#IStandForPeace

FB_20151208_07_22_42_Saved_PicturePeace seems to be a rare commodity these days.

In the midst of polarizing election cycle, with almost daily reports of mass shootings and terrorist attacks, and extremists terrorizing the most ancient and sacred lands on earth, it’s hard to discern the presence of peace in our world.

This last couple of weeks really epitomizes where our world is. It began with terror in the streets of Beirut, followed by more in Paris. Then a shooting targeting innocent women looking to get health care in Colorado, and then more against those celebrating the holidays with their co-workers in California. And all the while, irresponsible, opportunistic politicians and religious leaders and talking heads have overwhelmed our televisions and newsfeeds and inboxes with messages of hate and intolerance and fear and calls for war.

The worst of all is that so much of this rhetoric comes from those who claim to follow the One we know as the Prince of Peace. It is disgusting to me, as a Christian, to see that those who are representing our faith to the world are those who can spew forth the most hate and fear and violence to the world.

When a businessman-turned-politician rallies a sizable chunk of this nation by demonzing an innocent group of people, by stoking fears and playing on people’s worst inclinations, then the Way of Jesus, the way of peace has been abandoned.

When the president of the nation’s largest Christian college implores his students to buy death-dealing weapons of war, and talks of “ending” a group of people, the Way of Jesus has been abandoned.

When we find more peace in guns than we do in fellowship with one another, the Way of Jesus has been abandoned.

When we are so scared that we are willing to turn fleeing women and children away and back towards those who they are fleeing from, the Way of Jesus has been abandoned.

When we exercise our “pro-life” bonafides by praising the man who murders innocent women at a health clinic, the Way of Jesus has been abandoned.

When we see the only answer to violence and war as more violence and war, the Way of Jesus has been abandoned

Jesus called us to transform the world, not by the sword, not through the wielding of power, not through fear or by circling the wagons. Jesus called us to transform this world by love, by turning the other cheek, by casting out fear, by opening our arms and our hearts and our borders to those in need. He showed us a way of life that accepts and respects our brothers and sisters, no matter the color of their skin or the religion they adhere or the nation they call home.

Jesus stood for peace. Above all else, he envisioned a world of peace brought about by love and mercy and assurance.

I stand for peace because more violence is not the answer to stopping violence.

I stand for peace because Muslims are my brothers and sisters too.

I stand for peace because I welcome the stranger, the immigrant, and the refugee to our shores.

I stand for peace because love cannot be expressed through exclusion and intolerance.

I stand for peace because safety cannot be found through the barrel of a gun.

I stand for peace because closed walls and closed borders and closed minds only bring death.

I stand for peace because diversity and differences make us stronger.

I stand for peace because all people should have the right to worship how and who they want without fear of hate or violence.

I stand for peace because love drives out all fear, and we are told to “fear not.”

I stand for peace because the Way of Jesus goes no other way.

The Peace Project was started here in Tulsa by members of our great Islamic Society of Tulsa. The goal is to show that those that stand from peace are diverse, and come from all backgrounds and all walks of life. You can become part of the movement by taking a picture telling us who you are and including the hashtag #IStandForPeace.

The Temptation of Christ: Feeding the World

The temptor came and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” -Matthew 4:3Temptations-of-Christ

Jesus, after his baptism, went into the wilderness to pray and fast, and to contemplate the calling on his life that he felt. How was he, a lowly peasant from Nazareth, going to rally the people of Israel behind him, and bring them back to the ways of God? What kind of leader, what kind of Messiah, would it require him to become?

He could become a provider for the children of God. He could simply overthrow the way of empire by flattening the playing field, by making all men equal in means. He could solve the material problems of the world, the hunger and poverty and need all around him, the same hunger and poverty and need he has grown up with.

He could give the people what they lacked materially, and thus rally them to his banner, convince them his way was a better option than the Temple’s way, than Rome’s way, because his way filled their bellies. They surely would follow this lead. Power could be had by showing his way as more likely to lead to material rewards than the ways of the world

But Jesus knew this wasn’t enough. He thought of Deuteronomy:

One does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Certainly, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, housing the homeless, all these actions are important, and necessary. More than once in his ministry, Jesus used his power to feed the hungry, and more than once he commanded his disciples to do the same.

But Jesus could not, and would not, guarantee a live free of need to those who took his Way. Living in the example of Christ, in the pursuit of relationship with God, in a life or service and love for others, is not a comfortable one. It does not bring big houses and great feasts.

It is a Way of hardship and rejection by the world. One who simply feeds others is one who is praised and worshipped; one who feeds other while asking why they are hungry, who identifies with them and thus convicts those who have enough but do not share what they have, is one who is labeled a traitor and a heretic and an anarchist.

Jesus saw in that desert, when he thought of becoming a provider for Israel, that it is not enough. He knew he must feed, but he must also help his followers understand that God is not satisfied with merely feeding. God wants us to go beyond the mercy of bread lines, to the justice of perpetually-filled pantries. And the way to do that is to fill people with the Love of God for one another.

And so Jesus declined the opportunity to turn stone to bread.

America Can Be Home For Syrian Refugees

syrian children
Refugee Syrian children

In the wake of the terrible tragedy in Paris Friday night, some have decided this is a good opportunity to rally public support behind anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric. The trend this first Monday after the attacks is for governors to issue public statements declaring that their states won’t accept any refugees from the war zone in Syria. At the G20 summit this morning, President Obama said, “The people who are fleeing Syria are the most harmed by terrorism … they are parents, they are children, they are orphans. It is very important that we do not close our hearts to these victims of such violence and somehow start equating the issue of refugees with the issue of terrorism.”

Already, the governors of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, and Illinois have issued statements declaring their intentions to turn away refugees at state borders. I fully expect a multitude of other governors to follow suit.

Jesus was clear on our duty to the immigrant and the stranger. “I was a stranger and you welcomed me,” he taught. “Blessed are the merciful,” and “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you” also encompass how Jesus implored us to treat others. The Judeo-Christian tradition is one of welcome and radical hospitality, stemming from the Jewish people’s status as dispossessed and transient people throughout various times in their history. The tradition that Jesus grew up in, that he passed along to us, was one that realized that any of use, at any time, could become displaced and homeless, and we would others to take us in and show us mercy and hospitality.

Likewise, America is a land of immigrants and refugees. We have a history of taking in the people the rest of the world didn’t want, of creating a nation molded from innumerable peoples and backgrounds. Our Statue of Liberty, gifted to us by the French, proclaims this at our borders, saying “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breath free.”

The ordinary people of Syria, women and children and grandparents, are being oppressed and terrorized by the evil of ISIS. They have been subject to four years of civil war and seen their homes and businesses and all they know and love destroyed. They no longer have homes. And naturally they turn to the nation that they hear constantly is the most free in the world, that offers the most hope. We have a duty to honor their struggle and their trust by standing with open arms. More importantly, as Christians within this nation, we have a duty to embody the radical and beautiful message of Jesus, and welcome the stranger, clothe them, feed them, love them.

I implore the governor of my home state, Mary Fallin, to not let politics cloud your judgment. You proclaim your faith in Jesus, your commitment to Christianity. Now is a perfect opportunity to live that out in the position of great power and privilege you have been granted. Be an example to your fellow governors, who also like to proclaim their Christian bona fides. Instead of leaving them to the mercies of ISIS, instead of watching their children wash up like trash on the beaches of the world, grant them safety and security here, in the middle of our great country. Let Oklahoma be a home for those fleeing terror and oppression around the world.