Barney Wiget's Blog, page 18

Happy Juneteenth!

For the 3rd or 4th time I watched the great movie on the Jackie Robinson story called, “42” – his major league number. It’s both disturbing and inspiring. My two favorite lines in the movie:

“We had a victory of fascism in Germany. It’s time, time we had a victory over racism at home.” (Branch Rickey)

“Maybe tomorrow, we’ll all wear 42, so nobody could tell us apart.” (Pee Wee Reese)

Today is Juneteenth, the celebration of the freeing of the last slaves in Texas. Do you think it might be time for us to make an effort to free ourselves from our prejudices as well as liberate those about whom we white folks are prejudiced? As they say, “Pharaoh found out the hard way that ‘Hebrew Lives Matter!’”

Another said, “Prejudice is an emotional commitment to ignorance.” Many in our country in the 21st Century seem to have an affection for ignorance, as though it possesses the power to alter reality and transport them to their desired position at the top of the heap. Maybe they should inquire about what the stinking heap is made of!

Speaking of reality, Henry McNeal Turner of the Georgia Legislature, said in 1868:

“Because God saw fit to make some red, and some white, and some black, and some brown, are we to sit here in judgment upon what God has seen fit to do? As well might one play with the thunderbolts of heaven as with that creature that bears God’s image.”

Pastor Matt Chandler wrote:

“If I preach the sermon out of the book of Isaiah on justice, my inbox would fill with their glee that I would broach the subject. But if I applied it to the subject of race, then all of a sudden I was a Marxist or I’ve been watching too much of the liberal media. If I spoke on abortion, I was applauded as courageous, as a ferocious man of God, and yet when I would tackle race, I was being too political … If I quoted the great reformer Martin Luther … never did I get an email about his blatant anti-Semitism. But let me quote the great reformer Martin Luther King Jr., and watch my inbox fill with people asking me if I’m aware of his moral brokenness.”

I think we still, after all this time, have much work to do to align ourselves with the Jesus-shaped Kingdom where “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

Happy Juneteenth!

5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount (Chapter 6 of WHAT ON EARTH? a book by Barney Wiget)

Suggestions for Personal Reflection, Group Discussion, and Taking Action for:

Chapter 6 of WHAT ON EARTH? / Changed Hearts Change the World

Unpack this quote: “Jesus calls us to holiness and justice. Holiness involves dealing with the spark, the poisoned well, the root in our own hearts. Justice involves dealing with the wildfires, the raging rivers, the wicked trees in our world.”Unpack MLK’s famous quote about the Church being “the conscience of the state … the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool.”“Although the Bible is not a manual on social policy, it does offer us principles that structure our moral reasoning, which in turn affects the way we view such things.” Give an example of this.

Keep an eye out for the next chapter. Talk soon!

5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount (Chapters 4 and 5 of WHAT ON EARTH? a book by Barney Wiget)

Suggestions for Personal Reflection, Group Discussion, and Taking Action for:

Chapter 4 of WHAT ON EARTH? / An Upside-Down Kingdom

The kingdom is “so contrary to human nature and our faulty logic that it appears upside down to us.” Give an example of this.Elaborate on one of Craig Greenfield’s comparisons between empire and the kingdom.Give an example in your own life of your tendency to “become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.”

Don’t forget to look for the next “5-Minute Meditation on the Sermon on the Mount” video. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx7Gjxzq2JvD4tqDI7r1gTw

Suggestions for Personal Reflection, Group Discussion, and Taking Action for:

Chapter 5 of WHAT ON EARTH? / An Inside Out Kingdom

What do you think we mean by “outwardism”?Why would downplaying the role of our human spirit lead to a “sweaty” kind of Christianity?What are your “hookable” places (John 14:30)?

5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount (Chapters 2 and 3 of WHAT ON EARTH? a book by Barney Wiget)

Suggestions for Personal Reflection, Group Discussion, and Taking Action for the book: WHAT ON EARTH? Considering the Social Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

Chapters 2 & 3: What on Earth Is This “Heavenly Kingdom” About? & A Kingdom Needs a Constitution

It’s my conviction that, “When Jesus sets up his headquarters inside us, relationships, households, economies, governments, and every feature of culture begin to lean toward heaven’s standards.” Agree or disagree? Why?“Just as a good movie’s preview makes you want to go see the rest of it, we are tasked with imagining and demonstrating the reign of God in hopes that people will accept the invitation to come for the rest of the show and partner with us to make a better preview for all the world to see.”  How do we get people to stay for the rest of the show?Write down the name of one person you are praying for to come with you to make the make the world a better place (and share it with your group or with one other person to pray with you).Write 2 or 3 additions to my “I believe in…” list in keeping with the teaching in the Sermon: Example: “I believe in truth-telling no matter what.”

Don’t forget to look for the next “5-Minute Meditation on the Sermon on the Mount” video on YouTube: Barney Wiget

Suggestions for Personal Reflection, Group Discussion, and Taking Action for the book: WHAT ON EARTH? Considering the Social Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 1 – What’s the BIG IDEA?

What do you think E. Stanley Jones meant by calling the Sermon “A working philosophy of life.”I claim that “the typical gospel of the contemporary evangelical narrative is predominantly individualistic.” It tells us only how to be forgiven and be more spiritual, yet leaves out the component of improving the world we live in. Do you agree or disagree? Why?Which approach is the better one when challenging someone to follow Jesus: “Come to Jesus and when you die he will take you to a better world” or “Come to Jesus and you’ll come alive. And when you do, come help us make this a better world!”

Don’t forget to look for the “5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount” video for the next chapter in WHAT ON EARTH?

________________________________

Chapters 2 & 3: What on Earth Is This “Heavenly Kingdom” About? & A Kingdom Needs a Constitution

It’s my conviction that, “When Jesus sets up his headquarters inside us, relationships, households, economies, governments, and every feature of culture begin to lean toward heaven’s standards.” Agree or disagree? Why?“Just as a good movie’s preview makes you want to go see the rest of it, we are tasked with imagining and demonstrating the reign of God in hopes that people will accept the invitation to come for the rest of the show and partner with us to make a better preview for all the world to see.”  How do we get people to stay for the rest of the show?Write down the name of one person you are praying for to come with you to make the make the world a better place (and share it with your group or with one other person to pray with you).Write 2 or 3 additions to my “I believe in…” list in keeping with the teaching in the Sermon: Example: “I believe in truth-telling no matter what.”

Don’t forget to look for the “5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount” video for the next chapter in WHAT ON EARTH?

________________________________

Chapter 4: An Upside-Down Kingdom

The kingdom is “so contrary to human nature and our faulty logic that it appears upside down to us.” Give an example of this.Elaborate on one of Craig Greenfield’s comparisons between empire and the kingdom.Give an example in your own life of your tendency to “become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.”

Don’t forget to look for the “5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount” video for the next chapter in WHAT ON EARTH?

________________________________

Chapter 5: An Inside Out Kingdom

What do you think we mean by “outwardism”?Why would downplaying the role of our human spirit lead to a “sweaty” kind of Christianity?What are your “hookable” places (John 14:30)?

Don’t forget to look for the “5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount” video for the next chapter in WHAT ON EARTH?

________________________________

Chapter 6: Changed Hearts Change the World

Unpack this quote: “Jesus calls us to holiness and justice. Holiness involves dealing with the spark, the poisoned well, the root in our own hearts. Justice involves dealing with the wildfires, the raging rivers, the wicked trees in our world.”Unpack MLK’s famous quote about the Church being “the conscience of the state … the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool.”“Although the Bible is not a manual on social policy, it does offer us principles that structure our moral reasoning, which in turn affects the way we view such things.” Give an example of this.

Don’t forget to look for the “5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount” video for the next chapter in WHAT ON EARTH?

________________________________

Chapter 7: The Inconvenient Politics of Jesus

Give an example when Jesus communicated with authorityGive an example when he comported himself politicallyGive an example when he confronted power fearlessly

Don’t forget to look for the “5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount” video for the next chapter in WHAT ON EARTH?

________________________________

Chapter 8: Utterly Upside-Down Attitudes

We contend that there is an “intentional sequence” of Beatitudes. Do you agree?  In which of the Beatitudes do you see “vulnerability”?“Since most of their legislative decisions have moral implications, we must, in good conscience, support those candidates whose values are most aligned with Christ’s and whose policies benefit the common good and not just our own personal agendas.” Agree or disagree and why?

Don’t forget to look for the “5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount” video for the next chapter in WHAT ON EARTH?

________________________________

Chapter 9: Blessed are the Broken

Merton says, “humility alone can destroy the self-centeredness that makes joy impossible.” How does that work?“To a social order that worships strength and decries weakness, where the rich and famous loom over the poor and obscure, this notion of spiritual poverty is utterly nonsensical.” Give an example of this in our culture today.What does this mean to you? “Until we recognize our common moral disease, the chasm between classes, races, parties, and nations will only widen.”

Don’t forget to look for the “5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount” video for the next chapter in WHAT ON EARTH?

________________________________

Chapter 10: The Groan of the Godly

Explain how the first Beatitude leads to the second.We contend that tears shed in grief, uncertainty, confusion, and fear can be “good tears.” Agree or disagree? Why?Where else in the Bible do you find “lament” practiced or advocated?

Don’t forget to look for the “5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount” video for the next chapter in WHAT ON EARTH?

________________________________

Chapter 11: The Collective “Ouch!”

gave no opportunity to grieve with your fellow worshippers?“Is it possible that people are looking for a community that knows how to grieve its forfeitures and how to bring their sorrows to Someone bigger than themselves for comfort… longing for a place where people engage in the pains of the world rather than hide their heads in the sham of spiritual sand while claiming their diamond-studded destiny?” Well, is possible? If so, how would affect our presentation of the gospel?In the world today, what causes you to mourn most?

Don’t forget to look for the “5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount” video for the next chapter in WHAT ON EARTH?

________________________________

Chapter 12: The “Ouchless” Church

What do you think of the statement by Brene´ Brown? “I wanted faith to work like an epidural; to numb the pain of vulnerability.  As it turned out, my faith ended up being more like a midwife – a nurturing partner who leans into the discomfort with me and whispers ‘push’ and ‘breathe.’”What is your opinion about the often-repeated claim that “Everything that happens is sovereignly ordained by God”?“He turns our mourning into dancing.” Cite an example when he did this in your own life.

Don’t forget to look for the “5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount” video for the next chapter in WHAT ON EARTH?

________________________________

More to come!

5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount (Chapter 1 of WHAT ON EARTH? a book by Barney Wiget)

The Big Idea

Suggestions for Personal Reflection, Group Discussion, and Taking Action for the book: WHAT ON EARTH? Considering the Social Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 1 – What’s the BIG IDEA?

What do you think E. Stanley Jones meant by calling the Sermon “A working philosophy of life.”I claim that “the typical gospel of the contemporary evangelical narrative is predominantly individualistic.” It tells us only how to be forgiven and be more spiritual, yet leaves out the component of improving the world we live in. Do you agree or disagree? Why?Which approach is the better one when challenging someone to follow Jesus: “Come to Jesus and when you die he will take you to a better world” or “Come to Jesus and you’ll come alive. And when you do, come help us make this a better world!

Don’t forget to look for the “5-Minute Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount” video for the next chapter in WHAT ON EARTH?

Another Mass Shooting of Innocent Children

A ten-year-old little girl at the Uvalde, Texas Elementary School that was not shot, rubbed on herself the blood of others so the shooter would pass her by! If that’s not one of the saddest things you’ve heard in a long while, you must have heard some pretty damn sad things!

The NRA has banned guns onsite at their Houston convention on Friday. I thought “guns don’t kill people, people do”! Oh, well. I guess slogans and Twitter-sized tropes aren’t always as accurate as they sound.

But they are going through with the convention anyway. The usual list of suspects will be speaking: former President Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. Can’t wait for their usual obfuscations in order to cull the financial support of the failing NRA.

The 18-year-old shooter bought an AR-15 legally and used it to murder 19 children and 2 adults. But we don’t need national universal background checks? The kid was under suspicion, but the word didn’t get to the gun seller, or it did, and he cared for profits more than kids. Is that what it means to be “pro-life”?

These guns have been used in many mass shootings for their ability to kill a lot of people quickly:

Feb. 14, 2018: Shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida leaves 17 people dead.Oct. 1, 2017: The Las Vegas slaughter of 58 people.Nov. 5, 2017: The Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting that claimed 26 lives.June 12, 2016: The Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., that left 49 dead.Dec. 2, 2015: The San Bernardino, Calif., shooting that killed 14 people.Dec. 14, 2012: The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that took 27 lives.

Those who hunt or target shoot with these, obviously need to get their eyes checked if they can’t hit their target in under 30 rounds (or more if they use larger magazines that are illegal)!  

I doubt that by, “well regulated militia” the framers of the Constitution were referring to a mentally ill mass murderer. There’s nothing “well regulated” about millions of crazy Americans running around with assault rifles. The founding fathers weren’t stupid. They knew they couldn’t predict everything, such as these weapons of war, which have no place in civilian hands.

The framers were unable to conceive of something more ballistically advanced than a musket. A single very ill and ill-willed guy with the ability to spray bullets into a classroom full of children was nowhere near their idea of either anything “well regulated.”

And how does mowing people down in stores, spas, and schools contribute to a “secure free state”? How are we free when people have to run for their lives in the produce section or classrooms?

The friends and family of nineteen children and two adults woke up that morning bereft of their child or friend. What about their right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”?

“Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Matthew 26:52

Nonviolence is Much More Effective than Violence

Hmm. Maybe Jesus was right after all!

PCPJ

We live in a violent world. The war in Ukraine is killing thousands and causes huge waves of refugees, economic instability and food shortages. The war in Syria is still going on, and the conflicts in Yemen, Afghanistan and South Sudan no longer even make headlines. During most of the last decade, the world has become less peaceful.

In response to such violence, many people think that the solution is more violence. Conventional wisdom tells us that we need to arm ourselves so we become stronger and deadlier than the “bad guys”.

Christian pacifists, who just like most Christians for the first 300 years believe that Jesus’ words about loving our enemies and turning the other cheek mean that we should not use violence, are often accused of being naive. Some have even claimed that Christian pacifism is evil! While abstaining from violence sounds loving in theory, many argue…

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The Path of Progress

Are you a better person than you used to be? More to the point, for those of you who identify as Christian, are you currently moving toward being more like the One you claim to follow? A lot of times, when thinking about our progress in the faith, we compare where we are today with our old selves from which Jesus rescued us, how we behaved as unregenerate image bearers. Certainly, though that contrast has value, my question has to do with our progress lately. It’s more about our present trajectory of transformation “into his image with ever increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Paul was obsessed with that growth trajectory for those he mentored:

Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith. (Philippians 1:25)

Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. (1 Timothy 4:15)

The Greek term he uses in these passages is a compound word that means literally: to chop or cut down in front of. In other words, it speaks of advancing toward a goal by chopping down whatever impedes progress. Hmm. That’s how we make progress, by cutting through obstacles to get where we want to go––where HE wants us to go. The sword of the Spirit acts as a machete chopping away at the underbrush so we can find and tread the “path of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

This path of progress bears no resemblance to those people movers in the airport. You know, the ones you step on, gladly set down your luggage next to you, and get comfortably transported to your gate. No, in this case we bear some responsibility in the process of progress. We actually have to walk. God has his job and we have ours. We can’t do his and he won’t do ours. Though he will help us do ours.

“In this world,” Jesus said, we will have “trouble,” which has to be one of the least quoted promises in the Bible! This place is fraught with hindrances to our progress, the most stubborn ones we face every day are the world, the flesh and the devil. I prefer to call them Sin, Satan, and the System. Sin resides inside us (sorry to say), Satan taunts from outside us (maybe behind us, nipping at our heels), and the System influences from all around us (tempting us to adopt its ways)––the triumvirate of nemeses.

In order to make progress in the faith, we have to face each of these. But how? Each calls for a different overcoming tactic. In order to stay the course and continue making progress, we have to continually repent of our sin, resist Satan, and reject the system.

Of course, there’s more to forward motion Christianity than chopping down obstacles in our path. To change the metaphor, we have to “take his yoke upon us and learn from him” (Matthew 11:28). Though the yoke is “his,” he invites us into it with him where he provides the strength and power of the ox. Ours is not the muscle for forward motion, yet ours is the choice to daily stick our neck in the yoke and cooperate with the God of all strength.

Can you picture it? He pulls up with the yoke around his neck. It’s a two-oxen yoke, and since he has no intention of plowing by himself, he beckons us to join. He invites us into our side of the yoke, not to pull, but to listen to his directions and keep in step with him. Ours is the job of cooperation with him, to “keep in step with” him (Galatians 5:25). He supplies the brute strength and we simply go where he’s going and not where he’s not. With a yoke around our neck, insisting on our own way and trying to go where he’s not, can only result in a sore neck and impede our progress!

Conversely, when we acknowledge that his way is best, with full confidence in his character we refuse to “kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14), his yoke is “easy and his burden light” (Matthew 11:30).

One last thought. If you think about it, a yoke puts two oxen in quite close proximity with each other. That is, with their heads nearly touching the other, one can hear the other whisper. (I don’t know if oxen do whisper). If not hear, one can feel even the slightest tug of his counterpart leaning in one direction or another. Sidling up that close to Jesus so we can hear his wishes is central to making progress in his grand purposes, not to mention key to the joy of communion with the God of the universe! And that, my friends is progress in itself!

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It Takes Courage

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Joseph of Arimethea was a wealthy and respected member of the Jewish council, the same group that sent Jesus to his death. He and his colleagues had what we might call power and privilege. So, why didn’t he speak up with at least a mild objection at that time?

Mark says he “was himself also looking for the kingdom of God.”Matthew calls him a “disciple” of Jesus.Luke records he was “a good and righteous man.”John chimes in that he was “a disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews.”

Did he sit silently through the sham trial of Jesus as his colleagues raced to build false testimony against him? Did he even think of standing up to defend this man he had secretly followed? Luke says he “did not consent to their decision and action,” but no one mentions if he spoke out on Jesus’ behalf even in private.

Like Joseph, I confess that fear keeps me sitting down when I should stand and speak. I doubt that my voice would make a difference anyway, so why raise it only to lose friends that disagree with my assessment of injustice in the world, be it in Europe, at our own southern border, when Christians blindly follow conspiracy theories about elections and pandemics. Maybe Joseph reasoned this way also. Honestly, what could one person do against the united powers of the religious leaders and the Roman Empire or the power brokers in American politics?

Whatever Joseph did or didn’t do, Jesus did die and his followers were scattered. Injustice reigned. Yet it was this moment that Joseph chose to act. Mark says he “took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus,” an act that could possibly cost him his position, if not his own life.

At face value he acted a day late and dollar short.  But still his actions are called courage. It’s a brave person that can look despair defeat in the face and stand up anyway. To say nothing of the tenderness it took when “taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of rock.” It was his own tomb and that he rolled a stone across the entrance after laying Jesus inside.

I’m remind of what Jesus said to the church of Philadelphia: “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” (Revelation 3:8) Sometimes that’s all it takes is a “little strength.”

When he left, the man from Arimethea had no idea that the story wasn’t over. He couldn’t have imagined that his courageous act, which most likely would get him a black ball in the ruling Council, while Jesus was dead would soon be part of the story when Jesus would come to life again! But he did it anyway! We can’t know what God will do if we lift our voice against the tide. There might be a stone-rolling, thunder-clapping, earth-quaking on its way!

We all want God’s kingdom to emerge in our world that feels so hopeless. If you’re like me, you’re tempted to stay silent in the face of injustice. What do we do? Like Joseph, we show up too late without anything significant to offer, or so we think. Better late than never (to coin a phrase)! God seems to take our too lates and turn them into just on times!

Let’s gather up our courage and recommit to pursuing goodness in the world. Let’s face our fears and “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8), carried by the improbable hope of a Savior who –still– lives!

Today’s only Friday, but Sunday’s coming!

(I’m indebted to an article by We Choose Welcome, an organization that works to bring justice to immigration policy in America and around the world. )