LOVE OR FEAR?

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (1 John 4: 18)

Fear involves torment.  The NIV and RSV use the word punishment.  Fear makes you think, “They scare me. How do I hurt them?”  Love has the opposite of effect.  Love makes you think, “They’re my neighbor.  How do I help?”  The two mindsets are mutually exclusive.

Jesus commands us to love our neighbors (Matthew 22: 39; Leviticus 19: 18).  You can’t do that if you’re scared of your neighbors.

Jesus also commands us to love our enemies (Matthew 5: 43, 44).  So even if you see a certain person or a certain group as a threat, as an enemy, you still have to love them.  And if your first impulse in interactions is to reach for your gun, you’re not loving; you’re scared.

There is no fear in love.

Last summer in Dallas, Jason Harris’s mother called police to help her take her schizophrenic, bipolar son to the mental hospital.  When the police arrived, she immediately told the two officers on the scene that her son was bipolar and schizophrenic.  Jason stood in the doorway behind her with a screwdriver in his hand.

As he stepped off the stoop one of the officers shot him repeatedly. The officer stated that he feared for his life. 

I believe him.

I believe that the officer who killed the mentally ill man he’d been called to help genuinely feared for his own life.

But the officer wasn’t supposed to fear Jason.  The officer was supposed to LOVE Jason.

Had the officer loved the man he’d been called to help he would have talked without drawing his gun.  Had the officer loved the sick man whose mother had asked them to help her get to the hospital, he might have reached for the taser on his left side rather than the gloc on his right.  Had the officer felt love he might have reluctantly used his professional training or the two-officers-to-one advantage to wrestle Jason to the ground and take away the screwdriver.

Had the officer loved instead of feared he would have looked at Jason Harris and seen a man who needed help coming out of his own house with a screwdriver, not a crazed attacker confronting him with a shank.

Perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment.

A few years ago, when George Zimmerman fired his gun into the chest of Trayvon Martin, the teenager he’d profiled, pursued, and assaulted, Mr. Zimmerman said that he’d feared for his life.

I believe him.

I believe that when the teen he outweighed by 50% got the better of him and started raining punches down on his head pressed against the sidewalk that Mr. Zimmerman got really scared.

But George Zimmerman was never supposed to fear Trayvon Martin.  He was supposed to LOVE him.

Had he loved the young man walking along the public sidewalk not trespassing on anyone’s property, he wouldn’t have pursued him against police directions.  Had Mr. Zimmerman loved the young man he didn’t know, he might have offered a friendly greeting from his stoop and tried to have a conversation instead jumping out of his car, armed and screaming accusations.

Had George Zimmerman loved Trayvon Martin, he would have seen a child on the sidewalk, not a criminal f****r who gets away with everything and needed to be punished.

Perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment.

“I feared for my life.”

Think about that justification.

They weren’t hurting me.  They weren’t trying to hurt me.  They weren’t even threatening to hurt me.  But they scared me so I killed them.

And we say that’s O.K.

We say it’s O.K. to take the life of your neighbor because he/ she scared you.

They don’t even have to be objectively scary.   You just have to FEEL afraid at that moment.

Think about that.

We have given the power of life and death to fearful people.

We have made fear the ultimate standard for how we relate to our neighbors.  Fear, not love.

That’s legal, but is it right?  Is it godly?  Can we Christians continue to support a legal standard based on fearing our neighbors?

Scripture commands us to fear nobody, except God.

Jesus said, “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! (Luke 12: 4-5)

We’re supposed to love our neighbors without fear. We’re supposed to fear God with love.

We do that exactly backwards. 

This is a note to the church, to the followers of Jesus Christ, to the people who for all our social and political differences hold common reverence for the Word of God in Scripture: 

I’m not saying beat your pistols into plowshares.  I support the right to self-defense up to and including the use of lethal force, but when we measure the exercise of that right we have to stop using the legal standard.  The current legal standard is FEAR.  We are called to  a higher standard.

You shall LOVE your neighbor as yourself.

There is no fear in love.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

A LOOK TO KILL FOR

This guy is named Markus Kaarma.  He lives in Montana, a very gun-friendly state.

 In April of this year, after his house was burglarized twice, Markus caught  a 17 year old intruder in his garage.  The intruder’s friends later told police that they all went “garage hopping,” meaning that they broke into people’s garages and stole stuff.

When Marcus caught their friend in his garage (not walking past on the sidewalk), Marcus shot  and killed the 17 year old intruder.

This is the 17 year old Markus Kaarma shot and killed, at night, in his garage, trespassing and attempting burglary. 

 His name is Diren Dede.  He was a German exchange student.

On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old  American-born student, was shot and killed in the street by a local resident who disregarded police orders not to follow the 17 year old.  He wasn’t trespassing. He wasn’t on the shooter’s property.  The shooter pursued him because he “looked suspicious.”

Trayvon looked  like this.

The man who killed him looks like this.

In both cases, the shooters argued self-defense under their state’s version of “stand your ground. “ In Montana, it’s called the “castle defense,” as in a man’s home is his castle.

In both cases a young man is dead.  In both cases an adult took that young life.  In both cases, something less than 9mm bullets or shotgun rounds could have settled the situation.

This guy was acquitted.  

On December 18th, Markus Kaarma was convicted of deliberate homicide.  (In case you forgot, that was the case where the serial burglar was caught inside the garage trying to steal stuff.)

It seems that only one of these young men looked suspicious enough to kill.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

WISDOM, JUSTICE, & THE SLAUGHTER OF INNOCENTS

The birth of Jesus is more than a pretty story for Christmas  time.  It is a prophetic guide to the missing element in our response to unfair pain and social injustice. 

Learn a new look at the Advent stories of the Wise Men, Joseph, and Herod in a message called: WISDOM, JUSTICE, & THE SLAUGHTER OF INNOCENTS. 

Listen well.

            

If you can’t get the audio on your device, visit the main podcast page at http://revandersongraves.podomatic.com/

The podcast is on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/anderson-graves-podcast/id918990482

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

THE SEPARATION IN OUR HEARTS (The Separation of Church & State, sermon #2)

In the last month, at least 5 unarmed Black men have been killed by police officers.  What does that mean?  Is there a way to make sense of it all?    It’s all too easy to accuse all police officers and fall into the easy indignation of stereotyping, but what does God have to say?

Plenty. 

Open your Bibles to the book of 1 Samuel for a timely installment in our emerging sermon series.

It’s part two of the series we’re calling The Separation of Church & State. The message is called: THE SEPARATION IN OUR HEARTS.

Listen well.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

WHY DID HE KILL THAT BOY? (A Biblical Perspective)

Sunday, July 14^th, I stood up to preach.  I was wearing the traditional robe and stole of an ordained elder in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.  Butas the choir sang “Blessed assurance.  Jesus is mine….” I took off the robe, laid it aside, and pulled on a dark hooded sweatshirt, better known as ---- a hoodie.

You see, on July 13^th a Florida jury had acquitted George Zimmerman of all charges in the murder of an unarmed 17 year old named Trayvon Martin.   Mr. Zimmerman admitted shooting and killing Trayvon .  The police verified it.   Mr. Martin and all of the authorities acknowledged that Travon was alone, unarmed, not trespassing, not committing any crime, walking home on a public street.  Everyone involved agreed that George Zimmerman had a loaded pistol when he disobeyed instructions from the 911 dispatcher he’d called about the “suspicious” person in his neighborhood.  Zimmerman followed Trayvon in his car, got out, fought with him, and shot the child in the chest at point blank range.  

The law called it self defense.   The Bible calls it murder. 

There is a theological term for times when the law of the land reaches a conclusion the is opposite to the law of God. 

It’s called INJUSTICE.

So, I preached in khakis and a hoodie---- the same “suspicious” outfit that Trayvon wore the day he died.

I preached a message called JUSTICE IN AN UNJUST LAND?

And some people think I was wrong.  That I shouldn’t have brought such a controversial topic into the church.  That I shouldn’t have used the sacred platform to take sides.  That I should have just let it go.  That I should have encouraged my congregation to accept the decision of the jury and then moved on to appropriately “spiritual” things.

I think what Job thought.

As God lives, who has taken away my justice,

And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
 As long as my breath is in me,
And the breath of God in my nostrils,
My lips will not speak wickedness,
Nor my tongue utter deceit.
FAR BE IT FROM ME
THAT I SHOULD SAY THAT YOU ARE RIGHT;
Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. (Job 27: 2-6)

In the aftermath of young Brother Trayvon’s death and the acquittal of the man who killed him, there were and are a lot of questions.   The questions in my circle of ministry condense into 4 queries:

1.       Why did he kill that boy?
2.       Why did they let him get away with it?
3.       What are we supposed to do now?
4.       Where was God in all of this?

The Word of God has answers to all of them all.

Today, we’ll answer the 1^st question:  WHY DID HE KILL THAT BOY?

The answer is SIN.

It was sin.

Trayvon Martin looked “suspicous” because he was a stranger.  Mr. Zimmerman called himself the neighborhood watch captain, the protector of THEIR community.   

Zimmerman saw Trayvon Martin in THEIR neighborhood and it made him angry.    He wasn’t angry because Trayvon was trespassing.  He wasn’t angry because Trayvon was disturbing the piece.  He wasn’t angry because Trayvon had done or said anything wrong.  He was angry  because Trayvon was there.

“So what?” you may say.  “That’s not a crime, is it?”

No.  It isn’t a crime.  But is is sin.

And no, that’s not just my opinion.  It’s Jesus’ opinion.

 Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’   But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” (Matthew 5: 21-22)

In Zimmerman’s eyes, Trayvon was guilty for existing.  Trayvon’s identity marked him as someone who didn’t belong to that neighborhood.  He wasn’t one of them.  He was a stranger.

“So what?” you say. “Kids who look like that and dress like that commit crimes all the time.  It’s not a crime to be suspicious when ‘people like that’ do suspicious things?”

No.  It’s not a crime.  But it is sin.

You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.  (Exodus 22: 21)

Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 23: 9)

The Bible condemns the sin of hating strangers without cause.  We have a word for the sin of hating strangers without cause.  We call it RACISM.

Why’d he kill that boy?

Sin.

Now, let’s be clear.  The sin of racism is not exclusive to majority cultures.  In the Exodus context, Israel was a minority ethnicity with no geographical homeland.  They were the gypsies of the ancient world.  And God told THEM not to be racist.

When you get mad, really mad because the staff in the Chinese restaurant speak to each other in Cantonese instead of English------ for what cause are you angry? 

If you were in a fancy French restaurant would you be mad that the staff spoke French, or would you think that the other language made the place seem “classy”?

Yeah, think about that.

When you walk into a convenience store and the people behind the counter look “foreign” does it upset you?    Do you hate them because they came over here trying to take over?  (By the way, when was the last time you tried to buy a convenience store?) 

Whether you’re Caucasian or a minority, the moment you feel angry at your not-like-you brother or sister just for being there, just for being one of “those people” -------- no it isn’t a crime.

But it is racism. 

And racism is sin.

James 1 says that an unchecked sin takes root in your heart and grows into something worse.

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.  (James 1: 14-15)

Unchecked the sin of greed grows into the sin of theft.  Unchecked lust evolves into adultery and depravity. 

And unchecked racism in the heart of a neighborhood watch captain grew into murder.

Was it murder under the law?  Clearly not.

But it was sin.

Churches may not agree about the legal arguments or the social assumptions of this case.  But the church can agree that sin is wrong.   The church can have a conversation within itself about hating our brothers and sisters without cause.  The church can have a Bible-centered discussion about how God says we are to respond to strangers.

And that may save some other boy's life.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  .

If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry. Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116

 

Still to come: Why did they let him get away with it?