The line between good and evil runs not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart.” 

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

        In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes an interesting comment. “He (God) causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matt 5.45) This is in the midst of his teaching us that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

          It is natural for us to think that our enemies, those other guys, are evil, mean, and nasty, while we are good, kind, and nice. It is how we get entrenched in our resentments against others. And before you might think that I am pointing fingers, I know that I do this as well. I make this judgment with all sorts of people.

          I find the quote by Solzhenitsyn is more than insightful. It reminds us that not only evil can be found everywhere, it tells me that good can be found everywhere. Even in those who I find despicable. It not only reminds me that I am the enemy of my enemy, but that I might be their friend. 

          There are a number of issues that I can be, actually am, quite opinionated and passionate about. I can quickly move to a place of what is wrong with that idiot, when they fail to agree with me. I can quickly dismiss the other person as being the problem. Far too often my gossip is about what is wrong with the other person.

          The basis of this passage is not to condemn us all, but to change how we treat those who we might consider enemies. It reminds me that even in the most unsavoury person, there is good. It reminds me to act in a way that brings peace. It reminds me to act in compassion.

          As always, as we walk the path of righteousness we focus on progress not perfection. I am a work in progress.

 

Anyway, that is my opinion.

 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,
 if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
 – Romans 8.17

 

          Ever since I have been a little kid, I have ended the Lord’s Prayer with, “For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory.” Glory is one of those words we use without really pausing to understand what it means or the implications. We know that it sort of means greatness. But in our current political environment we see those who seek to bring the Kingdom, the Power, and Glory of God to earth. So perhaps, we might want to pause to understand what we mean by “The Glory.”

          In the Old Testament God’s glory is often represented by fire, lightening, and other more terrifying symbols. Yet, in the New Testament the Glory of God is revealed in Jesus. When I consider what those who seek the “Glory of God” intend, not only is it unsettling, it actually goes against what Jesus taught and the example he set. Read the Sermon on the Mount, and the entire set of teachings is about my conduct NOT yours.

          A few week back I wrote in reaction to the move to put the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Not only was it a poor selection of scripture, it showed a total lack of understanding. I spend an inordinate amount of time studying the Goat Herder’s Guide, and nowhere within it do I see our being told to tell others what to do. In fact, I see quite the opposite.

          Consider the Glory of God that was revealed in Jesus. He treated others with exceptional kindness and grace. He taught us, and still does, that we are to be servants to those around us. He condensed the will of God into one simple phrase, “in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”

          If you want to organize a political system that reflects the Glory of God, start with this idea. I know I am being redundant. So was Jesus. If you want a neighbourhood, or city, or province, of country that shows the Glory of God do this. “Feed the hungry, welcome the foreigner, care for the homeless, care for the sick, and visit those in prison.”

Anyway, that is my opinion

 The Power

 

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. He asked Jesus, “What must I do to earn God’s favour?”

“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”

 

          I do not like the man. He represents everything that I think is wrong with the world. I think he could be the anti-Christ, after all his actions are the antithesis of who we are called to be. Despise might not be too strong of a word. The fact my description is more than ambiguous, and that you might think it is the other guy, or in another country is concerning. They want us to hate. When I do, I am playing their game.

 

The teacher of the Law, replied. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and, Love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

          There is power in anger. We know it. There is also power in hatred. The powers that be are trafficking in hatred. Our politics are becoming more than not liking the other guy. They want us to hate. It is not enough to hate the man or woman that leads the other political party, we are to hate those people who might support them. Those who take a centrist approach are denounced as supporting the other side as “All it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing.” But the power in hatred, a force unto itself, is all consuming; it leaves nothing in its path. We have seen this time and time again.

 

But the expert in the law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”

         

          The power of the Kingdom of God is love. Specifically, it is to love our neighbour. Actually, the command is to love those who are “nearby.” So as we move through our day, our love is to move with us. In the story of the Samaritan, the use of the Samaritan is central to the story. The Samaritans were so despised that a “proper” person would go out of their way to go around their territory. This is the miracle of Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman. He was where no self-respecting person would be, talking with someone that no self-respecting person would. In fact, Jesus had gone out of his way to talk with her specifically. The love we are called to live, crosses human boundaries.

 

Jesus tells the story of a man who was beaten, robbed and left for dead. Two “spiritual” men saw the man laying in a ditch, they crossed to the other side. Whatever was happening they wanted no part in it. A traveller, a man who would not be welcomed in any town stopped to help the man. The traveller, a Samaritan, one who was despised, stopped. In being despised he knew what it was to be in need and for no one to respond. The traveller brought the injured man to safety. He took care of the wounded man, and then made arrangements for the care to continue.

 

          Hatred separates us. Hatred makes me focus on myself, as I view you as being what is wrong. Hatred strips me of my humanity, as I remove yours. Love restores. In the awkward language of the Goat Herder’s Guide we have been exhorted to love. Repeatedly we are told that we are to love each other. It is through love that the will of God is fulfilled. We need to step away from hatred and those who traffic in it. While hatred might coerce, Love compels. We are called to love.

 

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man?” Jesus asked.

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

 

          Be angry, Jesus was. Anger is powerful. But anger on its own doesn’t change anything, it needs the action of love. One of the most remarkable aspects of Martin Luther King Jr. was his insistence that they act in love. The power of the crucifixion is love. Like the Samaritan, Jesus was a despised one. His death was intended to be slow, painful, and most of all shameful. Yet, it was love that brought him out of the grave. It was love that had him pray for those who were killing him, his enemies. This is a powerful love, one to be reckoned with. 

 

Jesus told the expert in the law, “Go and do likewise.”

 

The parable of the Good Samaritan can be found in Luke 10.25 – 37.

 

Anyway, that is my opinion.

The Kingdom.

 

Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Luke 17.20 & 21

             There are those, even in Canada, who are proposing to create a Christian nation. As a Christian I get it, having a country that is based on the Christian faith has an appeal. It will never happen.

            The first difficulty that we encounter is defining what a Christian nation would be. The Bible is clear, “He has shown you what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6.8) It seems that those who are proponents of a Christian nation are interested in restricting what you can do. They want us to behave, not to be charitable.

            The second issue is that you cannot legislate morality. Prostitution has been illegal for as long as it has been around. We have recognized that prohibition does not work. As a drunken charismatic Lutheran, I sat at the kitchen table of the president of the Alberta chapter of the Christian Women’s Temperance Union getting drunk with her son. We cannot legislate the change of heart required for compassion or morality.

           The third issue is that time and time again and again we have seen that mixing religion, even as I contend it is the right one, with power is a bad idea. We have repeatedly witnessed evil, devastation and violence, when the people who rule think they have a divine mandate. Or those who believe they have a divine mandate have political power. Our residential schools are this country’s example. While I understand those who claim that our residential schools were an example of Christianity, it wasn’t. We should consider Jesus’ comment that when we have done this to those we value the least, we have done it to him. We have witnessed the mixture of religion and power.

            The country where the push for a “Christian nation” seems to be the strongest was based on the concept of the separation of church, religion, and state. This separation is natural. Jesus, the epitome of our faith, was not interested in political power. And those with political power, the religious elite, despised him. Nothing in the intervening millennia has changed this division.

            To say that I mistrust this movement would be an understatement. Those who seem to be the strongest advocates also seem to be filled with hatred and fear. Their motivation is clear, it is their self-aggrandizement for how moral they are and how despicable you are. I don’t see a love for you, or me, or for God.

            As Christians we are called to walk a path that is strangely balanced. Like the man, who while he believed homosexuality was a sin, helped fund a suicide prevention hotline for queer youth. It is recognizing that our faith demands actions from ourselves. It is understanding that we are to protect those who are on the margins.

            If you are truly interested in a Christian nation, do those things that establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” (Isa 1.17) Our faith demands actions from ourselves not others. The Kingdom of God is not established through the ballot box, it is established as we care for each other.

 Anyway, that is my opinion. 

 The Call Centre

 

          Words cannot express the depths to which I despise phoning call centres. Everything from the music than seems to be intentionally chosen to being irritating, to having to repeat my phone number to verify my account, to being put on hold as if the person taking my call has to run down the hallway to ask someone else a question, is beyond frustrating. I do my best to curb my crankiness, and I am grateful that God seeks progress not perfection. Yes, I am aware that this is a first world problem, but I take it as a sign of how far we have fallen.

 

          I had been putting off the phone call to a certain home services provider to avoid the aggravation. But when that part of me that hates paying bills for services I don’t use got the better of me, I called.

          Now, I have been doing a study on the Sermon on the Mount and am currently reading through Jesus’ teachings regarding anger. Anger is still an issue for me, but it has improved. My brother relates a story of me yelling at McDonalds “If I wanted fries with that I would have asked!” I have removed the obscenities from the quote. There was more than one. There has been enough progress that I kind of feel comfortable working my way through that section. It has been a while since I have had images of causing bodily injury in my mind. Then, I read, “Anyone who calls a sibling ‘Raca’ or ‘Fool’ is answerable.”

          I thought of this as I made my call to customer service. The call was typical, the artificial intelligence answering service asked me why I was calling in order to connect me with the right agent. After repeating why I was calling, the service asked for my phone number so that they could connect the call with the right account. When I got to talk to a human, the first question I was asked was why I was calling. Then, the next question was my phone number so they could pull up my account information. At this point I was praying, asking what Jesus would do. The answer was, “Tell him.”

          Over the next half-hour each question I asked required the call to be put on hold. After a few minutes the agent would come back on the phone. This happened more than a few times. Each time, the agent had an involved answer to my question. As the call progressed I my patience began to ebb. At the end of the conversation, when it became clear that for any changes to the services I receive would result in my paying more the call ended. I am still not sure how cutting services increases the cost but apparently it does. As the call came to an end, I had not called him names, I rarely do anyways, I had not sworn at him, nor had I yelled. To be honest, I had been frustrated and it showed in some of my comments to him.

          All through this phone call, I had been praying, and asking what would Jesus do? How would he handle being put on hold for the fourth, or fifth, or sixth time? Yes, he would realize that the person on the end of the phone was deserving of God’s love. Would he counsel the agent to make better career choices? I knew Jesus would not yell. Yes, the public utility is a den of thieves, but it has always been so. Jesus would not swear, yell, or belittle the person. I almost made it through the phone call.

       Then, well, I asked him a question. “Who do I send my bill to?” He misunderstood the question. So I asked him again. "Who do I send the bill for my time to?" I pointed out that I had been over half-an-hour talking with customer service. That each time I asked question, I was put on hold. That my time had resulted in nothing more than being frustrated. I realize that I should probably not have asked this question. It was insolent of me. As I write this I am glad God forgives me and is interested in progress not perfection. With that in mind, maybe I will call again next week. Just to practice. Maybe at the start of the call I will ask if we can pray?”

 

Anyway, that is my opinion