A Christmas Message for 2016

Another year has passed, and coming soon will be another abundance of Christmas sermons.  I like Christmas sermons, because it is difficult to mess them up.  For many years, I have heard sermons that remind us that Jesus and the Holy Family were homeless and were refugees, and they are right to preach on this.  The message and concern is to ensure that we care for the least among us, for in doing so we care for Christ Himself.  The message is good one, but I don’t think the most needed this year.  Other sermons bemoan commercialism.  They remind us to keep “Christ” in Christmas, and remind us that the real gift of Christmas, the only gift that matters, is the gift of Jesus from God.  They are right; the message is good, but I do not think this message is the most needed for the people of our nation this year. 

This year has been a difficult one for our nation.  The divisions that have been growing for years now, have been made manifest in a most unholy vile display of animosity, and incivility to each other.  Much of the discontent is compounded by financial and political uncertainty.  For the first time in our nation’s history we are experiencing a period of pessimism. We are now a nation with little to no hope for the future.  And the disease among us is one of a general malaise of the soul.  In the Christian tradition, this reality is very provocative.  Proclaiming a message of hope, love and life, Christians ought to be outside of this cultural context of hopelessness, animosity, and fear.  So what message can be offered to other Christians that can bring hope?

I believe there is no quick answer, no word or quick message that will bring a cure.  The cure to heal our common Christian life will involve a long endurance, a long repentance (a slow turning) , and commitment to revaluing community, revaluing each other, revaluing relationships over fame, over ego, over convenience.  The solution and cure seems impossible; and it is impossible without hope.  How on earth could our current situation of division, isolation, fear, and violence shift directions?

Well the good news is in our faith tradition.  In the Christmas story we see a subtle, unnoticeable injection of hope and salvation by God unbeknownst the rest of the world.  The actual birth of Jesus of Nazareth was of no consequence to the people of Jerusalem, Nazareth, Alexandria, Athens, no not even the capital of the empire, Rome.  On this night, the peoples in those cities and around the world continued on with their lives as usual.  The poor were still abused and hungry; political powers still strategized how to maintain power; religious people still prayed; oppressors and oppressed still maintained their relationships.  In the birth of Jesus, God was acting under our radar.  While this birth of hope was taking place, there was also the loss of hope of people all around the world, but the injection of hope came nonetheless.  Hope came once again from where we least expect it; it came from where we don’t want to look; it came from places we just can’t be bothered to look.  From Joseph to Moses to Samuel to King David to Amos; once again from an unexpected place and time comes the unfolding of our salvation history and our hope.  God acts apart from us; apart from our feelings and expectations.  And may I suggest this is where we find hope.  At the time of Jesus’s birth, the people of Israel still had 30 years to wait until the ministry of Jesus began.  Thirty more years before the Good News of the Kingdom of God would be taught, and the poor, the sick, the outcast would be given hope.  In God’s good time, and from God’s chosen places God was and is acting.

And who of faith can say God was not acting? In this under-the-radar act of God we see the profound story of an inconsequential, disposable baby born in scandal becoming the object of faith for the Greatest Empire in the Western world.  Through this birth the oppressor of Israel would come to worship the God of Israel without a sword being lifted.  Something unexpected certainly happened.  And I believe in that truth lies our hope for change.  While we ourselves need to change: we need to be more kind, we need to be more loving, we need to value others more…we can also have confidence that God is working, almost always under the radar, and in that there is hope.  Former Archbishop Rowan Williams is quoted as saying, “The Christian Life is a listening life,” and that we are a people expecting to hear God speak to His people.  This Christmas let us take time to listen and to look in places we don’t expect God.  Let us hope, and expect God to act…let us dare to hope, that just like then God is, in places beyond our comprehension, still injecting hope and salvation into our world.

The Political-Right Get “Judeo-Christian Values” Wrong

In the American Culture Wars there are a number of trigger words and phrases used by Political-Conservative American Christianity. They are often used as weapons, but lack precision, context or accuracy; that is how they survive and perpetuate a perverse tradition separate from both Scripture and Tradition.  For example, one phrase used is: “Traditional Christian Family Values:” What are those precisely?  Does anyone ever read what Jesus says about the family before using that phrase?  Another trigger phrase is “Judeo-Christian Values.”  Again, what is precisely meant by this? It is an ambiguous term used by the political-right to add legitimacy to its so-called moral authority.  But what are some values held in the wisdom literature of these traditions.  Let us look at Ecclesiasticus:

My child, do not cheat the poor of their living, and do not keep needy eyes waiting. 

Do not grieve the hungry, or anger one in need. 

Do not add to the troubles of the desperate, or delay in giving to the needy. 

Do not reject a suppliant in distress, or turn your face away from the poor. 

Do not avert your eye from the needy, and give no one reason to curse you; for if in bitterness of soul some should curse you, their Creator will hear their prayer.

Endear yourself to the congregation; bow your head low to the great. 

Give a hearing to the poor, and return their greeting politely. 

Rescue the oppressed from the oppressor; and do not be hesitant in giving a verdict. 

Be a father to orphans, and be like a husband to their mother; you will then be like a son of the Most High, and he will love you more than does your Mother

(Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 4:1-10)

This is a most difficult saying, and I must admit I fail at it.  But this is what I see in Scripture, and recognize as our core Judeo-Christian Values.  This is a part of that which I strive to become (as do many Jews and Christians).  Proper, Healthy Religion transforms one to become a better human being; and in doing so more like the Divine.  I am typically politically neutral, and make it a point to have the ability to argue the point of both sides of the political divide.  But, what I will not tolerate is Christianity being hijacked by people claiming moral superiority at the ignorance of Scripture, and the neglect of those we are charged to care for.  When outsiders hear “Judeo-Christian Values” it should not be a herald of darkness and hypocrisy.  When outsiders hear “Judeo-Christian values’ they should know that justice, mercy and compassion is on its way…it should be a beacon of Good News to the oppressed.

"First You Decide, Then We Will Study."

In this two-part blog, I am going to talk about politics; well, sort-of, but not really.  In this two-part blog, I am going to talk about atheism and belief in God; well, sort-of, but not really.  What I am going to talk about is being human; something we can all relate to being.  I am going to talk about a spiritual/philosophical/psychological dynamic of being human which I am finding very curious these days.  I believe whole-heartedly that humans are more loyal to their own egos than to the truth; that humans can take very little reality without having to put their defenses up and say “no.”  There comes a point in conscience development when the mind stops accepting things as they are, and begins to try to bend them to how they are desired to be.  And, while I believe it is the job of philosophy and psychology to help diagnose and understand this phenomenon, I believe spirituality and psychology can offer a way out of the situation (if that is even desired). 

I begin with a story I heard in college: a man comes to a rabbi, and asks to study the Torah and Prophets.  The rabbi asks, “Why do you want to study?”  The man says, “Rabbi, I am trying to study all the religions because I want to see which one is most true.  So I am studying them all, and then I will decide on which is the most true.”  The rabbi said, “I will not teach you.”  The man upset asks, “Why Rabbi? I want to study, I am genuinely interested. Will you not teach me?”  And the rabbi answered, “No, first you decide, then we will study.”

I have always been intrigued by this story, and the rabbi’s demand: “first you decide, then we will study.”  And whether I like it or not that is how we as humans come to our knowledge as time goes on; we make a decision, and then we study.  The error of this order is obvious, but necessary in many ways.  Pre-conceived belief is an easier way for our minds to take in mass amounts of contradictory data.  Without a belief or beginning prejudice this process would almost be impossible. However, once one decides on a point-of-view, then one begins to see how information and facts help fortify that view.  Likewise, one sees more readily facts and information that attack or dismiss any opposing view.  In the long-run, without another opening up of the mind, the mind begins to be completely warped by prejudice or beliefs; and data collection will inevitably shut-down. What is worse, is that the ego begins to identify itself with the belief; or perhaps it is better to say, that the idea or prejudice becomes more of a matter of ego than truth: the ego's identity is in the belief.  To see the consequences, one only need to look around our world today.

For an example let us take our current Presidential race. Many many have decided long ago who they were going to vote for in this election (Was that necessary? Responsible?).  And once they made that decision, they usually only see data that confirms and conforms to their view or prejudice; likewise they dismiss any data that attacks their view.  Take a look and you will see Pro-Hillary Clinton persons see very little or nothing wrong with her.  Every bump in the road is a challenge she rose up against; she is not a messiah, but she is certainly on a pedestal.  Everything her opponents say, whether it is Donald Trump or Gary Johnson is wrong, and deserves condemnation.  Likewise, many who support Donald Trump laud him. They see that he does nothing or little wrong (and if he does it pales in comparison to the treachery of the opponents).  Likewise, they can see no good in either Hillary Clinton or Gary Johnson, both would literally “ruin” this country.  Supporters of Gary Johnson…well, I think my point is clear.  In reality, if we are honest, all three are human beings; and being human does mean that they are not 100% evil, or 100% great: those are abstract concepts, not human beings. Likewise, their supporters are not 100% evil or 100% good; again an abstract concept.  And what does it mean if one can honestly say they find NOTHING wrong with the views of their candidate, or NOTHING good about the views of the persons they are not voting for?

But we will explore this more in the second half when we correlate it to belief in God.  I leave the reader with a challenge: can you observe yourself apart from yourself?  Can you see and identify your beliefs and prejudices (whether good or bad) and how they affect the data and news you see?