———

For I am sure that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:38, 39

The Palestinian Christian community, with roots dating back to earliest Christianity, now numbers less than two percent of the population in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.  But the community prominently offers a non-violent witness for justice and peace.  Last December in Bethlehem, Palestinian Christians launched “A Moment of Truth.”  They called it a “Kairos” document, the word in early Greek meaning “opportunity” or critical moment in time, and meant to allude to the crucial South African Kairos document which in 1985 prompted debate about Apartheid worldwide.  The Kairos document states that “… Love is seeing the face of God in every human being. Every person is my brother or my sister. However, seeing the face of God in everyone does not mean accepting evil or aggression on their part. Rather, this love seeks to correct the evil and stop the aggression.”

The believer in nonviolence has deep faith in the future.  Palestinian Christians write, “Our hope remains strong” based on the expectation in faith of a better future.  “In the absence of hope, we cry out our cry of hope…  We believe in God, good and just [and that God's goodness] will finally triumph….  We will see here ‘a new land’ and ‘a new human being’, capable of rising up in the spirit to love each one of his or her brothers and sisters.”

We pray, for hope, patience, and steadfastness and a time for repentance.  Though their numbers are few, their message is great and important, in a land in urgent need of love.

Peter Makari is Global Ministries Area Executive for the Middle East and Europe.

You will find the Kairos document, action resources and updates at:
http://globalministries.org/mee/kairos/

For More Information
Peter Makari
Area Executive
Middle East and Europe
700 Prospect Ave.
Cleveland,Ohio 44115

216-736-3227
Phone: 866-822-8224 ext. 3227
Fax: 216-736-3203
makarip@ucc.org

———

In the smoldering heat of the last few days I’m sure that none of us have been tempted to take for granted the value of water. It parches our thirst and cools our bodies. It grows our food and greens our yards … and we know it can be fairly scarce during these dry summer months. But even in the driest of months here in Oklahoma, we have yet to experience the drought that inflicts impoverished and developing nations around the world. We can celebrate the blessings of well-developed water delivery systems and the convenience of the municipal authorities that provide them – and we should – but we are called as followers of Christ to remember our fellow human beings in Nicaragua, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Burma, and beyond who don’t share in our blessings.

Of course, we’re not only called to remember the needs of the water- insecure around the world, but to stand in solidarity with them and to help make a difference in their plight. You may remember that we took a stand during the season of Lent to collect funds during the H2O Challenge – an act of solidarity and support. This Sunday we’ll gather together to once more hold the thirst of our world in prayer and to dedicate the gifts of water wells that will be provided through Church World Service, a global mission partner of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

However, we also plan to take another stand in solidarity with the impoverished and economically oppressed by collecting one final offering for the plight of water insecurity. Special envelopes will be available in the pews with a picture of a heart and entitled “Love Offering” that will allow you to offer another gift for the cause of safe and plentiful water. All special gifts collected this Sunday will be shared through Global Ministries with our mission partners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where over 600,000 fellow Disciples live and worship.

So please plan on joining us as we dedicate our gifts and remember those who do not have that which we enjoy. As Jesus reminds us in Matthew 25, those who see the plight of the thirsty and offer them a drink are doing the work of the kingdom of God. Let’s join in sharing the abundance of God’s creation with all who lack, and carry the vision of the gospel from our sanctuary to the ends of the earth.

Seeking the path of God’s justice,
Clint

———

I came across a fascinating article in The Disciples’ Advocate, a publication of Disciples Home Missions. The headline article for the summer edition is entitled “Considering Peace,” and is writted by Rev. Craig Watts, a member of the Executive Committee of the Disciples Peace Fellowship. It caught my attention from the first sentence: “Outside of the historic ‘peace churches,’ no American religious tradition has a richer peace heritage than the Disciples of Christ.” This piqued my interest enough to want to share some of the highlights with you.

The two primary founders of our movement, Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone, both spoke at great length against the cause of war. Campbell wrote that “to conquer an enemy is to convert him into a friend. This is the … heaven-conceived enterprise of God’s only begotten Son. To do this, all arms and modes of warfare are impotent, save the arms and munitions of everlasting love.” Stone also wrote at great length, such as this response to Jesus’ words “blessed are the peacemakers” found in Matthew 5:9: “The very ministry of Jesus Christ was that of reconciliation – to make peace.” He continues, stating that Christians are “to make peace among all, as far as their influence extends, and labor to put down wrath, strife and division in the world,” because war is “contrary to the kingdom of peace.”

Later leaders within the movement also spoke ardently against war. J.W. McGarvey, a president of the College of the Bible (Lexington, KY), bordered on the charge of treason on the eve of the Civil War, declaring, “If the demon of war is let loose in the land, I shall proclaim to my brethren the peaceable commandments of my Savior, and strain nerve to prevent them from joining any sort of military company, or making any warlike preparation.” Kirby Page, writing after WWI also wrote for the cause of peace. Writings such as “the sword …. Causes hatred, the cross compels love; the sword means the attempt to kill your foe, the cross your willingness to die in seeking to save your enemy” became some of the most influential words to come out of the Disciples movement. Page was credited by renowned preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick for his conversion to pacifism and his writings were deeply impressive to Mahatma Gandhi during his conversion to nonviolent resistance.

And these words are just a small sampling of the voice for peace found in the history of Disciples of Christ traditions. I hope that you’ll join me in continued prayers for peace, and pray that we will be quick to extend our hands and slow to draw our swords.

Seeking the path of God’s justice,
Clint

———

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek–
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean–
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today–O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

These words from the poem “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes cry out a lament for those of this nation who have never enjoyed the fruits of life and liberty, nor the freedom in time and means to maintain that ever elusive pursuit of happiness. As we allow this 4th of July holiday to begin to fade from our minds, let us take a moment of pause to be mindful of those who have not experienced the riches or richness of this land we call America. Whether we reflect on the immense poverty of Cherokee county, a lasting remnant of the forced assimilation of the Cherokee people, or turn our thoughts to the growing list of Oklahoma ghost towns dying in the aftermath of the oil boom, or the devastation of a once plentiful and green Oklahoma during the dust bowl, we don’t have to look far to find the people about whom Hughes was writing.

But we don’t have to turn far into our bibles to find the message of justice God declares for the oppressed – or to find our calling as Christians to tend to those who are downtrodden. Jesus gives us the gospel answer to Hughes’ lament. Quoting from Isaiah 61, he declares:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19, NRSV)

And as he concluded, with all eyes fixed upon him, Jesus declared, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. (v. 21)” There are some who like to interpret this as meaning that Jesus was the fulfillment of those words. I prefer to read “in your hearing” as meaning that we are called to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s call. So let’s let the gospel be the gospel again and seek out our place in God’s call to justice and equity for all people everywhere.

Seeking the path of God’s justice,
Clint

———

“I will not let you go until you bless me.” (Gen. 32:26)

Every Wednesday at noon, Mrs. E is there. She sits in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, Korea with her friends to ask the Japanese government to apologize for its past treatment of Korean women as sex slaves during the Asia Pacific War. Mrs. E is elderly, as are her friends. Many of the so-called “comfort women” have passed away. Mrs. E hopes that justice will be done before she meets her grave. She is surrounded by a crowd of civilians who support her struggle. Over the loud speaker a statement is read, a song is sung, a prayer is given. The window blinds of the Japanese embassy are shut. Stone faced guards and secret police make sure there is no outright confrontation. This peaceful sit-in has continued for seventeen years.

In December 2009, religious leaders from around the world, gathered for the Second Conference on Article Nine and Peace in Asia. There were various Buddhist, Christian and Muslim denominations represented. There was great meaning when we gathered in Seoul, because we were all made aware of the realities of the Cold War which still divide the Korean peninsula. East Asia has not been able to move beyond the dualisms of the Cold War era. What we witnessed was a wall; a remnant from the Cold War. The wall is invisible, but no less as real as the wall being built in Israel.

Part of our program was to join the sit-in, and pray alongside these women who were victimized by war. We were all moved by the experience. I was reminded of the story of Jacob who wrestled all night with the angel of God. Jacob refused to let the angel go until he received a blessing. Mrs. E is one of those Jacobs of our time. I see in her a faith that refuses to let go, trusting that God is a God of love and blessing for all.

Let us pray for the tenacity of Mrs. E and others that their belief in the possibility of justice becomes our call for the enactment of justice.

Jeffrey Mensendiek serves as a Global Ministries missionary with the Council on Cooperative Mission, and as director of the Gakusei (Student) Center in Sendai Japan.

For More Information
Xiaoling Zhu
Area Executive
East Asia and the Pacific
700 Prospect Ave.
Cleveland,Ohio 44115

216-736-3226
Phone: 866-822-8224 ext. 3226
Fax: 216-736-3203
zhux@ucc.org

———

“Cursed be Canaan; lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers.”
- Genesis 9:25 (NRSV)

These words of Noah, ostensibly spoken to his sons following his drunken revelry (Genesis 9:20-27), became one of the greatest biblical justifications for slavery in the theological imagination of Christendom in the slaveholding United States. In this exchange, Noah becomes drunk off the fruit of his vineyard, passes out naked and drunk, and his son Ham commits the great sin of looking upon him in his nakedness. On awaking, Noah then proceeds to curse Canaan, Ham’s son, for this affront, and some 2,500 years after the Hebrew canon was collected into one book of scripture, it becomes one of the centerpieces of Christian justification for holding black slaves.

If this sounds a little strange at first, I hope you’ll withhold judgment long enough to hear the argument out. In simple terms, the so-called curse of Ham (which actually landed on Canaan) came to be understood as a mark – and this mark came to be interpreted as the changing skin color from white to black. If you allow yourself to ignore the fallacy of this statement, since the Hebrew people were ethnically Semitic and therefore olive-skinned, you might be able to appreciate the value of such an argument to a slaveholding Christian community: God cursed the Canaanites and made them black, so it’s justifiable for us to enslave them since they are literally a God-forsaken people.

It’s a stretch, requiring two flying leaps of the interpretive imagination to get from the actual biblical text to the deplorable practice of slavery, but in hindsight it offers brilliant insight into the workings of the Christian mind when it wants to justify an unjustifiable act. It’s also exactly the type of legalistic readings of scripture that create laws and boundaries that stifle the justice of the Gospel – and I’m sad to say that it didn’t end with the abolition of slavery. We continue to find ways to use our bibles and our theologies to create walls around our faith communities and turn entire groups of people into outsiders. The Gospel call requires more of us as followers of the Christ, and I look forward to sharing with and challenging you on the divisions in the body that we continue to participate in through our faith practices.

Seeking the path of God’s justice,
Clint

———

It’s that time of the year again: ordination season. As some of you know, I like to attend the ordination services of friends whenever I can, and I kicked off this year by attending the ordination of fellow graduate Geoff Brewster this last Sunday. As you may also recall (especially if you were present for the Pentecost potluck!), last Sunday is the day we traditionally celebrate the birth of the church. And I remember thinking to myself, “I’m not sure about this ordination service taking place on Pentecost…” This is a day for celebrating the whole church, and I wasn’t sure about a service that really seems to celebrate the individual being ordained into the profession of ministry.

However, during the actual service on Sunday afternoon, I experienced a conversion. As the liturgy of the ordination unfolded, I began to realize that ordination isn’t just a celebration of one person, but a service that actually honors the entire community that helped bring this new minister to this special moment. Without the support of his family and friends, who played various roles throughout worship, Geoff may not have traveled the path of preparation for this calling. Without the gracious care of three different churches that he has served in since beginning as a youth minister, Geoff may not have been able to survive some of the more difficult moments that stood between who he was when he began this journey and the maturing minister we were celebrating on that day.

And in all of this, I realized that we often forget the unspoken people who are involved in the journey to ordination. Every year, students preparing for ordination meet with an In-Care Committee that oversees their progress and provides care and support for them in the process. Over the course of my own six years, I have met with many people along the way – some of them ministers, some of them lay members, all of them supportive and encouraging. These people represent you as members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in making sure that I and other candidates for ordination demonstrate the integrity and gifts for ministry and are continuously fostered spiritually, intellectually, and faithfully in our path toward ordained ministry. In many ways, the ordination service is also a celebration of these relatively anonymous folks who do so much for the ministry of the greater church, and for the growth of the individuals who will someday serve it.

I look forward to introducing you to some of these people who have been so instrumental in my faith journey at my own ordination service in July!

Sailing on the wind of the Spirit,
Clint

———

The ongoing news of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to be a source of consternation for me. As I listen to the ever-growing reports – 1,000 barrels per day leaking into the ocean has managed to grow to over 5,000 barrels per day – I am greatly concerned for the long term damage that this disaster will cause. The resulting oil slick, now estimated to be over 130 miles by 70 miles (roughly the size of the state of Delaware), could potentially cause an even greater disaster than the Exxon Valdez incident that coated Alaska’s Prince William Sound with roughly 250,000 barrels of crude oil.

I was heartened to see that Week of Compassion has already spoken on the issue of the oil spill. Sharing advice from a representative of our partners in the United Church of Christ, they asked people not to rush to Louisiana to volunteer their services, but instead to contact local agencies as to how they might best help. The expertise and specialized equipment required for oil spill cleanup makes it difficult to plug in volunteers without specialized training. It’s also a somber reminder of just how difficult the task will be as this massive oil slick continues to plague the ocean waters and drift toward our coastline.

This event should serve as a wakeup call to us in our country. In an interview on NPR, I heard about how oil spills have taken place in the Niger River delta of Nigeria on a yearly basis since 1969. If the connection to this being our problem isn’t immediately clear, the fact that the U.S. is one of Nigeria’s largest oil export partners should bring things into focus. Our nearly insatiable need for gasoline and other crude oil products indirectly contributes to the regular destruction of our earth’s already fragile ecosystem.

It’s one more reminder that our calling as Christians isn’t just to be, but to be good stewards. Our continued failures to extract and utilize the earth’s resources in a safe and responsible manner should sound a clarion call to more environmentally responsible practices and lifestyles. It’s never too late to start making a difference by limiting your vehicular travel or carpooling on trips with your neighbors, coworkers, and friends. Plain and simple: environmental justice is Gospel justice.

Living the hope of resurrection,

Clint

———

I’m quoting from a page found on Facebook, the popular social networking site:

DEAR LORD, THIS YEAR YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTOR, PATRICK SWAYZIE. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTRESS, FARAH FAWCETT. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE SINGER, MICHAEL JACKSON. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMA. AMEN.

I didn’t spend any time setting up this comment, because it’s not worth the setup. This type of language is crass and despicable, and what’s worse, it’s said in the guise of religious language that is presumably Christian. For those of you who may remember me making any comment in Sunday School class or even from the pulpit that other Christians are controlling the discourse about our faith and making us look bad, this is exactly the kind of thing that I was talking about. This behavior is hate speech pure and simple.

As you all know, I’m not interested in whom you support politically or what party affiliations you hold (and legally I can’t as your pastor), but I hope that this type of language is something we can all agree is pushing across the lines of both Christian morality and good taste. To wish death for anyone, even in what is supposedly a “joking” manner, is to be out of relationship with that person and others as well. This is not consistent with the Jesus who a) dined with tax collectors, b) defended allegedly adulterous women, c) touched and healed leprous people, d) learned from the example of foreign women … the list could go on and on.

We don’t have to like our elected officials, but this type of behavior lies clearly beyond the pale. If we want to make a difference in our public life, wishing for the death of our opponents isn’t going to cut it. We have to raise our voice and work to make a meaningful difference – something that we mainline Protestants seem to have forgotten how to do over the last couple hundred years.

If the tone of my writing sounds angry, then you’ve caught my drift. And you should be angry as well – as a Christian, this hateful “prayer” was delivered in your name, too.

Living the hope of resurrection,

Clint

———

Easter has now come and gone, and with it a sometimes forgotten anniversary: the death of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thirty-two years ago this past Easter, King was assassinated on the balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He had arrived in the city just days before to offer his support to African American employees of the sanitation department who were striking for fair and equal treatment. Just the day before, he had delivered what is known as his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” address to the crowd at Mason Temple of the Church of God in Christ. In it he reiterated his consistent theme of nonviolent resistance and protest against the injustice of segregation and bigotry.

Sadly, in all the liturgy and pageantry of Easter, we sometimes lose sight of moments like this where the story is reenacted in brutal ways throughout history. Much like Jesus, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood against the oppressive cultural regime of the world (or at least in their respective countries) and said that the status quo could not stand. Much like Jesus, he was ultimately killed for upsetting the system of “the way things are.”

But we might forget that much like Jesus, King resurrected in his own way as well. In his death he was lionized by the community of his followers and became the lasting icon of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. His mantle was taken up by the likes of his wife, Coretta Scott King, Jesse Jackson, and a host of other leaders who have continued to champion the struggle for equal rights and treatment, not just for African Americans, but for all oppressed peoples here in our country and around the world.

In much the same way, we are called to continue the legacy of Jesus as well. As Paul tells us, we are members of the resurrected body of Christ and are therefore charged with the ministry of the gospel of Jesus. It was a ministry of justice for outcasts, enemies, the diseased, and foreigners – and it still is today! Rev. King was just one of many who understood their calling as participants within the body of Christ. It’s my hope and prayer that we live resurrection in the example of Jesus the Christ and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Walking the journey,

Clint