Why Such Silence?

I have been so distraught over the relentless targeting of civilians by Israeli forces.  I see the faces of Palestinian children in my dreams and every morning I wake up Gaza has been the first thing on my mind.  Perhaps I am being naive, but I really am in shock that the international community, especially the US, is allowing such atrocities to continue without forcing Israel to stop dropping bombs on innocent civilians.

What I find equally if not more disturbing is the silence of the church regarding the massacres taking place in Gaza.  I've seen clergy promoting books and church programs on facebook, but not mention a word about Gaza.  Israel bombs UN shelters full of women and children in Gaza and the church largely has nothing to say about it.  Why?  Why the silence?

Christians are the only people in the world who proclaim a crucified Savior.  We believe that God is most clearly revealed among the poor and oppressed, not the rich and the powerful.  Liberation theologian Jon Sobrino refers to all people who suffer unjustly as "the crucified people".  What does it mean to proclaim a crucified Savior but ignore the suffering of the crucified people?  Why does the church fail to recognize the Palestinians as a crucified people?  They have been stripped of their homeland by force, occupied by a military regime, trapped in ghettos and refugee camps, stripped of their right of self determination and basic human rights in general, for no other reason than living on land coveted by others with superior military force.  As if living in a concentration camp were not enough, now the people of Gaza must be bombed as well.

To be silent in the face of such injustice is sin and a betrayal of Jesus himself.  We are our brother's keeper.  We are our sister's keeper.  We cannot pick and choose who we will defend if we are to be authentic to the way of Jesus.  We must stand up for the crucified people wherever they appear, whether in Gaza, Syria or the urban ghetto.  I have never been as disappointed with church as I am now, so slow to move, so slow to take notice, so slow to act, so wrapped up in its own agenda.  A church that proclaims a crucified Savior but turns its back on crucified people has lost its way and is of no use to the world.

The world doesn't need more church services.  The world needs people who will lay their lives on the line for the sake of justice and the liberation of the oppressed.  The world needs people who refuse to be silent in the midst of atrocities and will fight for what's right regardless of what it might cost them.  If the church turns its back on Gaza then it has turned its back on Jesus.  Make no mistake about it, we cannot call ourselves the people of God without taking up the cause of those who suffer unjustly. There is no room for us in the kingdom of God if we do otherwise.

Following The Way,
Kevin

No More Crosses

I was fighting back the tears during the Good Friday service today.  I usually try to avoid thinking about the suffering of Jesus on the cross because I cannot bear it.  It makes my soul shudder.  If I had been one of the disciples I would have run away too.  There's no way I would have been able to bear witness to such pain.  The cross has been sanitized by the church these days.  Many churches feature shining crosses of silver, bronze or even gold.  But the cross that Jesus bore was no sanitized cross and the crucifixion Jesus endured was no sanitized experience.  It was horrifically violent with a brutality that not only marred the body on the cross, but the soul of every person who witnessed it.  It was a scandal.   It was the best way the Romans knew how to completely humiliate and dehumanize its enemies and it was effective.

I was fighting back the tears in church because I realized that Jesus was not the first person to be crucified and he certainly wasn't the last.  We live in a world where those in power are obsessed with crucifying their victims.  I don't believe that it was the wrath of God that brought Jesus to the cross.  Was it the wrath of God that led to the extermination of the native peoples in America?  Was it the wrath of God that caused African slaves to endure the horror of the Middle Passage and then a lifetime of slavery?  Was it the wrath of God that caused bloated black bodies found hanging from trees during the Jim Crow era in the South?  Is it the wrath of God that causes women to be oppressed so men can maintain power?  Is it the wrath of God that necessitates the destruction of communities of people of color all over the world so that white western men can maintain their power?  Is it the wrath of God that demands that LGBT people be crucified so that straight people can feel normal?

No!  God never crucified anyone.  All of the crucifixions mentioned above were done by people so desperate to maintain power that they failed to see human beings as human beings.  They themselves forget their own humanity and became monsters inflicting horrible violence and cruelty upon others who never deserved their crucifixions.

I believe that God has a dream for this world.  I believe that God imagines a world where there are no more crosses.  A world where the poor are not crucified to maintain the lifestyles of the rich; a world where women are not told that they are less than; a world where power over the many lays not in the hands of the few.  Are we bold enough to join God in this dream?  Do we have the capacity to imagine a world without violence and oppression?  May God hep us all to imagine and make reality a world where there are no more crosses.

Following the Way,
Kevin

The Royal Birth!

Amidst the huge outbursts of emotions all along the spectrum after George Zimmerman's acquittal for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, many have longed for a distraction and have found it in the birth of the son of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the royal birth!  Such pomp and circumstance!  There were gun salutes, a royal crier and minute by minute news coverage for all the adoring fans.  Yes, the human tendency to disengage with reality and escape into fantasy stood unhindered this week.

Can you guess that I wasn't one of the adoring fans waiting with bated breath for the royal birth?  Sorry! I was just too busy mourning the gutting of The Voting Rights Act and a victory for Florida's fundamentally flawed and biased "Stand Your Ground" law which will only cause more unnecessary violence and gun proliferation and outrage.  "Oh come let us adore him!"  That's basically what the media was saying about William and Kate's baby boy, but there is another royal birth of far greater significance that I am waiting for and that is the birth of Christ in our hearts.

A dear friend of mine has a habit of saying "Merry Christmas!" on any given day.  It seems a bit strange, but the truth is that Jesus is born in our hearts every day whenever we allow him to be, whenever we make room for him.  Whenever we turn from violence and seek peace.  Whenever we seek reconciliation instead of revenge.  Wherever there is love.  Wherever there is compassion.  Wherever there is gentleness, kindness and mercy, Jesus is born in our hearts and is free to live out his resurrected life in us.  Now this is a royal birth to get excited about!  This is the royal birth the world is desperately in need of.  And when it happens it will not be televised.  There will be no fanfare, or gun salutes or royal criers with feathered hats, only a still small voice letting us know we're headed in the right direction.

So may all of the love, all of the compassion, all of the mercy, may all of the sheer goodness, humility and kindness of Jesus be born in our hearts on this day and everyday.  May we all learn to love one another as dearly and tenderly as Jesus loves us so that we may create a world free of hate, bitterness, poverty and war, a world full of the abundant life Jesus comes to bring us whenever we let him in.

Following the Way,
Kevin