Who's safe?

Wow.

I changed my profile pic, and I pinned a safety pin on my shirt, and I made it clear that I was doing it so that people who feel marginalized by the current political climate know they have an ally in me. It says, "I'm safe."

This is about me and the people who feel marginalized. It's not about Trump or the people who voted for him (or the people who voted for Hillary, for that matter). I don't think this pin will magically help anybody or supernaturally defuse conflict. I'm just saying, "I get why you're worried, and I stand with you." 

It's about extending peace - shalom - to those who feel their nation has declared war on them - Hispanics, LGBT, Muslims, women, other racial minorities, immigrants in general - and saying it is my intent to be an agent of peace in this season of tension. I don't know what that looks like exactly, but I'm willing to try and figure it out.

And for some weird reason, that really ticks some people off. It's caused a number of people to say really ugly things about me, to dismiss me as an intellectual lightweight, and to accuse me of being a pawn of the media. 

I even had to unfriend a Facebook friend. I NEVER do that! But his reaction was so ugly it was making me lose my own peace. I don't understand why he cares that I care.

So, I'm trying to figure out what we can learn from this.

Apparently it's true that being a peacemaker is counter-cultural. 

When Jesus listed the eight qualities that would characterize the citizens of his upside-down kingdom, he included "peacemaker," because he knew it doesn't come naturally. Peace is a hallmark of the Way of Jesus, and it's the whole point of the gospel. Whatever you think it's about - staying holy, staying out of hell, staying on God's good side - whatever you think it's about, it's really about peace. It's about restoring shalom to God's good creation.

And until it's all restored - until Jesus returns - as long as we're here to represent him - it's all about hospitality - about extending grace and peace to the neighbor, the refugee, the immigrant, the outsider, the Samaritan.

And in Matthew 5:9, we learn that, in Jesus' kingdom, the peacemaker is already blessed because she is a "child of God." She reflects her maker.

So, when we look around today, we see shalom is fractured. Peace is overturned. People are heartsick and afraid. And, as Jesus followers, we shouldn't be worried about whether we have the best arguments, or whether we voted for the best set of policies. That season is OVER. 

As Jesus followers, we need to be the ones with the glue and the bandages, picking up the pieces and putting things back together and bandaging peoples' wounds and reassuring the broken - even if it makes us look like intellectual lightweights or pawns of the media.

We need to make peace. But making peace is counter-cultural. So we shouldn't be surprised when trying to make peace actually causes strife. Really, it just proves my point.

Not sure what I'm going to do about the arguably harmless safety pin on my lapel, but I know that, every day, I'll be praying for our broken, confused, angry, conflict-obsessed nation. And safety pin or not, I will do whatever I can to make peace in this uncertain season. 

And, yes, maybe I'll just start with a safety pin. At least it's a start.

Election Hangover

Wow. That was a bit of a shock.

The election is over and the nation is reeling. Some are tipping a glass; others are surfing the Canadian immigration website. In many cases, the former see God's hand of blessing, and the latter, his hand of judgment.

I'd like to offer a third option:

What if God didn't have a hand in this election at all?

I know Paul says that no government is in power except that which is "instituted by God," but the purpose of that passage (Romans 13:1-5) is to say that, once leadership is established, we should submit to it rather than be in constant conflict with it, because the purpose of government is to maintain order, and God is a god of order, not disorder.

It's not about God putting his favorite people in power. Besides, in Paul's day, leaders weren't elected by the governed, so this was Paul's way of calming the zealots and pointing them away from conflict and toward peace.

So what does God have to do with elections? Is God a god of the ballot box? 

Remember when Jesus said, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father"? (John 14:9) If we want to see how God works, we should look at Jesus.

The religious leaders felt threatened by Jesus' teaching, so they captured him and delivered him to the authorities, accusing him of trying to lead a rebellion and calling himself "The King of the Jews." 

The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, was a smart guy, and he knew something was fishy, so he gave Jesus an opportunity to defend himself. Jesus could have easily deflected blame and gotten back to work building his grass-roots movement. But he chose another route. 

He said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest...my kingdom is from another place."

Can God put people in office? Sure.

Does God put people in office? That's another thing, altogether.

Remember, our king is not housed in the Oval Office, the Capitol, the Pentagon, or any other building, but rather he resides in the hearts of us - his followers. And in order to take up residence there, he submitted. He didn't fight. He didn't rage. He didn't run. He offered himself up.

That's how we won. We thought it was about battles and nations and earthly kings, but actually, it was about surrender.

So, stand on Paul's advice, "Do not lose heart...our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Corinthians 4:16 & 18)

Deep breaths. This guy is not our king and the battle is already won. Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work bandaging wounds and cleaning up the mess.

Amen?

Psalm Challenge

Sunday, near the end of my message, I challenged everyone to pick a Psalm at random and read it. 

Then, keeping in mind our conversation about how the Psalms are poems, and about how poems are a collision of order and chaos, I asked you to share any observations along those lines - just a sentence or two - nothing elaborate.

So, I will be posting my observations to the Quest Facebook page shortly, so you can respond either there or here or both.

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I picked Psalm 27 totally at random, and here's what I found:

It starts with a boast of confidence in God - "Whom shall I fear? I will be confident even in the face of my enemies." But then, immediately he changes course and basically says, "One thing I seek - to have the safety and security of a relationship with God." 

This is a really good example of what we've been talking about. David's essentially saying, "God's got my back - so, I hope he's got my back." Lol.

He says, "My enemies don't have a chance," but then he says, "IF you take me in, God, my enemies will fall."

See, David's no different than us. If David can experience doubt, why do we think we won't?

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Okay, what did YOU find? Can't wait to hear...