Sunday as a part of the message I gave out $2 bills and asked people to grab a few and find a use for them that will somehow reflect the kingdom of God. It is easy to think that the big actions, the ones that are so often beyond the abilities of so many of us, are the only actions that matter. The reality is that such big actions are almost always the result of lots and lots of little actions and are usually done by people who have been trained by lots of small actions. So I asked people to grab a few $2 bills and do a kingdom act, after all those of us who are followers of Jesus are a part of a kingdom from which evil flees when that kingdom is really lived out.
So my question is simply this – what have you done with your $2 bills? If you haven’t done something yet, why not think about, or better yet pray about, what you can do.
I have a suggestion, if you don’t figure out something on your own. I know a person who is a part of Place of Peace (remember Tapestry does the meal this week and for the first time in a long time we aren’t doing jambalaya) who is having to drive to Marshfield each week for chemo and could use some help with gas. That might be a good use. No matter what doing some small kingdom act this week.
The small group to which I and Pam belong is presently reading Richard Stearns’ modern classic “The Hole in Our Gospel“. I read this book years ago and it is wonderful how pertinent it still is. Here’s a part of the book that hit me today.
Finally, many Christians believe poverty to be the result of sinfulness and therefore see evangelism as the best, and sometimes only, medicine. They reason that if only the poor were reconciled to God through Jesus Christ and their spiritual darkness lifted, then their lives would begin to change. Poverty indeed can have profound spiritual dimensions, and reconciliation through Christ is a powerful salve in the lives of the rich or poor. But salvation of the soul, as crucial as it may be for fullness of life both in the here and now and in eternity, does not by itself put food on the table, bring water out of the ground, or save a child from malaria. Many of the world’s poorest people are Christians, and their unwavering faith in the midst of suffering has taught me much.
Perhaps the greatest mistake commonly made by those who strive to help the poor is the failure to see the assets and strengths that are always present in people and their communities no matter how poor they are. Seeing their glasses as half-full rather than half-empty can completely change our approach to helping.
SIDE NOTE – If you aren’t reading my wife’s blog you should – she doesn’t blog often but when she does it is consistently wonderful and challenging.
If you look out the window you’ll see the youngin’s
Please forgive a small brag about two sets of friends.
This weekend Pam and I had three friends from Baton Rouge come over and spend the weekend with us. Debbie, Megan, and Josh are simply amazing people that I am honored to call friends. All three of them have been a huge influence on me and have shaped how I serve as a minister. They came up to the Upper Midwest to be presenters at the Just Faith Summit (a conference concerning the fight to end human trafficking – yes I not only marry very well but I have impressive friends too). You see together they have written a book (here is a blog post that Debbie wrote about the book) that is basically a commentary on texts from scripture that are difficult for survivors of abuse of human tracking to deal with. So after the conference was finished they drove over to our home and spent a few days with us. This meant that we were able to introduce some of our BR friends to many of our “thread” friends who make up Tapestry (interesting we had a decent number of “threads” out of the country this weekend – I felt very cosmopolitan saying that.😁). I know y’all are cool, but it is really nice hearing friends that we respect from another time in our lives talk about how awesome the people are that make up the church that I am a part of leading.
For some reason we older ones stayed inside.
Of course, I already know that y’all are awesome. Seriously I was thinking today about several recent events in which y’all have gone WAY ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL in an attempt to help people that basically none of y’all knew. I figured it up that in the past two years our little, bitty church has done about $6,000 worth of ministry for people that have no connection to the church and are not part of some program or ministry that we are doing or support. This was work that was done in addition to the regular planned given that is a part of our monthly ministry. It doesn’t count supporting missions, Place of Peace, InterVarsity, Nicaragua, World Vision, or any of our other planned ministries, nor what so many of the “threads” do individually. This was just “threads” hearing of a need in our community and getting together and deciding to do something. One example that many of you know about has just happened in the past two weeks. You guys have been, and regularly are amazing. Still it is a lot of fun to hear people that I know very well and that I think are impressive meet my “thread” friends and quickly realize how impressive you are.
I am so thankful that all of you are my friends (in this case BR and “thread” friends) and I am very grateful to be in ministry with so many of you and for some of you to consider me your pastor.
Here’s a screen grab from out backyard camera with the timestamp of when we finished talking and went to bed. Night Owls!!!
SIDE NOTE – the only problem with these BR friends is that they are serious night owls and since I really enjoy listening to them (again they are super cool people) I end up staying up far too late. I feel like this has always been the case. I stayed at Josh’s house quite often when I was working on my D.Min and I remember at the time thinking that I would never be ready for my seminars the next day because I enjoyed talking with Josh and the people were often at his house (this regularly included Meg and Debbie).
SIDE SIDE NOTE – my BR friends may be night owls but they are also some of the best people in the world to watch “The Office” with. I love that show, but I have never laughed as hard or as long as while watching it with them.
Yes the photo is blurry but that is from me laughing while taking this photo of us watching The Office together.
Work on the patio has stopped until Lowes gets more of the appropriate pavers back in stock. I’m so close to finishing. Only a few more feet on each side. It doesn’t look like it will be finished in time for the arrival of our friends from Baton Rouge who are coming up this weekend. Well I guess Debbie, Meg, and Josh get over the dissappointment.
This is what it looks like when you buy all the pavers of a certain style over 5 days. You also tend to get to know the cashiers in the garden department by their names.Here’s what the patio looks like right now. It is around 80-90% complete. Just need to add a few more feet to each side and complete the finishing touches.
I posted Friday that I was struggling with responding to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders using the Bible to justify taking kids away from parents and to try and get their “church friends” to stop complaining about the separation of children from their parents who are seeking asylum. My struggle has been two fold:
the action itself
the attempt to use the Bible to justify the choice of taking the action
I believe many other people have done an excellent job of explaining why the action is wrong (basically just ask yourself “What Would Jesus Do” and I am fairly sure that you will have a hard time coming up with the answer “He would take those frightened kids away from their parents and just tell their parents that they are taking them away to be bathed, and do all of this in such a manner that it will be seen and understood as a threat to anyone else who might seek asylum or try to immigrate to the US from our Southern border.”) Therefore, trusting that subject has been covered I am going to talk about the poor (at best, and evil at worst) use of scripture.
You see just because scripture always requires interpretation doesn’t mean that all interpretation of it is good. When we read the bible we are reading inspired writing from millennia ago. It is a different time, a different place, and a different culture, so therefore, you are always interpreting it when you try to understand what it means in a modern context. Actually we are always interpreting everything we hear and experience. Sometimes our interpretations are good and we understand what someone is saying or writing, and sometimes we misinterpret and completely miss the mark (if we are doing it accidentally) or twist someone’s words to mean something it didn’t actually mean (if we are doing it intentionally). Jess sessions interpreted Romans 13:1-7 when he paraphrased it. Here is what Sessions said.
“Persons who violate the law of our nation are subject to prosecution, I would cite to you the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order. Orderly and lawful processes are good in themselves and protect the weak and lawful.”
By saying this our Attorney General indicated that in his opinion it is proper to use this passage of scripture to address not only the separating of kids from their families but also that those Christians who are criticizing his actions should stop.1 Therefore, we need to consider if he interpreted the scripture properly.
Let’s look at the passage
Romans 13:1-7 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Let’s consider who this passage written too? There are three parties in this passage: 1) God, 2) the ruled, and 3) the rulers. So who is being told to be subject to the law? I know this sounds simple, but if you are going to say you are simply following scripture then you should make sure that the scripture you quote was written to you. In this case the group being encouraged to be subject are those that are ruled. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and White House Communications director Sarah Huckabee Sanders can say they are merely being obedient to scripture and following the law but they are acting as the rulers in their roles and not as the ruled. Scripture had different words for the rulers. It is the responsibility of the rulers to act justly. But Sessions does not seem to be concerned with whether or not these actions are just. He’s just concerned with the ruled obeying. This is a government official basically saying, “Scripture says you have to obey the law, therefore you don’t get to ask if the law is just or not.” That is why some have pointed out that slave masters used this same bad interpretation of this passage to try and control slaves. It was wrong then and it is still wrong now.
Kierkegaard also wrote “The matter is quite simple. The bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.”
Sessions and Sanders made the interpretive mistake of picking a scripture that pertains to someone else2 and trying to use it as a weapon to force someone else’s behavior. In Sessions case it was Christians who have supported Trump who were now saying “No!” to these actions. Sessions wanted those Christians to hush up and stop saying the actions were unjust. But when we read scripture it is our own sins that we should be concerned about and that’s not what Sessions was doing. As the Danish philosopher and believer Søren Kierkegaard wonderfully wrote, “When you read God’s Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, it is talking to me, and about me.” Sessions and Sanders are acting out the opposite. “When I read God’s word, it is talking about you and what you must do.” That’s not how this works.
So here are a few other passages that talk to rulers concerning God’s expectations of them that Sessions and Sanders might want to consider.
Proverbs 29:12-14 – 12 If a ruler pays attention to falsehood, All his ministers become wicked. 13 The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives light to the eyes of both. 14 If a king judges the poor with truth, His throne will be established forever. ((Good interpretation requires that I acknowledge that this speaks of the poor, but since the “poor” are linked with the oppressed in verse 13 it is applicable to the oppressed too. ))
Proverbs 16:12 – It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts, For a throne is established on righteousness.
Micah 3:9-10, & 12 – 9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; 10 who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. … 12 Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
I haven’t yet even broached the subject of whether Paul meant in this passage that we should always follow the law or not. After all, Paul spent more than two years in jail for his actions of preaching the good news of a kingdom of a Messiah who was crucified because he was viewed as a threat to the stability of the Rome empire. I won’t do that in this post because it is already long enough. Yes, I know this is a long post and it is also a dollar short and a day late for most of this discussion. Therefore, I will just end with a reminder that if you are going to use scripture you need to interpret it well.
Let me just add that nothing pleases one’s “church friends” as much as having a person misinterpret their scripture in an attempt to get those “church friends” to stop complain about evil actions. [↩]
Yes. I know we live in a Democratic Republic so technically they are the ruled and the rulers at the same time, as are we all, but they were operating as rulers in their roles. [↩]
The past two days I have been mulling over Attorney General Jeff Sessions and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders using the holy witness of the meek & mild Jesus the Christ. the Bible, (the One Who is God with Us) as a means to justify taking kids away from immigrants seeking asylum (a legal act), especially when it is apparently being done in an attempt to scare parents into not attempting to seek asylum in or attempt to immigrate to the US. I am proud that the Southern Baptist Convention recognized that this is evil and not consistent with family values. I’ve typed a little concerning my disdain for the action and the misuse and misinterpretation of scripture in an attempt justify evil. I just haven’t figured out exactly what I want to say yet. That will come later.
Therefore, I thought I would share a video that shows the opposite of children being frightened by those who are supposed to protect them (just in case you haven’t read Romans 13:1-7, the passage being used to justify taking kids away from their parents who at worst have committed a misdemeanor, the verses say that the authority that rulers have is supposed to be for the good of those who are ruled. For good. Not for evil.). The video below shows eight year old Yoyoka, who aspires to be a global drummer. The video is her submission for the 2018 “Hit Like a Girl” drum contest. Yoyoka seriously throws down. There is great joy displayed on her face, rather than fear. I believe our government should act in such a way that any kids it deals with experience such joy rather than fear. People who agree with Ronald Reagan that “the most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help”, should not be trying to justify the government taking kids away from parents.
SIDE NOTE – I will eventually post my thoughts on the misuse of scripture by Sessions and Sanders. Probably tonight after Pam and I watch the Incredibles 2. While at the moment I would rather think of Yoyoka, I can’t stop thinking of what the children who have been detained, and their parents, are facing.
SIDE SIDE NOTE – I heard about Yoyoka while working on a new paver patio for our backyard and listening to the wonderful NPR Politics Podcast. You should listen to this podcast. It is wonderful.
SIDE SIDE SIDE NOTE – here the present paver situation.
Festival Foods I’m pleading with you to come to the Point area (i.e. Stevens Point, Plover, Whiting, Park Ridge, etc.). I have found the perfect location for you.
Sunday as a part of the message I gave out $2 bills and asked people to grab a few and find a use for them that will somehow reflect the kingdom of God. It is easy to think that the big actions, the ones that are so often beyond the abilities of so many of us, are the only actions that matter. The reality is that such big actions are almost always the result of lots and lots of little actions and are usually done by people who have been trained by lots of small actions. So I asked people to grab a few $2 bills and do a kingdom act, after all those of us who are followers of Jesus are a part of a kingdom from which evil flees when that kingdom is really lived out.
