Category: Faith and Politics

Deja Vu, 1968, 2024

by Steve Harsh, posted in Faith and Politics, Government Reform

The current campus protests over the war in Gaza have me scratching my head about why so many people in politics, the media, academia, and the general public act as if campus protests are something new that we’ve never seen before in this country. Those of us who lived through the 1960’s and ‘70’s have no excuse for such ignorance of recent history.

Demonstrations and protests against the Viet Nam war and others opposed to systemic racism happened in cities and universities all over the country in those two turbulent decades. University campuses were closed at times by the civil disobedience, and much like today the forces of law and order arrested and tear-gassed those who refused to end their occupation of campus property.

When carried to its extreme those who valued order and property over human lives led to the tragic killings in May of 1970 of students at Kent State University in Ohio and the much less well-known deaths of black students at Jackson State University in Mississippi. Nothing seems to have been learned by campus administrators or law enforcement officers from those recent history lessons. Authorities still show up en masse in riot gear and turn otherwise peaceful gatherings into violent confrontations.

My alma mater, Ohio State University, has made the national news for arresting protestors, including a state legislator who was there trying to protect students. Very little meaningful dialogue about important issues can occur under those kind of conditions.

Do such demonstrations and protests ever accomplish anything? The lessons of the 20th century would say yes to that question. It took years, but the case can be made that the campus unrest of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s contributed significantly to bringing the unjust Viet Nam war to a conclusion and helped secure monumental legislation to advance the cause of civil rights, but at great cost.

I find it hard to imagine that any objective observer of the devastating death and destruction in Gaza could deny that the calls for a cease fire and cutting off U.S. military aid to Israel is a just cause worthy of civil disobedience. If the cruel and unusual punishment Israel has inflicted on Gaza in retribution for the October 7 massacre does not rise to the level of war crimes I don’t know what would. Yes, the October 7 attack by Hamas was beyond brutal and horrific, but Netanyahu’s 20-fold death toll on mostly innocent women and children is beyond any justifiable response, no matter how terrible the original crime. 30,000 wrongs can never make a right.

But there are other interesting political parallels between what is going on in 2024 and the 1968 presidential election in the midst of the Viet Nam and Civil Rights protests. President Lyndon Johnson inherited the Viet Nam War along with the Presidency after the JFK assassination in1963. After easily winning reelection in 1964 his chances for reelection in 1968 were greatly diminished by the war and protests against it. Johnson did not want to be the first U.S. President to lose a war and kept digging himself into a deeper whole to avoid that blemish on his legacy. Eventually the protests became so loud that Johnson was forced to withdraw from the race for President, and that decision resulted in the election of the second worst president in American history, Richard M. Nixon of Watergate fame/shame.

In a similar situation this year Joe Biden is increasingly harming his reelection chances by refusing to withdraw his lifelong support of Israel. Supporting Israel’s right to exist has been a noble position for the United States for over 75 years, but continuing to support the war crimes of Benjamin Netanyahu is not only morally wrong at this stage of history it is also risking American democracy by helping the re-election of the worst President in U.S. history. If Biden’s choice is between supporting Israel at the terrible cost of putting Donald Trump back in the White House, then sacrificing Israel and/or Netanyahu is clearly the choice to make.

Reaping the Whirlwind

by Steve Harsh, posted in climate change, Faith and Politics

“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7)

So far in 2024 my home state of Ohio has the distinction of being number 1 in a very undesirable category. We have had more tornados here in 2024 than any other state in the union, some of which have been deadly.

As we were sitting through another round of severe weather and tornado alerts today the verse from Hosea above came to mind. Hosea was talking about the consequences of breaking a covenant relationship with God, and in a way our human betrayal of our relationship with God’s creation is a similar situation.

For 150 years at least, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, Western civilization has sown the winds of pollution by prioritizing profits over people. The fossil fuel industry has known for decades that we have been poisoning Mother Earth with our addiction to fossil fuel, but they hid that scientific knowledge just as the tobacco industry suppressed their awareness of the lethal dangers of smoking to protect their bottom line.

And now we are reaping the whirlwind (sometimes literally) of our denial of humanity’s contribution to climate change. More frequent and stronger severe weather, flooding, wildfires, glaciers melting and causing ocean levels to rise, all are consequences of our irresponsible treatment of God’s creation.

And that’s the simple lesson Hosea is teaching us: our actions have consequences in all areas of our lives. It is such a basic rule of life that Paul elaborates on it in Galatians: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever you sow, that you will also reap. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit.” (6:7-8)

And as I read recently somewhere, if you sow bullets, you will never read peace.

I Don’t Care Who Started It…

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics, Faith and Values

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” Jesus (Matthew 5:38-39)

I wish my mother were still alive, for a lot of reasons. Right now as I survey the current mess in the Middle East I wish she were here so she could sit down with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Supreme Ruler of Iran and talk some sense into them.

My mom only had a high school education, but she had more practical wisdom than most of the “leaders” of the world when it came to resolving conflict. I think a lot of her wisdom came from growing up with 5 younger brothers.

I didn’t appreciate her wisdom as a kid; so I hope wherever she is she can hear my belated praise for the way she dealt with conflicts between me and my two younger sisters. Invariably when two or all three of us got into a squabble she would intervene and one or more of us would say, “She started it!” Or “he started it,” and Mom would just shake her head and say, “I don’t care who started it; I just want to know who’s going to end it.”

When it comes to the centuries-old animosity between Israel and her neighbors there is no way to determine who really started it because it’s been going on forever with first one side and then the other retaliating for some offense by the other.

And that’s where those troublesome verses from the Sermon on the Mount about turning the other cheek come into play. No one can take that advice literally and give it any practical consideration, but that isn’t the point of what Jesus was saying. He was saying “I don’t care who started this, but what matters is who has the courage to stop it?”

Violence begets more and often worse violence. It is a vicious cycle that only stops when someone says “enough” and refuses to retaliate.

In the current crisis the stakes could hardly be higher. I am not justifying the strike Israel made on the Iranian embassy in Syria nor the massive attack Iran launched in response on Saturday night. If allowed to continue to escalate this affair could engulf all of us in World War III, and no one wants that. Or do they?

The scariest part of this scenario is that there are millions of misguided and biblically illiterate “Christians” who are indeed rooting for this mess to turn into Armageddon. They falsely believe such a cosmic battle between good and evil will usher in the second coming of Christ and solve all the problems we humans are unwilling to solve for ourselves.

President Biden has come under criticism for urging Israel to exercise restraint, i.e. to stop or slow down the cycle of violence and destruction by refusing to retaliate. I believe Biden’s calming influence, while it likely will go unheeded, is exactly what this delicate situation calls for.

I shudder to think where the world would be this very day if someone with a purely transactional mentality like Donald Trump were sitting in the Oval Office just now. Trump is on record as saying during the 2016 campaign that his favorite Bible verse is “And eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” Unfortunately his biblical education must have stopped in Leviticus which Jesus clearly turns upside down in the Sermon on the Mount.

Is turning the other cheek or stopping the cycle of retaliation hopelessly naive? Maybe, but it sure beats the heck out of the endless, vicious cycle of violence.

Lent/Holy Week Video: Anointed

by Steve Harsh, posted in Faith and Politics, Lenten devotion, Uncategorized

Our church, Northwest UMC in Columbus, Ohio, is doing a series of worship services and sermons on the events in Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem. For each Sunday in Lent our talented music director, Brian Luke, has recorded a short video of what each event might look like through the eyes of a contemporary character in the story.

For the fourth Sunday in Lent the text was the anointing of Jesus at Bethany in the Gospel according to Matthew. I was asked to portray a witness to the anointing who is being questioned by the authorities about what had transpired. A version of this event appears in all four Gospels, and here is Matthew’s account.

“Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, “Why this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum and the money given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.” Matthew 26:6-13 (NRSV)

The link below will take you to the video:

drive.google.com/file/d/1ayIosZ7iMVaeXwPipeyKjrybF1e4aa87/view

Darkness Will Not Prevail

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics, spiritual discipline

Black History Month and Lent

Black History month and Lent go well together. Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness and our 40 days of Lent pale in comparison to 400 years of slavery and systemic racism, but the determination to not let the darkness prevail requires the same kind of faith.

Darkness and Balance

Darkness has taken on a new significance for me personally in recent years. I was diagnosed ten years ago with peripheral neuropathy which causes numbness in my feet and legs, meaning my sense of balance leaves a lot to be desired.

My physical therapist has taught me some things that help in coping with my impaired balance. There are basically two senses that send information to our brains that help us feel steady on our feet. One is the feel of our feet on what ever surface we are standing or walking upon. Neuropathy plays havoc with that input.

Secondly we get signals from our eyes about our surroundings that help orient us in space. For that sensory data to compute obviously requires our being able to see where we are and where we’re going, and that vision requires enough natural or artificial light to illuminate our path. Simply put it is much harder to maintain a sense of balance in the dark.

That explains why you will find nightlights in every room in our house and why I use a cane to steady myself when walking on uneven surfaces or in the dark. And yes, getting up to make my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night is still sometimes an adventure, even with motion sensor night lights and my cane. It is also why I am very grateful for the flashlight app on both my iPhone and my Apple Watch. I am almost never without at least a small source of light.

Cultural and Political Darkness

On a more macro level Lent 2024 feels really dark to me, even with the blessing of sunshine and above average temperatures here in Ohio. Technology has not invented an app that can brighten the dark night of the soul I feel when witnessing the suffering in Gaza and Ukraine. Natural disasters are still heartbreaking to watch, but I understand the science of how climate change is causing the devastation on the California coast. I cannot however wrap my mind around the evil of modern warfare or the hatred that inspires it.

I despair at the insecurity and depravity that justifies a Putin killing his political enemies or invading a neighboring country just because he can. And I weep over the ignorance about our history that blinds people to the threat of authoritarian leaders and the cult-like devotion to those who blatantly practice it.

Being the Light

When the darkness of sin and evil threatens to drown out the light, God has always called on those like Sojourner Truth to step up and refuse to let the darkness determine our life’s light. That quote reminded me that I am always inspired by the words of another black woman, Amanda Gorman, whose marvelous poem, “The Hill We Climb,” ends with these powerful words:

“When day comes, we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

Action Steps

A Lenten challenge might be to find what God wants each of us to actually do to be the light. It may be relating to family members or co-workers in a more caring way, or volunteering for some group that you’ve always meant to get involved in, getting involved in local politics, advocating for justice by writing letters to representatives, or supporting marginalized groups. There’s plenty of darkness to go around and every ray of light does make a difference.

Prayer

O God of eternal light, the darkness scares me. I know in my head the words from the Gospel of John that assure us the darkness will not overcome the Light of the World. But my heart is not so sure! Rather than just spout pious platitudes that fall flat on their face, please give me the courage to really feel your light in my soul and the guts to go out into the darkness and be it. Amen

Epiphany – Herod Lives

by Steve Harsh, posted in Faith and Politics, hope

“Then Herod secretly called for the magi and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then 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.” Matthew 2:7-8

I am embarrassed to admit this. It took me till the third anniversary of January 6 to realize that horrible event took place on Epiphany, the twelfth day of Christmas. So for the last 24 hours since that light went on in my head I’ve been trying to think of some way to make theological sense of that convergence of those two radically different events. I don’t believe in coincidences; so I knew there had to be a connection, but all I was coming up with was that the attack on the very core of our democracy was even worse because it happened on Epiphany.

There are just a handful of dates in my lifetime that burned such a mark on my psyche that I will always remember where I was when I first heard about them: the assassinations of JFK, MLK, and RFK; the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle; 9/11; the election of Donald Trump; and the insurrection against our government on January 6, 2021.

I was working my home office that day but had the TV on fearing there might be trouble around the certification of Joe Biden’s election as President. But even though I was worried there might be some kind of trouble at the Capitol that day I never in my wildest imagination expected what played out on my TV screen that awful afternoon. As I watched the badly outnumbered Capitol police be overrun by an angry mob that began scaling the walls of the Capitol building, smashing windows, and swarming into the halls of Congress I sat there in stunned silence. Feeling helpless I finally did the only thing I could think to do. I got on Facebook, and I still remember exactly what I said: “Whatever you are doing, stop and pray. Our democracy is under attack.”

During worship this morning at our church it finally dawned on me what the connection was between the insurrection and. Epiphany. After preaching about the light of the star that leads us to Jesus our pastor, Chris Rinker, went on to say that we also need to remember that there are always forces of darkness that try to snuff out the light. There are always Herods who are so insecure and so desperate to preserve their own power that they will do anything to put down any threat real or imagined to their fragile egos.

Of course there are. I remember as a young pastor many years ago preaching on Matthew’s story of the Magi and Herod, and the title of that sermon was “Be Sure You Follow the Right King.” There are always Herods and the person fulfilling that role on January 6, 2021 was none other than President Donald Trump. Just as Herod told the Magi to go find the Christ child so he could go worship him too, our 45th President urged his angry followers to march to the Capitol and stop his Vice President from fulfilling his Constitutional duty to certify the legitimate electoral colleges votes from the 2020 election.

Three long years later we are still dealing with the fallout from that awful day, and I must admit I am often very discouraged about that and what it means for the future of our nation. But here’s my takeaway from this Epiphany 2024 message from Matthew. I can’t say it any better than Maltbie Babcock said it in 1901 in his great hymn, “This is My Father’s World;” so I will just end here with the third verse of that hymn:

“This is my Father’s world:
O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world:
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King: let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let earth be glad!”

An Eye for An Eye?

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics, spiritual discipline

Ever since October 7 I have been pondering the irony of the Israeli response to the horrific massacre of 1200 Israelis by Hamas.  One of the most familiar tenets of the Hebrew law found in Leviticus says, “Anyone who maims another shall suffer the same injury in return: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; the injury inflicted is the injury to be suffered.” (24:19-20). I learned two things about that Scripture in seminary: 1) It is very similar to another ancient law, The Code of Hammurabi, a Babylonian King in the 1700’s BCE, and 2) both the Code of Hammurabi and the Hebrew law were meant not to justify revenge but to limit the amount of revenge one could seek for an offense to an equitable amount.  So, for example, if someone poked out one of my eyes I could not in return poke out both of his or hers. 

Jesus came along 3000 years after Hammurabi and 1400 years after Moses and raised the bar to a whole new level in the Sermon on the Mount where he says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also,and if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, give your coat as well,and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.Give to the one who asks of you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” (Matthew 5:38-43).

Now, I’m not expecting the Israelis to live up to Jesus’ ethics.  I can’t, and I’m not sure anyone but Jesus could ever do that.  But it seems like not killing your enemy’s innocent women and children might be a start.  And it does seem fair to hold the Israelis to their own Scriptural standards.  At last count the Israelis have killed 16000 Palestinians in Gaza.   That’s more than 10 for every Israeli killed on 10/7.  That’s a lot more than “an eye for an eye.”

I understand the horror of that dark day.  No, I don’t.  Thank God, I have never experienced anything like it.  I was even far removed from any personal suffering on 9/11.  So, I know I have no right to judge.  I don’t know what I would do in the Israeli shoes.  Nor do I have any idea how I would survive the God awful inhumane conditions the people of Gaza have been living under for the last 60 days.  I just know the insane suffering I see on my TV screen has got to stop.  Not just because it is morally unjustifiable but mostly because it is just plain counterproductive.

War and killing have never solved anything.  If the Israelis could actually eliminate Hamas and terrorism by use of force there might be an argument for their military campaign.  But it won’t work.  The anger being fanned in the Muslim world by the war in Gaza will produce far more terrorists can ever kill.  If history has taught us anything it is that revenge only begets more violence in return.  That’s the point of Jesus’ teaching above about turning the other cheek.  To resist the natural human urge to strike back in anger, as impossible as that seems, is the only way the cycle of violence can ever be stopped in its tracks. 

As progressive as it was in the days of Hammurabi, as Gandhi once pointed out, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth just creates a world of blind, toothless people.”

I know that too criticize Israel opens me to charges of antisemitism, but I assure you I am not anti-Semitic.  I am a Christian nurtured in the Judeo-Christian tradition.  Jesus was a Jew.  I am constantly challenged and inspired by the Hebrew prophets.  I grieve for the hostages still in captivity, for the suffering of the Jewish people throughout history and on 10/7, but the killing needs to stop; the suffering of the people of Gaza must stop. 

December 5, 2023

Eucharistic Blackmail

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics, hope

“Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table.”  (Luke 22:19-21)

I heard something from a friend this week that has left me adrift in a sea of incredulity.  Given the bitter divisions in our nation and my denomination I should not have been shocked, but I was.  This friend is a former member of a United Methodist church I used to serve.  She is one of the casualties of the great United Methodist schism of 2022-23.  She told me that a relative who still attends the now Global Methodist Church reported the following from their worship service last Sunday:  prior to communion the pastor told the congregation that anyone planning to vote for Issue One in the upcoming Ohio general election should probably not take communion.

Issue One is a constitutional amendment that will protect reproductive rights and access to abortion.  This is a very controversial and emotionally charged issue, and while I respect the opinion of those who oppose Issue One I do not think access to the Sacrament of Holy Communion should be used to persuade or intimidate anyone to vote in any particular way. 

I don’t know what the position of the Global Methodist denomination is on who may or may not receive this sacrament, but in the United Methodist Church we practice an open table.  As a pastor I would never presume to judge who is worthy or unworthy to come to the Lord’s table because it is the Lord’s table, not mine or my church’s.  The exemplar for that inclusive table is the Upper Room itself on the night before Jesus is crucified.  The Gospels make it very clear that all 12 disciples are there to celebrate the Passover with Jesus.  You can count them all in Da Vinci’s painting.

But seriously, check the Gospel accounts in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22. 

According to all of these retellings of what transpired in the Upper Room Jesus not only knew that Judas would betray him and Peter would deny him 3 times, but also that all the other disciples would run and hide in his hour of greatest need. “Then Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'(Matthew 26:31). Does that disqualify any of the 12 from sitting at the table with Jesus? No, they all are there to receive this sacrament of remembrance.

Jesus is very clear about whose job it is and isn’t to judge others – and it isn’t mine or any clergy person’s.  “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, (Matthew 7:1)   Or check the parable of the weeds in the wheat in Matthew 13 where Jesus says, “Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” Or my favorite, the billboard that says, “Just love them all.  I’ll sort them out later.” –  God. 

When Jesus says, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” (Matthew 11:28) all means all; and this sinner is darn glad we are all invited to the table.  When we all get on one side of the table for a remake of Da Vinci’s picture there will be Donald Trump next to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Hamas Palestinians next to Netanyahu, Putin next to Zelenskyy, and in the middle Jesus asking, “What took you so long to get here?”

And in the background John Lennon is singing:

“You may say I’m a dreamer,

But I’m not the only one.

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will be as one.”

Groundhog Day in Congress

by Steve Harsh, posted in Faith and Politics, Government Reform, Uncategorized

Those of us who live in Jim Jordan’s home district know that his only claim to fame is that he was a champion high school and college wrestler. While I admire the discipline and determination it takes to excel in wrestling, I would l like to point out that wrestling is not a team sport. Democracy, on the other hand, is the ultimate team sport. It requires an ability to collaborate and compromise, skills which Mr. Jordan did not have to learn on the wrestling mat and which are apparently not even in his vocabulary.

For the Congressional GOP to continue to waste time by voting in Groundhog Day fashion for the same unqualified candidate is not only foolish, it is very dangerous. Our adversaries in Tehran, Moscow, and Beijing are drooling in joy over the paralysis of our government. We are the laughing stock of the world and proof to other nations that democracy doesn’t work.

Are there not enough moderate members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to join forces as adults and agree on an acceptable bi-partisan candidate to lead the House in these critical times? We need some profiles in courage who will put personal power and party loyalty aside for the greater good of our nation and world. And we need it now!

Can We Forgive Without Forgetting?

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ” Matthew 5:43-44

I was sitting in Tim Horton’s on 9/11/23 while new tires were being installed on my car. I read a couple very moving pieces on Facebook about 9/11 and began trying to figure out why I am more emotional about that awful day now, 22 years later, than I can remember being except on the day itself, and maybe not even then.

I know that like my father before me I get emotional more easily as I age. Don’t tell anyone, but I even get weepy sometimes at the oh so predictable ending of a Hallmark movie. This emotional remembrance started when my wife and I watched a very moving piece on 60 Minutes Sunday night about the 433 firefighters killed that day, and I’m embarrassed to admit it’s the first time I’ve thought about one of my very best friends who is a retired firefighter. I know without a doubt that if he could have gotten himself to New York that day he would have been one of those who died trying to reach the people trapped over 80 floors up in the towers. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like these last 22 years if I had lost his friendship.

And then I read a post from a retired American Airlines pilot who was in the air that day enroute from Venezuela to JFK. He was diverted to Miami but not given any reason for the diversion. Being a recently retired Air Force pilot he knew something awful was happening but had no idea how awful.

His moving account of how he couldn’t reach his wife or kids to let them know he was ok brought me to tears, and I have a renewed sense of empathy for what so many people who were directly affected by that tragedy in all 3 locations went and are still going through. Grief has no expiration date.

Unfortunately there also doesn’t seem to be any statute of limitations on the hate and paranoia that rose up out of the ashes of ground zero, the Pentagon, or Shanksville, PA. Every time I hear or see the phrase “Never Forget” in relation to 9/11 I cringe a bit. I understand never forgetting the pain and grief from losing a loved one in such a God awful way. I have buried enough friends, colleagues, and loved ones to know that memories never die, but to lose someone so suddenly and never have the closure of saying good bye or even having any remains to bury is truly more than I can imagine.

But here’s the part of “Never Forget” that troubles me, and it did almost immediately after the initial shock and disbelief of that unbelievable day began to wear off. I know exactly what I felt because I have it in writing and proclaimed it publicly in a sermon on September 21, 2001. That sermon is the only one I ever preached that people remembered years later. The message I felt compelled to share that day was based on the text from the Sermon on the Mount about loving our enemies. I say compelled because I didn’t want to say that while the wounds of 9/11 were so raw and the dust hadn’t even settled at Ground Zero. But I knew it needed to be said.

Here’s a part of what God spoke that day through this reluctant prophet. I titled the sermon, “How Can We Ever Do That?”

“But from the very first hours of the tragedy my greatest pain and fear was not for the damage and suffering that occurred on September 11, as unbelievably horrible as it was. My greatest pain and fear has been for the inevitable escalation and perpetuation of violence that I knew these horrible acts would generate in retaliation that will inflict more suffering on more innocent people.

A friend of mine told me just after the attacks that he had forgotten how easy it is to be a Christian in times of peace and prosperity. And he is very right. We turn to God and scripture for comfort and reassurance in times of distress, as well we must and should, but some of the most important words of scripture also challenge us and are hard to hear.

And that’s why I have been engaged in a lovers’ quarrel with Jesus for the last 12 days over what to say this morning. I have tried every trick I know to avoid the difficult words we just heard from the Sermon on the Mount–these words that are high on the list of those we wish Jesus hadn’t said, but they would not let me rest. They have forced themselves into my consciousness over and over again, pleading, demanding, and crying out to be proclaimed. 

“You have heard it said…” O, have we ever – all the public opinion polls confirm in spades that those who want revenge are legion, and I include myself in those who are angry. Getting even is a natural human reaction, and we’ve all been there many times this month. “You have heard it said, an eye for and a tooth for a tooth.” Sounds like good advice. In fact, at the time those words were written, they were designed to limit revenge; so victims would not demand two eyes for an eye, or a whole mouthful of teeth for a tooth. But as someone has said, if we follow the eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth philosophy to its logical conclusion, we end up with a world full of blind, toothless people, and the cycle of violence and pain continues forever.

… Jesus says a bit earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” By whom? Not by their enemies or by most of their peers. Peacemakers, cheek turners, are more often called “yellow” and “coward” or “chicken,” but seldom ever “children of God.” We would much rather go with Moses on this one wouldn’t we, but are we followers of Moses or Jesus?

It is hard to find silver linings in some clouds, but even in tragedy there are some benefits. We see it in extended families that rally around each other when there is a death of illness. And in a similar fashion, the outpouring of patriotic spirit and resolve in the last two weeks has been amazing. One could certainly argue that this tragedy has created a sense of community that has been sorely lacking in our nation for many years. But Jesus asks us to take that sense of community one giant step further–to include even our enemies in the circle of God’s family.

I had a flashback to Jr. Hi youth fellowship this morning. One of those awkward moments when we were circling up to say the benediction at the end of a meeting, and I found myself next to a girl and was afraid I’d get her cooties if I had to hold her hand. And some wonderful adult counselor saw the problem and stepped in between us to close the circle. That’s just what Jesus does when he asks us to love our enemies. When we can’t bring ourselves to take that hand, Jesus steps in and completes the circle.” [The whole sermon, if you would like to read it is archived here in a post from Sept. 11, 2014.]

It was several years after 9/11 that I had an insight about how forgiveness of one’s enemies is possible. When Jesus says from the cross “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” (Luke 23:34) notice that he doesn’t say “I forgive them;” but instead asks God to do it. Without getting into sticky issues about the Trinity it seems very possible that being fully human Jesus was in such agony that he couldn’t practice what he had preached. He couldn’t forgive his enemies right at that gruesome moment — but he knew someone who could; and so do we.

We will never forget 9/11/2001, but with God’s help we can forgive. Amen