Westboro
Today the Westboro Baptist Church will be in little ol’ Vancouver Washington protesting at one of the local high schools because of the rampant homosexuality taking over our schools in Vancouver and Portland. We hope to be able to go to a counter protest today at the local YWCA.
- Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
- where there is hatred, let me sow love;
- where there is injury, pardon:
- where there is doubt, faith ;
- where there is despair, hope
- where there is darkness, light
- where there is sadness, joy
- O divine Master,
- grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
- to be understood, as to understand;
- to be loved, as to love;
- for it is in giving that we receive,
- it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
- and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
- Or, in the words of Jesus…
- Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - 69XNQJZK9R7R
Salvation?
Christians often explain how Jesus dying for our sins works by saying that God is perfect and cannot be with corrupt humanity (because of our sin). So because of this chasm he sent his son (who is God himself) to pay the price for sin (which is death) and thus fulfill the necessary requirements needed for us and him to exist peacefully in heaven. More or less that’s the idea. I could draw diagrams except that I’m too lazy.
One author questions that formula by retelling the Prodigal Son story like this:
…when the son returns from his partying and recognizes the error of his ways, his father responds by saying “I cannot simply forgive you…it would be against the moral order of the entire universe…Such is the severity of my justice that reconciliation will not be made unless the penalty is utterly paid. My wrath-my avenging justice-must be placated.” The prodigal sons older brother then offers to do extra work in teh fields and pay his brother’s penalty. And finally when the elder brother died of exhaustion, the father’s wrath was placated against his younger son and they lived happily for teh remainder of their days.
Do you buy that retelling? Do you buy our current definition? Are you unsettled? Are you comfy? Speaking personally, I’ve got some questions that I’m pursuing.
Enough said.
People of Peace
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a person of peace. Not a peacekeeper, but a person of peace. I define a peacekeeper as someone that avoids conflict and would prefer to shove things down and keep the status quo than to deal with things, cause conflict, and bring potentially greater and more healthy peace. I tend to fall into this second category.
I want to be known as someone who fights for peace, who makes sacrifice for peace, and who is dedicated to bringing peace. It has been interesting to view comments made over the globally loved and universally used Facebook. I’ve been noticing on facebook that we all have a hard time being people of peace. To be a person of peace you have to value other people (yes, even that person), you have to be willing to listen more than you speak, you have to value the other persons opinion, but you also have to be able to respond in love and honesty.
I believe (and have experienced lately) that it requires major sacrifice to fight for peace. Soldiers understand this, but do we understand it within our own contexts and conflicts? Are we willing and ready to sacrifice some of ourselves for peace?
Jesus was a man of peace. Don’t get me wrong, at times he was pretty harsh, in your face, and confrontational. But he was someone who was not satisfied with the status quo but instead fought to bring peace to a broken world. Talk about sacrifice right?
So I guess the big question is whether or not I want to be defined by my identity in Jesus. Do I want to be identified by the reality of the cross? Do I live a death and resurrection life? I think that if I did I might be more at peace with myself. Maybe not.
