Orlando,
Florida — the “happiest place on earth” became the bloodiest and
unhappiest place in America, last Sunday morning. All it took was a man
with deep hatred in his heart and an assault weapon that gunned down 49
people.
The
atrocity sends shock waves through the nation. The populace becomes
angry and afraid. Some take to the social media to express their anger
and frustration about these horrific events happening repeatedly. Others
run to gun stores to store up ammunition to “protect” themselves.
The
event evokes feelings within us — feelings of sorrow, sadness, anger,
pain, revenge, hate, helplessness, hopelessness, and ultimately, fear, a
lot of fear. Fear for our safety, fear for the safety of our loved
ones; Fear for the future our country.
You
can feel the anxiety of the people and the angst of a nation expressed
through thousands of social media postings and blogs. You can read them
in editorials; you can hear them in political speeches. In a week or
two, the rantings and ravings will stop. Memories of the horrors of
Orlando will recede into the back of our minds and we will get busy with
life — until the next incident happens.
It
is not a prediction, but stating a reality. Unless the leaders of our
nation think seriously about combating domestic terrorism, lower the
tone and temperature of our political discourse, and enact common sense
gun laws, it will be only matter of time before another mass shooting
occurs.
In
this context, what is a Christian supposed to do? How are we disciples
of Christ supposed to think? Should we join the crowd and hate Muslims?
Then what happens to our discipleship which calls us to love our
enemies? How does Jesus’ command to “turn the other cheek” make sense in
this situation?
Is
God on our side when we fight the enemy? Are our national interests and
divine interests the same? If they are different, how do we conduct
ourselves as citizens and disciples at the same time? Jesus says: “Let
not your hearts be troubled; trust in me and trust in my Father.” Can we
trust Jesus to protect us or should we go out and buy some guns? Jesus
says: “Be not afraid.” But the truth is that we are afraid. How do we
live as fearless followers of Jesus among fearful citizens? These are
difficult questions for a disciple.
Let
us turn to the first disciple, Peter, for some guidance in this matter.
Peter was not a courageous man; in fact he was a fearful man. That is
why he denied Jesus three times, in front of a maid. Peter was also a
narrow minded Jew. He was not open to the Gentiles, and he did not want
to associate with them. He thought he was specially chosen by God and
the Gentiles were outside the love of God.
Then
Peter went through a transformation of consciousness. An awakening
happened in his life that changed his whole perspective about Gentiles
and the so called outsiders. Today, we call them immigrants, Muslims,
Mexicans or any one who is outside our tribe. Peter’s awakening is
described in chapters 10 and 11 of the Acts of the Apostles. I strongly
encourage you to read it.
Let
me summarize the experience that opened Peter’s eyes. Peter was staying
in the house of a man named Simon, the tanner, in a town called Joppa.
At
noon, Peter went to the roof of the house which was a terrace, to pray
and he fell into a trance. He saw the sky open and a sheet being lowered
in front of him, by its four corners. Inside it, were all the four
legged creatures of the earth, and reptiles and birds of the sky. A
voice said to him: “Get up Peter, kill and eat!”
Peter
replied: “Surely not, Lord. I have never eaten anything unclean or
impure.” The prospect of eating unclean food was against his religion.
It was a horrifying thought for Peter. But then, he hears the voice a
second time: “Do not call anything unclean, what God has purified.” This
happened three times and then the sheet was taken back to heaven.
While
Peter was still thinking about the meaning of this vision, he hears a
knock on the door. He finds two men standing there. They had come to
invite him to the house of Cornelius. Now, you have to remember that
Cornelius was a gentile and Jews and gentiles are not supposed to mix
and mingle. Peter was a bit confused, but went with them anyway.
When
he arrived, Peter said to Cornelius: “You are well aware that it is
against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or to visit him.
But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
That is why I have come in response to your invitation without raising
any objections.”
And
then Peter said these words to the people gathered in the house: “I now
realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism. But accepts
men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”
God
shows no partiality. God does not love one nation more than another.
God does not love one group of people over another; God does not favor
one religion over another religion. God is not a partisan. He wants all
his children to be united, beyond borders, beyond nationalism beyond
religions.
If
you want to be a Godly people, you need to think and act like God. You
cannot claim to be a Godly person and be prejudiced and discriminating
towards any group of people, be they from other countries or other
religions or have different pigmentation or sexual orientation.
That
is what Peter, the first disciple realized; that is what, we as today’s
disciples need to realize. It is a difficult lesson to learn. We will
learn that lesson only if we transform our lives through
Christ-consciousness. Remember, the tag line of our church is “
Transforming lives through Christ-consciousness.” Our narrow, selfish
human consciousness will not change our attitudes. It will not allay our
anxieties or remove our fears.
All
us have different identities. I can think of 8 deterrent identities for
myself: I am a husband, a parent, an Indian citizen, an American
citizen, a hospice chaplain, a minister, a Christian, and a disciple.
(Now you may wonder isn’t “Christian” and “disciple” the same? Not
always. You can be a good Christian and a bad disciple at the same time.
I won’t go into that now, because that is a whole new sermon)
So,
I am this one individual with 8 different identities. Each one of them
involve differing loyalties and allegiances. Some more than others. For
example, there is very little conflict between my identity as a parent
and as a husband. Similarly, my identity as a hospice chaplain and
minster are very compatible.
But
during crisis situations like the events of 9/11, or terrorist attack
in Orlando, or a heated election season like we are having now, we may
feel conflicted about our national identity and our religious identity.
Your loyalties may be questioned. Your allegiances may be challenged.
Your faith may be tested.
What is your primary identity? Are you an American first and a Disciple second?
Let
me answer that question by using the story of Abraham, who is the
called the “Father of Faith.” It is a long story that spans a total of 9
chapters in the book of Genesis (12–21). Please read it: It is a
fascinating story of fear and courage, despair and hope, struggle and
surrender, the possible and the impossible, of losing and finding, and
ultimate transformation of his identity. Let me summarize it.
First of all, Abraham was not his original name. He had a different name (anyone knows?) His name was Abram
which means (exalted father). “The Lord called Abram and said to him:
“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to
the land I will show you.” (Gen.12:1)
God
has already asked him to give up 3 of his identities: His national
identity, his cultural identity and his family identity. Leave your
country, leave your people, leave your household!
Abram
was 75 years old. He takes his wife Sara, his nephew Lot and leaves his
land called Haran and is headed for Canan. It was a long journey full
of dangers and risks. He had to deal with famine. He had to face
enemies. There were quarrels between Abram and Lot and they had to go
separate ways. But God kept on reassuring him: “Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield, your very great reward” (15:1)
After
24 years of grueling journey, when Abram was 99 years old, the Lord
appeared to him again and said: “As for me, this is my covenant with
you. You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be
called Abram, from now on, your name will be Abraham, for I have made
you a father of many nations.” (17:4–6)
You
have to remember he was 99 years old. Fatherhood at that age is
impossible by human standards. Yet we know that he became the father of
Issac and through him the father of the chosen people. Remember he also
had to deal with God’s command to sacrifice his only son. So, on the one
hand is the promise of a great nation through his progeny, but on the
other hand he had to sacrifice that progeny. It made absolutely no
sense. Yet, Abraham complied with God..and we know what happens when we
comply with God against our human calculations. It is hard to do, but it
pays off all the time.
Abraham
became the “Father of Faith” through his single minded faithfulness to
God. Fear and faith are related. Your fearfulness is directly
proportionate to your faithfulness. The more faith you have, the less
fearful you are and, vice-avers. To remain faithful to God, Abraham had
to leave behind several identities behind: his national, cultural, and
family identities, and finally he had to even give up his name. He
relinquished his identity as Abram to become Abraham.
How many identities do you have? If you had to give up all your identities and choose just one, what would that be?
Would
you choose “Disciple” as your primary identity? It is a difficult
question to answer, but we must honestly answer that, especially in
trying times like these.
If
you dare to assume “Disciple” as your primary identity, then you may
have to rethink your view on people of other religions like Islam, and
other countries like Mexico. Do I support banning Muslims from entering
this country and building a wall to keep the Mexicans out? You may have
to re-examine your views on guns. “What is more important to me — the 10
commandments or the second amendment? The Bible or the Constitution?”
These are not easy questions.
But
who said discipleship is easy? Listen to Jesus telling his followers.
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross
daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”(Luke 9:23–25)
Jesus
is asking you to deny your identity, your own very self, the self that
you may be jealously safe-guarding. He is asking us to shed our personal
ignorance and national arrogance. He is asking us to leave behind our
national loyalties and worldly allegiances and make discipleship our
priority.
Do you know what is the pay-off for doing that? It is huge. It is something we should all want.
Let
us see what was the pay-off for Abraham for giving up so much,
including his name. God said: “I will make you a great nation and I will
bless you. I will make your name great; you will be a blessing..I will
bless those who bless you..and all people on earth will be blessed
through you.” (Gen12:2–3)
God
stretched his name from Abram to Abraham. He expanded his name from
Abram which meant, “exalted father” to Abraham which meant “father of
nations.”
If
you really want to be a Godly people, and true disciples, you have to
be willing to undergo some “stretching and expanding” — stretching your
mind to include all people in your circle of concern and expanding your
heart to embrace them with love.
All “stretching” causes pain at first, but is rewarding at the end.
If
you really want to be blessed by God and be a blessing to others,
choose “Disciple” as your default identity. Make sure that your
thinking, feeling and acting are sifted through the spiritual sieve of
“Christ-consciousness.”
Any other way of living will be compromising your Christianity, diluting your discipleship and faking your faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment