People of Christ and those interested in reading my thoughts:

In the aftermath of the events that transpired in Charlottesville, VA this past weekend, I have had some time to reflect and ponder what is happening in our country. First of all, there are many pastors who chose to lift up and preach about the issues of hatred and bigotry from the pulpit on Sunday and I applaud their efforts to speak to the issues of the day. But preaching against hatred and bigotry is not just a one Sunday event – we preach against hatred and bigotry every Sunday when we preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you were disappointed that I did not lift up “Charlottesville” or denounce “Bigotry” enough in my sermon on Sunday, I hope you realize that, as a pastor, I preach against these issues each Sunday just like I preach against lying, adultery, stealing and coveting each Sunday. Sin will raise it’s ugly head every day wherever and whenever it has the opportunity to infest a society, a neighborhood, a marriage and the individual heart and mind. One sermon on hatred and bigotry is not enough – it is an issue we must talk about on a daily basis.

Now, there are smarter people than I who can speak to the socio-political and economic injustices of the past 250 years in our country’s history that have played a role in the position of racial tensions we find ourselves dealing with today. I want to address these kinds of events with two possible actions we can take every day when hatred arises in our neighborhoods and in our country.

The first option we have is we can react – we can react in whatever manner or form that we find appropriate. Reacting gives the person a sense that they can use their actions to respond in kind – but reacting does have its consequences (just like not reacting has its consequences). The fact that one person was killed and approximately twenty others were injured (and most likely many more were injured in the scuffles that followed) speaks to the risk we take when we react. Of course reacting does not mean we have to stand on street corners and try to shout down our detractors, or parade in the middle of a highway to disrupt the normal flow of the day. In this country we have the freedom to act upon our opinions – no matter if it is supporting one sports team and showing our “hatred” for another – or supporting one political ideology and showing our “hatred” for another — as long as we are not violating another person’s civil rights or legal protections under the laws, we have the right to act (no matter how informed or uninformed our actions are). But what I am trying to advocate for is the difference between how we “act” or “react” and how we “respond” to the situations we encounter in our lives. To react is to behave in a particular way. To respond is to speak or to say something in reply to a person, group or situation.

As such, the second option we have then is not to react – but to respond. I said before that choosing to act or not react has its purposes and its consequences. The purpose of not reacting can be just as powerful as reacting. As Christians, when we are insulted, we are called to respond with love, and when we encounter violence, we are called to respond with compassion. And I know this is not a popular opinion in this society today. And in this particular case, I recognize that those who were mercilessly rammed by an automobile probably were not even close to where the fighting was taking place. So even choosing to gather in a different area of the city might not have protected them from the violence. My father always told me, if you take away the oxygen from a fire, it will go out. But the more you fan the flames, the more it grows and spreads. The same is true for groups who are seeking publicity only for the sake of publicity. If you take away the audience, the group has no reason to form. I think this is true for events like “hate” rallies: if no one attends a rally except those who follow their ideology, it is nothing more than a meeting – no different than a regular meeting of the local historical society. They get publicity that makes them seem respectable and legitimate only because the media chooses to give them publicity. It is always much harder to stare into the face of evil with “no reaction” than it is to meet evil with evil, violence with violence. The more evil is met with “non-violent reaction” and the response of love, the more evil will begin to starve from oxygen deprivation.

And please, I am not putting the blame of the death of Ms. Heather Heyer and the injuries of countless others on the people who suffered the death or injuries. The blame should be placed solely on Mr. James Fields Jr. who chose to react by using his vehicle as a weapon. One action was met with another reaction, which was met by a worse reaction, which exploded into many unfortunate reactions. The challenge for all of us is to keep our wits about us as soon as “group-think” takes over – where our acts of love and justice can turn to hatred and violence. And so, in participating with “non-violent reaction”, we can respond with words that support justice, love, and mercy for all people – and our options are endless: through the internet, through the opinion pages of our papers, and through the conversations we have in coffee shops, churches, schools, universities, and gyms across this country. For you see, our response to hatred and bigotry is an everyday calling as Christians. And let me be clear, I am stating that we should always respond to any situation we find offensive and insufferable, especially when it goes against what the Gospel of Jesus teaches – I just believe our response should guide how we react. I understand how good it makes us feel when we can “do something” when it appears that hatred has a chance to speak from the podium of public opinion. I just struggle to accept that “shouting others down”, spitting in each other’s faces, and throwing rocks and bottles at each other, etc. when standing face to face with evil is the best response. If the media and the citizens of Charlottesville (as well as all of those from outlying areas who showed up) had chosen to react by ignoring this rally, if no one else showed up but those who choose to hate others, what would we be speaking about today? Personally, I would not have known about this event this weekend if it were not for the 24 hour news cycle that drives the machine of opinion and “news-worthy” items of the world today. And, if I understand the governor of Virginia’s comments correctly, his complaint about the ACLU interfering with the Commonwealth of Virginia and the city’s efforts to revoke the permit of the “Unite the Right” (UTR) rally or to move it to an alternate site, the “alternate facts” are that the city failed in asking that both permits be revoked for the UTR and the counter-protesters (it is unclear if they even had a permit), and then did not provide adequate barriers between protesters and/or did not decide to move each group to separate locations. In other words, many people failed on this day to protect the people of the city, the counter-protesters, and the protesters alike. We may not like hate speech, but hate speech is protected as much as religious speech is protected. And when emotions begin to reach a boiling point, when groups begin to react negatively, even those who have gathered to respond in the name of love and justice, we are just fanning the flames and increasing the publicity that evil and violence crave.

Now as soon as I publish my thoughts, there will be many who will be quick to judge my thoughts saying something like “If you are not prepared to join us in “reaction” to hatred and bigotry – then you are a hater and a bigot”. But tell me, who will receive more publicity for the “uninformed” public – a person in the northwest who reacts by standing in front of a police line spraying “silly string” into their face shields and calling them “P*GS” – or one lone voice sitting in a church office trying to understand how to respond to what G-d is doing in the world today? I get it – how we decide to “do something” will not be the same for each one of us. Some will pray, others will march, and still others have no idea anything is going on except the dangers and adversities they face every day.

Our bishop Rev. James Dunlop lauded the counter-protesters in his open letter to the synod:
“At great risk to themselves, they summoned the courage to confront evil face-to-face in Charlottesville by marching, chanting, praying, carrying signs and signaling with their very bodies – this is NOT okay. But counter-protesting is not all they did. Some, such as Bishop William Gohl of the Delaware-Maryland Synod, also served water to thirsty people from both sides and offered prayer, conversation and a word of hope.”

We face down evil every day by living and speaking the Gospel message. And if the opportunity for you to stand face to face with evil presents itself, by all means, react as you feel you are called. It is this pastor’s opinion that offering water to thirsty people, offering prayer and words of hope is a much better option. Let your reaction be guided by our Christian calling to respond with love — and to pray for our enemies.

Pastor Dave

August 15, 2017 – Devotions
Your G-d is Too Small – G-d as Ombudsman

“Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have you brought this trouble on your people? Is this why you sent me here? I went to the king and said what you told me to say, but ever since that time he has made the people suffer. And you have done nothing to save them.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to the king of Egypt. I will use my great power against him, and he will let my people go. Because of my power, he will force them out of his country.” Then God said to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the name God Almighty, but they did not know me by my name, the Lord. I also made my agreement with them to give them the land of Canaan. They lived in that land, but it was not their own. Now I have heard the cries of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are treating as slaves, and I remember my agreement.” Exodus 5:22-23, 6:1-5

There are plenty of people in this world who are disappointed with life, with their marriage, with their family, with their job, and with their children, and even with their G-d, among many other disappointments and complaints. No matter how good life has been, or how many opportunities or second chances they have received, they just live life as if their glass is “half-empty”. To them, everything, including their G-d, is a disappointment. Now, of course, there are those in our lives who we have determined that seem to enjoy being “miserable”. They have story after story they can tell you about how G-d did not answer their prayers, how the disasters of life make no sense, how a loving G-d should not make children suffer, and wonder why G-d would direct a tornado into one neighborhood after another. Of course the complaints do not end with G-d – they will complain that the government is too big, or too small; that television has too many channels or not enough options; and the weather is either too cold, or too warm, or too muggy, or too wet, or……………..you get the picture. For this kind of person, G-d will always be a disappointment for having failed them – and G-d is tossed upon the pile of all of the other “people and things” that have failed them in their life. And, as usual, if this is your understanding of G-d, then my friend, “Your G-d is Too Small”.

As a pastor, I marvel at the times I see people of little faith, and even those of strong faith, who get mad at G-d when a loved one dies, or they lose their job, or a disaster happens somewhere in the world. These people seem to have determined in their minds what G-d should or should not be doing, and how G-d should or should not be present in the world. But how can we know G-d’s purposes, G-d’s will, or G-d’s plans for the world? The first position we must consider is this: we will never be able to determine with any certainty in this life why, how, when or where G-d chooses to act. This is one of the great mysteries about G-d. Some will go on to experience miracles, others will believe they hear the voice of G-d, while others seek for even the smallest expression from G-d and seem to get no reply.

The best answer (but not the most satisfying one) is that G-d allows free will for all humanity. As such, we often choose to act, think and plan as if G-d does not exist, and as if we have no need for G-d. And when bad things do happen, then surely G-d gets the blame so we do not have to bear any responsibility – right or wrong. It would be nice for the good to always prosper and the bad to suffer for their evil deeds, but this is not how the world works. But until G-d does redeem all of creation, we will only be able to see “as if in a mirror dimly” what G-d is planning — not only for the current world, but for our own presence in this world. What I do know is we need to act, think and plan according to trying to understand G-d’s will, which Jesus expressly states as to “..love G-d and love all people as if they were us”. It may not be entirely satisfying, but it will keep us closer to G-d and G-d’s will. (Themes come from the book “Your God Is Too Small” by J. B. Phillips)

Pastor Dave