God Bless…
By Jeff Hackman
July 5, 2018
Yesterday was July 4. The prayer “God Bless America” was thrown up many, many times. Now, I think we all know this, but sometimes American Christians seem to forget that they are actually Christians in America. “For God so loved The World” you see. John 3:16.
Here is a conversation that might go on between Christians in America and God on this 4th of July 2018.
A gentle nudge from the Holy Spirit reminds the Americans of the global nature of God. OK, the American Christians relent: “God, bless all the children of the world.”
“Yes,” God says, “That’s a good and safe prayer. But you know me. I have a soft spot for the least of these. I’d like you to focus on petitioning on behalf of these seven countries.” God hands the Americans a list: Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.
The obedient Christians mouth the words, rather unenthusiastically:
God bless Iran. God bless Libya. God bless North Korea. God bless Somalia. God bless Syria. God bless Venezuela. God bless Yemen.
So, God hears our prayers. And God says, like God often does, “Great, I will bless them– through you.” Then Jesus chimes in: “You give them something to eat,” The Lord asks “How are you blessing them now?”
“Well,” we admit, “those seven are a bit tough. Our Supreme Court just said that it’s ok to not allow anyone from there to come here, because they’re just too dangerous. Nothing personal. It’s our national security, you see.”
God replies, “So I guess it might be hard to bless them. Oh, and as an aside, I thought I was Supreme. But, go ahead, tell me more.”
“We are trying to help by bombing the shit out of them–at least in Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Libya.” The Americans speak with determination now: “You see God, there’s some bad ‘animals’ over there and we want to cleanse them out; and of course keep our country safe.”
“Then there’s Iran. We just told them we don’t trust them and we backed out of our multinational deal that was delaying their efforts towards nukes. So, I guess we aren’t exactly wanting them to be blessed, at least not until a government takes over there that knows its place as subservient to Israel and us.”
“Oh, and Venezuela’s such a mess. We just heard Trump is mulling over plans to invade them and kick out their terrible government. So until they change, we aren’t exactly going to bless them either. And don’t even bother trying to immigrate to the US from there!”
God’s patience is being tested a bit. After a moment of silence, God summarizes the situation: “Let me get this straight. You’re bombing four of the seven. Two of the others you’re actively threatening with invasion and destruction. Then you’ve got North Korea. Your Trump talked about bombing them to Kingdom come too, until a few weeks ago when that fox met with that other fox, Kim Jong Un. Now, there might be a very small blessing there, but we’re still in the first inning of that game.”
Jesus chimes in at this point. “You see, America, I think you might have forgotten what I told you about ‘loving enemies’. There might be a glimmer of that vis a vis North Korea, but I know you folks. Sometimes things aren’t always the way they seem. I’m thinking about what you did to the Cherokee recently.”
The Americans, rather indignant now, “Wait, what? That was 170 years ago!”
Jesus smiled. “I’m just reminding you of my omnipresence.”
God also smiles knowingly and replies, “OK, let’s get back to recent history. On July 4 you asked Me to bless America. Seems to me you have already been blessed in many ways. But here’s the thing: are you being a blessing to others? Are you welcoming the stranger, like I’ve always asked my people to do?”
“Yeah, about that.” The Christians are fidgeting nervously. “You see some of those immigrants from Central America scare us to death. They might be ‘animals’, bringing crime and chaos. So we have to separate their children from them, and maybe just kick them all out even though according to our law they can file for asylum.”
The Lord is leaning a bit over us right now. “Here’s some more history for you. Remember that your government in the Cold War created conditions of chaos in those countries, fueling oppression, civil war and now trade deals that take away their shot at making a living for themselves. And now you won’t take them in, or abide by your own laws? Now, I love you, so I won’t call you ‘animals’, but I’d like to bless you with a free supply of humility, you’ll find it right next to ‘humanity’.”
“Here’s your homework. By tomorrow I want to read a message that just might be applicable here: Matthew, chapter 23. Read it, and listen to what the Spirit is saying to you.” Jesus wept.
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