Sunday I preached from II Timothy 4:1-6, a part of which reads, “I solemnly urge you: 2proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage with the utmost patience in teaching. 3For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but, having their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires 4and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.[1]
Patience. On the contrary, I grow impatient with a subculture that is increasingly proud of its inhumanity—a subculture that dresses up rudeness and cruelty as sacred and treats kindness and compassion as weak and unchristian—a subculture that insults and characterizes kindness as “Snowflake” and “Bleeding Heart.”
Last week, I was horrified watching some manifestations of that subculture of inhumanity shipping exhausted migrants to other areas of the country in brazen acts, not only of political posturing and vengeance, but also of outright cruelty. And one of their number appeared on television boasting, “That’s just the beginning.”
Beyond the acts themselves, I’ve grown impatient with, as John Pavlovitz puts it, “…the theological and mental gymnastics so many professing Christians have engaged while trying to justify traumatizing already traumatized people.”[2]
And the shameless disregard for humanity is increasing, both in frequency and in severity, and so is my impatience. (Sorry, Paul.)
The saddest part is that up front, leading the pack, are people who are confessing Christians! How did they miss the more than 500 times the words, “kind,” and “kindness,” are used in the Bible to describe God’s relationship to humanity and, therefore, God’s expectation of the creatures created in God’s own image? How did they miss the crystal clear message in Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require of you but do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God?”
“Yeah, but…” They rationalize and justify their inhumane behavior not on the basis of faith or Holy Writ, but on assumed-but-undocumented threats and/or some mythical and unbiblical standard of worthiness. They whine about “illegal aliens,” and then take away the legal means by which immigrants can enter our country.
How can they justify their selective inhumanity as professing Christians while ignoring Jesus’ injunction to “love your enemies?”[3]
Of course, if I am totally honest, I must ask, “What if I’m the one who’s wrong?” Maybe I read something wrong when Moses says, twice (Exodus 22 & 23): “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”
Maybe I miss something when I read twice in the same chapter of Leviticus (19:33, 34): “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”
Fourteen times in Genesis Abraham is described as “an alien in Canaan—an alien in the land of the Philistines.” And as Moses is preparing the Israelites to enter the Promised Land after their Exodus from Egyptian bondage, he instructs them to use as a part of their liturgical life the confession, “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien…” (Deuteronomy 26:5 NRSVUE)
Am I missing something? Am I wrong when I apply that same principle to White, Anglo-Saxons in America? Were we not aliens in 1620?
Whether I’m right or wrong, I have not seen or heard a word from the culture of inhumanity regarding any of the Scriptural teachings about the treatment of aliens and strangers. Moreover, I don’t expect anyone from that subculture to read this blog; therefore, I’m guessing I’m “preaching to the choir.” But I will not be consenting in my silence.
Paraphrasing and adapting Pavlovitz from his blog referenced above, I wonder where professing Christians in that subculture see Jesus in deceiving and shipping frightened migrants to Blue areas of this country; I wonder how they can “celebrate with joyous middle finger defiance” using human beings as some sort of prop in political posturing and vengeance.
Rather than a basis in ethics, morals, or Judeo/Christian Scriptures, the rationalization from the culture of inhumanity appeals to the fears and underlying hatred (not our “better angels”) of anyone who is “different.”
In contrast, I saw Jesus in the response of the people in Martha’s Vineyard, as they recognized and responded to the common humanity of those lost and confused migrants and received them with open arms and open hearts. People in Martha’s Vineyard (some claiming faith and some not) understood that empathy is the only redemptive path when people are hurting and abused and treated like pieces in some revolting political game.[4] It no longer is about “faith” or politics. It’s about common humanity.
And the people in Martha’s Vineyard challenged me in my growing impatience. And through their example I heard the voice of Paul saying, “Teach this. Just teach this and be patient. Teach this and turn it loose. Teach this and have patience and faith to believe that the Word will not return to you void. Just teach this:
“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me...” (Matthew 25:35)
That’s the way it looks through the Flawed Glass that is my world view.
Together in the Walk,
Jim
