The Refugee Crisis: How to Respond?

How should we love our neighbor? Should we love our Syrian refugee neighbors by bringing 10,000 into this country, as the President has decided? Or should we love our American neighbors by prioritizing their safety, keeping out many true refugees in order to exclude extremists?

Since the Paris bombings, there has been heated rhetoric on both sides of this issue. Both sides have cited Scripture to support their positions.  Some have engaged in name-calling, labeling those they disagree with bigots or un-American. Unfortunately, both the President of the United States and Republicans trying to be President have been among those doing the name-calling.

How can we cut through the inflammatory rhetoric and respond biblically? Here are a few guidelines:

First: Acknowledge that there are legitimate arguments on both sides (as on most public policy issues). The US government does have a primary responsibility to protect its citizens. And the US surely has a responsibility to help resolve a crisis which is in part the result of our own past policy failures.

Second: Do your best to ignore the strident voices and the political talking points. Instead, seek out and listen to those making calm, rational arguments – especially those making such arguments from a different perspective than your own. As Proverbs 18:17 says, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” If this was true 3000 years ago, how much truer today in the age of social media, in which we often never hear from “the other,” but simply like or re-post those statements that agree with our preconceptions? Here are a couple of links that I have come across that are indeed calm and rational. Note that they disagree with each other – but they marshal arguments for their position and don’t denigrate those who disagree with them: 3 Tips For A More Civil Conversation About Syrian Refugees, Myths vs Facts in the Syrian Refugee Issue

Third: In your interactions with others, keep repeating and acknowledging key, indisputable facts that are often ignored. Here are some on this issue:

1)      Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, a couple of thousand Syrian refugees have come to the US, and they have been model refugees.

2)      The present vetting mechanism for Syrian refugees coming to the US is a lengthy, laborious process, completely unlike the process of gaining refugee status in Europe. Whether or not one of the terrorists responsible for the Paris attack entered Europe as a refugee is irrelevant to refugee policy in this country.

3)      Islamic terrorist groups are looking for ways both to radicalize American Muslims and to bring foreign terrorists into this country.

4)      The FBI Director and the Secretary for Homeland Security have both acknowledged in recent weeks that there are special challenges in ensuring that Syrian refugees pose no threat to the US.

5)      After 9/11, the refugee program was put on hold for a while and procedures reviewed and revised for the safety of the country. Eventually, the program was improved. In the end it was both larger and more secure than before those attacks.

6)      Prior to 1980, refugees in the US were resettled in a completely different way, with much more local participation and control. There is nothing sacrosanct about the present method of refugee resettlement.

7)      The bill that passed the House of Representatives does not stop Syrian refugees from entering the country, but directs the FBI Director and the Secretary for Homeland Security (along with one other official) to certify that the vetting process for each refugee protects American safety. One quarter of House Democrats voted for the measure.

8)      Whether the US admits 10,000 Syrian refugees or none is at most a minor blip in resolving the Syrian crisis. (About one out of every twelve persons in Jordan is a Syrian refugee. The US would have to host 27 million refugees to achieve the same proportion.) Regardless of what happens on US refugee policy, other major initiatives are necessary.

Fourth: Focus on the bigger picture, and help others to see that picture. Consider two aspects of this bigger picture:

a)       The bigger public policy picture. Focus on the major issues, the greatest dangers, not the minor issues. (Note that both political parties often try to direct your focus to minor issues where they think they can gain support.) Ask questions such as: What mistakes have been made in US policy toward Syria that have led to the huge number of refugees? What can be done now to slow down that flood? What can we do to resolve the Syrian civil war? Some have been asking these bigger questions, even including a few politicians – see for example these press releases from Senator Dan Coats (first, second). This article (authored in part by Paul Collier, an economist I know) is an excellent example of out-of-the-box thinking on how to resolve the bigger issues. An excerpt:

An effective refugee policy should improve the lives of the refugees in the short term and the prospects of the region in the long term, and it should also serve the economic and security interests of the host states.

Jordan offers one place to begin. There, a reconsidered refugee policy would integrate displaced Syrians into specially created economic zones, offering Syrian refugees employment and autonomy, incubating businesses in preparation for the eventual end of the civil war in Syria, and aiding Jordan’s aspirations for industrial development. Such an approach would align the interests of a host state with the needs of refugees. . . .

By understanding refugees as not only a humanitarian challenge but also a development opportunity, states could do much to sustainably improve the lives of the dispossessed. To suggest that the displaced could contribute to the cost of their own care is not harsh: refugees are already voting with their feet for self-reliance.

b)      The bigger spiritual picture. God is fulfilling all His promises. He is fulfilling the promise to Abraham by bringing those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation to Himself – including those from the many Syrian peoples. Throughout history He has moved in the midst of tragedies and wars to glorify His Name and to pour out saving mercy on millions. He is doing that today. We have an opportunity both to display and to proclaim the love of God through Jesus Christ to those suffering loss and hardship. May we, the church of Jesus Christ, live out His mandates, loving Him and loving our neighbor, for His glory, for our joy, and for the joy of all peoples.

Jenner, Dolezal, Roof – and Identity

Bruce Jenner

Rachel Dolezal

Dylann Roof

An Olympic champion decathlete who now identifies as a woman; a white woman who told others she was black; a young man who walked into an African-American church prayer meeting Wednesday night and killed 9 people, saying, according to reports, “You rape our women and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go.”

What is the link among them?

They certainly are dramatically different from each other – most obviously in that neither Jenner nor Dolezal has assaulted another person, while Roof has committed a horrendous act of terror.

But look at these three through the lens of identity, through the question, “Who are you?” Each seems to be trying to find an identity they lack:

  • Jenner reports to have dressed in women’s clothes secretly for years, and looks to find freedom by now publicly acting like a woman.
  • Dolezal identifies with “the black experience,” as she calls it, and became the head of a local branch of the NAACP. By all accounts, she was quite effective in that job. But she lied about her white biological parents, claiming her father was African-American.
  • From the pictures on his Facebook page, Roof seems to glory in white supremacy, to find meaning in seeing his race as better than and threatened by blacks.

Jenner is trying to find joy, fulfillment, and freedom in gender identity. Realize that Jenner is not among those whose biological development goes awry in the womb, resulting in a difficult-to-determine sex. He is a biological male. Indeed, no woman has ever run 400 meters in 47.51 seconds as he did – and if any woman ever does, she certainly will not also be able match Jenner in putting a 16 lb shot over 50 feet, long jumping over 23’ 8”, pole vaulting over 15’ 8”, and high jumping over 6’ 7”. (All time only 14 women have long jumped farther, 9 women have vaulted higher, and 17 women have jumped higher – and no woman appears on even two of those lists.)

But gender, say many today, is a social construct, distinct from biological sex, and Jenner is simply choosing to live as his/her genuine gender, not trying (at least not yet) to change sex.

Certainly many of the expectations a culture has for men’s roles and women’s roles are social constructs, with little if any relation either to biology or to biblical manhood and womanhood. The way we dress, the way we walk, the work that we do, the jewelry or make-up we wear, laws concerning voting and land ownership and inheritance – all these are social constructs. We Christians have to be careful not to claim that our own sub-culture’s expectations for how men and women act are all rooted in biblical revelation.

But while we must agree that some aspects of any culture’s conceptions of manhood and womanhood are social constructs, biology tells us there are some unique roles for the sexes, and Scripture tells us our Creator’s prescription – a prescription which may seem to be constraining, but in fact, as one aspect of submission to Christ and being transformed through the renewal of our minds, will lead to freedom.

Jenner stated, “As soon as the Vanity Fair cover comes out, I’m free.” Jenner is trying to find freedom and joy in a change of identity, a change of public persona, a change of outward gender role. But Scripture tells us our identity is to found in Christ and obedience to Him. No other identity will lead to eternal joy.

Dolezal and Roof in quite different ways are trying to find joy and fulfillment through racial identity: Dolezal by pretending to be black and becoming a defender of black interests; Roof apparently by deluding himself into thinking of whites as superior, and finding identity in being the supposed noble defender of the superior race. Roof’s sense of identity then leads to the horror and carnage of Wednesday night.

Note that race is completely a social construct. Race, unlike sex, is not biologically determined. Some ethnicities are biologically distinct – but not races. That is, there are no genetic markers common to everyone we perceive as black, or to everyone we perceive as white – just as in India there are no genetic markers common to everyone in one caste or another. Yet this social construct of race (like caste) influences the way we see ourselves and others, and deeply impacts how others treat us (horribly, even to the point of hating and persecuting and killing).

So since race is a social construct, what’s the problem with a person society labels “white” as a child deciding to live as “black” as an adult?

The problem – for Jenner, for Dolezal, for Roof, and for us –comes down to: Where do you primarily find identity?

We all have multiple roles and identities: Our families, our jobs, our income, our nationalities, our ethnic heritage, our language, our education – all of these as well as race and gender feed into who we are.

But where do you primarily find identity.

Scripture tells us: Our first and foremost identity, the identity that defines us most vitally, the identity that determines our future is this: Who we are before God.

For God created mankind in His image and by right that creation rules as king. All mankind shares His image. Yet all mankind has defiled that image, rebelling against our rightful king, setting ourselves up as the arbiter of right and wrong – indeed, attempting to find our primary identity in something other than what God says about us. We deserve His punishment; we deserve eternal separation from Him. But God determined and promised that He would call from all types of mankind one people for Himself to be His treasured possession – to delight in Him above all things, and to be His great joy for all eternity. In an act of sheer grace, He sent His Son, the Second Person of the godhead, to become man and to live the life we all should have lived. Through His death on the cross, He suffered the penalty due to us for our rebellion. But God raised Him from the dead, proving the penalty was sufficient. To all who come to Him by faith in the Son, submitting to Him as King, rejoicing in Him as the greatest Treasure, He grants an identity that defines all else: Beloved by God. A part of the Bride of Christ. God’s precious possession.

So the Apostle Paul writes:

In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:26-29)

Paul is not denying that ethnicity is important – any more than he is denying that sex is important. He is saying that in Christ, we have a new identity: Members of God’s family! We have put off the old self and have put on the new self – a restored image of God! (Colossians 3:9-11). We retain our sex, our ethnicity, and, at least for a  time, our roles in the economy – but none of these define us. We may be black or white or Chinese or Indian – and our ethnicities can serve to glorify God (Revelation 7:9-10) – but we are all primarily Abraham’s offspring, heirs of the promise to him, fulfilled in Christ Jesus.

So by all means pray that Jenner and Dolezal and Roof will find their identity in the only source of true freedom, true fulfillment, and true joy – Christ Himself.

But also ask yourself: Who am I? What most defines me?

Scripture tells us: Our relationship to God must define us most. If we do not know Christ, our separation from Him, our position under His wrath, defines us. If we trust in Christ, He gives us an identity. He calls us God’s children. He makes us His Bride – without spot or blemish or any such thing.

That is who we are. This defines us – more than race or gender or income or class. May we delight in that identity – and live it out fully – to the glory of our Lord.

Knitted Together in Your Mother’s Womb

Today is the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade decision, removing virtually all state restrictions on the destruction of the unborn in their mothers’ wombs.

With that in mind, consider these thoughts on David’s Psalm 139, verses11-16:

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. (Psalm 139:11-12)

David acknowledges that there are times when he wonders: Can I be hidden from God? Can I go voluntarily where He can’t see me? Can I be forced to go anywhere where He won’t watch over me? David realizes the answer is no. No darkness can hide us from God. All is light to Him.

David then explains this further, considering the first dark place we all experience: The womb:

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them (Psalm 139:13-16).

In the womb, absent any light, God knitted you together. You are a remarkably complex being, and God fashioned every aspect of that complexity in the darkness of your mother’s uterus. He saw all, and like a master weaver He intricately and carefully wove the fibers of fabric that make up your being just the way He wanted. More than that: He had planned out your life – every day – even when you were just the merging of two cells.

Can we then take this fabulous creation and rip it apart – in the name of convenience?

We can and must understand and care for women caught up in the trauma of an unexpected and undesired pregnancy. We can and must show compassion and provide help for those who can’t imagine carrying a child and giving birth. (For an example of such understanding and compassion, see this video from the Pregnancy Resource Center of Charlotte).

But every one of the unborn is made in the image of God, knitted together by Him, created for His glory. Who are we to choose which ones shall live, and which ones shall never be born? Who are we to decide which remarkably complex being will become full grown, and which will be tossed out as medical waste?

We cannot hide from God – nor does anything hide us from Him. He sees us. He watches over us. He knows us. Every one – including all the unborn. And their mothers. And their fathers.

He is a just God – He will not let any sin go unpunished. Yet He is a gracious and compassionate God, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, forgiving iniquity, rebellion and sin (Exodus 34:6-7) – all through the sacrifice of Jesus, the Son God knit together in Mary’s womb.

So walk in the light as He is in the light. And may God be pleased to grant us as a country both repentance for the tens of millions of unborn who have died these last decades, and compassion for the frightened women facing unplanned pregnancies.

Trayvon, George – And You

Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman.

Who are they?

Many have labeled Trayvon and George: Victim and Murderer. Attacker and Self-Defender. And much worse labels, on both accounts.

Many have tried to use the tragedy of Trayvon’s death and the sensation of George’s trial to advance one societal narrative or another.

But who are they?

Trayvon and George are not labels. They are not representatives of a class. They are not representatives of a race or a group.

They are individuals. With birthdays and classmates and friends. With plans and longings and desires. With mothers and fathers and siblings.

They are individuals – made in the image of God for the glory of God.

One of them is dead at the age of 17.

The other receives numerous death threats daily at the age of 29. He is “free.” But he and his family are in hiding.

How can we respond biblically to Trayvon’s death, to George’s trial and acquittal?

There is much we might say:

Let me instead offer ideas for prayer: Pairs of praise and cries to the God of the universe, thanking Him on the one hand, and beseeching Him on the other:

  • Praise God that through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, not one of us must be cut off from God the Father, but whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life;
  • And pray to God that He might use this tragedy in the lives of George, and George’s family, and Trayvon’s family so that they might see Him, know Him, and love Him.
  • Praise God that we live in a country where we don’t let our justice system become the vehicle for political show trials;
  • And pray to God that the inequities that exist in our justice system would be removed.
  • Praise God for the “reasonable doubt” standard – and thus that we would rather set nine guilty free than wrongly convict one innocent;
  • And pray to God that those nevertheless wrongly convicted would be cleared, and those wrongly set free would face genuine justice; furthermore, pray that we as a country might be united in seeing the wisdom in this standard, even when justice may not have been done in a specific case.
  • Praise God that in the five decades since Martin Luther King, Jr penned these words – “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty” – we have seen genuine advances in racial equality and racial harmony;
  • And pray to God that the remaining, significant dark clouds of racial prejudice will finally pass away, and the fog of misunderstanding that still hovers over our fear-drenched communities will truly lift.
  • Praise God that, as a country, we trust the constitutional process governing politics and law more than we trust individual political parties, elected officials, or popular demagogues;
  • And pray to God that that trust- so rare in history, so rare even around the world today – would survive and grow and spread.
  • Finally, praise God that in Christ “there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all” (Colossians 3:11);
  • And pray to God that the church in general, and DGCC in particular, might live out this reality, displaying that unity with Christ across ethnic differences in our thoughts, attitudes, and actions.

Will You Love Jahar Tsarnaev?

On Monday, they were just terrorists.

I ran Boston in 1979. I lived in Massachusetts for 12 years. For me, Boston, rather than the Masters, is “a tradition like no other.”

Monday I watched the last hour of the elite race online. I enjoyed it, but turned off the computer after the top 10 finished.

So when a friend called me at 4 and said, offhandedly, “I guess you know about the bombs in Boston,” I was floored. Bombs? At the marathon? Who would do something like this?

Terrorists. Only terrorists.

Friday morning, I wrote about the bombing for the blog. By that time, we knew something about the terrorists. They now had names. A nationality. They were brothers. They were athletes. The younger brother was an excellent student.

We also got a glimpse of the alienation of the older brother, Tamerlan. Several years ago, he wrote: “I don’t have a single American friend, I don’t understand them.”

That resonated with me. Three weeks ago, the Saturday before Easter, I met a Nepali man who had been in the US for almost four years. During that time he had only cursory interactions with Americans. He had never been in an American’s home. I asked him if he knew why he had Good Friday off of work. He said, “I think it has something to do with eggs and rabbits.” The name “Jesus” was vaguely familiar, but he didn’t know who He was. He had no inkling about the Gospel – until that day.

It sounds like Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s experience was similar.

At lunchtime on Friday I turned on the radio, and heard program host and Boston resident Robin Young say, “Some of us have found out that we know these boys.” I was intrigued, and kept listening. It turns out the younger brother, called Jahar by his friends, wrestled on a high school team with Robin Young’s nephew. They were good friends. Jahar had been the life of a party that Robin held for her nephew in her home.

As information streamed in over the internet, I noticed their birthdays. Jahar is 11 months younger than my son Matthew. Sixteen months older than Joel. Tamerlan was a few months younger than my son Jonathan.

That Friday afternoon something clicked in my head. These two were no longer defined by the word “terrorist.” They were no longer abstractions. They were people. They were individuals. They were persons with birthdays and high school friends. They were the life of the party or the quiet kid in the corner.

All that – yet of greater importance:

Tamerlan and Jahar Tsarnaev were made in the image of God.

And: they murdered and maimed others made in the image of God. They committed an act of terrorism. By so doing they had made themselves my enemies, your enemies, our country’s enemies.

Enemies, yes.

And Jesus said:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.  (Matthew 5:43-45)

Yesterday evening, I was praying about whether to preach this sermon or the one I had planned. Driving home from a meeting about 8, flipping through radio stations, I heard a host reading emails from listeners. Each was suggesting what should be done to Jahar when he is convicted. One wrote: “Remember the end of Braveheart, when Mel Gibson is disemboweled?” I can’t even repeat some of the others.

We need to hear God’s Word on this issue.

How do we wrap our minds around this?

How do we love those who have committed such heinous acts?

What is the relationship between such love and love for the victims of their crimes?

What is the relationship between such love and a longing for justice?

Loving Your Enemy: Eight Propositions

1) If we are to love our enemies, surely we are to love those who are NOT our enemies but resemble our enemies.

In this case: Who resembles Tamerlan and Jahar?

The foreigners around us. International students. Refugees. Especially: The Muslims around us.

  • No one is your enemy BECAUSE HE IS A MUSLIM
  • No one is your enemy BECAUSE HE IS A FOREIGNER
  • No one is your enemy because of language or ethnicity or dress or skin color

We must never treat anyone as an enemy because he looks like or talks like someone who is our enemy.

Rather: Can we love and care for and show hospitality to those who resemble our enemies?

Scripture is quite clear on this:

You must regard the foreigner who lives with you as the native-born among you. You are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.  (Leviticus 19:34)

Love those who resemble your enemies.

2) To love your enemies is not to deny that they are your enemies

Jesus does NOT say: “No one is your enemy. We’re all just one big happy family.”

Jesus had enemies. They tortured Him. They killed Him.

We have enemies. Indeed, Jesus prophesied:

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. (Matthew 24:9)

Once Tamerlan and Jahar decided to commit an act of terror, they became our enemies. Nothing is accomplished by denying that.

More broadly: A small number of Muslims from around the world has become radicalized. These few want to do all they can to wreak murder and mayhem. Those who are taking steps in this direction are our enemies.

Government is charged with helping us to live peaceful and quiet lives, and thus to protect us from enemies. We are charged to pray for government leaders and officials as they take on this difficult task.

We do have enemies.

3) To love your enemies is not to hope against justice

We must long for justice. We must long for every sin to be paid for, for every wrong to be righted.

God is a just God. He is the moral authority in the universe. He guarantees that the right punishment will be rendered for every sin.

In Revelation 6:9-10, John sees “under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.  They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

God doesn’t tell them: “O, don’t long for justice; love your enemies!”

They are right to long for justice – EVEN as they love their enemies.

So in Jahar’s case, love does not imply that we must hope for a lenient sentence, or no sentence at all. We hope for justice – not against it.

4) To love your enemies is perfectly consistent with loving your enemies’ victims

Sometimes in our politics we become advocates, on the one hand, of victims rights, and advocates, on the other hand, of rights of the accused.

Jesus tells us to be advocates for both.

We are to love our enemies AND we are to love EVERY neighbor as we love ourselves. That surely includes our neighbors who are victims.

And so: pray for the families and friends of Lu Lingzi, Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell, Sean Collier. Pray for the seriously wounded, including Richard Donohue, the officer critically injured in the Thursday night shootout.

Love the victims.

In propositions five to eight, we turn to how we should see our enemies – in particular, how we see Jahar Tsarnaev today.

5) To love your enemies is to see them as fundamentally like yourself.

What is true of you fundamentally?

What is true of Jahar Tsarnaev fundamentally?

What does Scripture say?

  • You and Jahar are made in the image of God
  • You and Jahar are made to glorify Him
  • You and Jahar have rebelled against God
  • You and Jahar deserve His judgment
  • You and Jahar can do NOTHING to make up for your sins, to pay the penalty for your sins
  • And God so loved you and Jahar – that He sent His one and only Son to die so that you might be forgiven by grace through faith

If you have not turned to God in repentance, with faith in Christ, you stand before God in exactly the same way as Jahar Tsarnaev. For as James tells us, “Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it” (James 2:10).

Should Jahar turn to Christ, he will stand before God FULLY cleansed – just as clean as anyone in this room, despite the enormity of His sins. For the blood of Jesus is able to wash clean even the vilest of sins.

And if that should happen – JUSTICE WILL HAVE BEEN DONE. For the penalty that Jesus paid – the beatings and whippings and overwhelming flood of God’s wrath that Jesus endured on the cross – is sufficient to satisfy the requirements of justice.

At root, Jahar and you stand before God in exactly the same way:

  • Apart from the blood of Christ: Without hope
  • Covered with the blood of Christ: Completely forgiven

6) To love your enemies is to be like God in showing mercy and kindness to the undeserving, because God showed mercy and kindness to you, the undeserving

Jahar does not deserve mercy. He certainly showed no mercy to his victims.

And our government, our court system, is under no obligation to show mercy. Rather, government is set up by God as His “servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:4).

But what about you and me?

Acts like the bombing can lead to righteous anger on our part: An anger at the undermining of what is right and good; a steady, certain, deliberate intention to exercise justice. Such anger is consistent with loving our enemies.

But when that anger morphs into hatred, into a desire for personal vengeance, into the sorts of expressions I heard on the radio last night, we have sinned. We are not loving our enemies.

To love is to desire what is good AND TO DO GOOD for our enemies.

Remember what Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:45, immediately after telling us to love our enemies, and thus to be sons of our heavenly Father:  “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Consider: God gives sun and rain and life and breath every minute of every day to people who hate Him!

God gave YOU sun and rain and life and breath every minute of every day to YOU WHILE you were under His condemnation – when you deserved death!

We are to be LIKE GOD in DOING AND DESIRING GOOD for our enemies.

Specifically, we are to desire the good Paul speaks of in 2 Timothy 2:25-26: We are to pray that God might “grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,  and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

You have received God’s undeserved mercy and kindness when you were His enemy.

Be like Him!

Show undeserved mercy and kindness to your enemies

We’ll consider the last two propositions together:

7) To love your enemies is to see them as potential kings, potential heirs of the earth

8) To love your enemies is to see them as a potential part of the bride of Christ

Jahar Tsarnaev is made in the image of God. He has polluted that image by his sin and rebellion. By God’s grace, that image can shine forth in majesty and beauty.

Jahar Tsarnaev is potentially an heir of the earth (Matthew 5:5).

Jahar Tsarnaev is potentially part of the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25-27), dearly loved by Him, indeed, dearly loved by YOU.  As John Newton writes, those who are our enemies now who truly follow Christ will one day be, “Dearer to you than the nearest friend you have upon earth is to you now.”

Could that be true of Jahar?

Love Your enemies.

Pray for Those Who Persecute You

As we’ve said, we must pray for justice.

But also: Pray for Jahar.

  • Pray that God would grant him repentance
  • Pray that God would shatter the walls he has built to shield himself from the Gospel
  • Pray that God would protect him from the even greater hardening that could easily occur in custody
  • Pray that our Lord might open His eyes

And who else hates you? Who persecutes you? “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.”

Remember our text Matthew 5:43-48: If we claim to be followers of Christ, if we say to Him “Lord, Lord,” we are to be different. We are to do more than others. We are to take on a family resemblance to Christ. Indeed, we are to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. We are to be agents of God’s mercy.

So: List your enemies.

Some might be abstractions, anonymous groups. But be sure to include individuals: Those who would do you harm if they could. List them. Pray for them.

As for the Boston Bombings:

  • Pray for justice. By all means.
  • Pray for information about contacts with foreign terrorists, if any.
  • Pray for those whom they so cruelly injured.
  • Pray for the families who have lost loved ones
  • And pray for Jahar.

That You May Be Sons of Your Father

God in His mercy has invited you to be His child

  • He has covered your guilt with the blood of Jesus
  • He has invited you into His Family
  • He will wipe every tear from your eyes
  • He will love you with an everlasting love
  • You can call Him Daddy
  • He will never leave you nor forsake you

And He enables you to look like Him. He empowers you to display His image. Indeed, He commands you by His power to treat your enemies as He treated you when you were His enemy.

He loved you when you were His enemy.

Will you love your enemies?

Will you love Jahar Tsarnaev?

By a process that we do not yet understand, he became your enemy. He became our enemy.

By a process that God has revealed to us, he can become your brother. May he become our brother.

Love Jahar. Love Your enemy. Pray for those who persecute you.

So that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.

(This is a shortened version of a sermon preached 4/21/13. The audio of the sermon is available here.)

The Boston Marathon Horror: A Response

As I write, one alleged Boston Marathon bomber is dead; the other is on the run. Both, apparently, are Muslim; both have been in the US for more than a decade. The younger brother was an excellent, scholarship-winning student and captain of his high school’s wrestling team. The older brother was a boxer.

These young men grew up in schools and in communities like those around Charlotte. They played sports, they hung out with friends, they worked hard in school.

And then they attempted to commit mass murder.

How should we respond to this shocking tragedy?

Here are four biblical guidelines:

First: We all rightly long for justice. Our God is the moral authority in the universe. He will see to it that all sin are paid for, all wrongs duly punished. Vengeance is not in our hands as individuals (Romans 12:19). Our anger and bitterness and vitriol will not effect justice (James 1:20). In the present age, however, God has provided the government to act as His “servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” (Romans 13:4)

Second: Your prayers matter. In light of government’s heavy responsibility, the Apostle Paul instructs us:

I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

So may we thank God for the hundreds of police who, right now, are tracking down the fugitive – many risking their lives. May we lift up civil servants and political leaders who make decisions about lockdowns and public transport and school closures. May we pray for judges and attorneys should the fugitive be captured and tried. And may this episode end with increased confidence throughout our nation that our authorities will act bravely and professionally to enable us to live peaceful and quiet lives.

Third: Life is fleeting. Lu Lingzi, Martin Richard, and Krystle Campbell woke up this Monday excited to watch friends and loved ones run the Marathon. They had plans for that evening, this weekend, and years into the future. And in a flash, murderers snuffed out their lives.

How long do I have in this world? How long do you? We have no idea. As James tells us:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil (James 4:13-16).

James is not telling us to forget about plans for the future. Rather, we must live knowing that we are dependent, fragile creatures, living and breathing today by the mercy of God. Thus, we should live humbly before the eyes of our all-knowing, all-seeing, all-sovereign Lord, confessing that He knows best, and gladly subjecting ourselves to Him, for His glory.

Finally: Your light matters. The deceased alleged bomber wrote, “I don’t have a single American friend, I don’t understand them.” Note that he came to the US more than ten years ago. Yet Scripture instructs us:

When a foreigner lives with you in your land, you must not oppress him.  You must regard the foreigner who lives with you as the native-born among you. You are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.  (Leviticus 19:33-34)

What might have happened if a follower of Christ had done unto Tamerlan Tsarnaev as he would that others do to him? How might lives have been changed if followers of Christ had been salt and light in this young man’s life?

And what might happen if you and I love the foreigners among us? If you and I reach out to those who have come to study, to those who have come because of war and chaos, to those who have come because of political oppression?

Our response to this tragedy must not be to shrink back into a fear of foreigners. Our Lord calls us to go, to be light and salt – so that others may see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, we are heirs of eternal life, entrusted with the message of God’s abundant mercy, to be proclaimed to all. May the horror of Boston compel us all the more to be His ambassadors, His heralds, holding out the word of life with love and compassion to all the peoples God has brought to Charlotte.

 

Scripture, President Obama, and Roe v Wade

Tuesday is the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which declared unconstitutional virtually all state laws protecting the lives of children still in their mothers’ wombs. Since then, well over 50 million such children have been put to death in the United States.  We rightly are horrified at the murder of 20 children in Newtown CT; on average there are more than 160 Newtown killings per day of unborn children in this country.  In light of this anniversary and these facts, please take time to reflect on the following Scriptures; read their contexts; consider them in their relation to the overall storyline of the Bible. Then, in light of these Scriptures, reflect on the words below of President Obama in Newtown. Do not his arguments hold all the more strongly for our unborn children – who, in their mothers’ wombs, are in much greater danger than children in school classrooms or in shopping malls?

Psalm 127:3-5  Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.  4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.  5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!

Jeremiah 1:5  Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

Psalm 139:13  You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

Isaiah 44:2  Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you.

Isaiah 46:3  Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb.

Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. [King David is not saying that his mother was particularly sinful. He is saying that from the moment of conception, he was in sin. A subhuman being cannot be in sin.]

Luke 1:15  [John the Baptist] will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

Luke 1:44   For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb [John the Baptist] leaped for joy.

Proverbs 24:10-12   If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.  11 Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.  12 If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?

Psalm 82:3-4   3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.  4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

From James 3:14-4:7 If you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.  15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.  16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. . . . 4:2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.  3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.  4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? . . . 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Luke 9:23-24   And [Jesus] said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

From President Obama in Newtown:

This is our first task — caring for our children.  It’s our first job.  If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right.  That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.

And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we are meeting our obligations?  Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children — all of them — safe from harm? . . . Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose? . . .

If we’re honest with ourselves, the answer is no.  We’re not doing enough.  And we will have to change. . . .

These tragedies must end.  And to end them, we must change.  We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. . . . But that can’t be an excuse for inaction.  Surely, we can do better than this.  If there is even one step we can take to save another child . . . then surely we have an obligation to try. . . .

Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?  Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?

For more information see abort73.com. We encourage you to support and to volunteer at the Pregnancy Resource Center of Charlotte.

God Requires to Set Up His Throne in Our Heart

God requires to set up his throne in the heart, and to reign in it without a rival: if he be kept out of his right, it matters not by what competitor. The revolt may be more avowed or more secret; it may be the treason of deliberate preference, or of inconsiderate levity; we may be the subjects of a more or of a less creditable master; we may be employed in services more gross or more refined; but whether the slaves of avarice, of sensuality, of dissipation, of sloth, or the votaries of ambition, of taste, or of fashion; whether supremely governed by vanity and self-love, by the desire of literary fame or of military glory, we are alike estranged from the dominion of our rightful Sovereign. Let not this seem a harsh position; it can appear so only from not adverting to what was shown to be the essential nature of true religion. He who bowed the knee to the god of medicine or of eloquence, was no less an idolater than the worshiper of the deified patrons of lewdness or of theft. In the several cases which have been specified, the external acts indeed are different, but in principle the disaffection is the same; and we must prepare to meet the punishment of rebels on that tremendous day, when all false colors shall be done away, and, there being no longer any room for the evasions of worldly sophistry, . . . “that which is often highly esteemed amongst men, shall appear to have been abomination in the sight of God.”

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes of This Country Contrasted With Real Christianity (1797). The book is available in its entirety at the link. Here is a three-page pdf file of this excerpt plus surrounding text. Note that, as was common in his day, when Wilberforce uses the word “religion,” he most often is referring solely to Christianity.

Christians and Political Advocacy

What does the Bible say about political advocacy?

In Romans 14, Paul discusses a specific issue: Should Christians have concerns about whether or not the meat that they eat has been killed according to Old Testament regulations? Paul does believe one side is right in this disagreement. But he emphasizes that loving our brothers and following our convictions are both much more important than being on the right side.

Today, the way animals are killed is not an issue many Christians worry about. But, as usual, Paul resolves the issue by looking at bedrock principles of who we are in Christ, and what motivations should underlie all that we do. His argument in this chapter is thus helpful for every issue not fundamentally related to salvation on which Christians may disagree.

What follows is a reworking of Romans 14, replacing Paul’s specific discussion of food issues with present-day, American political issues. I’ve arbitrarily labeled one side Democrat and the other Republican – feel free to reverse the labels if you wish. Verse 14 moves furthest from the original text, while verses 7-13, 18, and 19 are all unchanged.

The central point in Paul’s discussion is found in verses 7 to 9: We are not to live to ourselves. We are not to live aiming to increase our own comfort or status. All we do– from our seemingly trivial decisions like what we eat to our political decisions – should be focused on giving God honor, on glorifying Him.

So I encourage you: Read Romans 14, then read over this reworking of the chapter. See if this helps you to take to heart the lessons Paul is teaching. Ask yourself if my reworking is true to the basic principles Paul lays out. And then ensure that whatever you do  – eating, drinking, or political advocacy – you do all to the glory of God.

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions, or to convince him of your opinion.  2 One person believes he should vote Democrat, while another votes Republican.  3 Let not the one who votes Democrat despise the one who votes Republican, and let not the one who votes Republican pass judgment on the one who votes Democrat, for God has welcomed him.  4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

5 One person esteems one party as better than another, while another esteems all parties alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.  6 The one who supports a party, supports it in honor of the Lord. The one who votes Democrat, votes in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who votes Republican, votes in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.  7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.  8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.  9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;  11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”  12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.  14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that one party is better than the other, but it would be wrong for another believer to support that party to please me if he is convinced otherwise. 15 For if your brother is grieved by your political advocacy, you are no longer walking in love. By political advocacy, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.  16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.  17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of political advocacy but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.  19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.  20 Do not, for the sake of politics, destroy the work of God. One party is indeed better than the other, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by political advocacy.  21 It is good not to support a political party – or to do anything else – if that causes your brother to stumble.

(These related blog posts examine similar issues: Christians and Politics, How Should a Christian Vote?)

Responding to Disasters

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is devastated. Thousands and thousands of buildings have collapsed. Tens of thousands are dead. Thousands more are injured and doomed to die, as hospitals too are destroyed and the needs outstrip the remaining medical care.

How can we respond to such a tragedy?

The Bible is our guide in all matters. In His Word, God tells us who He is, who we are, how He rules the world, and how we should respond to Him. He tells us what we could never learn on our own, what we would grope after and never find apart from His revelation.

So what guidance does the Bible give us?

First, we must weep with those who weep, mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15). Our Lord wept over the coming judgment on Jerusalem (Luke 19:41); He wept at the grave of His friend, even though He was about to raise him from the dead (John 11:35). Ultimately, all sorrow and pain in this world is the result of sin – God’s initial creation was very good (Genesis 1:31). So let us weep over sin and its impact.

Second, we must pray. God works through prayer to bring about His purposes at all times (2 Corinthians 1:11), and so He exhorts us to pray about all our needs (Philippians 4:6).

Third, we must do what we can to help those in need (Luke 12:33). In so doing, we honor God (Proverbs 14:31), who has compassion on the poor and needy (Psalm 72:13). Now, in such situations we can do more harm than good – our attempts to help can hurt, as we noted earlier. So let us give to organizations that are cognizant of these dangers, who are working with local institutions, considering both the urgent relief needs and the longer term rehabilitation and development needs. Some suggestions (among many possibilities): Food for the Hungry, Child Hope International, and Water Missions International.

Fourth, we must take note of Jesus’ warning to those around Him as they considered a local tragedy:

“Those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13:4-5

Some people evidently were explaining the fall of the tower as God’s judgment on those eighteen people, saying that they deserved to die, and others (like themselves) did not. Jesus says, “Don’t think that way – but take the occasion of these deaths to examine yourself!” God’s judgment will come on all who do not repent (Romans 2:4-5) – and it will be much more terrible than the fall of the tower of Siloam, much more terrible than the Haiti earthquake, much more terrible than the Aceh tsunami (Revelation 6:15-17).

Fifth, we must remind ourselves of the Gospel. No one is righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10-12). We all deserve God’s condemnation, His wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3). Yet God sent His Son to live the perfect life that we should have lived, loving God with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength every minute of every day, loving His neighbor as Himself (Hebrews 4:15; Matthew 22:36-40); He sent Him to the cross to suffer and die, taking on Himself the penalty we deserve (2 Corinthians 5:21); and He raised Him from the dead, showing that the penalty was sufficient (Acts 2:24). We who believe in Him (John 1:12), valuing Him above all else (Matthew 13:44), receive the benefits of this death, and are united with Him for all eternity (Romans 6:4-5, 23).

Finally, we can rejoice that God is sovereign over all affairs of men. He is the Almighty One, who not only knows the number of hairs on my head (Matthew 10:30), but watches over and superintends all the events of my life, and of all the lives of those who are united in His Son (Psalm 1:6). So we can pray with the psalmist, “When my spirit faints within me, you know my way!” (Psalm 142:3). May our hurting brothers and sisters in Haiti know this truth, and lean on our Rock and our Refuge (Psalm 61:2-3).

May we, by His grace, be as He is in this world (1 John 4:17) – and thus, knowing our sinfulness, knowing our weakness, serve humbly as conduits of His mercy, His compassion, and His Word to the downtrodden and the needy.