Tag: father of lies

Naming Samaritans (and why this is relevant in our current cultural/religious tensions)

“Why do we need to point out people’s ethnicity or sexuality?” “Why can’t we just say that we welcome all people?”  I’ve had this conversation recently and found it helpful to remember how Jesus called attention to particular identities – Samaritans, Gentiles, Women, Eunuchs. In all of these cases, the purpose of naming these identities, is not to push a “Samaritan Agenda,” (or fill in the blank with the other identities); the purpose is to stand with those who have been harmed and to go the extra mile in honoring them as beloved children of God – and to put these two purposes together in a way that illuminates the calling that comes from God through Christ.  

To use the term “Samaritan” as an illustration, we see multiple examples of this counter-cultural calling. In the famous parable of the Good Samaritan, we are given an example of how we are all to be good neighbors (Luke 10:25-36).  It was shocking to the religious ones who heard the parable. In the story of ten persons being “made clean” with only one returning to give thanks, we are directly told that this one was a Samaritan, and he became an example of not only being made clean but also being made well or healed. (Luke 17:11-19). 

To the shock of even his disciples, Jesus takes time to talk to a Samaritan woman at a well.  She becomes the first preacher, we might say, and many believed because of her testimony (John 4:1-42). And she is just one example of Jesus honoring women and giving them a place and a voice at the proverbial table (See Luke 8:2; 10:38; 23:55; Mark 7:24-30; John 4:39; Acts 1:14, 2:14-17, 8:12, 9:36, 16:14-15, 21:9; Rom 16:1; 16:3; Phil 4:2; Gal 3:28; and more).   

At one point Jesus is called a “Samaritan” and it is not meant to be a compliment.  This is followed by the accusation that he has a “demon within him.” This accusation occurs in a conversation with religious leaders who firmly believe that God is on their side. Jesus makes it clear that this practice of using religion to divide and judge only serves the “father of lies.”  (John 8:39-58).  

This big lie can be illuminated by what John Wesley called the “wildness of enthusiasm.”  In this condition, we confuse our own opinions and biases with the will of God.  In another place Wesley uses the term “bigotry” to describe this big lie.  He defines bigotry as an extreme attachment to one’s own party, opinion, or religion to the point of causing bitterness and division, often in the name of God.  Jesus names particular identities in the hopes of challenging this evil among us. 

As we address the religious tensions among us today, naming particular identities is challenging. Accusations of bias and bigotry flow from multiple sides.  It is true that Jesus treated all with honor and respect, wanting all to know God’s love and to be able to live into this love.  In this light, the scriptures make it clear that we are all one in Christ and that God shows no partiality (Gal 3:28; Acts 10:34).  And, from the other side, the scriptures also name particular identities, not to promote what we might call “secular agendas” but to call attention to the sin that divides and demeans, often in the name of God.  In Christ, both of these approaches can be true, for biblical truth is that which reveals love and opens the way for true togetherness. In the spirit of grace and truth, we can hold both of these perspectives together. (Alethia – John 17:17; I Cor 13:8; Eph 4:1-16; Col 3:5-17).  

My hope is that this analysis will help us all make good decisions about how to be more welcoming. How can we go the extra mile in showing Christ-like love and cultivating opportunities for all to grow in this love, without putting up barriers that get in the way?  May we find the courage to do this well. 

Thoughts on Transformation and Truth (sparked by a handwritten sign)

As we arrived at worship, there was a man standing on the corner of our property with a two-sided handwritten sign.  One side said, “Trans Women are Men.”  The other side said, “Repent or Perish.”  Needless to say, this was upsetting to many.

When I hear this targeted message – in the name of the gospel – my heart goes out to some people that I know.  For one example, I think of one dear soul in the church who was born as a male.  Few knew this.  To most she was known as a sweet woman in the church who sang in the choir and served in the food pantry and shared the love of Christ.  I suspect that there are persons with similar stories in many congregations, and they have had to live in fear while wanting to be faithful.

I am grieved when people come to church and have to encounter bigotry in the name of righteousness. (And to be clear, I define bigotry, with the words of John Wesley, as an extreme attachment to one’s own party, opinion, or religion to the point of causing bitterness and division, often while thinking that they are in service to God).  It is hurtful when beloved souls are targeted and used to promote other agendas. I think of the Greek word “pornia,” which can be defined as the objectification of persons so that they can be used for our pleasure and purposes.  As I read the scriptures, those who engage in such practices are not giving witness to the kingdom of God.

When it comes to repentance and the dangers of siding with that which leads to death (the other side of the sign), we all need to start by looking in the mirror.  In this act of repentance, God will open the way to God’s forgiving, life-giving, eternal love.  This love does have the power to transform us, into the image of Christ – but let’s focus on the right things (II Cor 3:17-18). The hope is that we would be transformed from an eagerness to divide and judge to an eagerness to hold one another in love, with patience, kindness, and a humility that does not insist on its own way. The hope is for a transformation from “arrogance of spirit” to a desire for “unity of spirit.”  The hope is to give witness to the God and Father “of all, who is above all, and at work through all, and in all” – a big God. (See I Cor 13:1-8; Eph 4:1-6; Col 3:12-17; Rom 12:1-18, just to start).

May this experience give us the courage to be bold in our witness – as a congregation and as individuals.  Many beloved souls in our community need those willing to stand with them in a time when the lies of division, judgement, and objectification are being masqueraded in such obscene ways as truth (Aletheia -that which opens the way to what is life-giving and glorifies God).  

Just recently, for another instance, we have had people take fragments of curriculum that we have used and weaponize it by telling lies about what is being taught.  And before we judge too harshly, know that we all need to pay attention. It is so easy to be tempted by the “father of lies,” to borrow a term from Jesus. Jesus uses this term in a conversation with religious leaders claim that God is on their side and who call Jesus is a “Samaritan” (it is not a compliment) with a demon in him (John 8:39-59). Promoting faith in that way is the opposite of truth.

May we be among those who live into the words of the Creed, that we proclaimed last Sunday,  as those “kept in perpetual remembrance of the truth of Christ,” a truth found in a God “whose mercy is over all his works,” a truth that “manifest itself in the service of love” (as defined above), a truth “set forth in the example of our blessed Lord, to the end that the kingdom of God may come upon the earth. Amen (may it be so).”

Published on my Facebook page as well