The Road to the Cross: Moving On

"The Road to the Cross" is a series of thoughts for the Lent season.  These convey some of my hopes, prayers, and even fears as we traverse this season and prepare for the celebration of Easter.

Years ago I made a very intentional and difficult to leave my home, the people I had known, the familiar sights, sounds and smells, and head out to a different part of the country.  Since then, I have moved frequently and every time it is difficult for me to leave and to say goodbye.   I feel like I get settled in, begin to understand the people and the routines, get to know the best restaurants (who has the best pie!), and where the best parks are, and then I am uprooted to a new location to find new people and new situations and yes even new PIE.

As much as we may say we are, we are not open to change...at least very easily.  We groove patterns in our hearts that continue long after we forget why they are there.  These patterns set a course for our life and before we know it we are living a life that seems to be an echo of what we thought it should be.  But even though we know we are not where, or what, we should be, the idea of change creates a momentary panic and we find our resistance growing inside our gut as we contemplate the very idea of change.

And this brings us to Lent.

Lent is the season in which we celebrate and commit ourselves to change.  Some of us do it by trying to change some of the things we do (eat fish) or don't do (don't eat chocolate).  Some of us try to spend more time in contemplation or attempting to pray more often. Some of us try to change our habits and hearts by helping others.

Why do we do this? Because during this season we set aside some time to reflect the reality of Jesus' call on our lives.

Nearly 2000 years ago, Jesus began to call his first disciples.  They weren't rich or powerful.  They were blue collar workers, people who knew more about how to gut a fish then how to parse a verb, people who the world would have overlooked.  But not Jesus.  Jesus looked at them and saw what they could be if they would just follow him.  Jesus didn't care about their academic pedigree or their current employment.  Jesus cared about their ability to follow...their ability to change and their ability to say goodbye to their old life.


[16] Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. [17] And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” [18] And immediately they left their nets and followed him. [19] And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. [20] And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Can you imagine this scene? James and John leave their father in the boat! Talk about leaving all they knew behind them! (I can also imagine Zebedee's conversation with his wife: "do you know what your sons just did?").  James, John, and Peter all left the comfort of home to follow Jesus on a mission that might have well gotten them killed.

In the process, God opened their eyes and they saw powerful and magnificent views: Jesus' transfiguration, the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus walking on water.  Imagine if they had stayed home and missed out on these experiences and these lessons in life.

Following Jesus has a cost.  It is and has never been about comfort.  When people would ask to follow Jesus, he would respond, "foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Matt 8:20). Or has Dietrich Bonhoeffer so eloquently put it, "When Jesus calls, he calls us to die."

As I look back on my life, there are a lot of things that I miss....and I am sure the disciples miss as well.

I miss my friends...those people I hung around growing up: Chris and Juli Rosser, Kris Petrillo, Bryan Bantle, Sam Pizzo, and a whole host of other people I haven't seen in decades.  I miss Geet's Diner.  I miss Jackson road and crazy nights

I miss Jamestown, PA and Lake Pymantunig (or however you spelled it).  I miss the Jamestown Presbyterian Church, the Jamestown Fair, and small town life.

I miss Downers Grove, IL  and Horizon Church and Chicago traffic, along with Gioardano's pizza and Chicago Bears football.

And I am sure I will miss Groton CT and the people I have known around here.

But every time I move...or every time God commands me to move...I am reminded of God's call on my life as his disciple.

This call goes beyond our physical location.  It goes to our very soul and our very life.  God's call on us is complete and our response to Him is one of discipleship.

And that is where the Road to the Cross leads us...it leads us to discipleship.  It leads us to say good bye to the things of our past life and to walk on and to continue on with Jesus. It means finding home in Him...a home that you never have to leave and you never have to say goodbye.

As we walk the Road to the Cross, we are reminded that we do not walk this path alone, for our Lord is with us every step of the way.

Heroes in Life and Death: Grand Duchess Elizabeth

Grand Duchess Elizabeth: New Martyr

On July 18, 1918, a young nun, along with several others who worked in her convent, was brutally murdered by Communist forces outside the village of Alapasevek. Her and the people she served had been rounded up as political prisoners and sent to their death.  

This nun was actually the former Grand Duchess of Russia: Elizabeth Feodorovna, who had abandoned her life of riches and ease to serve God and the poor in Moscow. She had established the convent of Martha and Mary whose primary mission was to care for the poor.  

Born in 1864, Elizabeth had always been religious, but it wasn't until she met her husband, Sergei, that she discovered her true spirituality.  She had been raised as a Protestant, but converted the Russian Orthodox Church.  Her husband was devout in his spiritual life and was overcome with emotion when she announced her decision to convert. 

As Duchess, Elizabeth lived a considerable life of ease.  She was rich beyond her imagination and her life was filled with food, parties, dresses and an energetic social life. But she was never content with this and always felt ill at ease amongst the socialites of her day. She had a burning desire to take care of the poor.  Her husband and her tried to provide relief for the poor. 

On Feb 18, 1905, her life changed forever.  Sergei had been targeted for elimination by anarchists.  As Sergei arrived at the Kremlin for a business meeting, an assassin detonated explosives, killing the Grand Duke instantly.  Elizabeth, hearing the explosion, ran to the scene, where she tried to maintain the Grand Duke's dignity by collecting his body parts as a final act of love.  

Overcome with grief, Elizabeth withdrew into her religious life. She began to pray constantly. She even went to prison to meet with her husband's murderer.  She offered him salvation by Christ's forgiveness, which the man refused.  After this, she began to sell off all of her expensive clothes, jewelry, and paintings to raise money to start her convent. She wanted to devote her entire life to God, and she was excited to work among the poor.

Russia at the turn of the century was a dangerous place.  Years of mismanagement had led to a great divide between the rich and poor.  The poor, frustrated by this situation and excited by Marxist academics, decided to rebel.  Unfortunately, this exacerbated the underlying situations and the Communist rebellion wound up hurting more people than it ever helped. The violence and political instability that marked this period of Russian history led to the great violence unleashed on the world by the Communist party. 

The Convent of Sts Martha and Mary placed an emphasis on helping the poor in Moscow and the Grand Duchess exemplified these virtues by personal example.  She cared for the people personally, often spending long hours by bedsides and comforting the sick.  Even nonbelievers remarked at her personal dedication to the poor and the convent became a popular place with the people of the community.

Unfortunately, the Communists did not take kindly to the convent.  Hell bent on destroying everybody who did not agree with them, the Revolutionaries sought to close the convent. The Communist ideology is threatened by any worldview in competition with it, and none so much as the Christian worldview.  Because of this, the Communists, whose official religion is Atheism, must eliminate any religious order or philosophy and this situation was no different, regardless of any good the convent was providing for the poor.  (The irony should not be lost on anybody.  The Communists, whose 'goal' was to help the poor, wound up arresting those who were helping the poor).

The Communists rounded up those who worked in the convent and sent them to a prison camp. Eventually, they were transferred to Alapasvek.  Elizabeth, her relatives, and other nuns were cast into a well.  Elizabeth did not die on impact and began to take care those who were mortally injured by their fall. Not content to leave them like this, the Communists then threw grenades down the well to blow up the wounded, unarmed nuns and civilians.  Even after the explosion, the martyrs in the well continued to care for each other and to sing hymns.  It was at that point the murderers decided to leave them to die. 

The Grand Duchess's life tells us a number of lessons and exemplifies a number of virtues. First and foremost is not to care about a life of ease and comfort, instead to sacrifice and to take care of the poor. Second is to show courage in the face of cowards with guns.  Most importantly, however is to look at a life dedicated to God.    

The Road to the Cross: Giving Up

"The Road to the Cross" is a series of thoughts for the Lent season.  These convey some of my hopes, prayers, and even fears as we traverse this season and prepare for the celebration of Easter.

I talk too much.  This is and always has been a character flaw and an occupational hazard.  Preachers often find themselves in positions where people look to them to say something and we feel that we must have exactly the right words to say--to comfort, to explain, to heal.  Other times I say things I oughtn't...words to harm, to maim, to hurt.  

I would love to say that I talk...or that I try to talk...to show respect to God and to show guidance in all things. But to say that would be to lie and to misuse even more words.  

The truth of the matter is that I talk too much because I am prideful.  I think my words mean more than they should or that people should hold them more in respect.  I have studied the Bible, I say to myself, surely people should want to hear what I have to say about "_____________".  Or I may think, "well I have the answer to this, because I know about _____________" and I am frustrated that people won't take my advice.  This is pride, vanity....foolishness. 

In the past couple of years, I have tried to be more intentional about listening, about not speaking up and not interjecting my own point of view, my opinion and my suggestions.  By doing this, I hopefully can learn from others and see insights into life I have never seen before and learn to put others before myself.  

And this brings us to Lent. 

Lent is that time of the year, when we try to force ourselves into putting ourselves second....or even third.  It is that time of the year when we try to discipline our bodies into submitting to a more normal and rational diet of life. It is that time of the year when we are confronted face to face with the love of God poured out on the cross. 

For me, one of the major forgotten heroes of the Christian Church is John the Baptist.  John was clearly a popular preacher, a model for what mainly preachers (including myself) search for.  He was so popular, people came to him from hundreds of miles around.  Not only this, they came to hear what miserable sinners they were and how they needed to get right with God.  I can only imagine if God had blessed me with a ministry like that what I could.  Imagine the small groups we could establish and the books we could write (I can almost see the campaign "40 Days of Repentance"), and the youth ministries we could establish.  But John does none of this.  

In fact, John wastes a great opportunity.  Some people came to him and asked if he were the prophet.  John replies with a hearty "NO!" and says that there was another person coming.  Later on, when Jesus was gaining in popularity and his followers came to him and complained to John, The Baptist replied with one of the greatest statements in all of Scripture: 

"He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30 

In that one sentence, John captures the essence of Lent, which is the essence of the Christian life.  

I must decrease--these words are the opposite of what my prideful nature says to me.  In fact, my pride tells me the opposite of this statement: that I must follow the path of Nietzsche and do everything in my power to increase in my life.  I must increase my dominance over myself, over others, over nature.  I should not and ought not to say 'no' to myself and I should have everything that I could possibly desire.  

But no truer words have been spoken than that I must decrease.  I must decrease my desires.  I must decrease my exertion over other people and I should seek to dominate control over my own life.  I am not important. 

He must increase--the path to the cross begins with these words.  It is the place of Jesus that must increase.  The will and desires of Jesus must begin to control my heart and my life.  My time must be spent not on my desires, but Jesus' desires must become my desires.  Instead of exerting my control over others, I must desire to serve and to love others by whatever means possible.  Instead of seeking to spend my time on my own pleasures, I need to seek His.  

Jesus himself teaches us this by example.  He willingly came to serve those who did not love him.  He came to die for those who did not know Him.  He purposely chose the cross to appease the wrath of God in our place.   

At a Bible study recently, a woman came up with a powerful observation.  In discussing communion, she was struck by Jesus words, recited every week at the Eucharist: "This is my body, given for you." She said, when Jesus says that to us, and we accept, we say the same thing back to Him, "This is my body, given to you."  This is not in the sense of of a saving death, but an acknowledgement that we must decrease but He must increase in our lives.

And so the Road to the Cross begins with an understanding that we must give up.  We must give up our pride, and we must give up on exalting ourselves.  The Road to the Cross is the Road to Humility, and there is no better time to start on that road than the season of Lent. 

What is humility? Humility is to look on oneself as dust and ashes. The humble says, "Who am I? And who considers me to be anything? Who am I to deal with people for I am powerless?" He does not say, "What" or "What is this?" but walks submissively in his ways, never deeming himself equal to others. And if he is despised and rejected he does not get angry.

Humility is to hold oneself as guilty and to find that one has done nothing good before God. It is to maintain silence, looking on oneself as nothing. It is to reject one's inclinations, to look down to the ground, bearing death before his eyes., safeguarding himself from lying. It consists in not speaking, falsehood or arguing with someone who is older than you are, enduring insults joyfully, detesting comfort and training oneself in hardship, never distressing anyone. 

~ St. Abba Isaiah

It's GOOD to kill (certain) people

On December 15, 2012 the deadliest and most horrific school shooting in American history happened. On that day, a monster killed twenty school children and six adults before finally killing himself. In the aftermath, communities came together, politicians lobbied for stronger gun laws and the nation tried to make sense of the violent culture we have created.

More recently, Christopher Dorner, a disgruntled former L.A.P.D. officer went on a shooting rampage in which he killed four people and injured others. The trigger for this killing spree seems to have been Dorner's 2008 firing from the police force, along with an unmitigated complaint against the LAPD.  The delay in his firing and the killing spree have not been fully explained, but these details will emerge over the next weeks.

 In the wake of this shooting, there have been no cries for stricter gun control laws, no examination of our violent society.  Rather, there has been an outpouring of support for this man (as can be seen here). Some in the media have wondered if we should take Dorner's manifesto seriously.

Whatever the situation behind this man getting fired are irrelevant compared the actions he took over the last few weeks.  This man hunted down and killed police officers and others, unleashing a wave of terror in Southern California.  But all of this seems irrelevant to this man's supporters, some of whom view him as a superhero.

Columbia University Professor Marc Lamont Hill, commenting on the chain of events and the support Dorner was receiving online, said, "And as far as Dorner himself goes, he’s been like a real life superhero to many people. Now don't get me wrong. What he did was awful, killing innocent people was bad, but when you read his manifesto, when you read the message that he left, he wasn’t entirely crazy. He had a plan and a mission here. And many people aren't rooting for him to kill innocent people. They are rooting for somebody who was wronged to get a kind of revenge against the system. It’s almost like watching Django Unchained in real life. It’s kind of exciting." 

Django Unchained is the latest Quentin Tarantino film about a former slave who goes on a murderous rampage.  The film is known for its prolific violence and repeated use of the N-word. The movie's premiere was delayed after the Newtown shootings, but seems to have been celebrated in the wake of Chris Dorner's shootings.  Hill's comment is that the unfolding events were like watching the movie "in real life."  Then he goes on to add the statemetn, "It's kind of exciting."  

Excuse me? Exciting? What about the four people who were murdered...in real life. This was not a movie, this was reality.  What about their families? Their friends? Their loved ones? 

To understand the implication of what Professor Hill is saying, imagine if somebody had said the same thing abut Sandy Hook.  Imagine if Professor Hill had said, "It's kind of exciting," about the murder of twenty school children. Imagine if he had compared the Newtown shootings to watching a movie in real life.  There should be an underlying feeling of revulsion in your gut at that suggestion, and there should be one to this statement as well. 

So to some up where we are now: a man shoots twenty children and is the incarnation of evil.  A man goes on a shooting spree and hunts down four police officers and becomes a folk hero.  What's the difference? 

The difference has to be seen in the motive.  Adam Lanza had no clear cut motive other than he hated his mother.  But Dorner seems to have a grudge against the LAPD, and this makes Dorner's actions legitimate, even praiseworthy. 

In the midst of the shootings, Dorner issued a statement that tried to excuse and explain his actions.  He expressed his love of left leaning celebrities and liberal causes.  This creates an embarrassment for the established liberal media.  They have to admit they like his causes, but they can't admit they like his actions. So they have to do the best thing they know how...cover things up.  So instead of drawing attention to Dorner's killing spree, they turn their attention his firing and his underlying complaints.  They will even go so far as to ignore their normal call for gun control after a situation like this.  

So the media narrative becomes that the LAPD are bad people (a normal liberal complaint) that caused this man to get fired and then in turn caused him to go on a shooting spree.  The people who were killed were probably corrupt and therefore they got what was coming to them.

Granted, that above paragraph is conjecture, but it seems to be pretty spot on in light of the media coverage of this case.  

The underlying understanding seems to be, that murder is ok...in certain circumstances.  In fact..it might be good to kill certain people because it brings certain injustices to light.  Violence may be ok, if it has a purpose and is directed against the right targets.  

This is in deep contrast with the virtues of the kingdom of God and the preaching of Jesus. Violence for a Christian is never an option, no matter how just the cause is.  Jesus says, "Do not resist the one that is evil.  But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." In the twentieth century, Archbishop Oscar Romero states, "We have never preached violence, except the violence of love, which left Christ nailed to a cross, the violence that we must each do to ourselves to overcome our selfishness and such cruel inequalities among us. The violence we preach is not the violence of the sword, the violence of hatred. It is the violence of love, of brotherhood,the violence that wills to beat weapons into sickles for work.”

Murder is never an option for the Christian or the church, no matter how just a cause may be.  There should be no differnce in our condemnation of Adam Lanza and Christopher Dorner. 

Life on the Edge: the Fragility of life

Just about every day I deal with a life changing moment.  Usually these moments aren't mine, but I am affected by the change I see in people.

Sometimes these moments are very good...the birth of a baby, a wedding...sometimes these two are closer than I would want!  Other times they are not good moments...divorce, death, despair.  In the former moments, people are in awe of the big changes a few moments can bring.  In the latter, people are in despair of the big changes a few moments can bring.

"I can't believe how much I could love her!" a new parent exclaims.  "I can't believe how much I loved him," says the grieving wife whose husband has just passed on. "I'm married!" exclaims a beaming new husband the moment the reality of the situation hits him.  "I'm getting divorced," whispers a downtrodden wife the moment the reality of the situation hits her.

What under-girds all of this is a belief that life is normal and stable and nothing will ever change.  But it is far time we learned that we are living on the edge, every moment of our life.

At every point in life, we are just moments away from achieving greatness and at every moment in life, we are mere seconds away from catastrophe. We have become fairly good at ignoring the cliff and fooling ourselves that life is really under our control.

This is not to say that our actions do not affect us, for they most certainly do.  But the most prepared, the most righteous, the most noble person may find themselves facing the consequences of something beyond their control.  Just as those who are falling out of control of life may find themselves blundering into a rewarding circumstance.

Is life, then, all chance? Is it just the luck of the draw? As the Apostle would say so, "May it never be so!"

We live our lives in the hands and before the sight of an all seeing, all powerful God, the Lord Almighty.  There is nothing that happens that He is not aware of, and nothing that occurs of which He is not the ultimate Author. We never know what might come from His hand or from His agents.  While we can discuss and debate the place of evil in the plan of God: one thing is certain: God is never surprised at what happens.

This means that when we are confronted by a sudden and tragic death....or a sudden end to a relationship...or any heartache that can come our way, God knew about it.  He knew what was happening beneath the surface and understood what was about to go wrong.  This is meant as a comfort for us, that in our darkest moments, God knows what is happening and we can go to Him about it.

But it also means that in our greatest success, God was laying the foundation and the bulwark.  Our ingenuity was never quite as ingenious as we might think it to be (as good as it is).  Our hard work definitely helped us along the way, but it was God who gave us success.

We live our lives before God and it is in those moments where everything changes, that we need to draw close to Him.  We need to pray to Him and ask Him what He is doing in our lives.  At these moments, we recognize the tenuousness that holds our lives together.  It helps us to look at the edge and to wonder what's beyond it. 

A Spoke in the Wheel: the Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Today would have been Dietrich Bonhoeffer's birthday.  While we can be assured that he would have long slipped the mortal coil of this existence, he was taken much too early, having been killed at the hands of the Nazis in Tegel prison. Bonhoeffer was only 39 when he died and yet remarkably has had a greater impact on many who have lived well past their prime.

At the end of his life, and in the face of his own mortality, Bonhoeffer questioned his existence in a poem entitled, "Who am I?" He writes:

"Who am I? They often tell me

I stepped from my cell's confinement 

Calmly, cheerfully, firmly

Like a squire from his country house

Who am I? They often tell me

I used to speak to my warders
Freely, friendly, and clearly
as though it were mine to command
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equably, smilingly, proudly
Like one accustomed to win 

At the end of this poem (listen to the whole text), Bonhoeffer wonders if he lives up to the expectations others have placed on him.  "Am I really then all that which other men tell of? Or am I only what I know myself to be?"  In the end, he sums up his feelings perfectly:

                          "Whoever I am, thou knowest God, I am thine!" 

That, in a sentence, describes Dietrich Bonhoeffer's lifelong desire. Whatever he did, he wanted to belong completely to his Lord Jesus Christ.  

In his life, he sought complete obedience to the will of God as he knew it.  In his death, he would become the inspiration for Christians around the world to engage with the world with renewed vigor and passion. 

Bonhoeffer lived in a unique period of history in which the world seems to have gone insane.  Dictators had taken up residence in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Soviet Union.  People were being rounded up and put in camps because of their religion, race, and/or sexual orientation.  Millions were sacrificed to the god of atheism and a majority of people called it progress.  In reality, human beings were simultaneously deifying themselves, and throwing their humanity aside.   Sadly the Christian Church went along with this, and some in the church promoted it. 

Church decorated in Nazi flags

It is easy to be timid and to not stand up for what is right.  It is easy to say nothing and hope that you will be ignored.  It is easy to hold on to what we have and not risk losing it.  Too many people in Germany took the easy route.  The Nazis came and placed more and more demands on the church and took more and more liberty away from it.  The Nazis at first allowed the Church to continue on in its mission, but then put restrictions in place on what it could preach and teach.  Finally, the Nazis came in and told the church exactly what they could teach.  Too many people went along and the voice of the Church was silenced.  There is no sadder sight to see than a Christian pulpit draped with a twisted cross. 

Bonhoeffer was one of the first, if not the first, to stand opposed to what the Nazis were attempting in Germany.  In 1933, he spoke on "The Church and Jewish Question," in which he stated that the Church had a moral imperative to assist the Jewish people. 

[T]here are three possible ways in which the church can act toward the state: the first place, as has been said, it can ask the state whether its actions are legitimate and accordance with its character as state; i.e., it can throw the state back on its responsibility. Second, it can aid the victims of any ordering of society, even if they do not belong to Christian community — "Do good to all people." In both these courses of action, the church serves the free state in its free way, and at times when laws are changed the church may in no way withdraw itself from these two tasks. The third possibility is not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to jam a spoke in the wheel itself.

Bonhoeffer later became involved in movements to relocate Jews from Germany.  Ultimately he became involved in the failed Von Stauffenberg plot to kill Hitler.  The SS caught up with Bonhoeffer's secret life and sent him to prison, where he was executed on April 9, 1945.

For such a young man, Bonhoeffer accomplished a great deal.  His writings have paved the way for modern Christian theology, particularly in the areas of ecclesiology, ethics, and discipleship. His books Life Together and Discipleship are among the classics of Christian spirituality. Ethics and his Letters and Papers from Prison have been read by millions around the world and have been translated into a variety of languages.  Bonhoeffer continues to influence theologians today from almost every perspective, including Jurgen Moltmann and Doug Platt.

What is it about this young man that draws so much attention?

Bonhoeffer provides us with an example of what it truly means to follow Christ today.  His legacy is that he pushed...and continues to push the Church out of the cloister and into the public realms. The Church cannot separate itself from the world, but rather must embrace the world as Christ embraced the world and sought to transform it.

Bonhoeffer's credo was that the "church is only the church as it exists for others."  He took this from the very foundation of Christ's mission in the world.  Christ came for the other, the ones that were apart from Him, the ones that hated Him, the ones that sought to put Him to death.  The same is true for the Church.  We exist, not for ourselves and not for our own sake, but for those who are outside the church, for those who hate the Church, for those who would put the Church to death.  It is only as we begin to recognize this fact that we can truly be engaged in any mission worthy of the name Christian.

In order to do this, we must be wiling to follow Christ, wherever Christ would have us go.  These places are often not very comfortable, we must remember, as Bonhoeffer teaches us, "discipleship is not an offer man makes to God." Rather, Christ commands us to follow and the word comes to us.Christianity is about discipleship.  As he writes, "Christianity without discipleship is Christianity without Christ." The Christian life becomes Christo-centric in every aspect of living.

The legacy of Bonhoeffer must be lifted up once again.  The Church must follow Christ and must follow boldly in the face of a society and culture filled with violence and death.  In our world, the Christian message has been marginalized because the Church has been too timid to dare to follow the commands of Christ.

Where is the Christian voice...the voice of Christ as it were...in the public sphere of life? Where is the body of Christ in action?  But not all is lost and we clearly see signs of life.

We see signs of Bonhoeffer's legacy all over the place and we see the work of Christ being accomplished.  It was evident in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s call for a new vision of society beyond race divisions.  It has been active in the work of the International Justice Mission's fight against human trafficking.  It is seen plainly in the work of Shane Claiborne and the Simple Way ministry.

Just like Bonhoeffer, we live in unique times.  The world seems to have gone mad and humans have at the same time deified themselves and cast humanity aside. Just as Bonhoeffer sat in that cell and wondered "who am I?" so we too can ask ourselves the same question.  "Who are we?" "Who am I?" Will I hear the voice of Christ, or will I shrink in fear? Will I live for the other or seek security for myself?  or we will say, with Bonhoeffer:

            "Whoever I am, thou knowest O God, I am thine!"

Saving (or taking) a Life: Abortion In the Words of the Pro-Choice

Earlier this year, our country commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that made abortion on demand legal in the United States. Even as the mainstream media ignored the March for Life, the abortion discussion will not go away.

This issue is of continuing importance to the Christian Church around the world, because God has commanded us to protect life. In Exodus 20, God commands the Israelites that "thou shall not kill" and since then, the Church at its best, has had a commitment to the protection of life.  The Westminster Divines interpreted the 6th Commandment not only as a preventative motion against the taking of a life, but a proactive commandment to protect human life. When Jesus came, God took on human flesh and validated human life.  In His resurrection, Jesus proves the future of the human body.  Human beings are not just human beings if they have capacity to think and act for themselves.  The embryo, the fetus, the aged, the sick, the handicapped are all human beings and all reflect the glory of God and are all valuable as life.  Theologian Jurgen Moltmann, in the book, The Way of Jesus Christ, captures this nature perfectly. He writes:

Every devaluation of the foetus, the embryo and the fertilized ovum compared with life that is already born and adult is the beginning of a rejection and a dehumanization of human beings.  Hope for the resurrection of the body does not permit any such death sentence to be passed on life.  Fundamentally speaking, human beings mutilate themselves when embryos are devalued into mere ‘human material’, for every human being was once just such an embryo in need of protection.

Abortion, murder, euthanasia create such problems because they intrinsically involve degradation of the human form, which is made in the image of God (Gen 1:26).

Before we discuss this any further, we need to make a point, because not all abortion is equal.  There are times when abortion is medically justified to save the life of the mother. If our overarching directive is to preserve life, then, no matter how tragic it is, sometimes life must be sacrificed to preserve life.  But most abortions that occur in the United States are not performed to save the life of the mother.  Most are performed for other reasons.

Today we are going to to look at some of the reasons.  Recently, MSNBC commentator Toure Neblett offered an account of his personal experience with abortion.  He intended it as an apologetic for the pro-choi ce position, but what emerges is a disturbing look at his thought process.  I will confess at the outset that I am very unfamiliar with Mr. Neblett, but we shall use his own words to create a discussion.  The text in full states:

Toure Neblett from MSNBC

Touré:  This week brought us the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and made me reflect on a moment from 15 years when I was in a committed relationship with a woman who I knew was just not the one. She also knew it probably wasn't going to work out and then she got pregnant, and I was terrified. I have always known the importance of family and building kids into strong adults and I know I would not be who I am if not for growing up under the watchful eye of two people who loved me and loved each other. I knew that pregnant woman and I were not going to be able to form a lasting family. She decided it was best to have an abortion and days later she did, we did, and in some ways that choice saved my life. I was not then smart enough or man enough to build a family or raise a child, and I only would have contributed to making a mess of three lives. Years after that I met another woman, married her, and after we decided to get pregnant, I went to her doctor's appointments, our doctor's appointments, with joy. It was a thrill to watch that boy grow inside her, but I must admit during that second trimester as we watched him move around on 3-D sonograms I saw how human and they were my life long belief in abortion rights was – let's say – jostled.  It was life colliding with belief system.  I had to rethink my position, but in the end I remain committed to being pro-choice because I cannot imagine arguing against a woman's right to control her body – and thus – her life. I believe in, as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote, “a woman's autonomy to determine her life's course.”Yes, there is a reasonable and unsolvable medical debate about when exactly life begins, but I find something undeniably misogynist about the impulse to deny a woman's dominion over her own body and limit her ability to shape her life – and impose another sense of morality on her. Family building is at the heart of nation-building, and taking away the ability to choose means the ability to build lasting families is challenged. Richard Florida finds the higher a state's abortion rate, the lower its divorce rate. But even though abortion is legal, ever since Roe was passed the right has been working not just to overturn it, but also to constrain it. Today was the 40th annual March for Life in D.C – and 87% of counties there are no abortion providers and in several states it's nearly impossible to get an abortion. In over the past two years 130 laws have been enacted restricting abortion rights and curbing the number of abortion providers. I want abortion to be legal, safe, and rare, but restricting access makes it rare for the wrong reason and drives many women to self-administered abortions that endanger their lives and their reproductive future.  In a nation where 40% of children are born to unwed mothers, we are hurting our nation by making family planning harder. I thank God and country that when I fell into a bad situation, abortion was there to save me and keep me on a path toward building a strong family I have now – and I pray that safety net remains in place. People who have children when they're prepared leads to stronger children, stronger families, and thus stronger adults and a stronger America. original text here 

Let's begin where he does, with his relationship with this woman. He admits that he was in a "committed relationship with a woman who I knew was just not the one."  Romantic nonsense aside, what does he tell us here?  He continued a relationship with a woman that he he had no intention of marrying.  So, then, why exactly was he in the relationship?  Obviously this was a sexual relationship, so it appears that he kept himself in the relationship  for personal gain. 

Then he attempts to remove personal responsibility by the use of the passive sense, "she became pregnant."  Wait....how did that happen? Did she have some sort of immaculate conception?  Did she accidentally bump against somebody and then became pregnant?  No...we all know what happened, but the use of the passive sense here is a means by which Mr. Neblett can avoid the responsibility of "I had sex with a woman I had no intention of marrying and I impregnated her."  People don't 'become pregnant' anymore than the gun 'just went off'.  People have to decide to a course of action that leads to pregnancy.  

Mr. Neblett then tries to couch the next decision in moral language.  "I have always known the importance of family...." He wants to prepare the reader by putting this in context.  Because he and this unnamed woman could not perform their moral responsibility to this new life, it is better that the new life is destroyed. 

And so, we are told, "she decided to have an abortion." Mr. Neblett again absolves himself of any wrong doing.  It was all her fault.  Roe v. Wade does create an interesting legal situation.  It takes two people to make a child, but after conception, the child belongs only to the woman.  Of course, men are more than happy to be absolved of most responsibilities these days, but it is amazing in this narrative how Mr. Neblett disappears from the stage altogether. 

Mr. Neblett then goes on to say that this decision, "saved my life."  Pause for a second to reflect on that choice of phrasing, because it's deliberate.  The notion here is that the unwanted baby gave his life in a noble sacrifice for  Mr. Neblett.  Was Mr. Neblett mortally injured or critically ill?  No! Then how did this abortion save Mr. Neblett's life.  We have to conjecture here.  By eliminating this unwanted child, this saved Mr. Neblett's financial resources and allowed him to persue a career in broadcast.  Thank God that this woman decided to have an abortion, otherwise this man would have had to get a job and take care of his responsibility and raise a child. 

Later on in his life, Mr. Neblett did marry and decide to have a child. It is interesting to read his reflections on that.  No where does he try to deny that the unborn child is a human life.  In fact, he remembers with joy as he "watched with joy the boy growing inside her." He talks about how this experience "jostled" his worldview about abortion.  But thankfully (or so we are led to believe) he remained committed to keeping abortion legal.  

He summarizes his position towards the end of this quote by saying "I thank God and country that when I fell into a bad situation, abortion was there to save me..." Notice again these use of the passive voice. It is almost as if he is saying that he had no choice and this situation was thrust upon him...he was an innocent who found himself in a 'bad situation.'  But abortion was there to save him. This is an interesting choice of words and imagery.  One can almost here the echoes of old timey religious language, but instead of "Jesus Saves," we are encouraged to believe that "Abortion Saves."  

Of course the question we have to ask is: 'saves who...from what?'  In this case, Mr. Neblett was saved from a life of providing for his child. He was saved from financial obligations, he was saved from having to grow up, he was saved from putting his career on hold and he was saved from the hard work of being a father.  Thank God for that!

Mary Elizabeth Williams

Ultimately, abortion does create two classes of people: those who have rights and those who do not.  As Pro-Choice Advocate Mary Elizabeth Williams recently put it, "All life is not equal."  She explains: "A fetus can be a human life without having the same rights as the woman in whose body it resides." (Mary Williams) For Ms. Williams, just like Mr. Neblett, an unborn baby is a life worth sacrificing to the greater cause of people not being hampered down in their responsibilities.  Ms. Williams exclaims that is she found out she was pregnant,"you bet your a** I'd have an abortion.  I'd have the World's Greatest Abortion."

The Church has no choice but to be pro-life because God is pro-life.  Celebrating abortion as a means of salvation from moral responsibility has no place in the church because it necessarily involves taking a human life...a human life who as no voice.  

This year, let us strive to strive to live out the truth that Bishop Oscar Romero taught us, "that those who have a voice must speak for those who are voiceless."