Mercy

Matthew 23:37 – “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you; how I have longed to gather your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. But you would not.”

According to Jesus, Jerusalem is stubborn or maybe just taking God for granted. They have lost their way. Jesus laments this loss by expressing his love, God’s love for the “children” of Jerusalem. He compares his love and protection to that of a hen with her chicks under her wings. What a beautiful image.

I imagine all parents feel this way about their children. Parents love their children even when we have gone astray. The story of the prodigal father illustrates this love perfectly. He fully accepts his son back home without question and without hesitation. Such is his love and joy at seeing his son again. His son, who was lost, has found his way.

God continues to lament over the waywardness of her children. We don’t like prophets and others who challenge our thinking or our actions. It’s so much easier to just follow human rules when mercy on our part may serve the case better. I’m thinking of those refugee children who were separated from their parents at the border. Many of them have not been reunited. It is truly a tragedy that God laments. God longs to gather them under her wings.

I’ve seen many people saying that this is not who we are as Americans. Sadly, it is who we are. We have been treating Black people, Muslims, and Hispanic people just this way for centuries. Every day, many Black people gun violence whether from the police or others. No police are punished for killing Black people who were unarmed. Black children are treated more harshly than white children for similar offenses. Black people are imprisoned more often for offenses white people receive a slap on the wrist for. Of course this is who we are. It’s just more overt because Black people are not going to take it anymore. America has always treated those we fear this way.

And yet, God laments our going astray. America, America, killing the prophets and shooting those who are sent to you; how I have longed to gather your children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. Such unconditional love is hard for us to fathom. It is so foreign to our way of thinking. It is so much bigger than we are. It is a love that includes the bullies among us, though its first concern is those being bullied.

May this love ground us and guide our actions toward those being persecuted today.

Maturity

Matthew 23:36 – “Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation.”

Jesus has predicted the continued shedding of the blood of those who speak  truth to power. He was right. In every generation, those who work to change the injustices fashioned by the rulers are often killed, put in prison, or tortured. Not because God willed or wills it, but rather because power cannot stand a challenge. This is especially true when those in power are authoritarian and expect the rest of us to just obey. This seems to be what 45 expected when he became president and his followers seem to agree.

This is partially a result of our socialization and upbringing. I’ll repeat myself by stating that until we recognize the lies we have been taught and the truths that have been kept from us in our childhood, we will not be our authentic selves. The things we learn at home, at school, and at church are not always the things we were intended to learn. To the extent we identify unquestioningly with those lies, to that extent we will be certain of our beliefs. If my entire identity rests on the appearance of obeying rules or following orders without question, I have not yet matured. I would be like a child no matter my physical age.

I am authentic only to the extent that I choose freely the rules I live by. Sure, some of them may mirror those of society, but I still must agree that they are good rules. If I disagreed, I may not follow them. To the extent that my rules are my own choice, I will be mature. To the extent that I follow the rules and mores I was taught without question, I am not free. This freedom of self-hood is partially what enabled people like Dr. King or Dietrich Bonhoeffer to resist the evil in their midst. They knew who they were and they chose their morals and their actions followed.

This is a rich and profound idea. For our lives may not necessarily change when this happens. As an example, let’s look at Sarah Edwards. She was the wife of Jonathan Edwards, famous for his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” If you’re interested in the evangelical mindset, this sermon gives a glimpse into how they see God and the world around them. It highlights how important submission was then and it remains so today.

Back to Sarah. By her own telling, for two weeks in 1742 Sarah saw visions and received comforts from God. Sometimes these experiences were so intense that she fainted. She shared these visions and comforts with those around her. The end result of these visions was that she no longer served her family. She had a new “master,” God alone. She continued to take care of her husband and family as before, but she no longer thought of her husband as her master. She was submitting only to God. In choosing her path freely, she matured emotionally and spiritually.

You might think this example is pushing it a bit. Maybe so. I do have another example to share; a link to a quote from Bonnhoeffer’s prison writing. In it he discusses the dangers of people who are self-satisfied; the people that have not questioned the lies they were told. Go read it. 

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2018/07/29/sunday-favorites-262/

Blood

Matthew 23:35 – “That upon you shall come all the blood of the righteous shed upon the earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of the righteous Zachariah, son of Barachiah, who you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.”

This will come as a result of the scribes and Pharisees killing, scourging, and crucifying the prophets sent in their time, including Jesus. They’ll be held accountable for the blood of all the prophets, which will keep them in their place of misery.

I’ve been reading “For Your Own Good,” a book discussing German child-rearing practices and the trauma they induced. Those same techniques were and are prevalent in the US. The author, Alice Miller, makes a point that I agree with – in order to move ahead in our inner lives, we must first make peace with our history, our past. In the book, of course, it was the trauma caused by the parents, but in real life, there could be any number of things we must get past.

This was true in my life. For years, I unconsciously tried to change my past into a different one. (Spoiler alert: this doesn’t work.) When I became aware of this, I was able, with great difficulty to face what happened and move on. Without that, I would still be floundering. Reconciliation required facing and accepting the truth. It was painful, which is why denial is so popular. We tend to put off such painful and difficult endeavors, sometimes permanently.

I think the same is true of communities and nations. Peace circles are popping up in some cities to try and address this truth. Rather than turning an offender over to the police, community leaders talk with and listen to the person. That second piece is key. Rather than punitive justice, the goal is restorative justice. We need to listen to those who are caught hurting others in order to understand the entire picture. When the offender understands their offense, the community is brought together to discuss appropriate amends. The rift will be repaired. When the amends are made, the offender is welcomed back into the community. This process is intense and requires honesty and trust. But, it results in stronger, healthier communities. (I may have some details wrong.)

Of course, nations are too big for such a process. However, peace and harmony are not achieved by pretending slavery wasn’t that bad. Rather, they are achieved by recognizing the evil that was done and coming up with appropriate amends, reparations in the manner of the peace circles. But first, we must all agree on the facts. The US is not a country that agrees on the facts, so our challenge is education. Reforming education in elementary schools so that we no longer pretend that slavery is ever justifiable. Making certain that we teach everyone the awful truth of what our leaders have done and are still doing to those they deem unworthy; Black people, Hispanic people, poor people, disabled people, women, LGBTQ people. Only when we as a country can face the truth, can we heal the rift created by our long denial.

Until then, we will continue to shed the blood of gun-violence victims, people dying for lack of insurance, modern-day lynchings of Black people by the police, traumatized refugee families, mistreated and suicidal of LGBTQ people, harassed Muslims, disabled people who are left to fend for themselves, and all those experiencing poverty, homelessness, and/or hunger. Their blood will be on our hands. Only by facing, accepting, and making amends for our wrongs, can we move forward together as communities and as a country.