Bob's Blog

It’s the end of October and retailers are already preparing for the bustling holiday season!  I’m still enjoying all the mini–tootsie rolls that come out for Halloween, and eagerly anticipating my annual left-over turkey, cranberry. and stuffing sandwich on the day after Thanksgiving.  But with visions of dollar signs dancing like sugarplums in their heads, businesses are already preparing for their most profitable time of the year.

Now don’t get me wrong; I’m not complaining.  I’m far from a Scrooge!  I love Christmas as much as anyone — probably more!  And Christmas music will be playing in more car long before many people throw out the rotting jack-o-lantern on their front porch.  But I’m continually amazed at the ways in which the rest of the world gets so wound up over the birth of a baby!

Sadly, for most people, this Holy Day is really more like a holly-day.  It’s a beautiful time of year; full of twinkling lights, the Spirit of giving, eggnog and homemade cookies, and everything else that December brings.  And even if the baby born in a manger is not the focus of the season for most people, the infant child is at least part of the holiday hoopla.  I know it is for those of us in the Church.  And rightly so!

Babies are cute and cuddly.  Their warm and fuzzy swaddling cloths almost make you want to climb into their cribs and fall asleep under the stars with them!  And the Christ-child is no exception.  Renaissance paintings and Fontanini nativity scenes have created a chubby little cherub who is worthy of our praise; with a golden halo, a facial expression revealing more awareness than is normal for a newborn baby, and in whose presence one is quickly reminded of a more divine than human audience.  We, like the wise men, are quick to offer our adoration.

Having just welcomed my first grandchild into the world a little over a year ago, I’m well aware of the power of babies.  I have been touched and moved in ways I never imagined!  But as wonderful as they are, babies don’t change the world.  And so it’s time for all of us to let Baby Jesus grow up?  Before he is even born, let’s remember that Jesus was a man, who altered the course of human history!

My tradition teaches that Jesus is the fullest and most complete expression of God in human form.  And this is not because he was born in a manger in Bethlehem, or because he died on a cross on Calvary.  His expression of God in human form was made a reality because of the way he lived . . . as an adult!  And too often we forget that.  We allow his birth and his death to overshadow his life.  Both Christmas and Easter are important markers in the life of the Church, but Jesus is much more than a baby to be worshipped or a savior to be resurrected!  Jesus is the Christ that we’re called to follow!

Adult Jesus stood up to injustice and challenged the oppressor.  He called the lowly to follow him and the proud to listen to him.  He sat at the tables of sinners and outcasts, and overthrew the tables of moneychangers in the temple.  He taught the poor to persevere and the religious to repent   He offered words of grace to the woman caught in the act of adultery and words of judgement to those ready to throw stones.  He blessed the meek and chastised the merciless.   He comforted the afflicted and he afflicted the comfortable.

Jesus’ expression of God in human form was all about the way he lived; and we who seek to follow him are called to walk in his footsteps.  His life, gives birth to our lives!  And his way, guides our way!  So it’s time to we let him grow up.  It’s time to move beyond the baby in a manger and instead focus on the adult in the market.  It’s time to move beyond the infant in the stable and instead focus on the rebel in the temple.  The Savior born on Christmas night grew up to to challenge systems and structures, empire and ecclesiology, oppression and injustice.  And while his incarnation announced that God was in the world; it was his life that changed the world!

For too many of us, the only Jesus we know is the baby born in the city of David . . . the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths . . . the baby laying in a manger.  We celebrate his birth year after year, but consciously and unconsciously we keep him in a perpetual state of infancy and never let him grow up.

This year, may that not be the case.  Let’s see beyond both the manger and the cross, and prepare to follow an adult.  For as cute as baby Jesus was, he didn’t change the world.  Adult-Jesus did!  And we who are his living body can do the same thing.  But only when we allow him to step out of the stable, and move towards the cross!

Seeing the world through the eyes of a child has the capacity to change everything!

It had been a long week, and all I really wanted to do was hold the tiny hands of my granddaughter!  I wanted play peek-a-boo, read “Good Night Moon,” and squirt whipped cream into her tiny mouth.

Like so many of us, I too want to leave my mark on the world.  I want my life to count for something, and I want to make a difference . . . for God’s sake!  I want to model what it means for one spouse to love another spouse unconditionally.  I want to raise children who are passionate and COMpassionate, who aren’t afraid to dream and stand up for what is right, and who are responsible and healthy contributors to society.  I want to pastor people and serve the church as the constitution of my denominations says . . . “with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love.”  I want my voice to be prophetic.  I want my heart to remain open.  And I never want my mind to stop growing.

But sometimes I get tired.  And so in those moments I need to stop and learn to put my agenda on the back burner for a while.  I need to put aside my goal of ushering in the reign of God all by myself! – and slow down.  I need to see the world through the eyes of my granddaughter, and return to some of the simple things in this life!  I need to go Butler’s Orchard and feed the goats!  I need to ride the carousel at the zoo.  And yes, I need to squirt whipped cream into my own mouth, and smile!

Whether running through a field holding the hand of someone they love, gazing out at a garden of sunflowers on a glorious October morning, or spotting a pumpkin patch from the back of an old red pickup, children have the capacity to change our perspective and offer us a healthier view of life.  They ground us, and remind us of the simple joys of life!  So when weeks become long, feet get tired, and spirits are low, it’s time to stop and see the world through the eyes of a child.  It’s time to appreciate the little things.  It’s time to breathe in the cool fall air, hear the rustle of the falling leaves, and notice the changing colors of the of trees.

Fall is the perfect time to see the world through the eyes of a child, and to appreciate the little things.  And today, that means worrying less about changing the world, and focusing instead on enjoying the world!

Because I would never dare to presume to know what was in the heart of either Brandt Jean or Amber Guyger at the time of this embrace – the photo of which has gone viral – I’m going to be careful in making assumptions or calling others to model their behavior.  I have no desire to speak for people of color, presuming that my privilege has given me the wisdom to know how they should respond to a systemic form of American racism that continues to take the lives of too many young Black men.  And, as a pastor and person of faith, I in no way want to minimize the healing power of repentance and the transformative nature of forgiveness.  But having said all that, there is something about this photo that just doesn’t sit well with me.

Brandt knows that hating the police officer who killed his innocent, unarmed brother Botham . . . as he sat in his own apartment, watching TV, and enjoying a bowl of ice cream . . . will only harm his spirit and hurt his soul.  His remarks at the trial revealed a forgiving spirit and deep love of God.  And he made it clear that he wanted only the best for Amber, and that he hoped one day she would give her life to Christ.  Amber too revealed a distraught and tender spirit at the trial, tearfully apologizing for taking the life of a beloved brother and son.  Both she and her mother spoke mournfully about how the killing had so tragically ruined the lives of so many people.

So at first glance, it is easy to see why people were so powerfully moved by the photo!  But when set in the context of all that is going on in our nation today, and when interpreted in light of the Christian faith, things become far more complex.  And here’s why.

First, Amber is part of a culture in which systemic racism still rules the day; and throughout the trial she failed to acknowledge that.  She admitted that she made a mistake, and that she didn’t know she was in the wrong apartment until she had already pulled the trigger.  But she failed to acknowledge the role race had played in her sudden fear and overreaction to seeing a Black man sitting on what she thought was her sofa.  And she never apologized for that.  In fact she actually stated during the trial that she had fired to kill!  Because that’s what fear of another does.  And Amber’s fear was not the fear of an intruder!  It was the fear of a Black man.  And so she killed him.  Had Botham been White, the confusion over which apartment the officer was standing in would have likely become quickly apparent, laughter over her mistake would have ensued, and no shots would have ever been fired.  But Botham wasn’t White.  He was Black.  And so Amber made all kinds of false assumptions, and wound up committing murder.  Her racism was put on display for all the nation to see, and she never acknowledged that . . . not once, during the entire trial.

Second, Brandt appears to be part of a church that fails to see repentance and forgiveness as part of the larger reign of God in this world: a reign in which shalom – justice, wholeness, and rightness – are required to truly transform creation.  For as important as repentance and forgiveness are, without shalom, they are little more than a warm sentiment or a kind embrace!  Shalom is justice: and where there is no justice, there is no shalom.  There may be repentance, and even forgiveness, but they are only the first steps.  And if justice does not follow, shalom will never come, and the reign of God will cease to become a reality!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about “cheap grace” in his 1937 book, The Cost of Discipleship, and defined it as the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance.  I would add that it is also the seeking of peace without requiring justice.  For without justice and repentance, peace and forgiveness mean very little!

So Brandt may have forgiven Amber for killing his brother, but she has still not repented of her racism.  And Amber may have stumbled into the arms of a reconciling peace with the brother of the man she murdered, but there continues to be little justice for Brandt, and for millions of other people of color in America.  America’s version of White Supremacy is one that too many still refuse to acknowledge and confront.  And until we do, pictures like the one above will continue to go viral, and give well-meaning White folk ‘goose bumps.’  But nothing will change.  And people of color will continue to die.

America does not need pictures of Black people forgiving and making peace with White people in a hug.  Forgiveness and peace, without repentance and justice, are nothing more than warm fuzzies!