it's been germinating, and i'm still lost ..
the happenings of the past few weeks in this united states have brought us to talk, to consider, to bark, to bite, to burn churches and flags, and to group - drawing deeper lines in our heart, or erasing heartlines - as america struggles with racism, gay issues and the rights of this world's kingdoms vs the kingdom of God
that is a mouthfull and a brainfull
and a heartfull
we struggle with what we were taught, how we were brought up, what the preacher says, what our friend said ..
and it tears at us
rips in some cases
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to me, the saddest part is ' christianity's ' battle; not with the governement or the gay or the racist, but with the brother there, the sister here, that church and this congregation and that denomination over there !
locking and loading ..
and Jesus bleeds, great tears, as-it-were drops of blood, pooling deep red in the sand at his feet ..
`|`
seems to me (= my opinion) .. most of it amounts to illwill badfeelings anger .. hatred
.. .
one day Jesus stood on a hill somewhere in his homeland and said some things that simply upset everyone's applecart, particularly the religious applecart, his religion's applecart ..
crazy things that people, to this day, mull-over and write copious missives to explain
one of the definitive comments he made concerned being 'perfect as your father in heaven is perfect', a radical injunction which totally blindsides me as i try to wrap my brain around being perfect like God ..
at Matthew's account, chappter 5, begging at verse 43, he said this:
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy.
But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven, for he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.
If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.
But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."
when i read this, i'm struck by the unlikely, improbable concept of loving someone i hate ..
how do you do that exactly ..
like, dude .. there's no such thing as a round square
kinda like some other stuff he said - " want to experience true life? kill yourself every day. " = commit suicide
..
well, it doesn't say much that you love your family and friends and buddies in your church .. everybody does that
the thing that will define you as children of God is to love the one you hate
the black
the rebel
the gay
the racist
the jew
the white supremacist
the flag burner
the ISIS
the hitler
the drunk that killed your child
the person that abused your child
the person that stole your life-savings
the boss that hates you
love them
because, you see, that's how God works
that's the heart of God
he sends sunshine and rain on the evil and the good ..
you do likewise .. if you want to be recognized as children of God
if you want to be perfect like your father in heaven
no distinction
..
so that when the church's response to the SCOTUS decision is that america, a country ' based on christian principles ', is walking straight into the jaws of hell, inviting the judgement of God on this nation for its blasphemous wickedness, like sodom and gomorrah ..
then .. i wonder ..
when the preacher's response is to look out for the next earthquake or tornado or hurricane to destroy and maim, claiming that is God's judgement
actually wishing for it ..
when the preacher's response is that we are closing-in on the end, and we should 'look up', for the return of the Lord is near at hand ..
i wonder ..
is that our response, as people who wear the defining mark of the Christ, stand under the sign of the cross
that very cross on which he submitted his life without fighting back, without hating
he asked God to forgive them because they really didn't understand what they were doing ..
that was Jesus
my master
our master
and we draw weapons, holster bibles and sharpen tongues, spew venom from pulpits, point fingers and ball fists, spittle splattering the pulpit ..
we walk the very road Jesus told us not to take
by the doing, we identify ourselves as not children of God, as we sit in our pew and sing those songs of the faith .. "onward christian soldier!"
take 'em down!
we can't wait for God to return and judge these wicked people!
" i just can't wait to leave this evil earth and go to heaven " ..
`|`
seems to me (= my opinion) that Jesus came here to show us how to live, and the defining mark, as in the mark, of Godattitude he exemplified was love ..
he was teaching us how to be real humans, like we were designed to be
he was telling us to beat the swords into ploughshares and turn the spears into pruning hooks
he was erasing lines in the sand with his sandals, while writing 'love thy neighbour' in the sand with his finger
he was telling stories about enemies loving each other, that hated Samaritan undoing the religious Jews snobbery of their robbed and beaten fellow-Jew, showing love and care
for his 'enemy'
`|`
Jesus wasn't telling us to look to escape the evil of this world
God desires that all people everywhere repent, and is longsuffering, bearing the assault on Godself, the spittle on Godface ..
God wants noone to perish, as in no one
God wants us to face the evil, to embrace the 'evildoer'
to love my enemy as my self
to love my enemy
as if my enemy was me
i am my enemy
my enemy is me
we all are created in the image of Godself
we all are worth life
mine is not to hang on to life
it is to understand that real life is life spent (in the real sense of that word) in the service of the other, including my enemy other, especially my enemy other ..
for what is our life ? .
it is but a breeze, a flower fading, a weed blown with the wind ..
real life is Christlife, offered willingly for the others in my life
even the one that would take my life
offered willingly
in Jesus' name
for God's sake
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