Of Angels and Immigrants: Christmas Comes to Us

In those days a decree went out that all should be registered…

The decree I received came in the form of an invitation from agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE agents are even now responding to an overwhelming influx of asylum seekers from Central America. As occurred two years ago, the ordinary system of immigration services is being overwhelmed with humanitarian need. In response to this crisis, the new sector chief for Arizona is requesting the help of faith communities to provide compassionate, temporary, transitional shelter.

They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby…

The need for compassionate, temporary, transitional shelter is most needed for women and children. Similar to the “unaccompanied minor” crisis of 2015, today’s need focuses on those who are most vulnerable, most in need of the kind of comfort and care the Body of Christ provides. The ICE agents with whom I met expressed a desire that these women and children seeking asylum (known as “asylees”) be shelterd by faith communities rather than in already overcrowded and overstressed governmental processing centers.

Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left…

The temporary and transitional nature of the shelter requested is for the purpose of helping these asylees get from Phoenix or Tucson to their family, usually in another state. U.S. law provides for asylees to be transported to family within our borders, and ICE desires our help in making that experience as compassionate and humane as possible; these folks already have known trauma so easing their connection to family is in everyone’s interest.

            Herod gave orders to kill all…

The trauma these asylees have experienced comes at the hands of “Herod” in their home countries of Guatemala, Honduras or Nicaragua. Indeed, Herod lives in many lands throughout the globe. Under the rule of Herod, people suffer and many choose to flee rather than be persecuted, suffer oppression or worse. Even today, Rachel weeps for her children and refuses to be comforted.

You shall call him Immanuel…

Christmas is the celebration of God with us in Jesus Christ! God with us so that we can bring God to the world. As the Body of Christ, it is our calling to confront Herod even as we comfort Rachel. At this time, we are being invited to collaborate with ICE to be instruments of God’s peace. Are you willing or able to help?

In Tucson: Two Methodist churches are taking the lead but need material assistance (click on this link) or email theinnprojecttucson@gmail.com if you would like to volunteer.

In Phoenix: A church or churches are need to serve as organizer, coordinator and/or space provider. If you can help, email me, and I will get you connected with others who are willing to help. Teresa Waggener, the Coordinator of Immigration Issues at General Assembly, will conduct a webinar on Wednesday, January 4 at noon. I and others will be watching this webinar at the presbytery offices, and you are welcome to join us!

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all, on whom God’s favor rests.

Brad Munroe

Christmas through a Child’s Eyes

I folded like an accordion. I caved when confronted by the crassest of our culture. I sold my soul. And I’m glad I did.

            What did I do that was so horrible?

Thank you for asking. I played Santa at St. Andrew’s (Tucson) Christmas Festival. As a pastor I was something of a purest regarding keeping the boundaries between the sacred and the secular – no Santa, no Jingle Bells for me. My congregations were commercial free zones! I felt so righteous.

Then I was asked to play Santa. My first inclination was to refuse, but I knew the one asking was desperate as the Christmas Festival was drawing nigh (I’m such an enabler!). Also, the festival was designed as a “bridge event” for the community, a way to connect outward with families who otherwise would have no contact with the congregation. How can a church grow if there is no contact with others beyond the current church family?

Should I have said no? Perhaps, but I said yes.

Upon entering the fellowship hall I was hit by a palpable wave of love and adoration. Children’s eyes lit up with delight bordering on awe. I knew the children’s reaction had nothing to do with me and everything to do with the suit. Yes, definitely the suit.

I was reminded of the wisdom of Ian Pitt-Watson, a preaching professor at Fuller Seminary, who counseled his students to avoid the complicated sermon illustration and always favor the simple, the common, the universal. That is, rather than an explanation of how quantum physics expresses the love of God at levels we can only imagine, an illustration that serves only to highlight the preacher’s scholarly ways, a better way to express the love of God is to connect it to a little girl with her Raggedy Ann. The rag doll’s value is not counted in the cost of the cloth, thread and yarn but in the inestimable worth of a little girl’s love, imputed, credited, attached to Raggedy Ann no matter how raggedy the doll has become. Such is our worth: of inestimable value because of the lover from whom it comes.

That’s how these children loved me (as Santa). I don’t really know what to make of this experience. A part of me remains mortified that I blended the sacred and the secular, yet a part of me has a renewed sense of awe and wonder. When was the last time I looked at Jesus the way those children looked at me? What was the last time I heard the Christmas story with new ears? Heard the challenge implicit in Zechariah’s prophecy regarding his son, John? Was amazed by the fierceness of Mary’s faith in the Annunciation or was dazzled by the audacity of her Magnificat? Have I felt recently the sting of John the Baptizer’s accusation about being part of a brood of vipers? Have I dropped everything to journey to Bethlehem recently to see this thing the Lord has done for us? Have I mourned with Rachel at the loss of her children who are no more?

As the advent of the Christ Child approaches, I pray we will all take moments to look and to listen with awe and wonder. I pray we will kneel before the Christ that we may walk beside those for whom He died. I pray we may all see Jesus through a child’s eyes.

Happy Advent and Merry Christmas,

Brad Munroe

Mennonite Wisdom: In Life Being the Body of Christ Post-November 8th

What a Thanksgiving weekend! In the shadow (or is it an after-glow?) of the most vitriolic election in our lifetimes, (though, evidently, not necessarily in history – c.f. the election of Andrew Jackson in 1828), we gathered as extended families for a long holiday weekend. I was bemused by the flurry of news articles and opinion pieces in the lead up to Thanksgiving offering advice on how not to have knock-down, drag-out confrontations over politics. The advice columns seemed to pinball between “avoid talking politics at all costs” and “embrace your rage / take a victory lap.”

            There is a middle way.

I like to call the middle way between avoidance and open hostility playing the spirituality of respect game. What are the rules of this game, you ask? Thank you for asking: the rules are for each player (1) to acknowledge and honor the very best in the other’s arguments, (2) to acknowledge and own up to the weakest parts of one’s own arguments, (3) to seek together areas where all the players share common values, ideas and convictions, and (4) to ask one another probing questions that help create greater clarity and sensitivity to what is most essential for one another. Winning the spirituality of respect game is a communal exercise; either everyone wins or no one wins. The goal is not agreement but a deeper awareness of God, self and other.

In the past month I have had conversations on many subjects with a variety of Presbyterians, and the wide array of moral complexity has been on display. For instance, to take just one high profile subject, the Dakota pipeline, I have spoken with a pastor who was arrested for trespassing while protesting in North Dakota; spoken with a pastor who was prayerfully considering whether or not to go to North Dakota to join in the protest and was exploring “both sides”; and spoken with a ruling elder who is a retired Army Corps of Engineer employee and assured me the pipeline is completely safe from an environmental perspective. I came away from each of these conversation devoid of the perfect, just right, oh-now-I-get it answer, yet also left with a deeper appreciation of the significant ethical, social and spiritual choices present in the situation.

In this brief series of essays on our moral responsibility to be thoughtful citizens I have shared principles from the Mennonites, long known and respected as peacemakers, who in their document entitled Agreeing and Disagreeing in Love suggest ways to conduct ourselves in thought, in action and in life. I conclude this series by sharing Mennonite wisdom about becoming peace-full congregations in life:

In Life

1.     Be steadfast in love: Be firm in our commitment to seek a mutual solution; be stubborn in holding to our common foundation in Christ; be steadfast in love. Colossians 3:12-15

2.     Be open to mediation: Be open to accept skilled help. If we cannot reach agreement among ourselves, we will use those with gifts and training in mediation in the larger church. Philippians 4:1-3

3.     Trust the community: We will trust the community and if we cannot reach agreement or experience reconciliation, we will turn the decision over to others in the congregation or from the broader church. Acts 15

4.     Be the Body of Christ: Believe in and rely on the solidarity of the Body of Christ and its commitment to peace and justice, rather than resort to the courts of law. 1 Corinthians 6:1-6

Embracing the wisdom of the Mennonites,

Brad Munroe