“What woman doesn’t light a lamp and thoroughly search the house from top to bottom if she loses a single silver coin out of the ten she has? She will call together her female friends and neighbors when she finds it, saying ‘Let’s celebrate, because I’ve found my lost coin!’ Truly, the angels before God are just as joyful when one sinner repents.”
LK 15:8-10
“Who among you would try to build a tower without making sure he has enough money to finish it? Otherwise people will mock him when they see that he has laid the foundation and can’t complete it, saying ‘This person started something he couldn’t finish.’
Doesn’t a king going to war analyze whether he has enough soldiers to go against the other king? If he doesn’t, then he sends a peace delegation ahead while the other army is still far away. In the same way, only those who renounce their possessions are able to be my disciples.”
LK 14:28-33
Then some Pharisees told him “Leave here! Herod wants to have you killed!”
Jesus replied “Tell that fox that I’m busy casting out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and I’ll be through on the third day. But I have to travel for the next three days because prophets can perish only in Jerusalem!”
LK 13:31-33
Around this time some people told him that Pilate had killed some people from Galilee while they were offering their sacrifices at the Temple. Jesus responded to them by saying “Do you think that because of how they died they must be more sinful than other Galileans? They weren’t. But you’ll also perish if you don’t repent! Do you think that the 18 people who were killed when the tower in Siloam collapsed were more sinful than everyone else in Jerusalem? They weren’t. But you’ll perish too if you don’t repent!”
LK 13:1-5
Joseph (of Nazareth)
held Jesus the baby,
wrapped in swaddling cloths.
Just born,
fragile,
holy child.
Joseph (of Arimathea)
held Jesus the man,
wrapped in burial cloths.
Just crucified,
fragile,
holy man.
Two different Josephs
attended Jesus,
as he entered this world
and as he left it.
Two different Josephs
were with him
and tenderly
held him,
wrapped him in cloth.
Two different men
cared for this man
who cares for all of us.
There are a lot of very unsettling things about the immigrant crisis in Europe. It isn’t just the sheer numbers all at once that is the problem for many of the governments. For many of the governments, it is the fact that the vast majority of the immigrants are Muslim. They are concerned because of previous acts of violence that have been perpetrated by other Muslims. They are concerned, and playing it safe.
If you want to break into someone’s house, the easiest way to do it is not to break in. Instead of trying to break down the door and threatening someone with a gun, try simply knocking on the door. Say you’re a traveling salesman. Or better than that-look injured. They’ll open their door and maybe even take you into their home without a fight.
Here’s a terrible thought, what if the immigrant crisis that is going on in Europe is exactly this going on? What if these aren’t refugees from a war but they are invaders? What if this is an invasion using no weapons and relying on our compassion to destroy us?
Without a fight, without a lot of lives lost, and for very little money an immense amount of people can invade a land and take up residence in it. It’s genius.
Consider the 9/11 bombers. They didn’t fly over in their own planes. They came over quietly, legally, and learned how to fly a plane here. They then hijacked our planes and flew them into the trade towers. This is using our technology against us. This is using our compassion against us. It required very little outlay of their own resources.
However, Jesus says “Turn the other cheek”.
Jesus says “Pray for your enemies”.
Jesus hung out with people who everyone else thought were sinners.
We are reminded over and over again to be kind to the stranger because we were once strangers.
Jesus says “He who would save his life must lose it”.
Jesus tells us that we can’t be harmed by anything – not snakes, not poison, if we are acting in His behalf.
If Europe, a majority Christian area, attempts to keep out Muslims out of fear that they are being invaded by Muslims, then they are going directly against the commands of Jesus. Even if Europe is taking over, even if these refugees turn out to not be refugees at all but are invaders, we are commanded to be kind to them.
For Europe to close its borders and close its heart is not Christ-like at all. They would not be preserving Christianity but making a mockery of it. Who knows, perhaps the Muslims might notice our compassion and not see us as chumps but as Christians, as worthy of joining. Perhaps instead of taking over us we will overcome them. Perhaps they will notice our love and through us see the love of Jesus.
betsybeadhead 