Maundy Thursday Service 2013 In Outline Form

Welcome:         Good Evening, We gather tonight to remember 2 Stories. Not only do we remember, but I invite you to live into these stories – if only in your imaginations.

·      Israel was held as slaves in Egypt (Exodus)

o  God rose up Moses and Aaron

o  Ordinary People

o  Confronted Pharaoh – Said NO!

o  God gave Moses power of 10 Plagues

§  1^st 9 Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart

·      Last plague was most drastic

o  Death of First Born

o  Preserved in Scripture and Ritual – Passover Supper

o  Tonight we reenact and hear about this in both ways

§  Don’t let it be an empty ritual

·      When Jesus had his Last supper on this night – It was the Ritual of the 1^st Jewish Passover Meal

·      Also the beginning of a new Ritual

o  The Actual Lamb of God would be slain the next day

·      Very First Passover

o  Way God chose to free the Chosen People – Israel

o  Our Jewish Brothers and Sisters still celebrate this today with Passover meals called Seders

·      Modern Seder:

o  Roasted Lamb – The sacrifice to God

§  In Christian times, this was fulfilled in Jesus

o  Wine or Grape Juice

o  Unleavened Bread – symbol of having no time to let bread rise

o  Roasted Egg – symbol of new birth

o  Bitter Herb (usually horseradish) – bitterness of slavery in Egypt

o  Green Vegetable (often parsley) dipped in Salt Water – symbol of growth and renewal coming through tears and pain

o  Apple/Nut/Honey Mixture – symbol of clay/mortar mix Israelites used in Egypt AND sweetness of freedom

·      Seder not just a meal – It is a family worship service

o  When Jesus celebrated, probably not as many foods, but still same sense of tradition

o  Would have had lamb and bread and wine

·      Seder begins when one of the youngest children asks this question:

o  “Why is this night different from every other night?”

·      In Jesus’ Last Supper, the youngest disciple would have asked that same question

o  The ritual then begins as people reenact the story and the story of the first Passover is read

Exodus 12:1-14

12:1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

12:2 This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.

12:3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household.

12:4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it.

12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

12:6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight.

12:7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

12:8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

12:9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs.

12:10 You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.

12:11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the LORD.

12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.

12:13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

12:14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

God gave freedom to His people Israel in the First Passover

But God is the God of All people, not just the God of Israel. 

·      Wanted to be known by all – Jews and Gentiles

·      Sent Jesus – God in the Flesh

On Passover, Jesus ate his Last Supper before giving his life and defeating the powers of this world and the powers of death so that we may have eternal live and all have the chance to live into creation as God first intended it.

Luke 22:1-27

Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. ²The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people. ³Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; ⁴he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. ⁵They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. ⁶So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.

⁷Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.” ⁹They asked him, “Where do you want us to make preparations for it?” ¹⁰“Listen,” he said to them, “when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters ¹¹and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ ¹²He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.” ¹³So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. ¹⁴When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. ¹⁵He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; ¹⁶for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; ¹⁸for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹Then 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.” ²⁰And 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.

²¹But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. ²²For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!” ²³Then they began to ask one another, which one of them it could be who would do this. ²⁴A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. ²⁵But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. ²⁶But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. ²⁷For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

Jesus came to save all people from bondage and slavery

·      Not in the way they expected it

·      Not with force

·      Not in the sense of Kingdom they expected

What is Christ’s Kingdom?

o  Most say Heaven – They are right, but that’s not all

o  Service – The King serves the followers, the followers serve the lost in the King’s name

o  Peace – not freedom from conflict but assurance that God is with you

o  Love – ability to grow in love of God and neighbor and even love of enemy

o  Joy – not giddiness, but knowing God loves you

o  Fellowship with God’s people and with God

o  Fruit – Seeing the Kingdom grow in miraculous ways

§  We discount miracles in modern times

§  We can all name people who belong to Christ who have no business being there if it weren’t for a miracle

§  What God does through us – not what we do

We reenact this Last Supper in the form of Holy Communion

Selling the Congo for 30 Pieces of Silver

All quotes and citations are from IIP Digital Article “State’s Carson Calls for Global Effort to Help DRC” accessed from http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2013/02/20130212142470.html#axzz2LNMf7V99 on February 21, 2013

On February 12, 2013, FINALLY, it was reported that SOMEONE in the US Government said that the international community has a “’moral imperative…to break the cycle of death and suffering in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.’”

The person who made that statement was US Assistant Secretary of African Affairs Johnnie Carson.  “No other conflict or act of violence since World War II has come close to taking so many lives” as in the DRC, Carson said in Washington February 11.

I wish I could stop right there and give the people of the Congo some hope.  I wish this person with a resumé builder title Johnnie Carson was actually speaking about true peace for the human population that has suffered horrific losses and yet continued to go on because they had no choice.  I wish I could say to the Congolese that their suffering was not in vain and that the international community (meaning international governments) do care and that a meaningful peace process is on the way.

Unfortunately, people with resumé builder international positions often make grand statements while being victims of the Idolatry of Power.  They are so caught up in what title they can obtain next that they forget that they hold real power now.  Instead, the powers of this world overtake them to where they gain a type of “tunnel vision” that can only see one worldview – that is some artificially constructed worldview by which the realities of this world are only determined by the way things are now, not the way things can or should be, because such a view would be too time consuming and too risky.

Carson said that the Democratic Republic of the Congo should go through a stabilization program similar to the processes that ended the wars in Yugoslavia and Sudan.  I’m not a geography expert, but the last time I checked, Yugoslavia ceases to exist, and Sudan is now divided into two separate nations – and even that division is still contentious at best.  And if I’m not mistaken, the leader of Sudan is a wanted war criminal by the International Criminal Court.  Mr. Carson – In the future, please check your RECENT history before making such statements.

Carson did make one very true statement.  “The Congolese people are courageous and resilient.” In this statement, I find no error.  Of course, the Congolese have no choice but to be that way.  They have survived as a people through corrupt dictatorships, inadequate rule, low food security, bloody and devastating wars, foreign nations invading their territory through military or corporate means, militias attempting coups, and so forth.  And I should note that this is only in the past 10-20 years.  I haven’t even discussed times before that.

Finally, Carson ends with a very disturbing, but telling narrative of WHY the world should come together to help stabilize the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Is it because the people have suffered so long?  No!  Is it because they are human like the rest of us and have a God-Given Right to live? No!  Is it out of compassion for one’s neighbor? No!  Carson says the world should care because the Democratic Republic of the Congo could become a “leading exporter of natural resources, agricultural products, and scientific research that could attract substantial U.S. and other foreign investment.”  Yes, my friends, the world should care about the Congo because of money.

Judas again has sold Jesus for 30 silver coins.  Carson is not suggesting that anyone should care about the humanity or people of the Congo.  He is suggesting that people care about the Congo because there is something for the rest of us to gain.  And out of the world’s gain, hopefully the people there will find some peace. 

The Colonial period of history is over.  Except for the very real secret slave trade, the overt slave trade is over.  We have now entered the Neo-Colonial period and the Neo-Slave period.  Essentially, Carson is suggesting that the Democratic Republic of the Congo becomes a Neo-Colony to the corporations of the world and the people become Neo-Slaves.

Is this peace?  I think not!

Open Letter to President of Emory University

Dear Jim,

I suppose you are used to titles such as President Wagner, but after reading your essay and subsequent “clarification” concerning the “3/5 compromise,” I know of other un-Christian names which would also apply, so we will “compromise” by addressing you with your first name.

For those unfamiliar with the essay and clarification, both can be read at this link:  http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_MAGAZINE/issues/2013/winter/register/president.html

As a pastor, I am willing to extend you grace and forgiveness for your mistake in your original essay saying that the “3/5 compromise” (i.e. to determine the population of the United States, and thus Congressional Power, slaves would be counted as 3/5 of a human) was “working toward the highest aspiration they both [the North and the South] shared.”  I am willing to grant you grace, however, your second “explanation” essay is nothing short of damage control. 

Your explanation was awkward at best.  Your explanations leave us with too many unknowns while your original essay suggests that the “3/5 compromise” was part of a “messy debate” that held the nation together.

We live in a sad reality where people who live in ivory towers, such as yourself, Jim, rarely face the consequences of their actions. Yes, you may feel guilt for what happened.  People may protest.  You may receive letters and e mails that your staff will read that you will most likely never see, but Jim, I doubt that you will face any real consequences.

For a moment, Jim, put yourself in the shoes of an African-American student on your campus.  Think of how this student had to struggle just to get to be a student at your campus.  Our society is filled with barriers for people of color, the poor, and those who come from unprivileged backgrounds.  Think of how that same student is looked at differently by the very professors whom you employ.  He or she may perform at the same level, but because of the color of his or her skin, there is suspicion and a hidden and unspoken standard of which I think you wouldn’t dare deny.  Jim, we all know that some college aged people who are experiencing their first taste of freedom will take full advantage of that and engage in parties where alcohol and/or drugs may be present.  Maybe you did so yourself, Jim.  I cannot claim to be innocent from my college days.  Let’s pretend that a white student and a black student on the very same night engage in underage drinking.  In your heart of hearts, should both pass before a police vehicle, who do you think would be suspected of wrongdoing more than the other?

As a university president, and as a president of an institution as prestigious as Emory, you should have known that this was not a good idea.   I have to ask you, Jim, at what point did it cross your mind that this topic was THE topic of “compromise?” 

I commend you for apologizing, but again, I question whether that is enough.  What would have happened if an African-American University President made a similar comment about white privilege?  I think we can agree, Jim, that he or she would face tougher consequences than you will face. 

I’m not a person who seeks revenge, but I am one who looks out for my neighbor.  Jim, you insulted and injured my neighbor.  Your explanation did little, if anything, to heal the wounds.  In one essay, you brought to life an institution that has oppressed millions of people since the 1600’s and continues to do so today.  What was once slavery in the United States (or in the 1600’s – colonial fields for various nations) is still alive and well as racism.  Rather than heal, you reopened the wounds.  If I dare use slavery terms, you added more lashes on to the backs of our African-American brothers and sisters – people I call friends.  You hurt people who are not here by choice, whose ancestors were forced to work in inhumane conditions, whose families were sold as property, and people who do not even have the ability to know their own history, Jim.

I honestly do not know what you can do to make things better.  Maybe you can volunteer some time in a homeless shelter or ministry to see what it is like to truly be oppressed. Get to know these people.  See their humanity.  See the face of God as you look into their eyes.  But, Jim, if you do so only out of guilt, you’ve lost the meaning and the effort is lost.  I pray, Jim, that you are not lost and this was only a dumb mistake.  I pray that you will do something more meaningful than this weak apology and weaker explanation.

In Christ,

TH

Myths and Facts about Africa (Past and Present)

This begins a series of posts about Africa that I will be putting here on my blog.  Why, you may ask?  I ask the same question sometimes.  To oversimplify the answer, this is a very personal issue to me for reasons I can’t explain.  I am not African, but I have close friends who are.  I have never been to Africa, though I hope to visit someday.  I have no illusions of “righteousness” when it comes to African issues – I don’t have all the answers.  Why Africa? Why not issues in the United States?  My answer to those questions is that I cannot separate people by geographic location in my mind and in my heart when I truly contemplate what is at stake.  Yes, I will occasionally say things like “that is their issue,” or “this is our issue.”  However, unless the issue is truly a geographically defined issue that has no impact on human beings, there is no such thing as “you and me,” or “us and them.”  This false dichotomy is what divides the world into factions and causes hatred. 

Hatred is much different from disagreement.  We can fundamentally disagree without hating each other.  Hatred is about the other person’s very essence and being, while disagreement is about the other person’s position or stance on a topic. 

As you read this post and those to follow, keep the following things in mind:

     1.  The issues presented are fundamentally not “issues.”  Issues are people.

     2.  What happens to some people (or even one person) affects all people.  I make this as a philosophical, religious, moral, and physical claim.  If a person I don’t know who lives across the globe from me is hurt by an injustice, that person is my sister or brother by virtue of being created by the same Creator.  That same injustice could have happened to me, and if left unnoticed or unspoken of, that same injustice could happen to me because of the example set. 

     3.  Though I am primarily writing about Africa, you can read between the lines and see that I am writing about all people of all time who have been oppressed. 

     4.   Knowledge is the first and most effective combatant against injustice.  When injustice is exposed for what it is, the oppressors are seen for what they are.

     5.   Only some of what I write is my own ideas and thoughts.  I borrow from a wide range of sources – books, teachers, experiences, pastors, and many others that I can’t even remember.  I invite you to do the same.  Take this and build on it. Pass it on.  Do not let knowledge die.

Myths and Facts about Africa (Past and Present)

MYTH:  Modern Africa is prime example of a countless series of failed nation-states.

FACT:  Modern Africa is in fact, prime example of successful nation-states.[1]  Nation-states are founded and sustained by violence at one level or another.  Nations begin out of rebellion from another government, division resulting from war, or other such ventures.  Nations maintain their sovereignty through violence or the threat of violence.  This threat is explicit or implicit.  In some nations, such as Israel, it is not uncommon to see armed military members circulating the general population.  In the United States, while the military does not actively show its presence to ordinary citizens, it is well known that if people were to start a rebellion, the military would respond (for example, the American Civil War).

Stable governments may continue the succession of Government through elections, inheritance of a monarchy, or appointments, but despite the type of government, the nation-state model is the same.  The nation-state came into existence through violence, and maintains sovereignty through threat of violence.

Even the most unstable African Government runs by these means[2].  The governments come into power through rebellion or coups, and they maintain power through military means until another government (thus ushering in a "new" nation) employs the same means to gain power.  Sometimes a nation may hold elections or appoint a new leader, but yet the same nation-state model remains.

MYTH:  Africans do not have the ability to govern themselves, so therefore they need outside assistance.

FACT:  From the time Europe discovered Africa, Africans have never had the chance to govern themselves.  Europeans immediately scrambled for Africa for the resources and claimed the people to be uncivilized and uneducated.  The only truth to this is that the Africans were uneducated in European matters, just as the Europeans were uneducated in African matters.  So, the Europeans must have seemed just as savage to the African people. 

Now that Colonialism is over, the multi-national corporations have dictated the foreign policies of many of the rich nations.  In doing so, nations such as the UK, France, the US, Russia, and China have aided or denied aid to certain governments or factions allowing for the function or dysfunction of African governments.

With Globalization being the modus operandi of the time, nations are now dependent upon one another to function.  If the African Governments were allowed to govern without outside meddling, one could deduce that they would be as successful as any other government in a similar situation.

MYTH:  With the amount of killing in Africa in the past 2 decades, Africans leaders have shown they have no moral compass.

FACT:  It is true that the amount of killing in just the past 2 decades has been astronomical (I am limiting myself to 2 decades for the purpose of brevity – any more would be much too complex for my purposes here).  The following are some of the extremely violent conflicts: The 1994 Rwandan Genocide, The First and Second Congo Wars, The Sudanese Civil War, The Darfur Conflict, The Liberian Civil War[3].  I have not scratched the surface, but yet in this list alone, I have listed conflicts that have caused the deaths of over 10 million people.

It is also true that this has largely been African on African violence.  In almost any war, there will be mercenaries from other nations, but on the whole, this has been African vs. African.

It is also true that unthinkable barbaric acts were committed during these atrocities.  These were not mere wars (as if the words “mere” and “war” can ever go together).  In many of these wars, civilians were targeted, rape was a weapon, children soldiers were used, refugee camps were invaded, and mutilation of the enemy’s body was employed as a form of humiliation.

What we often forget, or what we often want to forget is that this narrative of history is a mirror to the history of the Western world as well.  We cannot forget that in “civilized” Europe, under a century ago, very similar acts took place on much the same scale by Hitler’s Nazi Regime and Stalin’s Soviet Regime.  In the United States westward expansion, there were raids on Native Americans so brutal that included “skinning” the dead body of the Native American to prove the kill.  There was the Slave Trade that not only involved kidnapping, but also vicious beatings, the tearing apart of families, rape and sexual violence, and then justifying all of this not only with legal language but with Biblical language as well.

So, this animalistic behavior exists in all humanity – not just Africans.  This behavior is inexcusable.  This behavior is morally reprehensible, but we cannot condemn “others” without also condemning “our” past.  We must also recognize that this behavior is possible anywhere in the world.

Hopefully this sets the stage for upcoming posts.  Again, this is not only about Africa.  Read between the lines of what I wrote – this is about all people of all places of all time. 

In an upcoming post, I will take on the issue of how Colonialism bred and sustained a culture of dictatorial rule, corruption, unrestrained killing and genocide.

I will also discuss how all of this bad news is not the end of the story.  There is hope.  There are things that average people can do.  The story will have a happy ending[4] – of that, I am certain!

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[1] Emanuel Katongole, The Sacrifice of Africa: A Political Theology for Africa (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011), 2.

[2] Here one argument can be made about Government corruption being so prevalent in Africa.  While that is fact, the same can be said about more stable governments as well.  Government corruption (where Government officials steal goods or money at the expense of the population) is all but certain in nations such as Cuba, in lower (and possibly higher) levels of government of Mexico, and people even make the same arguments about the lobbyists in the United States and their power over Government Officials.

[3] To see an active peaceful resistance to the Liberian Civil War, I highly recommend the documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell.

[4] The language of “story” and “narrative” comes from Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, Professor of Christian Ethics at Duke Divinity School.  Stories and Narratives are not made-up fantasies, but rather an account of how things happened and where one fits in to the larger picture.