Religion

Blessed are the meek…

/ Dennis A. Gray / Leave a comment


Like many of you I have spent this week watching the events unfold around a small Amish community in Pennsylvania. There is a part of us that can rationalize the idea of shootings in crowded inner-city communities where our children walk to school through all the horrors that modern urban life has to offer, but who among us ever thought that Amish country was also a breeding ground for this kind of behaviour?

Even more remarkable than the fact that such an event would take place in this small rural community lost in time, is the response of that same community. It is a response that in many ways is also lost in time. It is a response that has caught the attention of many people in North America and has them wondering about their own responses. And I would like to suggest that the people who should be paying the most attention to the gentle ways of these gentle people are the Christians of Canada and the United States.

It has been somewhat disheartening for me to watch the behaviour of my fellow Christians in the press of late. It seems that the default reaction by many believers to people who disagree with them is to unload all of the bile and hate they’ve been storing up. Condemning people to any or all of Dante’s 9 levels of hell, wishing disease and calamity upon them, questioning their humanity, comparing them to various tyrannical dictators (Hitler remains the favorite), even death threats are among the list of responses the practitioners of “Christian Love” levy at those who would dare to oppose them. It all calls to mind the lyrics of an old song by the Christian rock-band Petra…

“Seen and not heard, seen and not heard
Sometimes God’s children should be seen and not heard.
Too much talk and not enough walk
Sometimes God’s children should be seen and not heard.”

Not so the people of faith in this Amish community that has suffered so devastating a blow. The people of Lancaster County took a very different view.

“The grandfather was there and he made a point. They are instructing their kids not to think evil of the man who did this. I think that was the most moving of all,” Rev. Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council told CBS.

“I don’t think there’s anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts,” Jack Meyer told CNN.

“The hurt is very great,” she said, “but they don’t balance hurt with hate.”

Today’s pastors and Christian writers have a great deal to say about how to live the Christian life in the modern world. They spend a lot of pulpit time and ink on paper trying to re-create the Gospel in a flavour that the ‘post-moderns’ can find easier to swallow. But in a small community that for the most part is still in the 18th century, the teachings of Jesus are being lived out for all the world to see, and the world is listening.

This small community that has rejected cell-phones and computers, even gas engines and the automobile has refused to reject the man who committed this terrible act (Charles Roberts). They get ‘closure’ on the matter not by seeing that the shooter is vilified and the world never forgets how evil he was; but rather by forgiving what many consider unforgivable. They reach out not to obtain revenge, but to extend compassion and comfort to the Robert’s family in the understanding that they too have suffered loss – a husband and father. They do not alter their view of the Gospel to address a circumstance they never imagined facing, instead they cling to centuries old teachings from the scriptures to get them through whatever happens no matter how unfamiliar.

It truly speaks to the power of the Gospel itself to make a louder statement than any preacher or evangelist ever could. We don’t need special effects or a New Testament re-written in text-message style wording. We don’t even really need to trip over ourselves trying to be seeker-friendly. What we really need to do is live the life we have been called to live — honestly, every day. We need to remember that the timeless message we have been called to share with the world is just that — timeless.

That doesn’t mean we need to get rid of the tools of the electronics age, but we do need to remember the message we are called to deliver. Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message,” and nowhere is that more true than in the case of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is because we are the medium by which the message is transmitted. It is not the computers, the Internet, the new translations, the church programs and activities that communicate the gospel — It is us! And as we’ve learned this week, a gentle word, a firm resolve, and a forgiving embrace speak louder than anything sermon we might preach.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

You can’t say it any better than that.

Shalom

Struggling to Enter My Second Childhood

/ Dennis A. Gray / Leave a comment

I’ve spent the last couple of days listening to the Toronto ‘Sick Kids’ Hospital radio telethon on CFRB. I listened to story after story of kids facing seemingly impossible medical challenges and the courage they display. Children in wheelchairs and sick beds, hooked up to miles of tubing and a plethora of equipment, still manage not only to smile, but find reason and strength to laugh and bring a little fun into their lives.

I’m reminded of other examples from other fund-raising efforts. The children in AIDS-riddled Africa still manage to laugh and play in the midst of their despair, taking immense joy from something as simple as a ball made from rags bound with tape and string. Children who spend their days scrounging through garbage dumps in South America to earn a small income for their families, draw comfort and love from each other in the meager hovel they call home. A small boy in Uganda smiles enthusiastically for the camera as he carries a 20-litre can of water almost as big as himself two kilometers from the well to his hut – twice – everyday!

Closer to home, and not nearly facing such misfortune, I marvel at my own nephew. I remember when, the night his grandmother died, the four-year-old’s primary concern was to say to his mother, “It’s okay Mommy, don’t be sad!”

As I listen, and watch, and remember, one word comes to mind over and over again – resiliency.

Children are, at one and the same time, the most fragile and the most resilient of all human beings. They will, given the chance, find reason to smile and laugh, and opportunities for play in even the most devastating of circumstances. In many ways, I envy them.

I’ve often wondered where they get this remarkable ability and I have come to the following conclusion – it’s faith. Children quickly realize, if only on a subconcious level, that they have no control over their situation. As a result they must rely on the adults in their lives to put things right. They put all of their faith in their parents, grandparents, older siblings, whoever it is that takes care of them. This level of complete dependency frees them to do one thing – enjoy life the best they can. They are free to play, and laugh, and sing in the midst of all they must endure because they have handed the whole thing over to people who are able to deal with it much better than they are.

Unfortunately not all children exhibit this inate ability. My heart goes out most to the ones who have lost the capacity to play. They are most often orphans, huddled in rooms filled with dozens of others like themselves, with no one to hold them, no one to assure them that everything will work out some how. They have fallen so far into their despair they have lost the very sense of what they are – children.

Having said all that, I’d like you to consider the words of Jesus from Matthew 18:3-4…

And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

For me the reason Jesus suggested we become like children lies in this simple matter of faith. As adults we constantly feel the need to worry over what will happen next and how we can control it. Hardest of all for us to accept is that there are things in this world that are simply beyond our control; there are things we cannot do anything about no matter how hard we try. Even after we have prayed and “surrendered” everything to God we still ask the same question once we get up off our knees; “Okay, now what do I do?”, as if it is still up to us to solve the problem.

But to fit into the kingdom of God requires ‘complete’ dependency on Him. That’s why we have to become like little children. As children we understood what it meant to ‘trust the Father’ because it was instinctive to us. We need to go back there once more. We need to regain the ability to not worry over what we can’t control. And when we do we will enjoy once again that same freedom we knew as children.

Because we are not spiritual orphans, because we have a Father who cares for us and answers our needs we can devote ourselves to the one thing that matters most – to enjoy life as best we can. We can be free to smile, to laugh and even to play in the midst of our desperation because we know that even if we don’t understand what is going on we have a Father in heaven who will take care of it for us. Even if we seem to be going hungry right now we can enjoy the simple pleasure of a ball made of rags because our older brother Jesus will take care of things somehow.

Too many of us are living like orphans. Too many of us are so lost in worry and despair we have lost the very sense of who we are – children of God. We huddle in the churches with others like ourselves wondering who will take care of us, who will feed us when all the time God is reaching out to us in love.

So I challenge you, dear Reader. Like me, try to enter a second childhood. Become a child again and enter into the kingdom. Smile, laugh, play a while. God will take care of things if we will only let go of them.

Shalom