Let Me See Your Papers

This is a sermon that I wrote for my "Preaching as Pastoral Care" class in response to a situation where the church was casting out others based on the simple fact that the congregation was made uncomfortable by them, due to something they could not control.  Since this happens all too often and is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately, I wanted to post this for people to ponder over. Enjoy!

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

John 2: 15-17

 

           

         

            The opening scenes of the recent film adaption of the classic, “Les Miserable” by Victor Hugo show a man, Jean Valjean, being “released” from slavery into a life where he will always be on parole and must check in with the authorities every 30 days.  As he travels the French countryside in search of a new life, Valjean stops and asks for work from a man who immediately asks for his papers, and upon seeing the terms of his “release” tells him there is no work for him.  Valjean continues his journey, stopping to warm his hands and body by a fire pit but is turned away by the others because of his papers- mind you, these people do not appear to be of any wealthy status and are likely freed slaves as well.  Finally, a priest takes him into the convent and gives him a warm meal and place to sleep.  In the middle of the night, Valjean fills his bag with all of the silver that he can and flees the convent only to be caught by the authorities, beat up, and returned to the convent.  “He says you gave him this,” the authorities tell the priest as they open the bag to reveal all of the silver. 

            Most of us can probably think of a time when we were shunned and cast out by those who we were sure would accept us or maybe we have even done the shunning. It happens in our schools as children who might not dress the same or play the same games are left out of the circle.  It happens in the workplace when someone may not be on the same track as the others- working either above or below standard.  It happens in families when a family member messes up one time too many and the rest of the family is tired of dealing with it.  It even happens in churches when someone doesn’t fit in with the rest of the congregation- maybe it is because of their job, their economic status, where they live, what they believe or how they think.  What it all boils down to is that when someone makes us uncomfortable, we turn them away- sometimes telling them that there is another place to go that could be better for them.

            What I find most interesting about all of this is the similarity to those who Jesus walked among and ministered to.  His community had its own social groups and pinned other groups as “good” and “bad” doing all that they could to keep their distance from them.  The Pharisees and Sadducees agreed on a few things, but not most, while he Herodians would collaborate with the Pharisees to establish grounds for Jesus to be destroyed.  Jews and Samarians were taught that it was wrong to have any contact with the opposite group.  Jews couldn’t decide how they felt about the Gentiles but the overall feeling was generally negative while some Gentiles openly hated the Jews and others were actually attracted to the Jewish religion.  Like I said- we are not too different with our own divisions.

Do you remember the woman at the well? John 4 recounts Jesus’ journey through the Samaritan city called Sychar where he stopped to rest at a well.  While he was resting there, a Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus, a Jew, asked her for a drink.  During their discussion about living water, it is revealed that this woman has had not one, but five husbands and the man she is now with is in fact not her husband.  Even today this situation is one that would likely be frowned upon, however they continue talking and Jesus reveals himself to her as the Messiah just before the Disciples arrive.

            Maybe you remember this parable that Jesus told the lawyers in the Gospel of Luke- A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them.  Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii (a denarii is equivalent to about a day’s wage), gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”

            If those don’t spark a memory, maybe this last one will- “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.  He climbed up in a sycamore tree For the Lord he wanted to see.  And when the Savior passed that way He looked up in the tree.  And said, 'Zacchaeus, you come down! For I'm going to your house today! For I'm going to your house today!”  This song is one that many of us might remember singing as children learning about the way in which Jesus reached out to this tax collector, a man who no one else in town would have paid any attention to if they could help it.

            What do these three stories have to do with anything? The Samaritan woman, the injured man, and Zacchaeus are all three people who according to society should have never been approached by the one who did approach them.  The Samaritan woman was seen as unclean at best, not to mention the traditions of separation between Samaritans and Jews.  We aren’t told which social class the injured man belongs to, but it is probably a safe guess that the Samaritan should have never approached him.  Zacchaeus was a tax collector- if we can’t stand them now, how can we fault people for wanting to get rid of them then?  However, in all three situations Jesus was the one approaching the unapproachable or teaching this unheard of action.

            Jesus lived his life in a way that reached out to “the least of these,” living among the shunned and eating with them.  Jesus’ life was in no way conventional.  The Disciples had a hard time understanding this, probably wondering if this man they were following was even sane.  In fact, we find this in this morning’s reading when Jesus called Levi to follow him; he sat for dinner at Levi’s house where he ate with tax collectors and sinners.  When the scribes and the Pharisees asked why he ate with these sinners, Jesus responded “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

           

            There we have it- Jesus sat and talked with the unclean Samaritan woman, called on Zacchaeus, and taught the lawyers about neighbors through the story of the Good Samaritan because these three people, cast out by everyone else, were the most in need.  Jesus did not come to teach the taught, heal the well, or save the saved.  If that were the point of Jesus’ life here on earth, there would be no point.  Jesus came to eat with the sinners, sit with the shunned, and reach out to the ignored.

            Every week we spend time talking and thinking about the ways that we do and can live our lives in a way that most reflects the life of Jesus.  We would be making a very large mis-step if we were to ignore this very prominent factor of his life.  In a world that is divided based on faith, politics, economy, education, race, sex, and age among countless other divisions, we are given countless opportunities to reflect Jesus’ actions in our lives.  Or not.

            Take a moment to think.  When have you been cast out or ignored because you thought differently or acted differently from those around you? How did you feel? How do you wish the situation had been handled? Now, think about a time when you were the one that cast out or ignored someone because they thought or acted differently from you? Why did you do it? Did it solve any problems? Were they helped by your actions?

            This is a hard thing for all of us to think about, likely because we have all experienced this in one way or another.  It is a fact of life.  We want to be comfortable and when someone or something comes into our bubble that makes us uncomfortable, something must be done about it.  What we need to pay attention to is the way that we respond when this happens.  Our church continually tries to pop our own bubble as we go down the street to the Mayview retirement community and nursing home to worship with the residents every few months; our members drive the van to pick up the elderly and help them to run errands every week; and we work along side a variety of people when we go to the food bank.  However, occasionally the mold is broken.  I have sat in these pews and watched the homeless find a place to sit apart from everyone and I have stood here at the pulpit and watched the unsure slip in and out of the balcony before anyone even knows they were here.  Our response to these people and even our own family and neighbors who might “break the mold” on occasion is what is most important.  We can do one of two things- we can get rid of the change that makes us uncomfortable, or we can find a way to accommodate and most importantly welcome it into our lives as we make adjustments in our own actions and thoughts that may not necessarily reform our lives, but transform them in a way that we can be ourselves as we allow the same freedom for those around us.

            Jesus never cast out or ignored those who might have made him uncomfortable.  Instead, Jesus welcomed them into his life with open arms and an open heart.  Jesus sat with them and spoke with them, learning from them as they learned from him.  I don’t remember any part of the Bible that tells us that Jesus forced his opinion on them or turned them away because he just couldn’t figure out what to do with them.

            Being Christian doesn’t mean that life is made any easier- if anything, it makes it harder.  As Christians, we are called to live a life that reflects that model life of Christ.  At times this might be relatively easy- typically the times and situations when we are most comfortable with the decisions that we have to make.  However, I would venture to say that many times, our call to live a life reflective of Christ is quite difficult- the times when we are pushed out of our comfort zone. 

When I was in elementary school it was very easy to identify most of the Christian students because it was fashionable to wear bracelets with the letters “WWJD” woven into them.  WWJD- What would Jesus do?  These bracelets were traded and collected- some kids would have up to ten on their arm at one time.  Occasionally, they were even just given away to someone who didn’t have one but wanted one.  That was how I got my first one.  If someone had this bracelet that was supposed to make them think twice about their actions, they were accepted with excitement into the world or trading and collecting- if someone happened to have a rainbow or tie-dye bracelet it trumped the multiple bracelets that others wore.  That was the problem though- the bracelet was supposed to make a person think twice about their actions, yet it was the center of a new clique that formed with rules about who was in and who was out, a very ironic situation considering Jesus wouldn’t have any of these rules.  These bracelets served as our “papers” in a way. 

As we look at our own lives- personal, family, work, social, and even church- who are we asking for papers? What do we require those papers to say? Are we turning people away to help them or are we turning them away to help ourselves? What could we learn if we simply poked a hole in the walls of our comfort zone before we took the even harder step to tear down the walls? 

I bet we would see that we have just as many problems as those around us, our different thoughts and beliefs might just be different approaches to the same solution, and maybe- just maybe, we are all looking for the same thing in this crazy journey called life- a way to see the love of God more clearly in our own life.  That person across the street isn’t that different from us and neither is the person down the pew.  Once we are able to recognize this, maybe then we can take a step forward in a way that reflects Christ’s actions and begin to learn from one another.

When the authorities returned Jean Valjean and the stolen silver to the convent in Les Miserables, the response from the priest was not at all what they expected to hear.  “He says you gave him this,” the authorities tell the priest as they open the bag to reveal all of the silver.  “He tells the truth- however, I can’t believe you forgot what I told you last night… these are yours as well.  How can you forget the most precious pieces?” replies the priest, handing Valjean two silver candlesticks.  The authorities release Valjean and leave him with the priest who tells Valjean to take the silver and use it to turn his life around.

In a world that stops everyone in their tracks, asking to see papers that say that what they do and think and feel fits in the pre-defined mold for the day, people look toward the church for acceptance.  If we don’t live as Christ did and break the mold to offer acceptance to those who are different from us in our own personal life and family life as well as here in God’s house, just as the priest in Les Miserable did, how can we live it out in the world beyond these four walls and how can we expect others to extend the same openness to us?

What would you give a king?

This morning I had the privellage to preach at Faith Lutheran Parish in Prince George, VA. The congregation is very small- there were only about 14 people in the pews today, but very responsive.  For the first time I think I made the transition from being "ok" with preaching (already an improvement from being terrified to preach) to having a lot of fun preaching.  Since it was a Lutheran church, there were four scriptures read, three of which are referenced in the sermon so I will include all three of those.  This isn't my best sermon, but it was definitely my best delivery so far and just a very enjoyable experience!  I am definitely looking forward to going back again. (I apologize for the formatting in the sermon... something didn't transfer write in the copy/ paste and I gave up trying to fix it!)

Isaiah 60: 1-6

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. ²For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. ³Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. ⁴Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms. ⁵Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. ⁶A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.        

Psalm 72: 1-7, 10-14

¹Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son.
²May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
³May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness.
⁴May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.
⁵May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
⁶May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.
⁷In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more.
¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts.
¹¹May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service.
¹²For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper.
¹³He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.
¹⁴From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight. 

Matthew 2: 1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” ⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”
⁹When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

           Baby showers- they almost seem as if they are a right of passage in a young woman’s life.  A woman’s friends and family plan a day that focuses on her and her soon-to-be-born child, playing games, eating themed snacks, opening gifts and holding clothes up to a very pregnant belly as if she can tell if it will fit the baby or not.  Baby showers have become a very exciting tradition for most women.  I don’t have any children yet, but I do know that I have enjoyed shopping for the perfect gift for my friends' children.  Should I get a blanket or stuffed animal? Or are diapers a better idea… that will definitely save my friends some money.  When buying these gifts I have to keep in mind what my friends have registered for, what the nursery is going to look like, how much room they will have, and of course if the baby is a boy or girl.  If it takes this much thought to give a gift for a “normal” baby, I can only imagine the stress that would come with trying to figure out what to give to a baby who was the Son of God and the King of the Jews- a baby so important that a star shone to guide the way for all those who came to visit.

The story of the magi is a significant one that serves as a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah that was read this morning.  In this story we find a group of magi who are travelling east to see the child who was born King of the Jews.  Word has spread of this baby and these magi are travelling to pay homage and leave gifts that have become very iconic over the years - gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  For any other baby these gifts might have seemed a bit extravagant- I definitely wouldn’t give them to my friends’ babies even if I could afford them, but I have never heard anyone question their presentation to Jesus, the baby King of the Jews.  The gift of gold would have been a very common gift for anyone in monarchy and fit for this king.  In addition to myrrh being a royal favorite due to its aromatic nature, it would have been used for anointing purposes- appropriate for the one who would later be called “The Anointed One”.  Frankincense was a holy perfume only used in the sanctuary, possibly looking forward to when this baby would be worshiped as Messiah with his Father.  However, as interesting as the possible meanings behind each gift are since we have the knowledge of all that happened following this night in the house, I seriously doubt that the magi thought anything more than “what would be an appropriate gift for a king?”  One thing is for sure- these gifts are a far cry from the stuffed animals and blankets that we continually debate over when shopping for baby gifts.

            The magi chose to bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the king of the Jews because of their royal qualities.  These weren’t gifts for just anyone and were probably heavily guarded throughout their journey to the east.  This morning’s Psalm tells us of all that the people asked God to give to the coming Messiah- justice, righteousness, long life through multiple generations.  However, I can’t help but think about those who weren’t able to bring such extravagant gifts to the house the night that the star appeared, reminding me of  two stories that I have grown to love over the years.

The story of the other wise man tells Arteban’s story.  Arteban wanted to travel to see Jesus with the others so he collected three gifts to take with him- a ruby, a sapphire, and a pearl. On his way to meet the others, Arteban stopped to care for a sick man and missed the other guys so he had to sell his ruby to pay for transportation with a caravan. The night before he was to arrive to see Jesus, Joseph and Mary fled with Jesus after what the angel told them about Herod’s search fro the child in order to destroy him, so Arte stayed at an inn. While at the inn, the soldiers came to kill all the baby boys but Arte saved one by paying off the guards with his sapphire. At this point, he had lost Jesus' trail, but he didn't give up. Arte took different jobs over the years so that he could have money to live off of, but continued to save the pearl for when he did finally find Jesus. Word started to spread of the crucifixion and Arte rushed to see his Lord. On the way, he ran into a woman who was going to be sold as a slave so he gave up his last gift, the pearl, to save her. All of the sudden, an earthquake came and caused a wall to fall on Arte. As he lay there, he called up to God "O Lord, how often have I failed you?" to which God replies, "You have not failed me, for you have given to the least of your brothers..."

            A second story that has become quite important to me is the story of the “Three Wise Women” by Mary Hoffman.  This story tells of the journey that three women made when a star appeared- the first woman was baking bread when she saw a star in the distance and suddenly her bread began to rise and was filled with the light of the star.  When her bread was finished baking she took it and followed the star.  The second woman was singing a lullaby to her baby son when they were both distracted by a star in the distance, the light of which made her baby smile so they got up and followed it.  The third woman was telling stories to her grandchildren when she saw a star and became so distracted by it that the star became the focus of her stories.  After finishing her story, the grandmother got up and followed the star just as the other two ladies did.  The three women met just outside of a small village, not knowing how long they had travelled because they were not tired or hungry.  They followed the star for the remainder of their journey, all the way to a small building where they found a young family- mother, father, and baby.  The women asked if they could come in- the first woman gave the loaf of bread to the mother and the baby reached out as if to bless it.  The grandmother apologized for having nothing to offer, but told the family a story of the starlight while the second woman held her own baby as he reached out to the baby in the crib.  The three women left and went back their own separate ways, comforted and filled with the hope of starlight.  The young baby in the crib grew up and showed that fresh bread tastes better when shared, he told stories to anyone who would listen, and taught that the greatest gift that anyone can offer is love.

            None of these three women nor Arteband were able to give the new born king of the Jews gifts that were seen as suitable for royalty.  Poor Arte never even made it to see the baby because he continued to be  stopped along the way and  had to give away each of the fine gifts that he did have.  However, both stories emphasize that the material gift was not necessary, bringing a whole new light to the question “what do you give a king?”

            Imagine you are busy with life - maybe sitting in the office, working over-time as you try to beat a looming deadline or maybe just like the grandmother in the story, you are spending time with your grandchildren.  You look up from what you are doing because you notice that the room got brighter, and you see a star in the distance that you haven’t ever noticed before.  Imagine that you drop what you are doing and follow the path that is lit by the star and find a house where a young family is resting.  What will you offer to this family? 

Just as Arte brought himself to the Lord by way of giving his most precious gifts to those he met along the way, the least of his brothers and sisters, we can bring our most precious gifts to God because it isn't about the material gifts. While material gifts are nice and we can all enjoy them for a time, the most precious gift that we have is OURSELF. As we reach out and help others, whether that be giving food to the food bank or listening to our friends problems, we should give OURSELVES. WE can be one of the magi.

            There is no better time to give ourselves to our Lord than now, as we are making our New Year's resolutions. Why not set aside some time each week to reach out to those that we might otherwise ignore. It could be that we spend some time on the phone with our brother or sister that we haven't talked to in a while because we were "just too busy" or we might visit a church shut-in and let her tell us some stories from when she was younger.  Maybe we can go to the food bank and help sort food or help build a house with the church at Habitat for Humanity. The monetary gifts help the organizations, but they also need help working with what it is they are buying.  Remember, we don't have to go abroad to help someone. Help is needed right outside our front door, and sometimes, sitting across from us at the dinner table.

Nowhere in the Gospel of Matthew are we told that there are only three magi- we are only told that there were three gifts.  For all we know, there was a crowd of twenty in the house that night.  We may not be able to offer such precious gifts as gold, frankincense, and myrrh but we can offer many other things.  We also don’t have to be in a Christmas pageant in order to be one of the magi.  All we have to do is realize that our own life is gift enough and offer it to our Lord who showed us the way in which to live.

            So, this year as decisions are made about New Year’s Resolutions or even just ways that 
we can live in a way that responds to Christ’s life here on earth, a gift in itself, let us remember- we 
don’t have to track down gold, frankincense, or myrrh on amazon.com- we only need to give our life 
and live in the way that the baby king of the Jews and Son of God grew up to teach us.  When we 
hand our life over we are doing more than just giving ourselves- we are recognizing that there is so 
much more that can be done with our life than we can do on our own, and we are entrusting that to our 
Lord.

            A classic hymn for this time of year and today’s prelude, entitled “In The Bleak Midwinter” sums all of this up quite nicely in the final verse-  What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; yet what I can, I give him:  I give my heart.

Are we really Christian?

I have been struggling a lot lately, and only a few people have actually been in the loop about it.  It sucks… a lot, however I feel like it is giving me a whole new view point that will be very important later on when I am called to a church.  I will probably have a few follow-ups to this post in the coming months as I continue to think about this and read a book or two, but here is the initial thought:  I can’t blame people for leaving the church.  Now, before you freak out thinking I am running away or talking trash about God or anything absurd like that… I’m not.  However I spent a lot of time thinking about my actions and those around me and looking at the way we interact and I see it- I see why people hate the church.

One of the biggest criticisms of Christians is that we are hypocritical, and all too often I hear Christians saying “NO! Of course we aren’t! We are GREAT Christians!” blah blah blah. Right.  But we ARE hypocritical.

Over the last several months I have looked at different communities from an outsiders view, paying attention to the way in which they interacted with each other and those on the outside.  What is funny is the communities that claim no faith base but are instead gathered because of another common interest are the ones who are the most inclusive and welcoming.  The Christian communities? Not so much.

I have seen people preach one thing and do the opposite all too often.  “Well Jesus said we need to welcome all people… (10 minutes later) I have no reason, but I just don’t like them and I will give them a hard time because of that.” And that is Christian how, exactly?  Or “We are all brothers and sisters in Christ…. Except for them.”  I can’t say that we help ourselves at all though because we continually say that it is an open table but exclude a list of people.  Basically if they don’t think, look, and act like us they are not allowed.

The most interesting part? I have continually been excluded from various “Christian” communities but the ones that I really have nothing in common with except for the fact I know one person? I am welcomed with open arms.  Now, I can’t sit here and say all this and not be honest- I have done my own excluding in my time so I am in no way saying that I am free of guilt.

This is my question though- why can’t we just embrace each other’s differences and truly live in the way that Christ did? I can’t think of any part of the Bible when Christ said that any person was excluded, but instead he taught that we should reach out to those who otherwise would be excluded, living together as one body.  Just because someone thinks differently from us doesn’t mean that we can’t spend time with them and it definitely doesn’t mean that we should discount them as being “dumb” or “not understanding”.

Now, I have to admit that the reason I began to pay more attention to this situation was because I saw it happening more to myself and heard about it happening to people that I am very close to.  I will also admit that I have made some different choices than I would have months ago because I have taken the time to really think about the situation and who would be affected and how.  I still screw up sometimes, but at least I am trying.  I lose patience too easily with those that “don’t think” and realize that I am losing patience because I am falling back into bad habits.

We exclude people from communities that preach inclusion.  When people come in our doors expecting to find an inclusive community and don’t, can we blame them for leaving? Can we blame people for being fed up with us because we preach one thing and act another? I think not.  What we can do is become more intentional about making sure that our actions and words follow the teachings of Christ- that we listen to what others believe and think and do and reserve our judgment.  No one gave any of us a paper saying that all that we do and say is right, so how can we say that because someone isn’t exactly like us is wrong?

Our country is built on a system that allows for people to think, vote, and lead differently.  We live in a world with hundreds of religions and government systems, allowing all of us to live in different ways.  In any situation where there is more than one person, there will be differences.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  What is wrong is when we force our own beliefs on others and fault them when they don’t conform.  I am a Christian and am even studying to be a minister, but nothing makes me sicker to my stomach than when someone decides they need to preach to me and tell me why I am destined for Hell or need to be saved.  Don’t ask me what I think and then don’t even give me a chance to tell you before you tell me what is wrong.

I have said it before and will say it again- I don’t write this blog to impose my opinions on others, but rather to work through my opinions, beliefs, and thoughts for myself.  I might ask questions and urge whoever might read this to think about something, but I never tell anyone that they must do what I write about.  If I do, I hope you will let me know so that I can make sure I don’t accidentally do it again.  With that in mind, here is my question from all of this…

What can we do, Christians or not, to live a life that welcomes the lives of others in a way that we truly can be free… after all, we live in the United States of America.  This is where people who are persecuted in other countries escape to, in hopes of finally finding freedom… but are they really?  Are we living our lives in a way that encourages differences or forbids them?  What can we do so that no one suffers because we couldn’t deal with the fact that they are different?