Politics, Peace, and the Kingdom of God

“Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called Sons of God.” Matthew 5:9

From time to time I am afforded the opportunity to speak at a local United Methodist Church during their contemporary service. I grew up in the UMC and feel a deep family connection with the church. I now attend a more contemporary community church, but I love going back home to participate in the tradition of the UMC. Ironically, as I said, the service I speak at is their contemporary service, but I love being back in a United Methodist gathering nonetheless.

One of the many reasons I love speaking there is that the leadership who invites me always has a Scripture reading for me to speak from. This is because this church, while it has a few varying expressions of worship, wishes for the collective body to share the same heartbeat, to move together. So, the passage that is being discussed in the traditional service next door is also being discussed in the contemporary service. I love that.

I had unfortunately been forced to turn down a couple of invites by this church. I travel as a part of my ministry work and was going to be out of town on one occasion, and, on the next, my wife and I were getting ready to welcome another little girl into our home. I feared they would stop asking if I kept turning the offers down. So, the very first opportunity I had, I jumped for the chance to speak.

On that particular Sunday, Shannon, the pastor over the contemporary service, tells me that I am going to be discussing Matthew 5:9, which is the Beatitude that states: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called ‘Sons of God.’”

Well, when I heard this would be my topic, I was both excited and frightened. When we think of “peacemakers” we naturally enough think on a national level, we think government and war, which means, “We think politics.”

Let me let you in on a little secret. Unless the preacher or teacher is a bit foolish, no preacher or teacher, especially when he or she is a guest speaker, wants to discuss politics during church service. Our culture is not big fans on mixing their so-called “private faith” with the matters of public policy. Sometimes, when things in society get scary, pastors might have to speak to these things, but never without much trepidation.

So, I thought to myself, “Well, if you worried about not getting an invite back before, you don’t have to wonder after you talk about politics.” I mean, what do I, a preacher of sorts, or perhaps more accurately a strange missionary type, know about politics? Opening my mouth about things above my pay grade can get me into a lot of trouble. I have a lot of opinions on church and politics, but the people in my little corner of the world are not often on the page I am on, and I was not sure I was ready to open that can of worms. So, what do I do, someone very convicted about the church’s place in politics, but very much alone in my opinions at times, at least in these parts?

Well, I began to think to myself, there is a lot to talk about when talking about peace. Perhaps I could circumvent the topic of politics altogether. One thing I am a stickler for is trying my best to staying true to the text, so I wondered if the idea of peace in Matthew 5:9 would give me some wiggle room.

Sadly for me, the Greek term used in the NT for peace has little depth. It simply means, “the absence of conflict.” Don’t be impressed, it’s easy to look up. Anyway, this means, therefore, that the term “peacemaker” means, “one who puts an end to conflict.” Again, this really turns our mind to politics and war. We can of course talk about ending conflicts in the home, but who really needs a spiritual lecture on making sure your kids play nicely.

But, then again, while Jesus’ words were recorded for us in Koine Greek, He was, of course, speaking to an OT people. In other words, His audience would be thinking in terms of what their Bible said about peace, and their Bible is what we now call the OT. Well, the OT’s word for peace is indeed filled with much depth. Shalom! One could spend a year sermonizing on the OT idea of shalom.

Shalom is the OT’s peace, and fortunately for me, it means to have balance, harmony, and unity on all levels of life. It is a vision of living in harmony in all you do. In fact, Shalom is the vision of what things will be like when God returns, all the disunity will be set back to unity in the world. All things will be made new, and we will have peace.

With this in mind, we can talk about peace for the individual, having peace in your heart. We can talk about peace in the family, peace and order for the home. We can talk about peace in one’s church family, which the NT speaks of time and again. And, yes, it can refer to peace between nations. But, since I only have so long in a sermon to speak, I could just avoid peace on the political level, and talk about peace on all other levels, and then I am all out of time. Problem solved.

Again, I wanted to remain as true to the Bible as I could, even if I was going to omit talking about all that I could talk about. I knew that if I was now going to talk about peacemaking on the OT level, and in the OT peace is really the end goal of what God is doing in history, then I would have to ask the question, “What is OT idea for the catalyst for peace?” If I am going to say that Matthew 5:9 is God’s invitation to become a part of His bringing shalom, we would have to know what it is we would be promoting. What will bring this long awaited peace for the often struggling and frustrated nation of Israel?

Well, we know in the Israelite vision of the future, God had revealed to them that blessing would come through them. We see this with God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12. Here God makes a covenant promise that through the nation that would come from Abraham’s progeny, blessing would come to the nations. As the OT narrative continues, Israel learns that they are to bring blessing to the nations, at least in part, by living as an example of God’s Kingdom. They would live as God intended man to live, and the world would take note.

Of course, Israel also learns just how hard it is for them to follow the ways of God to bring about this blessing. In fact, they find the task to be impossible. So, God makes a further covenant promise, this time specifically to David, for a coming Messiah. He will be the key to Israel’s fulfillment. Messiah is the catalyst, and for me, this causes more frustration, because Messiah for the OT mind was a political figure. The Israelites believed Messiah would come as a political leader to take the throne of Israel, perhaps even raise an army, and He would subdue the nations of the world and bring peace. In referring to this part of Messiah’s calling, the OT referred to the Messiah as “The Prince of Peace.” That is a political term if there ever was one. A Prince, the heir of a Kingdom, The King of Israel, He will be the answer.

We get thrust right back into the NT and are face-to-face with this Messiah, the Christ, this “Prince of Peace,” and here (in Matthew 5:9) He stood before the people of Israel, teaching and preaching, and indeed speaking to their deepest longing: Peace, shalom!

I was not out of the woods yet in my attempt to avoid talk of politics, but, perhaps, Jesus would be my out. Now, for sure we see throughout the Gospel story that the people of Israel, and in fact, for much of the time, even the disciples believed, that the end was near, because Jesus, the Messiah had come. Or, for those who did not believe Jesus was Messiah, they still were looking for His imminent arrival.

Now, when we talk about the end being near today, we are left with ideas of Armageddon and destruction. It is a fearful sight for us, but for ancient Israel, the end was exciting. This would be the time when the Messiah would take control of Israel, and He would lead a political movement that would change the world. Through leading Israel, He would bring peace to the nations. The end was for Israel, and still for us today, when Messiah would come to establish His final rule.

Sure, this is what they thought, but Jesus of course was all about changing expectations. In fact, the Sermon on the Mount, where we find our passage, was all about subverting the tired religious thought of the day. His sermon is all about telling Israel, “you have thought this about following God, but you have become too comfortable in your religiousness and have been thinking too small.”

Perhaps, then, the idea of shalom for Israel was misplaced. Perhaps it was not about politics at all. Jesus did not have a problem with disappointing Israel by not living up to their expectations. In fact, we must note that Jesus does not lead a political revolution in the way that they had come to understand Messiah’s coming. He did not overtake the state. In fact, He was put to death by the state. Maybe He would get me out of my predicament yet. In order to see if He was in fact redefining Shalom here in Matthew 5, as He redefines so much else in this Sermon, I thought I would look to the text in earnest. What is Jesus really saying here? Well, again, He says:

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called ‘Sons of God.’”

Of course, if that was all we had to go on, we could make this say whatever we wanted it to say. As a professor at my Alma Mater likes to say, “A text without a context is a pretext for whatever you want it to say.”

Now, looking at the text itself, we have already discussed what the term “peacemaker” would mean to the OT ear: One who promotes shalom, but this is not enough to make a decision on precisely what this shalom means.  So, all I was left to consider in this small verse, before I pulled back my lens to look at the surrounding context, was the terms “blessed” and the phrase “Sons of God.”

"Blessed" is easy enough. First we must note that Jesus does not say, “Bless those who are…” He says they are blessed. He gives a whole list of attributes of the blessed: meek, poor in spirit, mournful, and so on. One might think that this sort of person should be pitied so that our job would be to go and bring them blessing, as to lift their spirit, but indeed Jesus is saying, “You need to be like these people if you seek to be a part of the blessed community yourself.” The word “blessed” here has a deeper meaning.

It is a term of commendation or praise. Jesus is saying, these are the people who will be honored in the end. Now, just as the list of being meek, poor in spirit, mournful, and so on are not what we think of as blessed, this was especially counter to the ideas of the Greco-Roman world of that day. Being proud, self-reliant, and regretting nothing, that was being blessed. But, Jesus subverts those thoughts and says that the truly blessed are the humble. He is cluing us into the fact that this is what we are to seek by the grace of God.

What about “Son’s of God.” For the OT believer, being the child of the Father meant inheritance. In that world, there was no such thing as a self-made man. Everything one had was given to him or her by inheritance from a patriarch. Being called a “Son of God” meant having what belongs to the Father. Moreover, it was understood that to be a child of God was to be a child of the King. This was about being heirs of the Kingdom. Again, we run into the sticky language of the political realm.

Regardless, what we learn from this term is this: That those who inherit the Kingdom of God in the end are the same as those who here and now work to establish God’s peace. So, peacemaking, whatever it might be, is of utmost importance.

Now we have established our terms: Jesus says in essence, “Those who will be eternally honored are those who establish or, at least seek, shalom, that is work for peace wherever and whenever they can, to bring harmony to disharmony wherever it might arise. Their reward will be the inheritance of the Kingdom of God.”

So, we see that this statement has a lot of weight. There is a lot at stake here.

Once I had explored the meaning of the small verse in itself, I wanted to look at the greater context. First, I of course noted that this belongs to a list, "The Beatitudes." What is interesting about its place in this list is the fact that it is a sort of transitional verse, or a unique saying within the list. The first part of the list is a list of the attitudes of the blessed: Poor in Spirit, mournful, meek, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, merciful and pure.

Then we get to v 9, the one description of the“action” of the blessed that the Jesus puts in this list: The blessed will be about “making peace.” This is not just an attitude or disposition, but a description of the work that the blessed are all about.

Again, this highlights the weight of the verse.

The "blessed" statements that follow v 9 are the results of such a life of embodying the beatitudes up to this point, and it is about persecution. Being the sort of humble peacemaker Jesus describes will bring about the scorn of others. Jesus says, nevertheless it is worth all the scorn. In fact, the scorned are blessed to be so.

Again, this is a weighty goal.

To pull back our zoom a little farther, as I have already noted, the verse is within the context of The Sermon of the Mount. The first thing I noted is that Matthew just prior to this Sermon categorizes Jesus’ sermons. In Matthew 4:7, the Gospel writer informs us that from that moment on, the moment when Jesus begins His earthly ministry, He preaches on the “Kingdom.” His sermons are Kingdom sermons. This is political. His messages are about God’s Kingdom as opposed to the ways of earthly Kingdoms.

So, the sermon opens with the disposition of the people of God, the Beatitudes vv 1-12, then Jesus speaks to what He envisions this will look like when lived out by a community, vv 13-16, which I will speak to in a moment. Then He goes into the body of His message, which is all about various details concerning the way Kingdom life will look like in the everyday.

I noted that we do not find the beatitudes just anywhere in the Sermon, but in the introduction. An introduction for ancient sermons sets the tone for the rest of the discussion. So, what does the introduction tell us all this is about? Well, again, first we are given the beatitudes, then Jesus gives an example of what this will look like when lived out on a large scale (the city upon a hill) which we will talk of in a moment, and then the introduction ends with this, which I think sums up what Jesus will be driving towards throughout His discussion:

Matthew 5:17-20:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Just as the author said earlier, the sermon is about living out a Kingdom life, being examples, and, therefore, heirs of the Kingdom. By this time in my study, I realized that I was to, if I was going to be true to what I was hearing Jesus say in Matthew 5:9, discuss the political. So, in my message, I shared all of what I have spoken of so far, and that is heavy stuff. So, I wanted to have a moment to catch a breath.

So, before we discussed what “Kingdom Life” is about, I noted that to understand Kingdom we would need to discuss the world. Jesus is, as we have already mentioned, challenging the way of the world: Jesus is saying, the world around you will say, be proud, be self-sufficient, have no regrets, but the Kingdom of God is different. To have a bit of reprieve  I thought I would make my illustrations on the ways of the world a bit silly at first.

So I noted that my wife and I recently discontinued our cable subscription. We simply found ourselves watching less and less TV and did not feel our use warranted the payment anymore. But, we still have our outlets of entertainment. We have kept our Netflix account and we both enjoy podcasts and both love to read. Another outlet I love is the educational programs on YouTube, one of my favorite being Varitasium. It is just a science channel. On this channel, the host once discussed the topic, “Why are trees so tall?”

Surprisingly, it turned out to be a very interesting discussion. The host of the show pointed out that the trunk of the tree is a very inefficient system. A mature tree will grow so that 10 to 20 meters of the trunk has no limbs, which means no leaves, which means that for much of the tree, there is no system of life development. The canopy supports the life of the tree.

For an individual tree, it would be much more beneficial and efficient to be short, to start having branches closer to the ground, much like a bush. So, why not? Instead, they grow as tall as possible. The reason is trust, or distrust. A tree is at a disadvantage if the tree next to it is taller. So, all trees grow as tall as possible, to the point where growing another foot is too costly to the overall system. All trees would benefit, be much healthier, if they were all shorter, but a tree cannot allow its neighbor the chance to be taller, because that neighbor would then steal the sunlight and its offspring would come to dominate the forest.

The host then compares this phenomenon to human life and activity. Have you ever traveled by airplane and had to check a bag. If you have, you will have experienced the example the host gives. Wherever you are in the world, the situation at the baggage collection carousel is always the same. The people who get to the baggage claim area first crowd up to the carousel so that the people behind them cannot see. Why? Distrust. If all people stood back just three feet, everyone would be able to see, and no one would be at a disadvantage, but instead of putting oneself at risk for being stepped in front of, people just take advantage and block others.

These are just silly examples of something more serious. We live in a world of distrust. Distrust and fear crept into our world right after the first sin. You remember the situation: Adam and Eve sin, and when God shows up, they are hiding, trying to cover up in fear. “We were naked (in other words vulnerable) and, as a result, afraid.” Distrust leads to fear of the other. This causes relational problems and erodes peace.

Soon after the fall, government arises, in part as a system to prevent humans from destroying each other out of distrust. Government arises as a necessity, first in areas where supplies are limited.  In these areas, if one person or a group of people were to take advantage, then many others would suffer. Government, at its best, comes along as a means to prevent such, to set up laws to protect resources, and even though governments can turn sour, God honors the idea of government, because we need something in play to protect us from ourselves.

Of course, God is the only sure protection. Because world leaders do not have perfect insight to the future, laws will always have flaws, people will always figure out how to take that extra foot and cheat others. This threatens society, and humans cannot help but fear each other. We are always on our guard, and often our first recourse to any threat, instead of our last, is violence. Even leaders are susceptible to fear and often the government that they lead to protect us instead becomes their means of looking out for self and insulating themselves from the ills the rest of society suffer.

Practically speaking, because distrust is a part of the natural order, Governments will always be dealing with tensions and fears, and sadly, sometimes succumbing to them. So, we see on the news all sorts of things we as a nation do (and indeed at times should) fear. And this leaves us with one final truth: Even when we do our very best, the nations of the world still need hope beyond ourselves if we are to have true, full hope.  The nations need to know that there is something greater to fear than fear, and that is God. Fear leads to violence, and there must be a group that shows a better way. It is a way the government cannot practically fully demonstrate, because they have no means to promise final hope.

We must put God first, because, in the end, He is the surest hope for peace we will have. Incidentally, that is why Christ says later (in Matthew 10) that He did not come to bring peace, but a sword. He is not trying to contradict Himself, but is instead cluing us in on the fact that even greater than His calling on us to be peacemakers is His bringing us to God. Choosing God might bring you into disunity with others and disestablish a peace that was there, but so be it, because we are after a deeper peace that depends on our submission to God. Even greater than worldly peace is being right before God. The end goal is God’s way.

Now, with all this in mind, I want share the part of the Sermon on The Mount’s introduction that I have been holding onto, the part that, at least for me, brings all of this talk of politics and peace into focus:

Matthew 5:13-16

 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

What does salt do? It cuts that which is bitter. It brings flavor to the flavorless. Jesus is saying that His people, the church, are made to bring flavor to situations in the world that are tasteless. Where there is fear, we bring God’s hope, His flavor. But, if we allow fear to drive us, and we forget to be promoters of hope, bringers of peace, we will have lost our saltiness, our purpose. While the reaction of the world around us to fear is violent, ours is to be subversively peaceful.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”

What does light do? It rids areas of darkness. This is what we do, but if we in fear hide our light, we deny our Kingdom purpose. Even while the world in fear resorts to violence, we have the opportunity to not fear, because of who we are, and we can promote peace.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

This is Jesus’ political vision for the church. He is not saying that the church will run governments or be a “part of the system,” but He is nevertheless saying the church will be political. We, the people of the Kingdom of God, the church, will live in a way that no other community can, because we have the light of God. We will be a cultural, political alternative to the ways of the world, and people will take note, and some will even turn to God.

Make no mistake, Jesus is indeed calling us to shalom, this is about peace in our own hearts, peace in our homes, peace in our churches, peace as we live and move and breathe together, and this is because we are to be a testimony (Paul calls us ambassadors) to the way of The Kingdom of God. Our political calling is to be different from the world, to show others a better way, and in this way, we might just be able, through the grace of God, to lead some to ultimate peace, which for the individual is reconciliation with God. Jesus says when we live as we are supposed to live, people will turn to God.

Why? How? How are we to live with such hope?

We have the distinct privilege of having a hope that the world cannot see. We have the freedom to be different, because we are Sons of God: Heirs of a Kingdom that cannot be attacked. Our hope cannot be threatened by the fears of this world.

Think on the privilege of the church as representatives of God’s Kingdom, a Kingdom of hope, so that, even in light of all the fears of the world, we can live as peacemakers, for whether we live or die, we are heirs of a Kingdom that is everlasting. What threatens the world cannot threaten us. Ours is a nation without boarders. We have no political center that can be destroyed here on earth as to throw apart our Kingdom. It includes people of all nations, and it is ruled by the one who sits enthroned above the earth so that no nation can threaten it because it transcends our boarders.

In light of this truth, we are to live as a community, a family known as the church, that, despite what the world does around us and the fear that others perceive, we promotes peace, we pray for our nations, our leaders, and our fellow man, but no matter what goes on in the world, we are to keep our hope in Him and live as no other community can live, in hope and, therefore, peace! For, again, whether we live or die, we belong to Him

I hear some people say, “The church should have nothing to do with politics,” but I say that we must; for we are the only group who can always speak from a place of hope and never fear. This is not a call to get muddled up in the world’s debates. This is a call to live an alternative life of hope and peace to show the world a better way, the Peace of the Kingdom. Be Peacemakers!

Serving God in Respecting Others...

"With the tongue we bless the Lord and Father, and with the tongue we curse those who are made in the likeness of God." ~James 3:9

"Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker,// but those who are kind to the needy honor Him." ~Proverbs 14:31

Even when people do not respect and honor themselves, those who call themselves Christians ought to respect and honor ALL people: "So God created humankind in His Image,// in the image of God He created them,// male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27). Perhaps individuals at times do not deserve respect, but that is beside the point, because our treatment of others is a reflection of how we view God. And He always deserves our respect. 

Even our good deeds, in the name of Christian charity, can be misplaced in our hearts. If a person truly wishes to help one's fellow human beings, of whatever creed, ethnicity, or similar group, this person does not help in the nature of Christ if he or she sees himself or herself as "doing the other a favor," as if this person's status here on earth makes him somehow worthy of doing others "favors." 

If I have ANYTHING to give to the other, I only have it because God first gave it to me. We are not called to simple charity for our fellow man, but we are called to serve. I have no true hope to offer another if I cannot place myself beneath the other to serve, as I wash the other's feet. Only then can I understand, in some small way, the other's dreams and fears, hopes and needs. If I cannot or will not serve the other, I need to keep my grand suggestions and enlightened thoughts to myself, for I am unworthy to help this person made in His image. 

If Christ, our model, who was deserving, showed us the way of God by placing Himself under us, as to wash our feet, how much more should I, an undeserving sinner, humble myself in the service to others:

"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

"who, though He was in the form of God,// did not regard equality with God// as something to be exploited,// but emptied Himself,// taking on the form of a slave,// being born in human likeness.// And being found in human form, He humbled Himself// and became obedient to the point of death--// even death on a cross." ~Philippians 2:5-8

It doesn't matter if such service seems practical, for the way of Christ appears to be anything but practical: "For the message of the CROSS is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (I Corinthians 1:18).

If respecting others is not popular for the right or the left, and I see little example from either side that it is, I will err on the side of grace. 

He still has a lot of work to do in my heart. Thank God for His mercy

Illegal Ministry?

What? Is this for real? Relevant Magazine revealed that  a ninety-year-old man arrested for feeding the hungry. Sadly, I can imagine a few "defenses" people might create for the city of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I can imagine someone saying that feeding the homeless is not "outlawed," only the feeding of homeless on the streets. True enough. They could always get a hot meal in a shelter. Does that make this situation better? You know what that argument sounds like to me? It sounds like the same argument the park rangers use concerning bears. Bears can eat in the woods, safely away from people, but do not feed them here. That will only attract them. This is not where they belong. This is a fine argument for animals that put us in danger when sharing public space. Guess what! These people are not animals. 

I understand that feeding the poor and hungry might draw more to that area and we upright, hardworking citizens would rather not see our city tainted by the poor. So, as the argument goes, let's not encourage them. If we don't feed them, they won't stay. Okay? Who has that helped? If they are not homeless here, does that somehow mean they won't be homeless elsewhere? We have pushed the situation, and, therefore, a glaring reminder of our brokenness, away from sight, and the poor are still poor. Here is a man who has joyfully served as he has been called to serve, and, yet, I can imagine other Christians will say that he should allow the system to work. Really? We want the state to do the job of caring for others? What will the church do then with all its newly found free time now that we do not have to care for the oppressed any more, because the Empire is doing the job? While we are at it, why don’t we just try and see if we can get the state to evangelize for us too! Let's all retire and go to the beach! Come on! 

We too often try to legislate our ethical duty to care for our fellow human out to the state, and we support or critique this process depending on how it benefits us, not the other. Let's have the decency to, at very least, be consistent. If we begin to allow the state to decide where the homeless can and cannot eat, then how can we be a people who think the church should do more for others and not the welfare system? How can we be a people who would not stand up for this man, who, instead of allowing the government to legislate how we should take care of the poor, puts his own hands and feet to work.

I do understand that having a high population of homeless persons in a city can be an issue. So, should the state not do something? Perhaps it should, but it should not be a quick fix that ignores the real issue. Christians should settle for nothing less than justice and mercy for those in need. If legislation comes our way that will help mitigate the homeless situation and at the same time be helpful to the homeless, I can see why we should support. However, until that day comes, we should only applaud men like this. “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;//remove the evil of your doings// from before my eyes;//cease to do evil,// learn to do good;// seek justice,// rescue the oppressed,//defend the orphan,//plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:16,17). Maybe more to this story will come to light, and I will have to reframe the way I think on the issue, but, with the information I have, I just cannot help but feel deeply saddened and disappointed that we live in a country where some would choose to mandate restrictions for helping others. Lord, have mercy. 

UPDATE:

It is not as if this man was doing this for attention. He fed the poor for years and years before this law passed. He was only continuing the ministry he had been involved in for years. You better believe that if and when the state makes my ministry illegal, I will be doing it nonetheless.

In an article on FOX News, which had a bit more information, the city seems to try and frame this as a sanitation issue…

Whatever.

The article goes on to what I suspect is the real issue: "Cal Deal, a 65-year-old former journalist who videotapes homeless people in the city and says they commit crimes, cause sanitation problems and need more help than simply food… ‘The people feeding them are enablers, and they enable the homeless by making their lives easier,’ Deal told the New Times of Broward County. Hunger is a big motivator. Are people more likely to seek help when they're hungry or when they're fed and happy?’"

Wow…

UPDATE 2:

He was arrested again. The mayor claims that the reason behind the new ordinances is sanitation.

The mayor's response is ridiculous. I would like to see the study the city did to ensure that the new ordinances were necessary. I bet there has been no such study. If so, why not cite it?  I wonder how many people became ill because of this man's ministry. Until they provide real evidence, I have to suspect that they have no real evidence that there needed to be stricter regulations. It seems that these "concerns for health" are just excuses for the real reason for limiting how people can serve the poor. It seems the city is to trying to rid the streets from as many homeless persons as possible without really taking care of the issue. Out of sight, out of mind. I would love to be wrong, but until they start showing real evidence, instead of simply saying the new rules promote better health, I will never assume that feeding the homeless as this man does is a bad idea. I agree that, as Christians, we need to comply with the law as much as possible, but when that law limits our care for those in need, I think our calling to serve the oppressed trumps man's law. 

Why Should I Proclaim The Truth?

There are some moral stances that we seldom question. Why is it important for me to love and not hate? Why should I refrain from selfishness? Why should I not murder? Our monolithic answer is often the same for these and many similar questions. Short and sweet: It is simply right. An even more pointed response for the faith community might be: Because God said so. We never stop to ask ourselves why we should believe certain obvious truths; we just do. On one hand, this is probably a very good thing. What if we were so uncertain about morality that we had to stop and question everything that we wanted to do? Life would be miserable and paralyzing. We would not get anything accomplished.

On the other hand, could it be the case that our lack of explicit moral reasoning on some of the most basic principles could lead us into misusing our moral convictions, even when we can say, “But, God said”? Why question God, right? Simply put, we question what God tells us to see the heart of God. It is not just important to know what God said, but why He said it. Just look back to the Sermon On The Mount: Jesus took several moral positions that, for the faith community, had been firmly decided for centuries (and grounded in God’s Word at that) and brought them out into the light of reconsideration.

What does He conclude? First, He demonstrates that the knowledge of the law was fairly common. To all the disciples He says, “You have heard it said…” In other words, “Common knowledge for this community has said…” They knew how to answer the questions surrounding murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation, dealing with enemies, and the list goes on. Second, from His silence on the issue, it would seem that, perhaps, they were indeed doing fairly well at practicing this common knowledge, at least outwardly. His challenge is not, “You have heard what Scripture teaches, why are you not obeying?” Instead, He is says, “You have heard it said…but I say…” In other words, “You know what Scripture says, but you are not practicing truth for the right reasons, because, if you were, you would understand the deeper reasons for these common truths.” For Jesus, the following of the letter of the law was not enough. We must get to the heart of the Word.

Jesus wanted to get to the heart of the matter. Jesus did not want His disciples to simply stand in accordance with the Scripture’s commands, because it was a religious and cultural expectation for them to do so, but He also wanted them to be centered in the heart of the Scriptures, which is not simply meant to inform a course for right behavior, but is evermore meant to transform the heart. In all our daily decisions, the Word of Truth is to be a living Word. We do not do good simply because “God said so.” If this is our only motive for doing right, we fall prey to rote, religious ritual. In other words, we do right because we want to somehow do what we must to appease God. Nothing seems to anger God more.

Making God’s calling upon our life into ritualistic practices, like praying everyday because God wants me to pray, or reading the Bible because that what a good Christian does, is no different than Israel’s performing rituals, like sacrifice, to appease God, instead of expressing an inner heart to do God’s will. Ritual was meant to be a beautiful practice of family tradition for the community of faith, a means to connect with God and receive His grace, but, when the people accessed ritual, they often did so, not to celebrate anew the foundational blessings of God that His people had been experiencing from an ancient past, but instead for appeasing God. God was not fooled. Instead, He was moved to anger, for the people had willingly withdrawn into ignorance, ignoring the purposes for God’s gifts, such as ritual:

What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
    

says the Lord;


I have   had enough of burnt offerings of rams
    

and the fat of fed beasts;


I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
    

or of lambs, or of goats. 

When you come to appear before me,    

who asked this from your hand?
    

Trample my courts no more;

bringing offerings is futile;
    

incense is an abomination to me.


New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation—
    

I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.

Your new moons and your appointed festivals
    

my soul hates;


they have become a burden to me,
    

I am weary of bearing them.

When you stretch out your hands,
   

 I will hide my eyes from you;


even though you make many prayers,
    

I will not listen;
    

your hands are full of blood.

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
    

remove the evil of your doings
    

from before my eyes;


cease to do evil,

learn to do good;


seek justice,
    

rescue the oppressed,


defend the orphan,
    

plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:11-17)

God’s indictment is clear: Israel’s outward religious acts not only do not suffice when uncoupled from a pure heart, but they disgust God. While the modern community of faith, the church, does not have as many rituals as ancient Israel, we still have our own set of commands from God that we often routinely participate in, and we must be careful not to slip into doing them out of mere habit, simply because it is what is expected of us, because, “it is right,” and “because God said so.” Our actions should always be an overflow of the heart.

You desire truth in the inward being;
    

therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart…

For you have no delight in sacrifice;
    

if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
    

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise…

                        then you will delight in right sacrifices… (Psalm 51:6,16,17,19a)

The practice of truth cannot be simply an outward performance, but living out of God’s word must be an overflow of the heart. It is certain that sometimes what we should do does not always align with what we want to do, and we are still expected to do the right thing. However, we should never forget why we do what God asks, even when we do not feel up to the task. We are to long for the heart of God, to do His will because our hearts move with His. We might not always feel as if we are there, but this should be where we are forever moving. So, back to our original consideration about those basic ideals we know to be right and good simply because they are right and good.

We better not simply practice good moral behavior out of some desire to appease God. It is not good enough to want to do right because we do not want to upset God. We need to do right, because doing right comes from a place of love. Israel had missed this point, and, because they missed it, they were no longer working with God to bring justice to the oppressed, but were enjoying ritual celebrations simply because they could. Not only did religion become about appeasing God, but it soon became about selfish pleasures. Do we ever use God’s truth for our own benefit? Do we ever justify our selfish actions in the name of God? The Scripture suggests that if we do, we might be in real danger.

Now that we have explored the importance of not only knowing what actions are right, but knowing why they are right, we can ask about the application for today. What might be a modern day practice of God’s Word for which many lack the conviction of the heart? I think that truth telling is something we believe is right and good, but why we tell the truth might be something we practice, not for God’s sake, but often our own.

Think about the oft-used phrase: “The truth hurts.” Why do we say this? We say this because we want to tell someone what we think, and we want to feel justified for doing so. We often critique others in the name of telling the truth. We have equated the idea of giving advice (or critique) with truth, so much so that we feel as if the person who we are advising, if they do not accept our advice, might as well suffer the consequences for rejecting truth. Truth, then, becomes something we use to have others comply with our version of the ideal. What is so wrong with this, especially if the advice comes from well thought out Christian standards?

First, this sort of truth falls too short of the Christian idea of Truth, which is not just rooted in ideas, but in the person of Jesus Christ. To understand this Truth is not to comply with simple ideals, but to be in relationship with a personal Being, one who leads, not simply by giving us a step-by-step instructional on the how-to of life, but leads and proffers truth in trusting relationship, what many would call, “a daily walk.” Second, telling truth becomes a means of control, even while the Scripture tells us that Truth is to set the recipient free. Even if our typical truth telling is good advice, if we simply ask others to follow our truth without offering them relationship, as Christ offers Himself to us, we show we really do not care for the individual, but simply care about them living up to our expectations for them. If we really were offering our “truth” out of love, and we desired to follow the example of Christ, we would also walk in truth with these people in relationship. How hard can that be, right?

Let’s go back to God’s indictment of Israel in Isaiah 1. Here we see God telling Israel that all the outward rituals in the world could not fulfill God’s expectations for them, but do you know what can? He tells us: “…remove the evil of your doings// from before my eyes;// cease to do evil,// learn to do good;// seek justice,// rescue the oppressed,// defend the orphan,// plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:16b-17). God is telling Israel that all the religious acts in the world cannot take the place of loving acts of faithfulness, as we share the love of God with the oppressed. James repeats this sentiment for the church in his epistle: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (1:27).

How might our truth telling be related to all of this? Let’s go back to our normative Christian practice of telling truth, even when it hurts. In the conservative, American church, our dealings with the poor and the oppressed often come, not through government welfare, which many conservative Americans (myself included) find ample fault with, but in advice giving, giving them a hard dose of reality (which I do not find to be the answer). We repeat the old adage: “Give a man a fish…Teach a man to fish…” Some even assume this is not just scriptural, but actual Scripture.

We need to ask ourselves, from what standpoint do we say, "Well, I think that the poor just need to learn to take responsibility"? Is this from a purely caring place, because we actually believe what we suggest is indeed best for the poor and we love them enough to say so? If so, should not each of us that say this have caring relationships with the poor as Christ did? Or do we often speak from a place of want for security. If the poor were more responsible they would be safer to live around. American society would be better off. If we simply critique the poor and offer no real hand through relationship, I think we readily enough show our own selfishness in our “truth telling.” This is no truth at all, for truth, even though hard to hear at times, is meant to be restorative, uplifting, and relational. Instead, we use the idea of truth as a means of guilt and control, and as a means to justify ourselves when we think about our calling to serve the poor. “Am I serving the poor?” “Well, I certainly have offered my opinion on the matter of being poor.” This gets us away from real truth telling, which is difficult, because it calls us to love. We must not just want to fix the poor’s problems, but must first desire to love them, no matter how they respond to us. Is this were truth leads you?

Telling the truth cannot be divorced from living in the truth if it is to be real truth. If, then, we want to tell the truth, we better be on board with living in it. If we believe the truth is restorative and we are Christ’s hands and feet to bring healing to this lost and broken world, then we better be on board with the repair Truth calls for. If we want to see truth in action, well, we better get to it. If we tell truth, we cannot do so from afar, critiquing the world with the attitude, “Well, if they don’t listen, it is their fault.” Jesus tells us to “Go!” proclaiming truth through loving relationship, Christ-like example, and virtuous discipline. If we cannot tell truth from this place, we cannot speak truth at all. Christ is the embodiment of truth, and He has asked His church to be the embodiment of His way here on earth. That just might mean we make sacrifices for those in need.

More on truth telling coming soon…