Through God's Eyes

       A few weeks ago I got a phone call at work from one of my sons,  "Guess where I am? I'm on Ellis Island".  Then followed a conversation about his great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents who immigrated to this country through Ellis Island.  My maternal grandfather and grandmother had not yet met when they came through.  Grandfather was a fisherman on the big boats from northern Norway in the Lofoten islands.  One of his brothers was sent back from Ellis and not allowed to enter because he was missing a finger (a common injury from being caught in the boat rigging).  As far too many people experience today, immigration in real life is neither romantic nor easy and it is a choice not given to everyone.
       Immigration has become a volatile national conversation again with lots of opposing opinions being thrown around especially in political circles.  This is a recurrent situation in our history that always seems to have stereotypes, bias, and racism mixed in with the fear of the unknown and the fear of scarcity.  We seem to fear that if we share too much of our freedom, our land, our resources, our wealth, that there will not be enough left for us.  The radio, TV, and Internet are full of people willing to play on our fears and stir up the debate for their own ends, asking us to take sides they define as good versus evil and forget our own immigrant histories.
       My mother never learned English until she went to school, where because my grandparents moved to an area of Wisconsin heavily settled by Norwegians, the teacher also spoke Norwegian and was able to help students learn a new language.  Into the 40's and 50's, churches split over the issue of doing worship and confirmation in English.  My grandmother only spoke Norwegian and pretended not to understand English except for the youngest grandchildren.  Now my siblings and I regret not learning our second language.
      In the last 9 years, I have had conversations with many people who have shown if not fear, at least timidity about admitting their nationality, faith, or immigrant status because they have been harassed.  The conversation remains strained until I make a positive statement, usually because I have friends or colleagues from the region.  Clearly we have created an environment where people feel neither welcome nor safe.
        Whatever the politics involved, this should bother us as followers of Jesus.  As a small child, he was a refugee fleeing in the middle of the night to seek safety from a tyrant (Matthew 2:13-15).  During his years of ministry, Jesus walked throughout the region talking and eating with, teaching and healing a wide range of people, welcoming them in love.  Because of this, Jesus was persecuted and eventually killed by those in power who disapproved of this wider vision of God's kingdom.
       It shouldn't surprise us that God's vision is always wider, deeper, and larger than ours.  After all, only God has created the universe and measured the oceans in the hollows of God's hands, and marked off the heavens with a hand span, and weighed the mountains (Isaiah 40:12).  Before we rush headlong into  division and fear, we need to pause and take a breath, and ponder God's vision of a house of prayer for all peoples including foreigners and outcasts.  What we hold in common with all people is that we are God's children, given life and breath and held and forgiven through God's love.  Read Isaiah 56: 6-8.

Freedom in Hard Times

       It is very hard to live under judgment.  Just ask a little child who has done something wrong and then been caught.  It's bad enough to face the consequences right away but it can be even worse to wait.  Kids are good at doing that to each other,  "Just wait.  When Mom and Dad get home, I'm gonna tell on you!  Then you'll really be in trouble!"  And the waiting turns to worry, trying to figure a way out, hoping for a reprieve, and growing more anxious.   Being poor in this country puts you in the position of living in this unsettled state of worry often mixed with shame.
       While going through seminary, my husband and I hit the point where we had reached the end of our resources.  We finally ended up applying for and receiving food stamps.  It wasn't a step we felt good about but we needed the help.  I'll never forget what happened one night while shopping with the kids.
       It felt so good to be able to walk down the aisles and buy not only stuff that we needed but even to buy the kids something that they wanted.  So yes, I got some of the cereal they really wanted, some pizza, perhaps some ice cream.  Then we got up to the checkout counter and I unloaded the cart.  As the clerk was ringing up the order, I took out my food stamps to get ready to pay.  Suddenly she yelled out, "Hey, Debbie!  It's food stamps! Now what?"
       Everything came to a standstill and everyone stared at us as the second cashier came over to help deal with the "problem" of ringing through with food stamps.  People grew impatient and began grumbling out loud.  If we hadn't needed it, I would have grabbed the kids and left the food behind.  Instead, I stood in tears and waited while everyone watched.
       To be poor puts you in the position of not only living with other people's impatience and judgment but also with the feeling of living on the edge of things you cannot control.  Almost every area of your life becomes defined by money or the lack of it; whether there is money to pay for gas to get to work, to go see a doctor, for laundry soap, or which bill to pay.  Simple acts like picking up the mail or answering the phone become fear-filled because they may well contain another problem that you cannot solve and be even more proof of your failure.  It can be so overwhelming that it becomes almost impossible to see a solution to even the smallest problem.
       There are more and more people these days living on those edges, more people who need not only food and shelter but also our compassion and grace.  I read recently that the first act of love is to listen.  We need to listen to those around us and respond with care, concern, and help because I am convinced that there are more people than we realize who are in financial distress.  They are the underemployed as well as the unemployed, seniors whose retirement has been cut as well as young people in starter jobs.  They need reassurance of their worth as God's own, our acceptance, and our help but not our pity.  They are our neighbors, our family, and ourselves.
       The message that God gives us is one of love and hope.  In the book of Isaiah, God speaks to people whose homes, farms, and country had been taken away and offers help.  But first, God reminds them and us that the service God requires is to loose the bonds of injustice, to let the oppressed go free, and to feed the hungry.  (verses 6-7)  The first step to our own freedom and justice is to help and free those around us; to put aside our judgment and accept others and to give from our bounty or from the little that we have.  Listen to your neighbor.  Give to the local food pantry.  Share from your garden (and not just the zucchini!).   Read Isaiah 58:6-11.

Dear Christ Gathered

       Our newest residents here at the church (baby swallows) are growing very quickly.   Last week when I wrote, all I could see were the eyes and beaks of two tiny and fuzzy chicks right out of their eggs.  By the next day, I could see a third bird sitting in the nest woven up under the eave by my office.
       They don't cheep as much and are very good at sitting very still as I near the door but they can't really hide anymore.  They are quickly outgrowing the nest and seem to spend a lot of time perched on the edges of the nest.  They should begin flying in a week or so but they may continue to come back to the nest for a time.  I will miss tracking their progress and watching them grow.
       Young things such as chicks and children grown up faster than we realize.  I was reminded of this yesterday as I talked to a soon-to-be eighth grade confirmation student. As often happens over the summer, he has hit a growth spurt and is getting taller.  I go through this every year; it is a stage that reminds me that I am getting older even as they grow up and prepare to go out and live their own lives.  It also reminds me how precious this time is that we have together to talk and learn together about God.
        There are many things that already clamor for their attention and draw them away from time together in study and worship; work, sports, family activities and commitments, and taking time for rest and relaxation often come first.  It is a common struggle for many people.  And now along with the question "how do we find time for church?" some people are asking, "is church necessary?".
        It's true; nowhere does Jesus say that one has to be a member of any organized religion to be a faithful follower.  However, we are called to be in community with one another.  Paul writes about it as the faithful being the body of Christ.  One of the early names for what we now call the "congregation" or "church" was "Dear Christ gathered".  It was both a symbol of Christ's promise to be with us when we gather two or more and a reminder that our lives are to be a witness to following Jesus.
       Together, God gives us comfort and strength (Isaiah 41:10).  We can learn from each other, support each other, help each other, and encourage each other.  Granted, we can also be a source of discouragement, disappointment, and even pain to each other.  Paul writes very clearly that we do not experience each other as equal in faith, gifts, or any other way and it's easier to include some people than others but then, that is God's point.  It is only by grace that any of us are included in the body of Christ.  We are gathered in God's love, by God's grace to be a sign of that love to the world.
       That can be difficult sometimes but it is the struggle we are given as those who follow Jesus.   Together, we can be the witness that shows God's love  to the world.  Now we won't always succeed because gathered in Christ or not, our failures and our shortcomings not only come along with us but sometimes we seem to feed off of each other.  But then is when we need to care for each other and forgive each other instead of stoking the flames of dissension and disagreement.   The words read at weddings (1 Corinthians 13:4-13) about love being patient and kind; about love bearing and enduring all things were written as part of the instruction on how to be gathered together in Christ!  That kind of love and care is the witness that the world sorely needs from the each of us and the church as a whole.  Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 22-26.