Last Sunday some of you commented
on the haircut I got while in Montana. I had hoped to go to my
regular barber before leaving on my trip, but I could not find
time to make an appointment. When I arrived in Montana I went
to several barber shops and even a few beauty shops hoping to
find someone to cut my hair. They were all booked.
My daughter suggested I try a place seven miles form her home. "You
might not like it, Dad," she said, "I think it is
primarily for women." I went anyway. She was right. The
name of the shop was "Curl Up and Dye." The store
sold cosmetics, jewelry, wigs and some clothes. The lady who
owned the shop told me her daughter would be able to cut my hair
in a few minutes when she returned from an errand.
She quickly appeared and showed me to a chair in the back of
the shop. As soon as I was in the chair the usual questions began. "Live
near here? On vacation? What do you do?" The magic question
was number 3 on her list. "No, I live in central Illinois.
I am visiting my children. I am a pastor."
"Is that anything like a bishop?" she queried.
"Somewhat," I replied. Adding that a bishop usually
works with several congregations while a pastor works with only
one.
"Do you get paid?" she asked. I wondered if she
was concerned about whether or not I could pay her.
"Yes, I receive a salary," I assured her.
"Our bishop does not get paid," she said. "I
am a member of the Latter Day Saints Church and our bishops don't
get a salary." I didn't argue with her because she
had sharp and pointed instruments near my head and neck.
She went on to ask me to pray for her husband who had lost his
job and her 15 year-old daughter who was in a juvenile detention
center because she had stolen a car.
Then she asked what I thought of the situation in Iraq and the
Middle East. In my opinion, was this the end of time? I shared
with her that I felt we had missed a wonderful opportunity to
alter history following September 11, 2001. I shared I felt then
as I do now that we had an opportunity to forgive our enemy and
invite that enemy to a table of conversation and peace but we
had responded as nations almost always do by using military power.
"Doesn't the Bible say, "An eye for an eye,
a tooth for a tooth?" She asked immediately.
"It does in the Old Testament," I said, "but
Jesus gives us a new direction in the New Testament that is often
more difficult to follow."
"What's that?" she asked.
"We are to love one another, including our enemies."
"You don't really believe that, do you?" she
asked.
"Yes, I do believe it but it is very hard for me to do.
My natural inclination is to follow your eye for an eye policy.
It is difficult to trust God and love those who say they hate
you and have hurt you."
Loving one another includes forgiveness, compassion, mercy and
charity. It is the very foundation of Christianity and is the
lifestyle of those who truly want to follow Jesus. Listen again
to the words in Ephesians: "Speak the truth. Don't
let the sun set on your anger. Let no evil come out of your mouth.
Share with the needy. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit. Put
an end to bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling, slander and malice.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.
Forgive one another as God has forgiven you. Be imitators of
God and live in love." (Eph. 4:25-5:2)
There is very little in this that is difficult to understand.
Still, nearly every admonition found here is difficult to do.
Why? Because we are afraid the other person is getting off the
hook or getting a free ride or taking advantage of us and we
want to be certain the other person, group or nation is not getting
ahead of us. We seem to forget that Jesus said, "The first
will be last and the last first." (Matthew 19:30)
As you know some of us have been working to get a living wage
for the lowest paid workers at the new Coliseum. We have met
strong resistance from some city council members and others in
authority. While I was away there was a guest editorial in the
Missoula newspaper citing that a living wage was a moral thing
to do. And, in last Sunday's Pantagraph the head of the
local economic development office said that decent wages for
the lowest income people was the best thing a community could
do to bring about economic stability. Members of Congress have
not acted to raise the minimum wage in years but had no trouble
giving themselves a $31,000/year increase. In our so-called Christian
nation the rich get richer while the poor get poorer, but the
general public does little to change things.
Most of us are aware the pastor of our sister church in Bloomington
recently made a mistake. In no way am I saying I approve of what
he did. It was a moment of bad decision in the midst of deep
emotional and mental anguish. What really bothers me about this
story is the lack of compassion and forgiveness on the part of
so many people. I wonder how they would want the church to treat
them when they make a mistake. I hear Jesus saying, "He
who is without sin can cast the first stone," and I see
people throwing rocks like they are without sin, and I wonder
what words of Jesus and the apostle Paul we hear and attempt
to follow.
If we think we are going to win the wars in the Middle East
with our present policies we are sadly mistaken. Any student
of history can tell you this. An eye for an eye no longer works.
The truth is it has never worked.
Jesus calls us to be new people. He died on a cross so we could
have the opportunity to be new people and the evidence seems
to suggest that we haven't taken the opportunity very seriously.
There is an old legend that says God tried 7 times to have Justice
rule God's new creation but it never worked. God then told
Mercy to go with Justice to rule the world and at that point
creation was called Good. (Homiletics, Aug. 2006, p. 54)
This comes from the August 14, 2006 issue of, Newsweek on
page 60: "When you forgive someone, it doesn't excuse
his actions; it frees you from stress and suffering. This is
true for nations as well as individuals. Otherwise, the cycle
of violence escalates. It takes strength and courage to forgive;
those who are afraid to look weak are often the ones preaching
vengeance. When you embody peace, people around you feel it.
You become an example for others. When you meet hatred with love,
fear with hope, that transforms you and those around you. As
Ghandi wrote, "Be the change you want to see in the world."
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