Political View of Syriac Orthodox Church

This I Believe - Edward R. Murrow

Edward R. Murrow, We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason...

The Good Muslim

Luke 10:25-37

A Bible professor approached Jesus, wishing to test his teaching. He asked, “Teacher, what should I do to obtain God’s life that never ends?” Jesus said, “What does it say in the Bible? How do you understand it?” The professor answered, “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind. And you will love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus, impressed, replied, “This is correct. Live this out, and eternal life is yours.” But knowing he had not lived this out—and had no intention to—but wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “But, really, who is my neighbor?” Jesus sighed and responded, “There was a man traveling from Washington D.C. to New York and some terrorists kidnapped him, stripped his clothes off and beat him half to death, leaving by the side of the road, helpless. Now it so happened that a Mennonite pastor passed by, and he saw him. But, thinking he was a homeless bum, he ignored him and went on his way. Then a Baptist worship leader drove by the same spot, but since he was in a hurry to make it on time to his worship service, he also ignored him and made it to the service on time. Then a Muslim drove by and saw the man laying on the side of the road. Compassion welled up in his heart and he stopped, got out his first aid kit, covered his wounds, put him in his car (getting blood all over the new seats) and drove him to the hospital. There he told the doctor, “If he doesn’t have any insurance, here’s my credit card number—just take it from my account.’ Now,” Jesus concluded, “Which of these was the neighbor to man attacked by terrorists?” The professor said, “The M- the one who had compassion on him.” Jesus smiled and looked him in the eye, “Now you do the same.”

Do terrorists and Muslims really belong in this story?

Actually, they do! The Greek word “lestes” is often translated “robber.” But it actually means one who uses violence to achieve economic or political change, so one might translate it either as “revolutionary” or, possibly, “terrorist.” The Samaritans, on the other hand, are those who were similar to Jews—they worshipped the same God and had many of the same stories. But they had different centers of worship and they considered each other heretics. So if the original Jewish victim became an American Christian, who would the Samaritan be but a faithful Muslim? As far as D.C. and New York for Jerusalem and Jericho… well, that might be stretching it a bit.

The Th- Word

At some point or another, everyone has to deal with theology. It sounds scary (especially if you’ve heard of such words as dispensationalism and superlapsarian), but really its pretty simple—theology is just what we can say about God. Of course, Jesus then had a lot to say about theology. But whenever he wanted to get to the basics, to talk about what is most important to God and most important about our relationship with God, he gets back to these two commands: Love God and love your neighbor. That’s as basic as it gets.

Just Do It

But whenever any professor of theology or dogmatician tries to talk about theology, they do it on very different terms from Jesus. They always speak of “a doctrine statement” or a “confession of faith”. They emphasize what it is we believe about God. And that’s fine, as far as it goes. But whenever Jesus spoke about theology, he spoke about action and relationship. Either he is speaking about what God does for us or what we do for God. Even his most basic statement “God is spirit” is followed by a command, “And those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24). According to Jesus, God isn’t just someone who sits in heaven—he’s a person who interacts with his people, “God with us.” And we aren’t to be people who observe God like we would a tv screen—we are to be active participants with our theology. If we just believe about God in our head, that isn’t enough—we’ve got to have faith in our hands and feet. And so Jesus talked about a faith that is enacted in obedience and an obedience that is informed by faith. Just like sex and conception, you can’t have one without the other.

Two Relationships of Theology

So when Jesus tells us about theology, he says that in every aspect of it, there are two relationships. Theology, he says, isn’t something that happens in our head, it is a connection between (at least) two beings. First, there is the relationship between the human and God. And this relationship is defined by “love”, so whatever else you can say about this relationship, it is supposed to be positive, and not simply duty-based. Yes, we already know that there is obedience involved—after all, Jesus gave us commands—but the relationship behind these commands aren’t just that of slave to master. Rather, we are to have a positive relationship with God, one in which we both benefit from the process.
The second relationship is that between human and human. This is what is really odd. I mean, Jesus is speaking about theology—what we can say about God—and the very thing that Jesus puts in there is our relationship with other people. What do other people have to do with God? Well, two things. First of all, God is very concerned about people. I mean, He made them, and he gave them the earth to rule (Psalm 8). And he claims to love them all (John 3:16). Also, in this command, God is trying to help us PUT God into every relationship. Jesus is saying, “in your relationship with your neighbor, God is commanding it to be beneficial.” Thus, the relationship between human and human becomes theological, because God is forcing himself into that relationship (Ah, I know people like that…)
But what we need to realize in this basic of theology, is that Jesus is putting God and other human beings in everything we do religiously, theologically and spiritually. We cannot have a spirituality without God, according to Jesus. And we cannot have a faith without other people. If we claim to be doing something for God and it does not benefit others, then we do not have Jesus’ faith. Even so, if we attempt to do something for others and do not include God, then we do not have Jesus’ faith. Jesus’ theology is completely balanced between these two relationships—all has to do with both God and other people. To exclude one is to exclude true spirituality.

What is love of neighbor?

Well, we’d like to say more about loving God, but our teaching here by Jesus doesn’t give us any more than that it is love and it is God and well, that’s all that’s said. But the rest of the passage does talk quite a bit more about the love of neighbor. What exactly does it say?
Love of Neighbor isn’t exclusive
The professor wanted to exclude from the command everyone he didn’t like. Maybe he wanted to exclude heretics, or those who didn’t live in his country, or sinners or folks who did him wrong. But when Jesus asked his question, he made the professor answer that it was the Muslim—the heretic, the sinner, the foreigner, the persecutor—who was the neighbor. This means that if he was a neighbor, then EVERYONE is a neighbor, without exception. So the command involves every single human relationship we are in, without exception.

Love of Neighbor is demanded

Secondly, in Jesus’ story, he gave examples of two “good Christians” who didn’t follow the love of one’s neighbor. Thus, in Jesus’ story, although these people had a certain kind of faith, it wasn’t the kind that God was looking for. Their faith was practical and very pious, but it was wrong-headed. Because they thought that the love of God excluded them from the love of neighbor, then they were okay was NOT okay for God. God demands that the people who love Him also love those around them.

Love of Neighbor is compassion

The word that most defines the love of one’s neighbor is “compassion”. The Greek word for this is “splachna” which literally means “the feeling in your guts.” In other words, love is the gut-wrenching feeling you get when you see someone who is in need. To love someone is to recognize their need and to have compassion for it. No matter how evil they are, no matter how wrong-headed, compassion prevails in our attitude towards another.

Love of Neighbor is practical benefit

Lastly, when Jesus spoke about loving one’s neighbor, he was saying that the love was practical. The Muslim didn’t just pray a positive prayer for the man lying on the road. He didn’t just think good thoughts. Rather, he went out of his way to help him out in whatever way he could. He sacrificed his plans, his money and his vehicle to assist the stranger in need. Love doesn’t just stay in the heart (or the guts), but it gets out the pocketbook and gets dirty. Without being of practical benefit, it isn’t really love.

source: http://www.nowheretolayhishead.org/thegoodmuslim.html

Worship Prayers

1.
Come now, High King of heaven.
Come to us in flesh and bone.
Bring life to us who are weary with misery.
Bring peace to us who are overcome with weeping,
Whose cheeks are covered with bitter salt tears.
Seek us out, who are lost in the darkness of depression.
Do not forget us.
Have mercy on us.
Impart to us your everlasting joy,
So that we, who are fashioned by your hands,
May praise your glory.

-The Exter Book

2.
Lord, have mercy on the suffering.
Give food to those who are hungry;
Give clothing to those who lack;
Give shelter to those who shiver in cold;
Give love to orphans and outcast;
Give comfort to abused women;
Give redemption to the oppressed;
Give assistance to those ravaged by war.
May you teach them to grow toward you
In light of the hardships they suffer.
And to all of these may you give your gospel
That they might attain your kingdom
Where their sufferings will be exchanged

For the joy of your loving presence.

3.
Dear Lord
You suffered so much pain
In order to save us and all mankind from sin.
Yet we find it hard to bear even our minor pains.
Lord, because of your great pain
Have mercy on our little pains.
And if you wish us simply to bear our pains
Send us the patience
And the courage

That we lack.

4.
Let us all become a true and faithful branch
On the vine Jesus
By accepting Him in our lives
As it pleases Him to come:
As the Truth—to be told
As the Life—to be lived
As the Light—to be lighted
As the Way—to be walked
As the Love—to be loved
As the Joy—to be given
As the Peace—to be spread
As the Sacrifice—to be offered
In our families
In our neighborhood,
In our city,
And in our world.

-Missionaries of Charity

5.
O God
Since you created everything we can see, hear and touch,
May we constantly acknowledge your bounty.
And since you sustain everything we can see hear and touch,
May we always be mindful of your strength.
Thus may we walk the path of life
With a spirit of humility

Knowing that in all things we depend on you.

6.
Plant in our hearts, Lord,
Such fear of your power
That we always strive to live according to your laws.
Let us always remember
That through You alone
Comes joy and happiness
And that without You
There is only misery and despair.

And thus may we learn to obey you in all things.

7.
Whatever you make us desire for our enemies
Give it to them and give the same back to us.
You who are the true Light,
Lighten their darkness.
You who are the whole Truth,
Correct their errors.
You who are the incarnate Word,
Give life to their souls.
Tender Lord Jesus,
Let us not be stumbling blocks to them,
Nor rocks of offense.
We beg your mercy on our fellow slaves.
Let them be reconciled with you

And through you be reconciled to us.

8.
Lord, inspire us to read your Scriptures
And meditate upon them day and night.
We beg you to give us a real understanding of what we need,
That we in turn may put its precepts into practice.
Yet we know that understanding and good intentions
Are worthless,
Unless rooted in your graceful love.
So we ask that the words of the Scriptures may also be
Not just signs on a page

But channels of grace into our hearts.

9.
Holy Father
Allow us to be transformed into your mercy
And so be your living reflection.
May your mercy pass through our souls to our neighbors.
Help our eyes to be merciful
So we do not judge by appearances
But look for what is beautiful in our neighbor’s souls.
Help our ears to be merciful
So we give heed to our neighbor’s needs
Not being indifferent to their moanings.
Help our tongues to be merciful
So we never speak negatively of another
But have words of comfort for all.
Help our hands to be merciful
So that we do good to our neighbors
And take up ourselves the more difficult tasks.
Help our feet to be merciful
Overcoming our own weariness
Hurrying to assist our neighbors.
Help our hearts to be merciful
So we feel the sufferings of our neighbors
And refuse our hearts to no one.

May we be locked into the merciful heart of Jesus.

10.
O God,
We come seeking you in our worship together.
We come to you for truth
Because we are untrue.
We come to you for strength
Because we are so weak.
We come to you for wisdom
Because we are unwise.
Move in our midst;
Show us your truth, your strength, and your wisdom,

Through our Savior, Jesus Christ.

11.
Praise the One who hears the cry of the poor,
Who lifts up the weak and gives them strength.
Praise the One who feeds the hungry
And satisfies the longing of those in need.
Praise the One who holds with tenderness the orphan and widow

And gives the stranger a land and a home.

12.
Merciful and loving Father,
We ask you with all our hearts
To bountifully pour out on our enemies
Whatever will be for their good.
Above all, give them a sound and uncorrupt mind
With which they might honor and love you
And also love us.
Do not let their hating us turn to their harm.
Lord, we desire their amendment and our own.
Do not separate them from us by punishing them;
Deal gently with them and join them to us.
Help us to see that we have all been called to be citizens
Of the everlasting city;
Let us begin to love each other now

Because love is the end we seek.

13.
God of redemption and reconciliation—
You call us to live together in peace.
Look upon us and judge what we have done with our stewardship:
Witness the burned houses, meth labs, drug dealers, slumlords and prostitutes.
See the emptiness and the false promises
The alienation and despair
The injustice and oppressions
That bring these tragedies among us.
Heal this place,
God of mercy and forgiveness!
Send your love and grace upon all
Prostitutes, drug dealers, slumlords, loan sharks, bankers, lawyers and politicians.
Fill the emptiness that is the source of these sorrows
With love, peace, mercy and justice.

And give us courage so that we may show them your love.

14.
Grant me the grace of a broken heart.
Allow me to understand the damage my sin does
to my relationship to you
and to those around me.
Cause me to so deeply regret my unloving, impure actions
that I cry and shamefully moan my confession.
I pray that I would so long for righteousness
that I would do whatever it takes,
sacrifice whatever I have
so that You could create righteousness within me.
Let me never be so arrogant or insensitive
to see my unloving or impure actions
as acceptable or understandable or excusable.
Rather, I cry out to you—
make me righteous,
make me holy or
remake me.
Let your Spirit so infuse me with your faith,
love
and humility
that it become my lifeblood,
my driving power,
my whole existence.
Crucify my flesh

that I might be like your Son in every way

15.
Lord, help me face the truth about myself.
Help me hear my words as others hear them;
To see my face as others see me;
Let me be honest enough to recognize my impatience and conceit;
Let me recognize my anger and selfishness;
Give me sufficient humility to accept my own weaknesses for what they are.

Give me the grace to say, “I was wrong—forgive me.”

16.
God of Jesus,
Center of all existence,
King of the universe,
I desire you alone.
I resolve to be filled with nothing but You alone—
For there is contentment in no other.
Let me not desire You and earthly security,
but You alone.
Let me not desire You and material possessions,
but You alone.
Let me not desire You and entertainments,
but You alone.
Let me not desire You and human love,
but You alone.
Let me not desire You and status,
but You alone.
May You be my inheritance,
You my sufficiency,
You my restoration,
You my rest.
Your kingdom,
your righteousness,
your will,
your glory,
Your praise,
your holiness,
your promises,
your love—
Your satisfaction only may I desire.

Please, exchange all my desires to be a pure desire for You.

17.
O God, our true Life,
to know You is life
to praise you is the joy and happiness of the soul.
We praise and bless and adore You,
We worship You, I glorify You.
We give thanks to You for Your great glory.
We humbly beg You to live with us,
To reign in us
To make our hearts a holy temple,
A fit habitation for your divine majesty.

-Augustine

18.
May God bless us with discomfort
at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships
so that we may live deep within your heart
May God bless us with anger
at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people
so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace
May God bless us with tears
to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war
so that we may reach out your hand to comfort them and
to turn their pain into joy
And may God bless us with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference in the world
so that we can do what others claim cannot be done
to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

- A Franciscan Benediction

source: http://www.nowheretolayhishead.org/worshipprayers.html

Down and Out Leadership

Luke 22:24-30

The disciples had an argument, there at the Last Supper. They were debating which of them would be the most important ruler beside Jesus when His kingdom comes. Jesus calmly said to them, “It is presidents and kings of the world that are concerned about authority and power. These wield great authority over all men and everyone must call them ‘gracious’, as in ‘gracious lord,’ or “Wow, you are the greatest thing since Oprah”. But if you want rule in my kingdom, you can’t act like that. The ones who will have the greatest authority in my kingdom must prepare themselves for it by acting like the least important. If you want to be important, then be like a waiter. In a restaurant, who is in charge, the waiter or the customer? Isn’t the customer who orders the waiter around, telling him what to get and how much and sending something back because it isn’t quite right? And doesn’t the waiter have to run around, doing the bidding of the customer? Now look at me—I am the waiter. I am here to serve others, not to tell others how to serve me.

“Look, guys, you are great already. You have stayed with me during my most difficult days, though all the struggles and trials. Because of this, you will rule with me because the Father has given me His kingdom to rule. So you will be feasting at my side—even as we are feasting here!—in my kingdom. And then I will give you authority to rule all of God’s people. Each of you will sit on a throne, and you will rule the twelve nations of Israel.

Everybody Wants To Rule The World…Sometimes

Well, this is kinda embarrassing. After all, Jesus is the one who is always talking about lowliness, about humility. Yet, here He is, encouraging arrogance. You see, even though he is correcting the disciples about some things, he is in agreement with them about the thing most of us are uncomfortable with: It is a good thing to want to be in charge of the world.

Most of us feel that this is inappropriate. After all, its just too lofty of a goal, and it is straight hubris—blatant pride to think that we should rule the world. That’s God’s job, isn’t it?

Well, in fact, its not. God gave the job over of ruling the world to human beings way back in Genesis 1. It is our job and we should want to do the job that God has given us. So when Jesus answers their question, He doesn’t deny that we should want to rule the world. Frankly, we should.

And even if ruling the world seems distasteful to you, we all have a hint of it in ourselves. We all want to be respected by the people who know us. And we all want a certain measure of control to make things “right” over our lives. And we get angry when we see that something isn’t right, either in our lives or in the lives of those around us. These are God-given characteristics to everyone in humanity so that we can do the job that God gave us, namely, to rule the world.

The Wile E. Principle of Leadership

The problem is that we take the characteristics that God has given us and go too far with it. Waaaaay too far. God gave us anger at injustice and we have turned it into anger against anyone who irritates us for any little reason, without regard to what is really right. God gave us the desire to make things right and we have turned this into control-freakishness or harshly punishing those who are different than us. God gave us the desire to be respected and we turn this into a hunger for fame or a fear of negative responses. This is not the kind of world-leadership Jesus is looking for.

So when Jesus responded to his disciples, he didn’t correct their desire for world leadership. In fact, He affirmed it. He said that they would be world leaders in the kingdom. And desiring it is a good thing. What he needed to correct was their methods in achieving it.

Most of us think of obtaining leadership like Wile E. Coyote. Wile E. is on one cliff and he is running as fast as he can to the other side, but he doesn’t realize that there is a canyon between him and the other cliff-top. So he runs out.. and there he is, standing on thin air. And then he falls— Bam!— at the bottom of the canyon and we next see him wrapped in hospital gauze.

Even so, we often think that leadership—as well as wealth and popularity— is a straight line. If we want it, we just go get it. And although we must work hard to achieve success, we will get it if we just take it by the throat. But what we don’t realize is that there is a huge canyon between us and our goal. And if we just try to achieve success in a straight line, then we will be the one in hospital gauze.

The Power Broker

Jesus helps us realize that the only one who can give us success, or power or popularity or wealth— in any positive, permanent way—is God. He is the one ultimately in charge of all things and He gives these things to whom He wills. And while the power-hungry may be in charge now, it will not be that way forever. God will come down to kick out the power hungry and instead welcome a different kind of person.

But to obtain that kind of position, we have to be that different kind of person. God is looking for the lowly, the Anawim, to be in charge of the world. God can’t have the control freaks, the judgmental, the quick to anger or the anxious be in charge of the world. So for world leadership, God is looking for a the lowly and righteous. For the Anawim. God is looking for the people who will act as Jesus said they should—People who are repentant of their sins; people who will sacrifice their life, family and possessions to love Jesus; people who will endure in Jesus through persecution. People who will set aside their comfort in order to serve others. God is looking for faithful disciples.

Jesus Leadership

But not just disciples. Different disciples will obtain different levels of leadership in the final kingdom. And those in charge won’t just be the good disciple—the whole world will be filled with those. But the world leaders will be those who have certain characteristics of leadership

To be an anawimic leader, we have to follow certain principles of leadership now:

Hang out with the down and out—To be a leader in Jesus’ methodology, we cannot be shy of having the outcast be our friends and companions.

Live like the down and out—To be in charge, we have to remain lowly, not seeking wealth or power, but constantly giving to those in need. A godly leader doesn’t think how he can benefit from a resource, but how the whole community can benefit from it.

Get used to taking orders—To be in charge, we have to listen to other’s needs and act on them, rather than our own ambitions. When we see someone’s need, we take that as an order from them to act. If we act in accordance with the other’s need, then we are living out Jesus’ leadership.

Lead by example—It isn’t enough to tell others to do good, to repent, to live purely—we have to do it ourselves. We must show the life of Jesus and not just teach it to others.

Encourage, don’t demand—To be Jesus leader is to be gentle and to recognize other’s freedom to do as they please. If we give others freedom and opportunity to live for God, then they can have a relationship with God. But if we end up controlling others, they have no relationship with God, only us, which defeats the purpose of trying to get people to live for Jesus.

So to be a leader in Christ is to be the Anawim. It is to live as a waiter, a servant of others, only living to act for others and not for our own ambition. If we attempt to get our own ambition, then we end up like Wile E.— Falling to our doom.

source: http://www.nowheretolayhishead.org/downandoutleadership.html

The Recyclable and the Trash

Matthew 25:31-46

When the Emperor of God descends from heaven displaying his power, having all the angels of heaven surrounding him, then he will rule from his throne and every person on earth will be collected and will stand before His throne. He will judge them all and will divide them up as a rag picker will separate the useful from the trash. And the recyclable he will stand at his right, and the trash he will stand at his left.

The King will proclaim to the right, “I welcome you, those whom my Father speaks well of. You may now possess the Kingdom—my Kingdom—which has been made ready for you, the righteous of humanity, from the creation of the world. You are worthy of this, because of your assistance to me. I was hungry in your neighborhood, and you gave me food. I was parched, passing by your dwelling, and you offered me some water. I was an immigrant and outcast and you let me in your house for the night. I was walking around freezing, and you give me your coat. I was sick and you nursed me to health. I was in prison and you came and met my needs. You listened to me when I was lonely. You kept me safe when I was fearful. You gave me work when I was in need and paid me at the end of the day.” These righteous will answer the Emperor thus, “Our Lord, we thank you. But are you sure you are speaking of us? Did we really see you hungry and feed you? Did we see you needing a drink and gave you something? When did we see you—you of all people-- an outcast and bring you into our house? When were you freezing and we gave you clothes or a blanket? And when, my Lord, when were you in prison and we had opportunity to visit you?”

And the Emperor will answer them, “Listen carefully—whatever you did it to these disciples of mine—even these lowly ones— you did the same to me.”

Then the Emperor will turn to his other side. “You will leave me, you whom the Father curses with his every breath. You will be cast into the punishment which was created for Satan and his messengers. Because I came to your town, hungry, and you told me to get a job. I came to your street, parched with thirst, and you wouldn’t talk to me. I was an immigrant, a homeless person, a mentally ill person on the street, a traveler and you refused me entrance at your doorstep. I was shivering in the cold and you passed by me, although you had closets full of coats, shelves full of extra blankets you weren’t using. I became bed-ridden and disabled and you were too busy with your own life to assist me, or even check in on me. I was in prison, through no fault of my own, and in a locked mental health facility and in the state hospital and you didn’t even write to me, let alone visit me. You cannot live with me in my kingdom, since you did not share your life with me when I was with you.”

They will respond, “But Great Lord, I’m sure you weren’t hungry or thirsty! And you couldn’t have been an outcast or freezing. You were never in our neighborhood—I would remember! And you, being sick—I don’t think so. And you would never have been in prison or a mental health hospital. And if you were, we would have been there for you, serving you, Lord!” The Emperor answers, “Listen carefully, inasmuch as you did not serve these lowly ones, you did not serve me. I was there, through my disciples, as crazy as they seemed, as insignificant as they seemed, and you didn’t let them in your life. Even so, I don’t want you in mine.” And they will leave the Lord and go to eternal punishment. But those who acted with justice lived with the Lord eternally.

A Parable or the Real Thing?

Some think of this passage as a parable. But other parables don’t take place all in future tense, nor give such a clear, plain description of judgment day. Yes, it uses the simile of the sheep and the goats for a single verse, but the text quickly forgets it and gets back to the stark, though spiritual, reality. The reality is this: Jesus is coming back to earth to establish a world-wide takeover. When he is emperor of the world, then he will put every person in front of him, and they will all be judged. There are many references to Jesus’ judging the world (John 5, II Corinthians 5, I Corinthians 3, to name a few), but this is the most detailed description.

Service and Salvation

Like all passages about judgment, it has a clear message of what one must do to be saved on this day. And if we don’t get it the first time, then we can hear it again. And again. Four times in all. What do we do to be saved on the final day? We must serve the poor. Anyone in need, we work for them. It is interesting that it doesn’t talk about giving them money. Rather it talks about using what small resources we have and directly providing their needs. So the saved one, when he sees someone hungry, he feeds them. She will see someone homeless and house them. They know of someone sick and they nurse them to health. It is interesting about the section about those in prison. Those in prison in the ancient world are not granted food or other care. It is expected that their family and friends would do that. So the one who really assists the other is the one who feeds them, cares for them when no one else would.
Even as Jesus before focused on giving to the poor or repenting or being persecuted, now he shows that the one item that is significant on the judgment day is service. And this isn’t service in general. Rather it is free provision to those in need, directly to their area of need, without expecting anything in return.

Faithfulness to the absent king

But haven’t we always learned that salvation is based on faith, not works? Doesn’t this passage teach just the opposite. Actually, this passage teaches what the whole New Testament affirms—that we obtain our salvation by acting on our faith in Jesus. If, this passage teaches, you believe in Jesus, then you will help out those who are disciples of Jesus when they are in need. Because if we help out the disciples of Jesus in need, then we are, by proxy, helping Jesus himself.
The message of the Sheep and the Goats is that the King is absent for right now, and how we treat his servants is how we will be treated. If we don’t invite the people of Jesus in our lives by feeding, clothing, housing and caring for them, then Jesus will not want us in His life, in the kingdom of God. But if we welcome the people of Jesus in need, then we will be welcomed by Jesus into his kingdom.
Some might say, “Is this passage only talking about the church? Isn’t Jesus talking about all the poor?” The passage says specifically of the people Jesus calls his “brothers”. In Matthew, Jesus’ “brothers” are specifically those who are his disciples who do God’s will (Matthew 12:48-50). So it is especially for the church. And it is in agreement with Matthew 10:40-42 which says that those who offer hospitality, “even a cup of cold water” to Jesus’ prophets, righteous people and disciples “because he is a disciple” then they will obtain their reward from God—that is, entrance in the kingdom. This does not mean that helping the homeless and needy in general isn’t a benefit. But it may or may not be an act of faith. Helping Jesus’ disciples specifically is an act of faith.

The Big Test

This passage certainly tells us to help the poor, which many in the church want to do anyway. But it has a special challenge to the church today. Often the church sees itself as being specifically middle class. Yes, they say, there are certainly Christians who are persecuted all throughout the world. But the church often assumes that the “crazy man” pretending to pray on the corner isn’t a “real” Christian. The homeless man who used to be a drug addict and can’t get off of the street can’t be a Christian. Those who have to beg for their food aren’t real believers. So when we help the homeless or the mentally ill, we assume that these are people who need to be saved. As a contrast, Jesus himself says that these believers on the street, rather than only being a marginal Christian are the center of the faith. We will be judged on our every response to these folks, more than any other act. Every act we do is important, but how we respond to the cold, the poor, the helpless, the mentally ill, is how we will be treated by Jesus on the final day.

Universal Determination

There is one last shock in this passage. Everyone goes through this judgment. Not just believers, not just non-believers. Everyone. Without exception. And Jesus isn’t having everyone show their faith statements they signed before they enter the judgment hall. Or their church affiliation. Rather, he is ONLY looking at people’s response to the helpless disciple. Thus, we will all be surprised as to who will be on the one side or the other on Judgment Day. There will be some pretty immoral folks on the side the Father speaks well of. And there will be some people we thought of as “living saints” on the rejected side with the demons. All of it based on whether one is helping the helpless disciple. Our whole eternal life could be based on one time of us either saying “no” or “yes” to a Christian in need, depending on how many opportunities we receive.

How we treat the lowly disciple is how we will be treated by God

source: http://www.nowheretolayhishead.org/therecyclableandthetrash.html

Society of Christian Socialists

Society of Christian Socialists: "The Society of Christian Socialists (SCS) is an association of persons who hold that the Socialist project is a fulfillment of the Christian vision. Christian Socialists are those for whom the message of Jesus Christ is both the salvation of the human race and an instruction to begin building the Kingdom on earth. Christian Socialism has its foundation in the New Testament book of Acts, 2:44-45 and 4:32-35."

Home — Center for Deployment Psychology

Home — Center for Deployment Psychology: "The Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) trains military and civilian behavioral health professionals to provide high-quality deployment-related behavioral health services to military personnel and their families."

your neighbor does not love you

When Your Neighbor Does Not Love You

Maria C. Khoury, Ed. D.

Here in the Holy Land, as Christians we should be in the forefront of non-violent action since one of our very basic commandments is not just to love our neighbor but love our enemy also.  We know this directly from Christ who always forgave others no matter what.  However, in a high conflict area like the West Bank, this is easier said than done.   

It’s a struggle for Christians, Muslims and Jews to get along.  First, the only Jewish people we know are the Israeli soldiers.  And truly, it takes all of Christ’s love in your heart to love people who are always pointing guns at you.  We are completely segregated and forbidden to go anywhere near any settlement with their extreme security of the Israeli army.  Settlers can carry arms and of course Palestinians are not allowed;  not that I would want to carry a gun that most likely would end up being used against me.  But the first personal settler attack I have survived was as early as 1984 on one of my earlier visits to Palestine. Settler attacks are nothing new but it seems that the world does not hold Israel accountable for any of its injustices. Therefore I will keep reminding all my friends of the necessity to end Israel’s violations of international law, including ending its illegal occupation and building of settlements.
 
These last few months are more violently intense than ever because the settlers do not like the message coming from President Obama’s administration.  And I do believe they have to show the world, “who is boss.”  The more talk about freezing the settlements and the more attacks we have on Palestinians.  Twenty-five Palestinians have been injured by settlers in one week alone.  Last month, a young Palestinian-Christian father of three boys from Taybeh was attacked while driving his car on his way home from the Kalandia checkpoint.  The rocks that hit his head required him to have surgery and stay in the intensive care for four days. The night before this attack when I was also showered with stones at 9pm at the Taybeh Municipality, I was simply grateful I did not end up in the hospital.  

I was feeling very low in spirits and I heard this very remarkable broadcast on “Come Receive the Light” about Prophet Job and I have come to accept that bad things might just keep happening to good people.  But it reassured me of the power of media and the internet to help inspire me since I am so isolated.  Thus, I will continue to encourage others in non-violent ways to speak out against the injustices we are experiencing from the illegal settlements all around us that are simply closing us in and hoping we disappear as Palestinian villages.  

On May 15th, Israel will celebrate another glorious independence day and Palestine will mourn 62 years of the Nakbeh, the catastrophe of 1948 and the total destruction of more than 500 Palestinian villages to make way for a Jewish homeland.  Since 1967 when Israel also took over the West Bank it has been building illegal Israeli settlements to transfer as much of its Jewish population over the “Green Line” as Israel proper is referred to with the 1967 boarders in the desire to make a Greater Israel.  

This week, Israel also celebrated Jerusalem Day and the gift to Palestinians for this celebration of wanting to make Jerusalem 100% Jewish is that two new illegal settlements will be build behind the American Consulate office where the YMCA is located in East Jerusalem and in the Old City near  Al-Aqsa  Mosque.  In the mean time, the ongoing onslaught on throwing out Palestinians from their Jerusalem homes of 30 years on the Sheikh Jarrah area and in Silwan has intensified.

What is of great amazement to me in “the only democracy in the Middle East” is that this month the Israeli government is proposing a new bill which will make it possible to outlaw the important human rights groups in Israel  among the organizations mentioned are Doctors for Human rights.  

In these very tense times and with the violence that will never stop, I can only think that when my neighbor does not love me that I simply have to Love my Lord and My God with all my heart, mind and soul so I can keep a little inner peace.  I will try as hard as possible to find peaceful ways to resist the discriminatory policies and injustices.  Intense prayer around the world is needed because the settlers have gone crazy and do not want a free Palestine in 22% of historic Palestine which currently they have colonized over half of this small amount being discussed for a two state solution.  “Hear my prayer, O Lord, And let my cry come to You.” Psalm 102.

   

Persecution of Christians in Nineveh/Iraq May, 2 / 2010

The original Mother's Day proclamation.

This proclamation was written by Julia Ward Howe in 1870, in reaction to
the carnage of the Civil War, was the first call for a national holiday
to celebrate motherhood.  Below is its text in full.



Arise, then, women of this day!

Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and
applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

 From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of
justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest
day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Home Banished Veterans

Home Banished Veterans: "Thousands of U.S. Military Veterans are facing deportation.
Please help us stop this injustice and fight for the men who bravely fought for us."

Make peace, not war

by Fr. Philip LeMasters
There is no question that we Orthodox Christians would prefer to make peace instead of war, but even in the context of Christian ethics, it is difficult to shift the categories of discussion from “just war” to “just peace.” Unfortunately, like so many others, we too are in the habit of giving more serious attention to the question of when war is justified, or can be tolerated, than to the moral imperative of building a peace among nations and peoples that is based on justice and protects human beings from harm. The well-established centrality of peace within Orthodoxy provides the proper context for discourse about pacifism, just-war theory, the crusade, and other stances on the use of military force. Rather than abstract moral theories, these orientations point to the tensions experienced by those who seek to bring peace in our fallen world. Orthodoxy does not have an abstract theory of peace so much as a commitment to the praxis of peace, a dynamic project which is compatible with the vision espoused by advocates of “just peace.”
It is well established that, in contrast to churches in the West, Orthodoxy does not have an explicit just-war theory  there is certainly no “crusade” ethic  and sees the taking of life in war, even in wars that might be regarded as necessary and unavoidable, as a tragic, broken undertaking for which repentance is required. The Church does not require pacifism in the sense of renouncing all use of violence or force, though the normative Christ-like response to evil is to turn the other cheek and forgive. (The root meaning of the word “pacifism” is peace, from the Latin word pax.) However, while the Church views war as an unsuitable undertaking for the clergy or members of monastic communities, participation in war is not canonically prohibited for the laity.
While peace is the norm for human relations, the imperfect peace that sometimes exists among us is sustained by arrangements of political, social, economic and military power. Rather than condemn these dynamics, our challenge is to do what we can to make peace within the context of the realities we face.
Orthodox Christians should embody a true pacifism which engages the dynamics of human society in order to work for a peace based on justice that is pleasing to God. Our concern should not be whether the use of violence is ever acceptable, but whether we are doing the things that make for peace. The question is: Are we living as the peacemakers who will be blessed in God’s Kingdom?
Orthodox Christianity rejects the Gnostic view of salvation as escape from the world, as well as Manichean dualism. These ancient heresies are not dead museum pieces from the early centuries of Christian thought. They represent enduring temptations which are especially powerful when we consider the relationship between the “peace from above” and the broken realities of politics and international relations. We will not bear witness to God’s peace by fleeing to an imaginary, disembodied realm of spirituality that ignores the suffering of those who bear the image of God or by demonizing the less appealing dimensions of humanity’s collective life. Instead, our calling is to offer all dimensions of our creaturely reality to the Holy Trinity as best we can for blessing, healing, and transformation.
In the Divine Liturgy, the many petitions for peace reflect a holistic vision of a world participating in God’s peace. Immediately after the priest’s opening exclamation of the blessedness of the Kingdom of the Holy Trinity, the deacon exhorts the people to pray in peace. The biblical roots of this peace are in the Hebrew shalom, understood not merely as the absence of war but as freedom from fear and threats. In the New Testament, peace becomes a synonym for salvation.
The first petitions of the Liturgy are for our participation in God’s peace and salvation, including “the peace of the whole world” and “the union of all.” We pray for government authorities, healthful seasons, abundance of the fruits of the earth, and peaceful times, as well as deliverance from all tribulation, wrath, danger, and necessity. We pray for peace both as the absence of war and strife, and as God’s eschatological gift of salvation.
It would be possible to identify many other examples from the Liturgy which indicate the centrality of peace to Orthodox views of both worship and salvation. It is enough, however, to note that in the liturgical center of our faith, we pray for a peace characterized by justice for all nations and peoples, including those with political and military power as well as those who suffer from the abuse of such power. We pray for God’s peace and blessing upon all the peoples of the world in the circumstances they face. We look forward to the fulfillment of this peace in the reign of God, a peace the Church already experiences in the Liturgy.
The peace we seek is not removed from the challenges posed by nationalism, weapons of mass destruction, the scarcity of natural resources, and the many other geopolitical and ideological causes of conflict among peoples and nations. To separate God’s peace from these challenges would be to succumb to an almost Gnostic temptation to escape the creaturely realities of life in God’s world for a salvation that concerns only a privileged few who somehow rise above it. As Father John Chryssavgis has noted, “Christians ought to show an interest in, and zeal for, the fundamental needs of people, and not despise them from the heights of their spirituality. There can be no justification for those who find a way of sitting comfortably on the cross as if in an armchair. The life of a Christian is lived out on a cross in a creative tension between the world as we have it now and the world as we hope and pray for it.”
The peace of Christ cannot be identified with any political arrangement or social order. Jesus Christ is our peace, our salvation, our healing, our fulfillment and our transformation as we become partakers of the Divine Nature and share by grace in the Divine Energies of the Holy Trinity. Theosis is a dynamic process of sharing more fully in the eternal life, blessedness, and peace of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We participate in Christ’s healing and divinization of our humanity in His Body, the Church, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Through ongoing ascetical struggle and the nourishment of the Holy Mysteries, we grow in the peace of our Lord and His Kingdom.
St. Justin Martyr taught that all who use reason are, in a sense, Christians, for the Word of God is the source of all truth. Whenever we see harmony, justice, forgiveness, respect for human dignity, generosity, and care for the weak in the common life of humanity of, we witness a blessing of the Lord and catch a glimpse of the peace of Christ. Orthodox Christians should work for and welcome even broken and obscure manifestations of “just peace” which fall short of the fullness of the eschatological Kingdom of God.
In the Divine Liturgy, we pray for such mundane matters as good weather, the well-being of travelers and the salvation of captives, our deliverance from danger and necessity, and for the peace of the whole world. These petitions indicate that there is no dimension of creation for which God’s blessing and peace are irrelevant. If we see no connection between Christ’s peace and our response to present social conditions, we will find ourselves wondering why we pray for peace and blessing upon people who suffer from violence and injustice in the world as we know it. If the “peace from above” has no relationship at all to present wars, such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is hard to see why Orthodox would involve themselves in any way in contemporary political and social debates.
In the account of the last judgment in the 25th chapter of St. Matthew’s gospel, Jesus Christ identified Himself with the most miserable of human beings. The righteous in the parable were rewarded for caring for the Lord in “the least of these my brethren,” even though they did not know that they were thereby serving Jesus. Surely, those who bring even a small measure of peace to suffering human beings today also serve Him in some way. Those who pray “for the peace from above and the salvation of our souls” must accept the challenges of working for a more just peace for the living icons of Christ in the less than ideal situations in which they find themselves. If we do not, we risk identifying ourselves with those condemned for ignoring the sufferings of Jesus in their wretched neighbors.
Advocates of just peacemaking seek to discover methods of peacemaking that can make a difference in the “real world” and are in accord with the Gospel  for example, supporting cooperative conflict resolution, nonviolent direct action, sustainable economic growth, the development of grassroots peacemaking groups, a reduction of offensive weapons, acknowledgment of responsibility for injustice, and seeking forgiveness.
This approach calls for a variety of social, political, and international institutions to be proactive in building a world in which the causes of violence are mitigated. It is not an idealistic or utopian movement that dreams of a peace so far removed from the lives of peoples and nations that we cannot imagine how it will be achieved or sustained.
This perspective does not necessarily rule out the use of military force, either as an intervention to protect human rights or in national self-defense, but it would place the use of force within the larger context of sustaining a peace based upon justice, rather than within the moral trajectory of the just war. There is a preference in this school of thought for multinational discernment as to when the responsibility to protect a population from grave harm should be invoked, as well as for “collective, multilateral intervention” to guard against “self-interested interventions thinly cloaked in humanitarianism.” Such an approach addresses a weakness identified by Fr. Stanley Harakas in just-war theory, the tendency to rationalize “that ‘our side’ is always justified, thus allowing the legitimization of military exploits, precisely and paradoxically as it seeks to reduce the excesses of war.”
Advocates of “just peace” do not, however, envision simply an internationalist interpretation of just-war theory. A representative collection of essays by scholars in this field includes nine chapters on nonviolent practices that foster peace and only one that focuses on a multinational responsibility for military intervention. [Just Peacemaking, Glen Stassen, ed., The Pilgrim Press, 2008]
Since we pray for peace for the whole world and everyone in it, and uphold our Lord’s love and forgiveness as the ultimate example of how to respond to evil and to our enemies, Orthodox Christians should find much common ground with the proponents of the “just peace.” Surely, our faith calls us to give far more attention to the question of how to establish and maintain peaceful and just societies than it does to justify, or even tolerate, any instance of war.
Fr. Harakas appeals to the doctrine of “synergy” to emphasize the obligation of Orthodox to cooperate with the work of others in bringing peace, and especially in addressing the economic and social injustices that often amount to “the real causes of war.” He calls Orthodox to “organize ourselves in realistic, practical, and down-to-earth projects for social renewal. Where there is less pain, less suffering, where there is less hunger, the likeliness of war is lessened.” In taking such action, we are to manifest “the theology of the transfiguration” as we help others and ourselves see more clearly the spiritual significance of these projects for peace. Fr. Chryssavgis agrees that “we can and must look to the real causes of war which are to be found in the economic and social injustices abounding in our world” [and] respond to them in a spiritually responsible way.
This stance also places the possible use of military force to maintain peace in its proper context. Questions of the necessity of war find their setting in the moral trajectory of establishing, at least imperfectly, the peace for which we pray and in protecting vulnerable populations. Fr. John McGuckin places Canon 13 of St. Basil the Great in precisely such a context, arguing that he responded with oikonomia to soldiers defending “Christian borders from the ravages of pagan marauders” for “passive non-involvement betrays the Christian family (especially its weaker members who cannot defend themselves but need others to help them) to the ravages of men without heart or conscience to restrain them.” In this context, “a limited and adequate response … will restrict the bloodshed to a necessary minimum,” even as repentance is required for soldiers who kill.
His Eminence Metropolitan George of Mount Lebanon strikes a similar note of realism about the Byzantines, for “The Empire, though it was becoming Christianized, could not simply abolish the army. The Empire was not yet the Kingdom of God. It had to defend itself against the barbarians.” The Empire could not avoid defensive wars; the acceptance of the necessity of such wars indicated that “pacifism as a theory was no longer known in the Christian East.”
I find it more fitting to say that Orthodoxy does not have so much a theory on pacifism, just-war, or the crusade as we have a dynamic commitment to the praxis of peace. In every dimension of life, we are called to embody the way of Christ as fully as we can in the circumstances that we face: to forgive enemies; to work for the reconciliation of those who have become estranged; to overcome the divisions of race, nationality, and class; to care for the poor; to live in harmony with others; and to use the created goods of the world for the benefit of all. Our advocacy for peace must not stop with praying the litanies of the Liturgy. We may pray these petitions with integrity only if we offer ourselves as instruments for God’s peace in the world, only if we live them out in relation to the challenges to peace that exist among peoples and nations.
In this context, the Church may at times tolerate war as a lesser evil, a tragic necessity for the defense of justice and the preservation of the imperfect, yet still imperative, peace that is possible among the nations and peoples of the world in given situations. But even the use of force to protect people from genocide falls short of the fullness of the peace of Christ, for such projects involve soldiers in the work of death and open them to the terrible passions inevitably inflamed by war. Soldiers who shed blood, even in the most humanitarian military intervention, stand in need of the spiritual therapy of repentance. Still, such military interventions may be necessary practical steps for building a peace that protects the weak from aggression and abuse.
In this light, we recall that St. Basil’s Canon 13 is not an abstract theoretical statement on the morality of warfare. Instead, it concerns the restoration to full participation in the sacramental life of the Church of those who have killed in war. It is a pastoral statement on the appropriate guidance given to those whose souls have been damaged by doing what was necessary to protect their fellow Christians and subjects from destruction. Patriarch Polyeuktos used the canon in the tenth century to reject an imperial appeal to recognize as saints Byzantine soldiers who died in battle. Not an abstract theoretical statement, this application of the canon responded to a challenge to the Church’s stance on the spiritual significance of warfare. For even a necessary war is not a crusade; the imperfect peace sustained by war is not identified with the peace of the Kingdom. And canon law continues to prohibit clergy and monastics from serving in the military, holding government office, and shedding blood.
Orthodoxy does not present the world with abstract theories of pacifism, just war, or the crusade. Instead, it calls the members of the Church to work for the practical realization of a peace based on justice for all the peoples of the world. This dynamic practice of peace is the true pacifism which is incumbent upon all those who pray “for the peace from above and the salvation of our souls.” Orthodox Christians have a moral imperative to support practices and structures that build a “just peace” in the world as we know it, even though this peace falls short of the fullness of God’s eschatological reign.
While military intervention may be tragically necessary to sustain a just peace in given circumstances, such uses of force fall short of normative Christ-like ways of responding to evil. An advantage of “just peacemaking” over just-war theory is that it places discussion of any possible use of force within the moral trajectory of sustaining peace rather than within that of justifying war. The advocates of “just peace” give much greater attention to nonviolent practices that sustain peace than to discourse about the morality of war. The same should be true of the Orthodox peace witness. Though the historical distinctions between pacifism, the crusade, and just-war theory remain quite relevant for many other Christian bodies, none of them fits perfectly with Orthodoxy.
Perhaps that lack of fit is an indication that the Church’s prayer, witness, and work are not fundamentally about war, but about a peace which is not yet fully present in this world. The “peace from above and the salvation of our souls” are not yet wholly realized. In a corrupt world in which most peoples and nations do not intentionally seek the peace of Christ, even some wars are opaque works of peace. Orthodox Christians should place far greater stress, however, on nonviolent practices that help to sustain peaceful societies, reconcile enemies, and prevent wars and other conflicts. In doing so, we will bear witness to a peace that is not of this world, but which at the same time is the only true answer to the world’s strife.
Fr. Philip LeMasters is professor of religion and director of the Honors Program at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas. A priest of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, he serves at St. Luke Orthodox Church in Abilene. He is the author of The Goodness of God’s Creation (Regina Orthodox Press).

source: http://www.incommunion.org/2010/01/29/make-peace-not-war/

Peacemaking as mission

by Jim Forest
The Beatitudes include the words, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” Christ himself bears witness to what peacemaking looks like. He sought out both those who were drawn to him and were threatened by him. We see his love of enemies in his readiness to respond to the appeal of a Roman officer to heal his servant. We see it again is his appeal on the cross to forgive those who were responsible for his execution. After his resurrection, he greets his followers with the words, “Peace be with you.”
Yet in our time the word “peace” is often a suspect word, used by governments and advocates of war as a kind of cosmetic slogan: war presented as a means of peacemaking. But the word “peace” has also been abused by peace movements, which often turn out not to be very peaceably inclined when it comes, for example, to the unborn. All too often, peace groups have turned a blind eye to suffering and violence when it was being carried out by countries, or for purposes with which they sympathized. It isn’t only governments that have double-standards.
How then might an Orthodox Christian define “peace” and “peacemaking”?
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware has suggested “healing” is the best synonym. “Healing means wholeness,” he said at the Orthodox Peace Fellowship retreat he led in France several years ago. “I am broken and fragmented. Healing means a recovery of unity. Let us each think that I cannot bring peace and unity to the world unless I am at peace and unity with myself. ‘Acquire the spirit of peace,’ says Saint Seraphim of Sarov, ‘and thousands around you will find salvation.’ If I don’t have the spirit of peace within myself, if I am inwardly divided, I shall spread that division around me to others. Great divisions in the world between nations and states spring from many divisions within the human heart of each one of us.”
One of the best ways to better understand peacemaking is to study the lives of the saints. We see in them the countless forms that the healing occasioned by peacemaking can take witnesses far too diverse for peace to be compressed into an ideological or political system.
Consider just two of the physician saints of the early Church, Saints Cosmas and Damian, and the important role they played in the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity. It is significant that the first Christian church in Rome that was established in the city center, on the grounds of the Forum rather than near the edge, was dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian. They were brothers who, following their conversion, became unmercenary physicians doctors who cared for the ill without any payment. According to legend, their rule against accepting any reward was so strict that there was a brief period when one brother refused to speak to the other because he had accepted an apple from the family of one of those whom he had aided.
Their day-by-day merciful deeds proclaimed both Christ’s compassion for those who are sick and suffering and also, in their refusal of money, the fact that wealth gives no one advanced placement to enter the kingdom of God. Their lives proclaimed their love of enemies, for they were as eager to serve those who persecuted Christians as they were to assist their fellow believers. Like others who shared their faith, they refused to defend themselves when they became targets of persecution. Dying as martyrs, they gave witness to Christ’s death and resurrection. No wonder so significant a church, placed in the heart of Rome, bears their names. These two physicians, who eagerly served others without fee, not only healed and consoled many, but also helped convert them to Christ.
Similar examples are given in our own day in many places. I think especially of the witness being given by the Orthodox Church in Albania.
Albania is Europe’s poorest and, in many ways, most damaged country. No regime in recent centuries has been so thorough in its attempt to completely stamp out every trace of religious life. During the Communist period, every place of worship was closed and either destroyed or turned to other uses. Ironically, many churches became armories, thus turning plowshares into swords. Even to make the sign of the cross, to dye an egg red as Pascha, or to hang an icon on the wall was seen as a criminal act during those long years of suffering. In 1991, of the 440 Orthodox clergy who had served the Church 60 years, only 22 were still alive. All were old and frail, and some were close to death.
Yet once the Communist political order began to collapse, the Church began to rise from the ruins. Under the leadership of missionary-minded Archbishop Anastasios, liturgical life resumed with astonishing speed. “Many times in the first months the Liturgy was conducted out of doors as no indoor place of worship was available,” he recalls, “but preferably in a place where a church formerly existed.”
At the very same time, healing services to others began, no matter what their faith or lack of faith or attitude regarding Christianity. At first the work was improvisational, then strengthened by the introduction of church-sponsored structures of health care, education (both religious and secular) and environmental repair. All this was done under the umbrella of Diaconal Agapes ( Service of Love )officially launched as a Church department by Archbishop Anastasios in 1992. So many non-believers have been served by the Church that Archbishop Anastasios is occasionally called the Archbishop of Tirana and All Atheists (rather than All Albania).
“I am everyone’s archbishop,” he told me a few years ago. “For us each person is a brother or sister. The Church is not just for itself. It is for all the people. As we say at the altar during each Liturgy, it is done ‘on behalf of all and for all.’ We pray ‘for those who hate us and for those who love us.’ Thus we cannot have enemies. How could we? If others want to see us as enemies, it is their choice, but we do not consider others as enemies. We refuse to punish those who punished us. Always remember that at the Last Judgment we are judged for loving Him, or failing to love Him, in the least person. The message is clear. Our salvation depends upon respect for the other, respect for otherness. This is the deep meaning of the Parable of the Good Samaritan  we see not how someone is our neighbor, but how someone becomes our neighbor. It’s a process. We also see in the parable how we are rescued by the other. What is the theological understanding of the other? It is trying to see how the radiation of the Son of God occurs in this or that place, in this or that culture. This is much more than mere diplomacy. We must keep our authenticity as Christians while seeing how the rays of the Son of Righteousness pass through another person, another culture. Only then can we bring something special.”
Part of the missionary witness of the Church in Albania is to set an example of forgiveness. “This begins within the Church in the way we respond to those who denied or betrayed the Church, in the Communist period,” Anastasios explains. “I have often been asked, what do we do when such people want to rejoin the Church after having been apostates? Our response must be to forgive and receive them back, not to turn anyone away. Following the fall of communism, the first church we opened in Berat has an inscription above the central door which says, ‘Whoever comes to me, I will not cast away’.”
Forgiveness finds further expression in the Church’s willingness to meet with and even cooperate with those who once sought to eradicate religion from Albanian life. “We not only believe it possible that hardened atheists can change, we have seen it happen. In each person there is the possibility of conversion. In fact each person in the Church has experienced conversion. If such a thing can happen in my life, surely it can happen in the lives of others. But this partly depends on how I as a Christian meet others, including my enemies, and how I respond to them.”
In a country that is part of the Moslem world, Christian witness means refusing to demonize Muslims, the religion that, in the pre-Communist time, was dominant in Albania. Archbishop Anastasios never overlooks opportunities to meet with Muslims, whether leaders or unlettered individuals. I recall one poor man in the latter category who timidly approached the Archbishop at a place where we had stopped for lunch. “I am not baptized,” the man said. “I am a Moslem. But will you bless me?” The man received not only an ardent blessing, but was reminded by Anastasios that he too was a bearer of the image of God.
Archbishop Anastasios might have retired years ago from his missionary labors, yet he carries on, giving daily witness to Christ’s love not only for the baptized, but for one and all, “those who love us and those who hate us.” One result has been the steady enlargement of the Christian community in Albania.
But what about myself? How, in my time and place, can I better witness to Christ’s peace? What are the areas of brokenness in my own life and in the lives of people I am close to? What I can I do to overcome, with God’s help, my own fractiousness? My own greed and vanity? The fears that imprison me? Are there things that I do and say that feed the fires of enmity? Do I admit my own sins, or am I always justifying whatever I do? Are there people I refuse to forgive?
Parish life is often marked by conflict and division. Am I a peacemaker in my own parish? Am I someone who is looking for common ground? Do I help to repair damaged relationships? Do I turn a deaf ear to gossip? Do I belong to one of several bickering camps within my parish?
“Community” life is rarely peaceful. Neighbors are often at odds with neighbors. While Christians are urged by Christ not to resort to courts in resolving conflict, in practice Christians are just as likely as atheists to be found glaring at each other across courtrooms. Am I too carried along by the currents that have created a society able to employ so many lawyers? Am I open to mediation when there are inter-personal or community issues that require resolution?
Consider the world as a whole from ancient times to the present moment. History seems mainly to be a record of almost continuous warfare  human beings killing each other and destroying all that makes life possible. In the early Church the refusal of Christians to take part in war was something of a scandal to the pagan world. It surprises us to hear of saints who were, in today’s terminology, conscientious objectors. Today it’s hard to imagine that killing in war was a matter that could, centuries ago, result in lengthy periods of repentance and exclusion from the sacramental mysteries. Indeed our canons still bar anyone from serving at the altar who has killed another human being for any reason. But when it comes to the laity, it seems we rarely even wonder whether killing in war might be an issue worth thinking about long and hard. We are not even surprised at the spectacle of Christians killing each other simply because of their separation by national borders. Am I satisfied that I have thought deeply enough about war in the light of the Gospel and the witness of the saints? Are there ways in which I might contribute to preventing wars or hastening their end? Do I pray daily for peace? Does my life bear witness to my prayers?
The basic question is: To what extent does my life reveal or hide the light and peace of Christ? To what extent am I bearing witness to the kingdom of God?
Jim Forest is international secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship. His books include Ladder of the Beatitudes, The Road to Emmaus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life, and The Resurrection of the Church in Albania.

source: http://www.incommunion.org/2010/01/29/peacemaking-as-mission/

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Email Your Senators-Extend Unemployment & Health Care Benefits

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 Extend Unemployment & Health Care Benefits

  On Tuesday President Obama signed the historic health care reform bill. David Leonhardt wrote <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=OIyxEYwUOFKDiNpKyfRLSobrghIjwO9H>  in the New York Times, "The bill that President Obama signed on Tuesday is the federal government's biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality began rising more than three decades ago." 

 Yet we still face massive long-term unemployment, and once again unemployed workers face the loss of their lifeline for survival. The February stop-gap measure <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=FzJImlYgreXg2adhcyBxDIbrghIjwO9H>  of federal extensions of unemployment insurance and subsidies for COBRA health care are set to expire on April 5 unless the Senate acts this week. Most Republicans and Democrats agree this extension is needed. But the Senate will spend this entire week debating additional health care measures passed by the House, and then go on a two-week recess. The Senate must pass the extension by unanimous consent now, or it won't get to a vote until after workers have lost their benefits.

 Click here <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=eyeACDDyze7S%2BIXetyrc4obrghIjwO9H>  to take action now!

 

Sikhs Regain Right To Wear Turbans In U.S. Army : NPR

Sikhs Regain Right To Wear Turbans In U.S. Army : NPR: "U.S. Army Capt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan is making history.

This week, Rattan, who is an American Sikh, completed his nine-week basic officer training course at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas — making him the first American Sikh officer in the U.S. Army in more than 25 years"

Heads Up: Prayer Warriors and Sarah Palin Are Organizing Spiritual Warfare to Take Over America | Investigations | AlterNet

Heads Up: Prayer Warriors and Sarah Palin Are Organizing Spiritual Warfare to Take Over America | Investigations | AlterNet: "Imagine a religious movement that makes geographic maps of where demons reside and claims among its adherents the Republican Party's most recent vice presidential nominee and whose leaders have presided over prayer sessions (one aimed at putting the kibosh on health-care reform) with a host of leading GOP figures."

Sharing the Wealth: The Church as Biblical Model for Public Policy

by Ronald J. Sider

Ronald J. Sider is president of Evangelicals for Social Action and a professor of theology at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. This article appeared in the Christian Century June 8-15, 1977, p. 560. Copyright by the Christian Century Foundation and used by permission. Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted & Winnie Brock.

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What is the biblical view of God’s will for economic relations among his people? For an answer, we shall look at the jubilee passage in Leviticus, at the new community of Jesus’ disciples, at the first church in Jerusalem, and at the Pauline collection.

Text:

To ask government to legislate what the church cannot persuade its members to live is a tragic absurdity. That the church has tried to do precisely this is one of the most glaring weaknesses of its commendable, sometimes costly involvement in social action in the past two decades.

Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder tells of a meeting of church leaders held in an embattled Chicago suburb in the ‘60s. Blacks were marching to demand an end to de facto housing segregation. Wanting to help, the clergy met to devise a strategy for bringing pressure on the city’s business and political leadership to yield to black demands. After listening for an hour or so to various economic and political schemes, Yoder raised a question. Were not the bank presidents and the mayor active church members? They were, the clergy agreed but they were puzzled at Yoder’s irrelevant query. It was not at all obvious to those concerned clergy that the church must first demonstrate in its common life together what it calls on secular society to embody in public policy.

In danger of repeating the same mistake is today’s movement of concern among church people for world hunger and injustice in the international economic order. Economic relationships in our Lord’s worldwide body today constitute a desecration of his body and blood. Only as groups of believers in North America and Europe dare to incarnate in their life together what the Bible teaches about economic relationships among the people of God do they have any right to demand that leaders in Washington or Westminster shape a new world economic order.

What is the biblical view of God’s will for economic relations among his people? For an answer, we shall look at the jubilee passage in Leviticus, at the new community of Jesus’ disciples, at the first church in Jerusalem, and at the Pauline collection.

Leviticus 25 is one of the most radical texts in all Holy Writ. Every 50 years, God said, he wanted all land to return to the original owners -- without compensation. Physical handicaps, death of a breadwinner, or less natural ability might bring some people to become poorer than others. But God did not want such disadvantages to lead to greater and greater extremes of wealth and poverty among his people. Hence a means was prescribed to equalize land ownership every 50 years (Lev. 24:10-24).

Before and after the year of jubilee, land could be ‘bought” or ‘sold.” But since Yahweh was the owner (v. 23), what the buyer actually purchased was a specific number of harvests, not the land itself (v. 16). And woe betide the person who tried to make a killing by demanding what the market would bear rather than a just price for the intervening harvests from the date of purchase to the next jubilee (vv. 16-17). Yahweh is Lord -- even of economics. No hint here of some sacred law of supply and demand, a law independent of biblical ethics and the lordship of Yahweh. The people of God submit to Yahweh’s lordship, and he demands structures that foster economic justice among his people.

Unfortunately, we do not know whether the people of Israel ever practiced the year of jubilee. The absence of references to jubilee in the historical books of the Old Testament suggests that it may never have been implemented. Nevertheless, Leviticus 25 challenges us as a part of canonical truth.

Jesus’ Sharing Community

Jesus walked the roads and footpaths of Galilee announcing the startling news that the long-expected kingdom of peace and righteousness was at hand. Economic relationships in the new community of his followers were a powerful sign confirming this awesome announcement.

The Hebrew prophets had inspired the hope of a future messianic kingdom of peace, righteousness and justice. The essence of the good news which Jesus proclaimed was that the expected kingdom had come. Certainly Jesus disappointed popular Jewish expectations. He did not recruit an army to drive out the Roman oppressors. But neither did he remain alone as an isolated, individualistic prophet. He called and trained disciples. He established a visible community of people joined together by their loyalty to him as Lord. His new community began to live the values of the promised kingdom which was already breaking into the present. As a result, all relationships -- even economic ones -- were transformed in the community of Jesus’ followers.

Jesus and his disciples shared a common purse administered by Judas, who bought provisions and gave to the poor at Jesus’ direction (John 12:6, 19:29). This new community of sharing did not end with Jesus and the Twelve, for it included a number of women whom Jesus had healed. Traveling with Jesus and the disciples, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna “and many others . . . provided for them out of their means” (Luke 8: 1-3).

From this perspective, some of Jesus’ words gain new meaning and power. Consider Jesus’ advice to the rich young man in this context:

When Jesus asked the rich young man to sell his goods and give to the poor, he did not say, “Become destitute and friendless.” Rather, he said, “Come, follow me” (Matt. 19:21). In other words, he invited him to join a community of sharing and love, where his security would not be based on individual property holdings, but on openness to the Spirit and on the loving care of new-found brothers and sisters [Richard K. Taylor, Economics and the Gospel (United Church Press, 1973), p.21].

Jesus invited the rich young man to share in a new kind of security -- the joyful common life of the new kingdom.

Jesus’ words in Mark 10:29-30 have long puzzled me: “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life” (emphasis added; see also Matt. 6:25-33). To me, Jesus’ promise used to seem at least a trifle naïve. But his words come alive with new meaning when they are read in the context of the new community of his followers. Jesus inaugurated a new social order -- a new kingdom of faithful followers who were to share unlimited liability for one another.

In that kind of community, there would truly be genuine economic security. One would indeed receive 100 times more loving brothers and sisters than before. The economic resources available in difficult times would be compounded. In fact, all the resources of the entire community of obedient disciples would be available to anyone in need. To be sure, that kind of unselfish, sharing life style would challenge surrounding society so pointedly that there would be persecutions. But even in the most desperate days, the promise would not be empty. Even if persecution led to death, children of martyred parents would receive new mothers and fathers in the community of believers. In the community of the redeemed, all relationships are being transformed. The common purse shared by Jesus and his first followers vividly demonstrates that Jesus repeated and deepened the old covenant’s call for transformed economic relationships among God’s people.

The Jerusalem Church

However embarrassing it may be to some today, the massive economic sharing of the earliest Christian church is indisputable (see, for example, Acts 2:43-47, 4:32-37, 5-1-11, 6:1-7). Whenever anyone was in need, all shared. Giving surplus income to the needy was not enough. The Jerusalem Christians regularly dipped into capital reserves, selling property to aid those in need. God’s promise to Israel that faithful obedience would eliminate poverty among his people (Deut. 15:4) came true in the new church:

“There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them . . . and distribution was made to each as any had need” (Acts 4:34-35).

Two millennia later, the texts still throb with the first Christian community’s joy and excitement. They ate meals together “with glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:46). They experienced an exciting unity as all sensed they “were of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32). They were not isolated individuals struggling alone to follow Jesus. A new community transforming all areas of life became a joyful reality. The earliest Jerusalem Christians experienced such oneness in Christ that they promptly undertook extensive economic sharing.

What was the precise nature of the Jerusalem Christians’ costly koinonia? They did not insist on absolute economic equality. Nor did they abolish private property. Sharing was voluntary, not compulsory. But love for brothers and sisters was so overwhelming that many freely abandoned legal claims to private possessions. “ No one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own” (Acts 4:32). That does not mean that everyone donated everything, but whenever there was need, believers regularly sold lands and houses to aid the needy.

The essence of these transformed economic relationships in the Jerusalem church is unlimited liability and total availability. The sharing was not superficial or occasional. Regularly and repeatedly (as the imperfect tense of the verbs in the relevant passage of Scripture suggests) the believers sold possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need” (Acts 4:35). The needs of the sister or brother were decisive. In the new messianic community of Jesus’ first followers after Pentecost, God was redeeming all relationships. The result was unconditional economic liability for and total financial availability to the other brothers and sisters in Christ. The first Christians dared to give concrete, visible expression to the oneness of all believers.

Whatever the beauty and appeal of such a picture, however, was it not a vision that quickly faded? Many people believe so. But the Pauline collection proves exactly the contrary.

The Pauline Collection

Paul broadened the vision of economic sharing among the people of God in a dramatic way. He devoted a great deal of time to raising money for Jewish Christians among gentile congregations. In the process, he broadened intrachurch assistance into interchurch sharing among all the scattered congregations of believers. Furthermore, with Peter and Paul, biblical religion moved beyond one ethnic group and became a universal, multiethnic faith. Paul’s collection for Jews from gentiles demonstrates that the oneness of the new body of believers entails dramatic economic sharing across ethnic and geographical lines.

For several years, Paul gave much time and energy to his great collection for the Jerusalem church. He discussed his concern in several letters, and he arranged for the collection in the churches of Macedonia, Galatia, Asia, Corinth, Ephesus and probably elsewhere.

Paul knew he faced certain danger and possible death, but he still insisted on personally accompanying the offering for the Jerusalem church (Acts 21:4, 10-14; Rom. 15:31). Out of his passionate commitment to economic sharing with brothers and sisters came his final arrest and martyrdom. Yet he had a deep conviction that this financial symbol of Christian unity mattered far more than even his life. His understanding of Christian koinonia -- an extremely important concept in Paul’s theology -- is central in his discussion of the collection.

The word koinonia means fellowship with, or participation in, something or someone. Believers enjoy fellowship with the Lord Jesus (I Cor. 1:9). Experiencing the koinonia of Jesus means having his righteousness imputed to us. It also entails sharing in the self-sacrificing, cross-bearing life he lived (Phil. 3:8-10). Nowhere is the Christian’s fellowship with Christ experienced more powerfully than in the Eucharist, where the believer is drawn into a participation (koinonia) in the mystery of the cross: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (I Cor. 10:16)

Paul’s immediate inference -- in the very next verse -- is that koinonia with Christ inevitably involves koinonia with all the members of his body. “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (v. 17). As he taught in Ephesians 2, Christ’s death for Jew and gentile, male and female, has broken down all ethnic, cultural and sexual divisions. In Christ there is one new person, one new body of believers. When the brothers and sisters share the one bread and the common cup in the Lord’s Supper, they symbolize and actualize their participation in the one body of Christ.

That is why the class divisions at Corinth so horrified Paul. Wealthy Christians, apparently, were feasting at the eucharistic celebrations while poor believers went hungry. Paul angrily denied that they were eating the Lord’s body and blood because they did not discern his body (vv. 27-29). By this Paul meant that they failed to realize that their membership in the one body of Christ was infinitely more important than the class or ethnic differences which divided them. One brings judgment on oneself if one does not perceive that eucharistic fellowship with Christ is totally incompatible with living a practical denial of that unity of all believers in his body. As long as one Christian anywhere in the world is hungry, the eucharistic celebration of all Christians everywhere is incomplete.

For Paul, this intimate fellowship in the body of Christ had concrete economic implications. Paul used precisely this word koinonia to designate financial sharing among believers. Sometimes he employed the word as a virtual synonym for “collection.” he spoke of the liberality of the fellowship that the Corinthians’ generous offering would demonstrate (II Cor. 9:13). He employed the same language to report the Macedonian Christians’ offering for Jerusalem (Rom. 15:26).

Paul’s guideline for what sharing should be in the body of believers is startling: “I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, that there may be equality” (II Cor. 8:13-14; emphasis added). To support his principle, Paul quoted from the biblical story of the manna: “As it is written, ‘He who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack’ ” (v. 15). It may indeed seem startling to rich Christians in the northern hemisphere, but Paul -- in guiding the Corinthians in their giving -- clearly enunciated the principle of economic equality among the worldwide people of God.

Pattern for Today’s Church

However interesting it may be, what relevance does the economic sharing at Jerusalem and Corinth have for the contemporary church?

Certainly the church today need not slavishly imitate every detail of the life of the early church depicted in Acts. But that does not mean that we can simply dismiss the economic sharing described in Acts and the Pauline letters.

Over and over again God specifically commanded his people to live together in community in such a way that they would avoid extremes of wealth and poverty -- that is the point of the Old Testament legislation on the jubilee and sabbatical years, on tithing, gleaning and loans. Jesus, our only perfect model, shared a common purse with the new community of his disciples. The first church in Jerusalem and Paul in his collection were implementing what the Old Testament and Jesus had commanded.

The powerful evangelistic impact of the economic sharing at Jerusalem indicates that God approved and blessed the practice. When Scripture calls for transformed economic relations among God’s people in some places, and describes God’s blessing on his people as they implement these commands in other places, then we can be sure that we have discovered a normative pattern for the church today.

What is striking, in fact, is the fundamental continuity of biblical teaching on this point. Paul’s collection was simply an application of the basic principle of the jubilee. The mechanism, of course, was different because God’s people were now a multiethnic body living in different lands. But the principle was the same. Since the Greeks at Corinth were now part of the people of God, they were to share with the poor Jewish Christians at Jerusalem -- that there might be equality!

Living the Biblical Model

What does the biblical teaching on economic relationships among God’s people mean for Christians striving for a new international economic order in our own time?

Central to any Christian strategy on world hunger must be a radical call for the church to be the church. As was noted at the beginning, one of the most glaring weaknesses of church social action in the past few decades has been its too exclusive focus on political solutions. In effect, church leaders tried to persuade government to legislate what they could not persuade their church members to live. And politicians quickly sensed that the daring resolutions and the frequent Washington delegations represented generals without troops. Only if the body of Christ is already beginning to live a radically new model of economic sharing will our demand for political change have integrity and impact.

We must confess the tragic sinfulness of present economic relationships in the worldwide body of Christ. While our brothers and sisters in the Third World ache for lack of minimal health care, minimal education, even just enough food to escape starvation, Christians in the northern hemisphere grow richer each year -- like the Corinthian Christians who feasted without sharing their food with the poor members of the church (I Cor. 11:20-29). Like them we fail today to discern the reality of Christ’s body. U.S. Christians spent $5.7 billion on new church construction alone in the six years from 1967 to 1972. Would we go on building lavish church plants if members of our own congregations were starving? Do we not flatly contradict Paul’s instructions to the early churches if we live as though African or Latin American members of his body are less a part of us than the members of our home congregations?

But what concretely might a wholehearted recognition of the oneness of Christ’s body mean? It would mean a massive discipling process in the churches, so that individual Christians would start living more simple life styles. Shouldn’t it be the norm, rather than the exception, for Christians to be involved in small weekly fellowship/worship/action groups where mutual discipling is a regular practice? Where Christians can, for example, evaluate each other’s income-tax returns and family budgets, discuss major purchases, and gently nudge each other toward life styles more in keeping with their worship of a God who sides with the poor?

Churches, likewise, would need to adopt more simple corporate life styles. Virtually all church construction today is unnecessary. At least three large congregations could easily share every church building if one group would worship on Saturday evening, another Sunday morning, and a third on Sunday evening. The heart of each congregation might be in small discipling groups, such as I have described, meeting in homes. Significantly simpler personal and ecclesiastical life styles would make assistance for economic development possible on an astonishingly increased scale. A small denomination of 50,000 members could by itself establish two new agencies the size of Church World Service, or two new Mennonite Central Committees, or one new World Vision. The Church of the Nazarene (with half a million members) could start 20 new agencies the size of Church World Service. The United Methodists (with 9.9 million members) could establish 400 new Church World Services!

Nor am I calling for poverty. In 1974 the median income of U.S. families was $12,836. Charitable donations to “religion” normally run at about 3 per cent ($385). Were a family of five to spend $10,000 of its total income on itself, it would have to cut out many luxuries, but it would still have a comfortable life style that would appear aristocratic to all but a tiny fraction of the world’s people. That leaves $2,451 extra per family available for ending poverty (those with incomes above the median could give more and those below, less). Assuming five-member families, a church with 50,000 members would have at least 10,000 family groups that could give $24,510,000. The cash disbursements of Church World Service in 1974 were about $11.5 million; MCC’s, $9 million; World Vision’s, about $20 million.

Now I do not mean to suggest that I expect this to happen, or that if a simpler life style were widely accepted all the newly available funds ought to go toward fighting poverty. What the figures are meant to demonstrate is that if Christians dared to change the ways they live, their increased giving could make a significant difference. In fact, a mere 10 million Christians in the U.S. could annually provide tile total $5 billion in foreign funds needed by developing countries, according to the 1974 World Food Congress, for investment in rural agricultural development. In 1974, 32 per cent of all U.S. economic aid to developing countries came from private contributions. If even one-fourth of all U.S. Christians had been following the formula spelled out above, the percentage of private contributions would have jumped drastically.

Daring to Live What We Ask

No one is naïve enough to suppose that vastly increased aid from U.S. churches -- to both church and nonchurch groups in developing countries -- could proceed without problems. Certainly there would need to be strenuous efforts to avoid paternalism and prevent dependency. Long-term development and self-sufficiency would be tile goal. Obviously there would be difficulties; but the Third World church leaders I have talked with insist that these obstacles could be overcome far more easily than can our unwillingness to share.

The emphasis placed here on simpler personal and ecclesiastical life styles is by no means intended to belittle the importance of changing public policy. (Note, however, that living the new model would deeply affect the U.S. economy; and the powerful example of sharing could also profoundly influence the thinking and life style of non-Christians.) Certainly we should strengthen organizations like Bread for the World. Certainly we should work politically to demand costly concessions from Washington in international forums working to reshape the International Monetary Fund, as well as new policy in trade negotiations on tariffs, commodity agreements and the like. Certainly we must ask whether far more sweeping structural changes are necessary. However, our attempt to restructure secular society will possess integrity only if our personal life styles -- and our corporate ecclesiastical practices in local congregations, in regions and denominations, and in the worldwide body of Christians demonstrate that we are already daring to live what we ask Washington to legislate.

A radical call to repentance so that the church becomes the church must be central to Christian strategies for reducing world hunger and restructuring international economic relationships. The church is the most universal body in the world today. It has the opportunity to live a new corporate model of economic sharing at a desperate moment in world history. If even one-quarter of the Christians in the northern hemisphere had the courage to live the biblical vision of economic equality, the governments of our dangerously divided global village might also be persuaded to legislate the sweeping changes needed to avert disaster.

source: http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1166