A Ministry In Three Lines

What to put on a sign outside a Church?....

The sign can be used to announce up-coming events at the Church and in the community. West Nashville UMC’s sign has been used that way. 

The sign can be used to invite people to worship.  West Nashville has used its sign for that purpose as well. 

The sign can be used to provide a chuckle. From time to time we have gone for the laugh. 

The sign can also be used to provide a word that invites people to consider their world and current events from a theological perspective. We have tried to do this on many occasions. 

While we believe in the separation of Church and State, that does not mean that the Church should remain silent about our world. To the contrary, we believe that we are to be the body, and voice, of Christ in this world. 

Of course, with only three lines, or approximately 60 characters, to work with, there is not much room for nuance. This has generated a few telephone calls in support or opposition of the message on the sign. 

Because of the interest expressed in the sign, this space is being used to provide some additional elaboration on the sign. If there is sufficient interest expressed, we’ll provide a comments space as well. 

Some recent messages on the Marquee:

JESUS DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH

Surprisingly, one of the most controversial messages we have posted.  Some may think that is a message based on political correctness and not on scripture. To the contrary, the sentiment of this message is firmly grounded in scripture.

The Nashville City Council has passed, (and for now the Mayor of Nashville has vetoed),  a so-called “official language” ordinance. This would prohibit the city from providing non-English versions of official documents, and services except where necessary to protect the public welfare or as required by Federal Law. It is an ordinance that has the effect of making it harder for a non-English speaker to deal with City officials.

People can make all sorts of patriotic and cultural arguments for such legislation, but it frankly fails the “Gospel Test.” We are called, as Christians, to “welcome the stranger.” Matthew 25:34-35: ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ^ for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me… Jesus here is reminding the people of Israel of the Law given to Moses by God. God reminded the people throughout the law to remember that they “once were slaves in a strange land” before God freed them. Deut 5:15, 15:15, 16:12, 24:18, 24:22. God chided them to remember what it felt like to be the stranger in a strange land and to treat strangers fairly, with kindness and justice. God commanded them to welcome the stranger.  

Should people coming to this country be helped to learn English? Yes. Should they be isolated until they do learn English? As a Christian, the answer is no. We should do our best to welcome those who are new to this county, and that includes making reasonable accommodations with regard to language. Recall the words of Christ: Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,^ you did it to me. Matthew 25:40.

GOD CARES ABOUT: WAR  THE POOR   HEALTHCARE  AND MORE. PRAY AND VOTE.

The United Methodist Church supports the separation of Church and State. Jesus did not come to establish a religious government and the Church should not seek to do so. However, the Church is called to live within the world and as part of the Kingdom of God, embracing those values that are central to our faith. Although the sin of humankind often leads it to war, we do not understand that God endorses warfare. God weeps for the dead on both sides, for they are all God’s Children. Scripture, from front to back, reminds those who have received God’s blessings of their obligation to the poor among them. And, as modeled in the behavior of the Samaritan, we are called to bind one another’s wounds. The members of this congregation believe that God weeps for our acceptance of a healthcare system that denies needed medical care to those who may work many times as hard as others but who do not have the blessing of health insurance, or those who are no longer able to work and are left to live or die as best they can. 

How we choose to govern ourselves matters. We cannot vote in the Kingdom of God, but we can give prayerful consideration to our vote and cast it for those who place a value on that which we believe God values.

PRAY FOR OUR TROOPS AND FOR THOSE THEY FIGHT.

We have asked our sons and daughters, our family, to go to into harm’s way and enforce the foreign policy of this nation. Whether you agree or disagree with that policy, our troops deserve our support. Our troops need our prayers. Prayers for their safety; prayers that they be spared from the brutalizing effects of war; prayers for their families who wait for their safe return.

As Christians, we are also to pray for our enemies; for those whom our troops fight. War is the human solution to problems that are believed unsolvable any other way. We continue to pray for reconciliation with those we name as enemies. We continue to pray for peace. For, as much as we may hate, we must acknowledge that God’s love extends to all persons. No one can earn the love of God. If God’s love does not extend to those we hate, we must acknowledge that we too can be outside of God’s Love.

Does God love all that people do? We profess not. But, God can hate what we do and still love us. God’s love is not exclusive to those in the West or to those of the Christian tradition. The proclamation of Christianity is that God so loved the world that God sent us Christ.

CONSIDER: WE KILLED ZARQAWI. AND AN INNOCENT CHILD.

The US killed the terrorist Zarqawi using two 500 lb bombs dropped on a farm house in a rural area. Zarqawi was a cold blooded killer who would have apparently been happy to kill any American, anytime or anyplace. However, 500 lb bombs are not discriminating weapons. The decision to drop them must have included a decision that killing innocents was an acceptable cost if we could kill Zarqawi. According to news reports, an 8 year old girl was, in fact, killed by the bombs that killed Zarqawi. 

The Church cannot assume that God found the death of that child an acceptable cost. Everything we believe about God cries out against what was done. It is incumbent upon Christians to acknowledge what was done to that child, even if others do not. That is not a lack of support for our troops. Members of our congregation have family who have served, and are serving, in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a declaration of what God values, and what we should value.

WHO WOULD JESUS CUT FROM TENNCARE?

After the "English" debate, this message generated the most comments to date, in and outside the Church, positive and negative. 

The healthcare situation in this State and nation is very complicated. TennCare was not a solution to all the problems of providing necessary healthcare. However, with only three lines, nuance is hard to achieve. Still, the question highlighted the problem that we face with healthcare; a problem that reveals what we believe about God and what God values. If Jesus was asked who should have healthcare, and who should not, what answer would we expect Jesus to make?

How we deal with healthcare is an issue that reflects what we really believe as Christians. Denying healthcare to people who can’t afford to pay for insurance is to place a price on human life. We acknowledge on the one hand that we have received blessings from the hand of God. On the other, we assert the right to clutch the Blessings to our chests even if it costs another their life. Will providing healthcare for all be expensive? Yes. Will it result in an increase in taxes? Certainly. Is it a God issue? Yes.

CHRIST DIED TO TAKE AWAY OUR SINS, NOT OUR MINDS. 

Despite what the media would have people believe, accepting Christ does not demand that one abandon their intellect. This is especially true in the United Methodist tradition. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was a true renaissance man. He was fluent in five languages, read voraciously and kept abreast of the science research of his day. 

The more Wesley learned about the world, the greater was his faith in God.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in his sermon on the Trinity.   http://gbgm-umc.org/UMhistory/Wesley/sermons/serm-055.stm 

In this sermon, Wesley references the physics of light, including an early measurement of the speed of light, the nature of gravity and magnetism, and the nature of electricity and physiology. Wesley would have been astounded at the suggestion that one abandon their reason when they accepted Christ. He insisted that reason was a gift from God. Wesley would have instead asserted that science can answer many questions about how life began and progressed. Christianity is more concerned with how we live our lives in the world God created.

Scripture is a text about our faith in the nature of God. It does not purport to be a science text. Christianity affirms that God created all that we can comprehend and all that lies beyond our comprehension. One need not abandon centuries of scientific advancement to profess belief in the mystery of the divine.

CHRIST WAS EXECUTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH DUE PROCESS.

This is another sign that generated a fair bit of comment. Scripture does contain references supportive of the death penalty, including the ever popular “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.” (Deuteronomy 19:21) (But see, Matthew 5:38-48). 

Was Jesus given due process comparable to that afforded a defendant in the United States today? No. However, he was apprised of the charges against him, given the opportunity to confront witnesses and to offer a defense. Based upon the accounts in scripture, he was probably afforded as much due process as was any non-Roman defendant in that time and place.

The point of the sign was to point out that there is nothing sacred about our legal system or any legal system. They are always governed by humans and subject to mistake and corruption. One need only look at the number of mistaken prosecutions of all types being exposed in recent years to realize that the legal system is not competent to decide issues of life and death. 

In order to have the Death Penalty, we must accept the likelihood that innocent people will be executed. It is inevitable. It is human. Mistakes happen. From a Christian perspective, the risk of killing one innocent person should be enough to reject the use of the death penalty, even if the sacredness of human life in general is not a justification. Due process is not a guarantee of infallibility.

THE POOR ARE NOT INVISIBLE. LOOK AROUND.

Following Katrina, there were a flurry of articles about poverty in the United States because many of the most visible victims of Katrina were the poor. There was almost a sense that the existence of poverty in this affluent nation was a breaking news story. 

However, as those who minister to the poor would have told anyone interested, the poor were there in plain sight all along. The sad fact is, in this nation, people often turn their eyes away from the poor. Not to see them in our midst makes our lives less stressful. But they remain, none the less.

Christianity is not concerned solely with a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” Christianity is concerned with how that personal relationship transforms your life. To be Christian is to be in relation to God AND the world around you. What we do for the least of those among us we do for Christ. Matthew 25:31 et.seq.