Why Sponsor Refugees?

As a follower of Jesus for me it is very simple, I am called to love. I am called to love all people. There are no exceptions. I am to love those who even may be my enemies.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-48

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.

Luke 6:27-29

The Bible also calls us to pay special attention to the most vulnerable (Matthew 25:31-46; James 1:26-27). Refugees are among the vulnerable in our world today.

Now I know that there is a lot of debate about this. Many people do not find this situation that simple. In fact I am very aware that there are a lot of complex and difficult questions. I know that we cannot do everything. However as a follower of Jesus I am compelled to respond in love. Love requires some kind of action. We could discuss what kind of action should be taken. But no action means no love.

There are a few common objections I hear regarding sponsoring refugees. For some these are real concerns and expressed out of a place of love. However too often (like 90% of the time) these objections come from a lot of fear (and usually some a measure of hate). They are simply excuses for disobeying Jesus while trying to sound and look holy.

Now before I carry on allow me to fully confess. I do not love the way I am supposed to. Much of my life is lived in a selfish and self-centered way. I do not say this to sound good. Anyone who knows me knows that it is true that I am selfish. I want to be clear this blog is not about me being better than other people. I combat fear and selfishness every day (often failing). In fact I am worse than many others because I know the truth and what I am called to do, but I don’t do it. I often allow fear and selfishness dominate instead of the power of the Holy Spirit. The point of this blog is to call me (and others) to pursue love in obedience to Jesus who loves us.

It is too risky!

It is simply too dangerous for us to sponsor and bring refugees here, this objection says. The danger people feel is that Muslims will take over destroying our way of life or they will commit acts of terror in our country. (Both of these objections I will discuss below.) It is not surprising that people feel this way. Especially in light of the attacks in Paris.

So is there a risk? Yes. There is no point in denying this. Denying that there is a risk is I believe to ignore the truth.

However everything that we do in life involves risk. It is risky to have people minster in down town Winnipeg. It is risky to send teams into the prison to minster there. The question is not “is there risk?” Rather “is this risk reasonable?” We are debating “is the risk of bringing refugees reasonable?” This debate needs to be held not simply in light of society’s standards, which state that my safety and security is of ultimate priority, but rather we debate in light of seeking to follow and obey our master Jesus the Messiah.

They are all terrorists!

This argument comes in different flavors. On the extreme the argument says that all Muslims are terrorists. It suggests that the whole Syrian conflict is simply a massive cover up in order to sneak people into the Western world so that they can take over. On the more moderate side the argument says that the terrorists will use this refugee crisis as an opportunity to smuggle some terrorist cells into the Western world.

The extreme side has no basis in fact. The idea that the Syrian conflict is not real is a denial of the truth, actually it is a lie. Also there are many Muslims living in the Western world who are peace loving and good citizens. Those holding to this view know this, and the way they get around it is by saying that any Muslim who is not a terrorist is not a real Muslim. Just for the record some Muslims agree with them. These Muslims are killing those “so-called” Muslims. Hence we have a major refugee crisis in Syria. ISIS kills mostly Muslim people because those Muslim people refuse to join them and become terrorists.

Now regarding the more moderate side. I would not be surprised if it was true that terrorists are trying use the refugee crisis to sneak into the Western world. Though at this point there is no evidence one way or another. (Those who point to the attacks on Paris should note that most of the attackers were actually born in France and not “refugees” from Syria.) This is why we need to have security checks. We want to help those who need help and not just assist terrorists in travelling.

Now some argue saying “if you have a bag of M&Ms and one might be poisoned how many would you take?” The conclusion that we are to jump to is that if there is one terrorist then we should not allow any refugees in. This is a possible solution. However if we are going to follow that logic then we should ban everyone from every country from ever coming into our country. Take USA for example. They have drug dealers, criminals, and mass shootings. They have even had people go into schools and shoot children. Now most Americans are amazing people, like 99.99% of them. Every American I have meet has been a wonderful person, and would make fantastic neighbors. But if we allow any Americans in, then one of those bad people might sneak in. And if you bag of M&Ms…

So I believe we need to have security. There is a level of risk. But I believe that is not so great that we should not help and extend love to those in need. A final note, as a follower of Jesus safety and security should be considered but it is not our ultimate priority, following Jesus and obeying him (including the commands to love) is our priority.

They will take over and we will no longer be a Christian nation!

The reasoning here is that Muslims will take over simply because they have more children than Christians. This means that eventually Christians will be in minority and the Muslims will rule. Canada will not be a Christian nation instead we will become a Muslim nation.

First, a Christian nation that does not respond in love out of obedience to Jesus is not a Christian nation. Sponsoring refugees is not a threat to our Christian heritage. Refusing to sponsor them is a threat to our Christian heritage.

Second, Christians are not born. A person must choose to follow Jesus. It does not matter what position (or religion) someone was born into, everyone can become a follower of Jesus. The power of the Spirit is powerful enough to draw anyone to Christ. To deny this is to deny the gospel itself. A quick side note. This is one of the reasons I get upset when people claim that President Obama is a Muslim and not a Christian. Obama has publically stated he is a Christian. Some Christians have objected to this saying he was born a Muslim and therefore is a Muslim. Now I do not know Obama’s heart (that for God alone to judge) but Muslim can become a Christian. This is the gospel! To deny this is to deny Jesus.

The future of the church does not rest in Christians having babies. It rests in God himself, who through the power of the Holy Spirit is able to bring salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus to all people. My God is big enough to rescue and transform anyone.

One of the problems of the Western church has is that we don’t believe this. Too often we have thought that Jesus is not the only way to God. Why invite people to know Jesus, to become a Christian, if all ways lead to God? Or we have not experienced the power Spirit in our lives, thinking that Christianity is only about getting a ticket to heaven. If Christianity is only about getting a ticket and not being transformed then there is no real hope in reaching those who are radically opposed to him. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is great enough to save even those radically opposed to him. We do not need to live in fear. Jesus said he will build his church (Matthew 16:18). I have enough faith to believe that he can live up to his promise.

We should take care of our own first!

This is a good objection. In fact this is a serious challenge to Christians. To be honest I find it easier to help people who are far away. Give some money and my obligation is finished. To take care of our own often requires true sacrifice. And it often means getting involved in messy situations over a long time. It is not glamorous and requires a lot of us. So this objection should not written off quickly.

However the objection implies that we cannot do both. Why can we not sponsor refugees and care for our own at the same time? Certainly we have enough resources.

This objection also implies that we are not taking care of our own people in Canada. My church is involved in sponsoring refugees. Yet this Sunday we invited people to help with Angel Tree, a program that gives presents to the children of inmates, we invited people to donate to the empty stocking fund for our community, and we invited people to sign up to serve at Inner City Youth Alive’s Christmas dinner. We are trying to take care of our own. Could we do more? Yes. However to think that sponsoring refugees means that we have to ignore our own is false.

Let me use my family for an example. I have three daughters. When my kids were born this did not lessen my love or care for my wife. When my second and third child were born it did not lessen my love and care for my first child. Instead I found that my love and care grew. I believe that sponsoring refugees offers us a chance for our love and care to grow, not to get less.

There is nothing that convinces me that we have to choose between sponsoring refugees and helping our own people.

We should help Christians and not Muslims!

This objection is based on the fact that as Christians we are brothers and sisters in Christ, and therefore family. Family should come first.

Perhaps an argument could be mounted that we should pay special attention to other Christians. However there are a couple of problems that immediately surface. First, special attention given to Christians does not mean that we neglect everyone else. We are called to love all people not just Christians. Second, most often this simply means do not sponsor Muslims. This has little to do with sponsoring Christians and much more about keeping Muslims out. Most often this reason is fueled by hatred and fear of Muslims and not love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Just for the record in Canada we are not allowed to ask the religion of the person we are sponsoring. Yes, we can guess. But we do not know. We sponsor refugees because they were forced to abandon their homes and flee for their lives.

We do not have enough jobs! They will just be a drain on our system!

This is a double objection to bringing refugees. First, is that there is simply not enough jobs to sustain bringing these people in. Of course if this is actually true then perhaps we should stop all immigration. Now it is true that in some areas and places in Canada work is hard to come by. There are people who are unemployed and finding it difficult to find a job. However I am not convinced that this is true over all of Canada. The second part of this objection is that the refugees will choose not to work and end up being a drain on our economy.

I do not have any stats that inform me of how many refugees are gainfully employed. However I can share what I have personally seen in the refugees that have come to our community. (When the Syrian refugees arrive here they will not be the first refugee families my community has sponsored. As someone said this is not our first rodeo). So with the families that have been here for a while this is what I have seen. One went on to be an engineer, one started an automotive body shop, two started a barber business, and others work in some of the local industries in our community. They have not been a drain on our economy. They have shown a willingness to work and contribute.

Love our enemies

We are commanded to love our enemies. 

Is this love?

• Can we truly say that we love our enemies if we kill them? If our heart's desire is that "iron man" or "Rambo" would go in and wipe those people off the face of the earth can we say we love them?
• Do we pray that God would kill them? If in our prayers we ask that God would smite them, send down lightening and zap them all, can say that we love them?
• If we wish they would burn in hell, is that love?

Love may look like:

• Praying that God would rescue and bless them. 
• Wishing, hoping, longing, that at the end of time when when we stand before Jesus entering heaven these enemies would stand beside us as our brothers and sisters. 

We instead of I

Last week I attended a retreat lead by Rob Des Cotes from Imago Dei Community.

Jesus' identity was plural. He came to world not as "I alone", but rather as "we" - the Father and him.

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me

John 14: 9-11

Jesus prays that we will have a similar identity

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.

John 17:20-23

Instead of facing the world saying, "I will do this" or "I will take this on" or "I will deal with this". We invited to say "we".
It is not "I" who faces the world, but rather the Father and me. "I" do not need to deal with or fix or face that. "We" - the Father and me - will approach the world.

Weeping for the city

Jesus weeps as he enters the city of Jerusalem for the last time (Luke 19:41-44).
He is not weeping for himself. Though it is evident that he knows that he moving to the end of his life. He weeps for the city. The city that is about to turn on him and crucify him.
He weeps because Jerusalem is headed for destruction. Because the city failed to "recognize the time of God's coming".

How does one weep for a city today?

I want to be like Jesus. This means learning to weep for the city where I live.
Weeping implies great compassion. This is my first prayer. "Holy Spirit stir up compassion for my town."
Destruction was coming on Jerusalem, which why Jesus wept. Is destruction coming on my city? I cannot see anything like what happened to Jerusalem (being invade by an army) happening to Altona. But people's lives and families are being destroyed. Destroyed through addictions, abuse, selfishness... Am I weeping because of those things?
Jerusalem failed to recognize the movement of God. Is my town failing to see what God is doing (or wants to do)? Can I see how the Spirit is being stifled? Am I weeping because people are blind to God's Spirit?

Losing sight of Jesus

I am reading through the book of Luke. This morning I read the story about the blind man in Jericho (Luke 18:35-43). The blind man wants to see again. I thought about this. Pondered it. Journalled about it.  Am I a blind man wanting to see once again? Once I saw. But have things now crept in to fog my vision? I want to see again.
I prayed. And than began my day.

Only later did I realize that I am blind.

I did not see Jesus. 

I saw the blind man. I thought about the blind man - journalled about him - but never once did I see Jesus.

I lost sight of Jesus, while reading the stories about him.

Is this because I relate to the blind man? And I do like to think about myself.
Is this how I normally read the gospels? Seeing the people that Jesus interacts with, relating to them but not seeing Jesus.
It is like I am the main character, seeing myself in the many different faces through out the gospels. Jesus is a co-star. Jesus is sort of like Yoda. Wise and cool. But the story is not really about him, its about me.

I am so blind.

Faith and Prayer

Jesus tells a parable about the need to pray (Luke 18:1-8).

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Luke 18:1

After the parable Jesus says,

However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8

The question was not "will he find people praying on the earth?"
We begin with prayer and end with faith.

This lead me to ask some other questions:

• Is a lack of prayer evidence of a lack of faith? Little prayer = little faith
• If that is true - the question of "how much faith do I have?" is answered by the question "how much do I pray?"

Was Jesus fun?

Dallas Willard, in The Divine Conspiracy, invites us to think about who Jesus is:

We should, to begin with, think that God leads a very interesting life, and that he is full of joy.  Undoubtedly he is the most joyous being in the universe.  The abundance of his love and generosity is inseparable from his infinite joy.  All of the good and beautiful things from which we occasionally drink tiny droplets of soul-exhilarating joy, God continuously experiences in all their breadth and depth and richness.  (page 62)

We have commented several times on how the currently accepted image of Jesus all but makes it impossible to find him interesting and attractive, lovable.  The responses of common people to him throughout the pages of the gospel show how false that image is.  He was such an attractive person and such a powerful speaker that, from the human point of view, the leaders of the day killed him out of envy for his popularity (Matt. 27:18).  He was a master of humor and often used it to drive home the truths he imparted, as any good speaker does.  But few today would put him on their guest list for a party - if it were really going to be a party.  Jesus as we don't think of Jesus as intelligent, so we don't think of him as pleasant company, someone to enjoy being around.   (page 239)

Is Jesus smart?

Dallas Willard, in The Divine Conspiracy, invites us to think about who Jesus is:

It is not possible to trust Jesus, or anyone else, in matters where we do not believe him to be competent.  We cannot pray for his help and rely on his collaboration in dealing with real-life matters we suspect might defeat his knowledge or abilities.
And can we seriously imagine that Jesus could be Lord if he were not smart?  If he were divine, would he be dumb?  Or uninformed?  Once you stop to think about it, how could he be what we take him to be in all other respects and not be the best-informed and most intelligent person of all, the smartest person who ever lived?  (page 94)

Trespasses or Debts

The Lord's prayer:

"forgive us our trespasses as we have forgiven those who trespass against us"
Or
"forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors"

Trespasses or debts.

To trespass means that we have violated the rights of another person.
The most common use of this term is to go on to someone's land without permission, to violate their private property.
To ask for forgiveness for our trespasses is to ask to be forgiven for the way that we have wronged others.  To forgive people for their trespasses is to forgive people for how they have violated our rights.
This is very important, extremely important.

To be in debt means that you owe someone something. 
We could be in debt to someone because we have been bad.  Throwing a brick through someone's window for example.
Of course we can also be in debt for a neutral reason.  I am in debt to the bank, not because I am bad but because they hold the mortgage to my house.
Or we can be in debt to someone because they are good.  When someone helps us we feel that we are in their debt.  Someone helps you move and you feel like you need to pay them back some how.  We become indebted to others because of their goodness.

"forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors"

Stop trying to pay God back for his goodness.  Just accept that he is good and he loves you.  
Bless and encourage people without expecting them to pay you back.  Just bless because you are filled with love.

** Interesting side note: I cannot find an English translation that has trespasses, they all say debts.  As far as I can tell trespasses comes for the book of common prayer put out by the Anglican Church.  I have no idea why it says trespass.

Preaching on the Lord's Prayer

This Sunday I am going to be preaching on the Lord's Prayer:
Matthew 6:7-15

Other passages to read:
Luke 11:1-13

Things to consider:
This prayer is very well known. I grew up saying it every day in school. How deeply does this prayer shape the way that we pray?

Should we pray these very words? Or is that just vain repetition?

A while ago I posted an adaptation of the Lord's prayer

Giving, fasting and praying

Text for Sunday's sermon: Matthew 6:1-18

Other passages: Hosea 6:4-6; Jeremiah 14:11-12; Matthew 3:1-12

Questions to consider:
In Matthew 5:16 Jesus tells his followers to let the world see their good deeds. But now he is telling them to do them in secret and not let anyone see them. Why? This is in the same sermon.

In the previous part Jesus has been inviting people to learn a new way to relate to others. How does this section on giving, prayer and fasting flow from that?

God centered living

How does one live a radically God centered life?
Over past number of weeks I have been preaching through the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7). And has it ever been challenging me.
I have become convinced that Jesus is not giving us a bunch of rules we now must obey. Rather he is inviting us to live a new way, to relate to others in a new way. Jesus is not calling us to change a few things in our behavior. It is about becoming a totally different person.
I am a very selfish person. I discern everything from my perspective. The unconscious questions that affect what I do are: does this give me pleasure (then do it) or does this cause me pain (then avoid it). Even my moral behavior is filtered through these questions. I often behave morally because of deferred pleasure (which means I will get more pleasure later) not because I am not thinking about myself.
And Jesus invited me to move from having myself at the center of my life to having God and others at the center. So how do I do that?
It begins with confessing and praying (like Peter commented last week). After all this is a work of the Spirit not of me trying harder.

Lust and divorce

Continuing in our series on Matthew this Sunday we will be exploring Matthew 5:27-32.

Some related texts:
1 Corinthians 7
Malachi 2:13-16

Some questions to think about:
In our sex driven culture is there any good news in what Jesus says here? Or is this a message of condemnation and judgment?
What do you hear God saying to you as you read the words of Jesus?

Righteousness

This Sunday's sermon text: Matthew 5:17-26

Some other passages to read:
Exodus 20:1-17
1 John 3:11-17

Some questions to ponder:
In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. What does this text have to do with being salt and light?
What does Jesus mean that unless our righteousness is greater than the religious leaders that we never enter into God's kingdom (verse 20)? How does that fit with the central belief that we are saved by grace not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9)?

Light of the World

Sunday's sermon text is: Matthew 5:13-16
Related texts: Philippians 2:14-15; John 1:1-18

Questions to consider:
What does it mean for the people of God to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world?
How has the church in the past failed to be salt and light in the world?
What does it practically look like for your church to be salt and light in your neighborhood?

The Beatitudes - part 2

Text for this Sunday's sermon is Matthew 5:1-12
Some related texts: Psalm 73, James 3:17-18, Deuteronomy 4:29-32

Some questions to think about as read:
What is God saying to you?
What would it look like to live this way?
Are there people you know who live out the beatitudes?

The Beautiudes

This Sunday's sermon text is Matthew 5:1-12.
Related texts: Deuteronomy 28, Psalm 37, Isaiah 61, Luke 6:20-26.

Questions to consider:
As you read the text(s) what is God saying to you?
What does it mean to be blessed?
Create a list of people you believe are blessed by God. Are there differences between your list and the list that Jesus makes?

ReJesus - Question 5

Alan and Micheal's fifth question (Question 1, Question 2, Question 3, Question 4) they believe the church needs to be asking is:

And perhaps most important of all, how can a rediscovery of Jesus renew our discipleship, the Christian community, and the ongoing mission of the church?

The “rediscovery of Jesus” is our renewal. Jesus is what discipleship, Christian community and mission is all about.
Many times I have prayed for revival. At Bible School we would gather and pray earnestly for God to send his spirit and bring revival to the church. Revival will only happen as we encounter Jesus. We need to desire him, and seek him, and pursue him. We need to love him with all our heart, and soul, and mind and strength. We need to be obsessed with him. He is to be our hero. The one we want to be like, the one we strive to be like. Jesus is the beginning and the end of our spirituality.
Pursuing Jesus like this is discipleship (not simply keeping a list of rules).
As we become like Jesus we will begin to love like Jesus, which is the basis of community (not simply a Sunday morning gathering where we aren't known or know others).
And our mission is to invite others encounter the love of God, enter into pursuing Jesus and loving others (not simply about getting them to attend our church).

Over the past number of weeks I have explored the five questions raised in ReJesus. I have looked at them in a general sense and not applied them to specific situations. But I believe the true benefit of these questions comes from exploring them in light of specific situations. So I encourage you to do that.

ReJesus - Question 4

The fourth question Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch say we need to always be asking in their book ReJesus is:

In how many ways do we domesticate the radical Revolutionary in order to sustain our religion and religiosity?

62. Ok, Michael and Alan are not actually looking for a number. But I couldn’t resist.
Personally, I feel that this question is a little loaded. It implies that we most certainly do domesticate Christ in order to sustain our religion and religiosity. Do we? Alan and Michael make a strong case that we do. They say rituals (religion and religiosity?), which do have a vital purpose in sustaining faith, often become a way in which we avoid God.

“Although genuine faith is born out of direct encounters with God, it cannot survive and prosper without some form of stability and order. Viewed positively, rituals, creeds, and organizations can help people structure their relationship with God. In fact, we believe this is what they initially were designed for. But unless the worshipper is very wary, the glory of the God encounter will fade and the ritual, creeds, and rules intended to preserve the encounter will take its place.”

Encountering God is a little bit scary. It is beautiful and glorious and amazing. And he is full of love and grace and mercy. But he is still God – the creator of the world – and often the encounters with him end up changing me (which is scary). So often we want someone to meet with God on our behalf (Moses to go up the mountain and let us know what God said). And this is what we do with our religion and religiosity, we use it to keep Jesus away from us, to make sure he is tame and does not challenge us. Instead of going to God personally we do rituals. For example we go to church Sunday morning to hear what the preacher discovered in his encounter with God instead of meeting with God during the week ourselves. Instead of reading the bible we read what others have written about the bible. Now please understand me, I do believe that going to church and reading books is a good thing – but it should never replace our own encounter with God.

What rituals, creeds, organizations have you found help give structure to your relationship with God?
What rituals, creeds, organizations have lead you to keeping Jesus at a distance?

ReJesus - Question 3

As we continue to explore Alan and Michael's book ReJesus let's look at the third question they say Christians should always be asking:

How do we assess the continuity required between the life and example of Jesus and subsequent religion called Christianity?

Alan and Michael give three ways to assess the church: right thinking (orthodoxy), right acting (orthopraxy) and right feeling (orthopathy). We need to have all three not just one.

One the greatest strengths of this book is that it takes theology seriously. Alan and Michael do not water down theology. In fact one of their biggest arguments is that the Christian religion has believed in a Jesus that is not theologically correct. We have the right doctrines often enough. The problem is too often the churches seems to have really believed something other than what they say they believe. See the post that examined Question 2 to get an idea of this. They also state that we don’t take the bible seriously enough. What they mean is that too often we read the bible like we are in charge (the bible is an answer book to our questions). Instead the bible should be in charge (it should be allowed to ask us questions).

Right belief needs to be mixed with right feelings. Our hearts and passions are important in following Jesus. “We cannot be disinterested spectators when it comes to Jesus. In fact, in the encounters described in the New Testament, the desire of people to remain neutral observers is in a real sense the real sin.” “Essentially what we are trying to say here is that we have to engage our heart to truly understand Jesus, but also to become like him and to follow him over the long haul.”

And finally we need to have right action. Right beliefs and right feelings lead to right action. If there is no action then the beliefs and feelings are wrong. “In the Bible, the real test of what you know is how you live.”

So if we want to know if we are successful at following Jesus we need to examine our beliefs, passions and actions.

Does the church truly study the word of God? Doe the church allow God’s word to study us?

Is the church passionate about the things of God? There is a song that prays “break my heart with the things that break yours.”

Do Christians live like Jesus?