out of the command to love them instead of rejecting them out of fear because they are different.

So to hear politicians and those who claim to be Christian saying that people who are different or ill need to be isolated away from normal people (and for false reasons at that) doesn’t make much sense to me. Sure I understand safety and medical issues, but I don’t understand the mindset of rejection. Huckabee’s words were foolish and misguided, but they also departed from the type of lifestyle of love Christ calls us to live. And that is what makes those words most dangerous.

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Advent – Song of Hope

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As the theme of Advent this week is hope, I wanted to share the lyrics to one of my favorite songs that celebrates that hope. I have always found David Wilcox’s songs to hold truth in their very self-awarely simple and folksy way. The album this song is from, Into the Mystery, didn’t leave my cd player for about a year after it was released as I let the songs seep in. I keep coming back to this song though because of how beautifully it captures the hope of the incarnation. Enjoy.

If it Wasn’t for the Night

If it wasn’t for the night
So cold this time of year
The stars would never shine so bright
So beautiful and clear

I have walked this road alone
My thin coat against the chill
When the light in me was gone
And my winter house was stilled

When I grieved for all I’d made
Out of all I had to give
On the eve of Christmas day
With no reason left to live

Even then somehow in the bitter wind and cold
Impossibly strong I know
Even then a bloom as tender as a rose
Was breaking through the snow
In the dark night of the soul
In the dark night of the soul

If it wasn’t for the babe
Lying helpless on the straw
There would be no Christmas day
And the night would just go on

When it seem that death has won
Buried deep beneath the snow
Where the summer leaves have gone
The seed of hope will grow

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Being Negative

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Yesterday in church as we began our celebration of Advent we focused on Idolatry. Granted that isn’t one of the common themes of the season, but the advent of this different type of Messiah calls one to examine idolatry of empire versus allegiance to the Kingdom of God. As one stands against the false messages of empire, it become important to not only live differently but to have a prophetic voice where one is at. One needs to have the ability, the right, and the courage to stand up at times and say “this isn’t right.” Unfortunately that prophetic voice is generally suspect or corrupted in the church and in American society. As we discussed this, I was reminded of a recent quote of Tony Campolo to Tony Jones that I have seen posted on a couple of blogs (HT – Brother Maynard and Steve Knight)

“Don’t emerge. The Church needs you to not emerge. Keep being emergent. Keep saying what you’re not. Keep saying what you’re against. Be a prophetic voice in the Church, ’cause as soon as you say, ‘OK we’re done being against, we’re done kind of calling out the failings of the modern church, the weaknesses of the modern church,’ then you will become something, and you’ll no longer be Emergent. Then you’ll start ‘workin’ for The Man.’ You’ll become part of the big institution.”

While I am sure that more was meant in this statement than just what I am perceiving here, I think this holds some good advice for the church. One of the most common complaints I hear against us emergent types is that we are too negative – we just complain about the system and don’t actually ever say what we are for. While I often wonder if those making such accusations are just too miffed that our complaints hit too close to home to bother looking at what we do believe, these sorts of accusations generally end up shutting down constructive conversation. Conflict avoidance is next to godliness in most church settings I’ve been a part of, and so to accuse someone of being negative and inciting conflict is a sure way to silence opposition. In effect prophetic voices get muzzled or tainted with the label rabble-rouser. We can’t have people being negative now can we? Or as someone asked in church yesterday, did people tell Martin Luther to stop being so negative as he nailed his complaints to the door?
Granted, some attempts at having a prophetic voice are anything but helpful. Thoughtful engagement and criticism appear instead as hatred and judgementalism. Those voices are not looking for dialogue or change, but to merely tell others why they obviously are wrong. They kinda forget the whole “speak the truth in love” mandate or Peter’s advice to give a reason for the hope we have with gentleness and respect.
There needs to be a balance here. Judgementalism must be avoided in favor of respect and love, but prophetic voices shouldn’t be shamed into silence either. There is nothing wrong with calling for reform of the church or of the country – even though such a call is by its very nature negative. In exploring flaws and providing constructive criticism one is not necessarily rejecting those structures, just hoping to make them better. So while positive outlooks have their place, so do negative criticisms. We need to cling to the ability to be self-reflective of the cultures we inhabit (including the church) and continue to have a prophetic voice within those realms – no matter how uncomfortable it may be for others to hear.

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First Sunday of Advent – Hope

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Some hoped for a warrior. One who would come to overthrow the Romans. A great and might King who would stand above the masses and once again bring glory to the nation.

Some hoped for a purifier to come and cleanse the nation of it’s sin. One who would enforce the laws and punish those who transgress. One who could motivate a nation to toe the line of legalism and save themselves through piety.

What they got instead was a baby. God incarnate indeed, but God incarnate lowly, poor, and vulnerable. And a kind of hope that those obsessed with delusions of grandeur or religious fervor could barely comprehend, but which echoed in the hearts of the oppressed desperate for any hope at all. The type of hope that the one who bore this child understood when she proclaimed –

“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers.” Luke 1:46-55

Jesus came as the incarnation of this hope for the brokenhearted. He urged us to love others and bring freedom to the oppressed. He healed the sick and ate meals with outcasts. He offended those calling for violent revolution and scandalized those upholding the letter of the law. But he proclaimed hope.

On this first Sunday of Advent we are called to remember that hope. To celebrate the incarnation that brought hope to those who had never dared hope before. But celebrating doesn’t mean just saying a few nice words or a prayer of thanksgiving. It means being that hope. It means as followers of Christ expressing his incarnation by being his hands and feet. By healing the sick, by setting the oppressed free, and bringing good news to the poor. Hope must be tangible and make a concrete difference in the lives of those who need it for it to be real hope. Let us not just proclaim hope, but be true harbingers of hope as we seek to live in light of the incarnation.

The words to one of my favorite carols of the season, O Holy Night, capture a bit of what this incarnate hope can look like in our lives –

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

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