Got Mittens?

Got Mittens?
(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

D-Day was mere days behind them. Dad and his crew continued to operate their British 40MM Bofors gun, so they had little opportunity to fire their rifles. He and his crew had one of six the U. S. Army had borrowed from the Brits for the D-Day Invasion. The gun had originally been intended as an anti-aircraft weapon, and was still used that way by the British. The U.S. Army, however, had decided it made a very nice anti-tank weapon.

They engaged the enemy daily, sometimes in multiple battles. And since they were part of the infantry, they were always in the thick of the fighting. It was in these early battles that Dad heard something strange.

The voices were, of course, heavily accented; but Dad could think of no other phrase that made any sense. And even that made no sense. But there was no mistaking what he was hearing. For some reason, as they charged Dad’s position, the German soldiers were shouting “Got Mittens!” Over and over Dad heard them shout “Got Mittens!”; so many of them shouting it that the nearly continuous rattle and thump-thump-thump of gunfire did not drown it out.

But, strange as he thought that was, it didn’t even come CLOSE to how strange Dad thought it was when he learned what they were REALLY shouting.

Dad couldn’t say exactly when he came into possession of the belt buckle; but it was after one of those early battles. He found it just lying on the battlefield, a ragged piece of webbed belt still clinging to one side of it. He picked it up, turning it over and over in his hand. Even without close scrutiny he knew it wasn’t one of theirs; it had to be German. And when he saw the swastika gripped in the Eagle’s talons, he knew for certain. Then, he saw something else. At first, he didn’t realize he was looking at words; he thought them just symbols embossed as part of the design. But then he really saw them. There, stamped into the thin metal of the buckle, in a tight circle around the Eagle and Swastika, were the words, “GOTT MIT UNS.”

Dad stared at the words. It took a little bit; but slowly his mind worked it out. And before he could actually think the words, Dad felt his skin begin to crawl; some part of his brain already realizing. There on the belt buckle were the words he had been hearing as wave upon wave of Germans assailed their positions all throughout those early battles. “Gott Mit Uns! Gott Mit Uns! Gott Mit Uns!”

God with us.

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While it was a shocking moment for my Dad, it wasn’t a new thing in World War II for armies to claim God was on “their” side in the conflict. Even the armies of the late Roman Empire used “God with us!” as their battle cry. But at what point does it become wrong to use God’s name? In Exodus 20:7, we are all warned, “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses His name.” At what point do we cross the line?

There is certainly no scripture that says a soldier should not believe God is with him or her when he or she is in battle. In fact, that seems to be one of those times you would REALLY want God to be with you; would want to CALL on God to be with you. And yet … one must wonder about an army of soldiers on whose belt buckles are embossed “God with us.” It is one thing to send soldiers into battle to serve their country. It is quite another to tell them to do so in the name of God.

To “make wrongful use” of God’s name must include, at a minimum, the use of God’s name to convince others to act wrongly. Lest you think this is a diatribe against war, let me assure you, I am not writing about war. I am writing about whether, whatever the topic, we honor God with the things we do in His name and with those actions we convince others to take in His name. We risk our very souls if we do otherwise.

LECTIONARY READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 22 (27) (October 2, 2011)
o Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
o Psalm 19
o Isaiah 5:1-7
o Psalm 80:7-15
o Philippians 3:4b-14
o Matthew 21:33-46

If you are in Waco Friday morning, join us. Maybe we'll talk about whether we must still follow the 10 Commandments, or, perhaps the difference between “looking” and “lusting.” The only way to know for sure is to come. We'll be at Cafe Cappuccino (8:00 a.m., downtown on 6th Street, near the Courthouse) for breakfast and a great time kicking around this week's Lectionary passages. We would love to have you drop in.

Enjoy!

God's Sense of Humor

(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

People who think God doesn't have a sense of humor have just not read enough Bible. There are funny moments scattered throughout. Take the events described in Exodus 16. The Israelites are complaining (what ELSE is new?) about Moses dragging them out into the wilderness to starve to death. Whine, whine, whine. They have seen miracle after miracle; from little things, like dead frogs scattered all about, to big ones, like God using the Red Sea to destroy the Egyptian army. All those miracles, and yet they couldn't trust Him to provide the food they needed.

So God tells Moses to tell the people HE will send them meat each evening and bread each morning. Then, that night, God sent Quail. Wow ... quail ... pretty tasty, But it's not a nicely prepared pan-roasted quail with a Port sauce reduction. No, no, no. It's QUAIL. And not just quail; DEAD quail. They're falling ... on the ground (THUD!) ... on the tents (THUMP!) ... on the kids (THWAP!). They're falling on ... well, EVERYTHING! God dropped quail from the sky, and they "covered the entire camp."

THUD! THUD! THUD!
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
THWAP! THWAP! THWAP!

So, next time you're thinking of complaining about God not meeting your needs, pause a minute; reflect. Could it be God IS meeting our needs and we just don't recognize it as that? The Israelites cannot have forgotten the events that took place just a few days prior, those stunning events that had so effectively extricated them from the clutches of their cruel masters. And yet, they seemed unable to see the big picture ... to connect the dots.

It can happen to any of us, slipping into this not-seeing-the-miracles-for-the-frogs mindset. When that happened to the Israelites, the message God sent to them was "Draw near to the LORD, for he has heard your complaining." And then He met their needs ... just not, I'm sure, quite like they had in mind.

So, the next time you feel a bout of whining coming on, remember ... God has a very interesting sense of humor :-)

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You never know WHAT we'll talk about when we get together at Lectionary Breakfast ... Something from that week's lectionary passages. The only way to know for sure is to join us. This week, we might have discussed miracles, or how how God sometimes changes His mind(!), or maybe how sometimes we are envious when God is generous to other people. As it turns out, we talked about the equal-pay-for-unequal-work situation in the Matthew passage. What do YOU think about that?

Readings for the Coming Week
Proper 20 (25) (September 18, 2011)
Exodus 16:2-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45
Jonah 3:10-4:11
Psalm 145:1-8
Philippians 1:21-30
Matthew 20:1-16

We're at Cafe Cappuccino (8:00 a.m. every Friday, downtown on 6th Street, near the Courthouse) for breakfast and a great time kicking around this week's Lectionary passages. We would love to have you drop in.

Enjoy!
Steve

Justice For All?

(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

"What do YOU think?" 

The question significantly ratcheted up the tension in an already uncomfortable situation.  The person from whom I was collecting testimony wanted me to provide my opinion about the matter under investigation.  That question, or one like it, comes up a lot in the course of conducting a federal investigation.  They say things like, "Don't you agree?" or "You would have done the same thing.  Right?" or any number of things intended to solicit the Investigator's opinion.  In one sense, it is natural.  People involved in a conflict want to win others to their side of the issue.  And when federal law is involved, the pressure to be right grows exponentially for some of the parties.  It's a big deal.  For some of them, if they are wrong, if they don't prevail, the price can be steep. 

Is it any wonder that the folks providing evidence or testimony want to win over the investigator?  Still, that is not allowed.  Investigators are neutral parties. They do not render judgments.  And in that vein, they do not share any opinions they have formed about the matter under investigation.  In fact, for an Investigator to do his/here job correctly, it is essential they remain neutral.  Opinions, and eventually judgments, are the province of the adjudicators, the judges who render decisions.

If I do my job correctly ---do the digging, questioning, evidence gathering, probing, analysis, etc.--- then the judges can do theirs.  So, when asked, "What do YOU think?" I reiterate my roles in the process, explaining, again, that I am neutral.  It's not ever quite that smooth, though.  They don't give up easily.  People want justice, or at least, they want what they consider to be justice; to win, to beat the charge, to not pay the piper, or to force the accused TO pay the piper.  It's all in their perspective.

However you look at it, one thing is certain.  I am not the Judge.

Federal investigators become involved in some pretty interesting matters, not least of which is being up close and personal with our justice system.  There is a lot said and written about the justice system in this country, some positive and some negative.  But for all that, it is a rare person to suggest we should do without it.  We recognize that there are times when a person with discernment must settle the conflicts between parties because, whether laws were broken or parties believe themselves wronged by another, a decision must be made or the conflict will continue; or worse, escalate. 

Ironically (and the irony here is VERY heavy), conflicts over spiritual matters are far more contentious than those over matters of this world.  We SO want to be right in our spiritual choices.  After all, literally everything is riding on it.  We have committed our very selves.  But that just does not seem to be enough.  It doesn't seem like our being right is fully satisfying; those who are different must also be wrong.  And that is truly sad.  

A few weeks ago, I asked if we could not trust God in His declaration that HE will take care of any vengeance that needs dispensing.  And now I am asking, can't we trust Him in his commandment to not judge others?  If we cannot accept the explanation in this week's Lectionary reading (Romans 14:4), can we not just trust the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount?  I realize some of us will disagree on this, and perhaps part of that is due to differences in our definitions of judging.  So, to clarify, I am not addressing situations where we need to exercise discernment or wisdom.  And I am not addressing the judicial portion of our justice system.  In fact, about the only criticisms of justice systems in scripture is when they fail to serve their function.

No.  What I'm addressing here are matters of dispute between "people of the book."  For those, I stand with the Romans passage: "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall.  And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand." (Romans 14:4 NIV)

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 19 (24) (September 11, 2011)

Exodus 14:19-31
Psalm 114 or Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21
Genesis 50:15-21
Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35

If you are in Waco Friday morning, join us.  Maybe we'll talk about what really happened at the Red Sea crossing, or perhaps the price paid by the forgiven servant who failed to subsequently extend that grace to another, or something else from this week's scriptures.  We'll be at Cafe Cappuccino (8:00 a.m., downtown on 6th Street, near the Courthouse) for breakfast and a great time kicking around this week's Lectionary passages.  We would love to have you drop in.