Thoughts and Musings

Thoughts and Musings

random reflections on faith, music, family, life.

Welcome the stranger

1/30/2017

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Anyone who knows me know that I never wait until the last minute to write my Sunday sermon.  It's pretty much done by the time I leave the office on Thursday, so I can actually enjoy my day off on Friday. I may do some slight tweaking on Saturday morning before the rest of the family gets up, but that's about it.

Recently, though, I've joined the ranks of a lot of other pastors who have had to burn the midnight oil on Saturday evenings into Sunday mornings, revising or even rewriting their Sunday message, given some of the things happening on the world stage. This is not fun, but it comes with the gig sometimes.  As I shared with my pastor colleague at Trinity, I get the sense we pastors are going to need to exercise this muscle a little more regularly in the future.

This past Sunday I exercised that muscle until about 2:30am Sunday morning.  It wasn't a total rewrite - I wanted to speak to part of our 2020 Vision as previously planned - but the latter part of the sermon was in direct response to the immigration ban.  That's the part I'm sharing below (although you're more than welcome to read and listen to the sermon in its entirety HERE).

What are your thoughts on this?  Most everybody has at least one. Feel free to share in the comments below - knowing that while all opinions are welcome, not all tones and language are; and I reserve the right to delete comments that do not contribute to a positive dialogue.

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(This part of the sermon is based on Matthew 25: 31-46)

This other parable Jesus tells, the one about the sheep and goats, there’s a reason, I believe, that he saves it for last.  It is that important.  If those disciples remember anything, Jesus wants them to remember this.  All the nations come before the King – all the nations, y’all – and they are subsequently placed into one of two categories: sheep or goats.  And just as in the parable before, there’s some inheriting going on here as well – “inheriting the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” – that’s what’s at stake.  That’s no small inheritance.  This is big-time, bigger than the five talents that first servant got.  We’re talking one’s very soul here.  Perhaps that’s why my Bible gives this parable the title “The Final Judgment.”

But let us be clear about what they are being judged upon: it is not about whether they believed or didn’t believe in a corporate profession of faith.  It’s not about whether they had or did not have a personal relationship with their kingly savior.  No – what ultimately matters, the king makes quite clear, is their relationship with each other, and specifically how they treat each other.

In fact, the king – and this is tremendous – the king draws a direct correlation between the others and him, saying unequivocally, “how you treat them is exactly how you treat me.”  I was hungry, and you fed me.  I was thirsty, you gave me drink.  I was naked, and you clothed me.  I was sick, and you cared for me.

I was a stranger, and you welcomed me in.

And lest we are tempted to take the easy way out and think he’s referring to just some stranger we pass on the street, the Greek word used here for “stranger”,
xenos, means "foreigner" or "guest."

Friends, I don’t want to get into government policy or partisan politics – that’s not my job, and frankly, I’m terrible at it anyway.  My job, the one you called me to, is to preach the gospel; and the gospel here tells us to welcome the stranger.  And I cannot help but think that something has gone awry when we as followers of one who was himself a refugee fail to do that. 

Can we at least agree that something’s gone awry when Hameed Jhalid Darweesh, an Iraqi refugee who had faithfully served as an interpreter for the US military for a decade, is not allowed for a time to return to the country he calls home?  Can we agree that something’s gone awry when families desperately trying to flee the ever-present threat of terrorism in their own countries are being turned away from ours because they’re somehow perceived as a threat themselves?  Can we agree that as a people, as a nation, we are broken, we are hurting, we are living in fear, we are not the best version of ourselves – can we at least agree on that?

Like you, I want our church to live into a vision that does more than simply transform how we see our facilities and finances; I want the whole church to live into a vision that transforms how we see each other.  How we welcome each other.  How we stand for and with each other, especially those who cannot stand on their own.  I want us to welcome and be in relationship with the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, and the stranger because I want us to be in relationship with Jesus – and he has made it quite clear that how we treat those folks is precisely how we treat him.

If this second sermon speaks to what is already on your heart, that’s great – but please don’t stop there, it is not enough to feel confirmed, please find ways that you can speak up and speak out yourself, because the truth now is that we all are preachers of a sort.  And if this second sermon makes you uncomfortable or offends you, then let’s have a conversation about it.  No one says we have to agree all the time to be part of the body of Christ; no one says we have to see everything eye-to-eye.  The important thing, my friends, the most important thing is that we agree that our primary allegiance above all others is to Jesus Christ, and who he is for all of us, and who he calls us to be, and what he calls us to do with all we’ve been entrusted with. If we can at least agree on that, then we are already investing our talents and witnessing to the love and justice of Jesus Christ.

I think it’d be a great time to pray.  Would you pray with me?

God in heaven, we hear you loud and clear: the master entrusts more to those he expects more from.  And you’ve entrusted us with so much: you have given us this church and you have filled our hearts with endless love.  May we invest those talents, faithfully and confidently, living into your vision through our words and our actions – not just for the sake of this church but for all the nations.  So that one day, we too will hear that glorious response: well done, good and faithful servant, you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master!

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, thanks be to God – and may all of God’s people say, AMEN!

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Live Into The Dream

1/16/2017

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It is not easy seeing racism at work if you're white.  I speak from experience.  It takes effort, intentionality, and putting aside defensiveness and denials.  It takes listening - a lot of listening - and resisting the urge to immediately respond. And then listening some more.  I'm still a work in progress, trust me.  I know I'm barely scratching the surface.

This past week I joined fifty of my Charlotte Presbyterian pastor sisters and brothers for a two-day workshop called "Dismantling Racism."  By design, the group was half white/half black.  Our two facilitators led us through a deliberate process in large and small group conversations where open and honest dialogue was encouraged.  I found the experience both enlightening and exhausting.  It is hard having your eyes opened to see in full a reality that, by design, puts one ethnic group at an inherent disadvantage under another.  
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Our tendency is to say that we didn't ask for this, that it's not the way we think or act or feel, that we're not racist.  It's an understandable initial defense mechanism.  It is not, however, an acceptable final landing place.   As long as we remain unaware of and/or disinterested in learning about the continued effects of cultural and institutional racism on our own lives, we perpetuate the lie that racism is.  

So on this MLK Day I want to invite you (and I'm speaking primarily to my white brothers and sisters here) to do more than simply attend an MLK service or post great MLK quotes in social media: watch the Emmy Award winning documentary Colorblind: Rethinking Race.  A heads-up: this is not an easy thing to watch.  It recounts in stark and shocking ways how various institutions at the center of our societal structure - government, schools, education, science to name a few - have, over the past few hundred years, passed laws and instituted norms and understandings designed to elevate Caucasian people above and at the expense of African-Americans and other people of color.  And how we are still living that reality.

I kind of equate this video to having a bright light blasted in your face. You immediately shut your eyes tight.  Your instinct is not to open them because the light is so bright and it hurts.  It takes intentionality and more than a little faith to get over that instinct.  When you open them, though, your eyes slowly begin adjusting to your new reality, and you start to see, for the first time, what's been there all along.  The trick from there on, of course, is to keep looking.

Let's do more this MLK day than just express gratitude and be thankful for a man who had a dream. Let's also pledge to open our eyes so we can begin to help our world live into that dream.

Colorblind :Rethinking Race (2012) from Barbara Allen on Vimeo.

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    Steve Lindsley

    Child of God. Husband. Father. Minister. Musician. Songwriter. Blogger.
    Keynoter and Songleader. Runner/Swimmer. 
    Almost vegetarian. 
    Lifelong Presbyterian.
    Queen City resident.
    Coffee afficionado.
    Dog person. 
    Panthers/Hornets fan. 
    Mostly in that order. 
    For more info check out stevelindsley.com

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