Welcome to the World, Junia

On March 29, 2017 my life changed forever. At 5:31 pm my beautiful daughter Junia Bridges Lee entered the world in a wildly dramatic fashion and for being such a wildly dramatic girl, her father and I expected nothing less.

My due date was March 26, and as the day came and went our impatience grew. At my 40 week doctor appointment, the midwife informed me that I was 80% effaced and 1 cm dialated. She offered to strip my membranes to help speed things along and said she'd be surprised if I didn't have the baby by Friday. So, with membranes stripped, we waited. Tuesday morning around 1 am I woke up with crazy nausea, vomiting, and constant cramping. Perhaps the beginning of labor? I was thrilled when I went to the bathroom to find bloody show, meaning labor was certainly near.

I started going into labor for real around noon that day. So naturally, I was excited and terrified at the same time. Finally, the moment I've been preparing for the last nine months had arrived! But it also meant I would have to confront one of my biggest fears: giving birth.

Will was at work so I decided to go to my parents' house to distract myself. My mom was incredibly helpful! She baked cookies and muffins for post-delivery, played countless rounds of bananagrams, and made me get up and walk every ten minutes. Contractions progressed slowly and Will met me at my parents' after work. We went home after dinner hoping it would only be a few more hours until we got to meet our little one, we were unfortunately mistaken.

I decided to rest that night to preserve my energy, but woke up at 2 am only to realize I couldn't remember the last time I had felt a contraction. I began frantically pacing our apartment with tears rolling down my cheek feeling like a failure. I had worked so hard to get to labor, and then it was suddenly gone. Around 2:30 am I woke up Will and we played Just Dance to get things moving again, thankfully that worked! From then on, contractions became more regular and intense.

Around 6 am on Wednesday, we went to Perkins to have one final meal before delivery. Plus, what is better than breakfast and card games to distract from labor pains? I got a lot of funny looks as I got up to pace the restaurant every five minutes to manage the contractions. Around 8 am, now 20 hours into labor, we decided to walk around Target to help get the baby out. Once again we received many funny looks as I would randomly collapse over a display while Will placed pressure on my lower back.

Finally, around 9:30 am, my contractions were consistent and close enough to call our doula and doctor, both of whom suggested we go to the hospital. Here is where time began to blur together, so my time table might be off a little. We arrived at St. Joe's and taken to triage. After a cervical exam, I found I was 90% effaced and 2 cm dialated. What! That's it? Needless to say, we were both disappointed. Now 22 hours in and very little progress had been made. The nurses would have sent me home, but my blood pressure was slightly high (due to the stress of labor) so they kept me in triage connected to monitors for three hours. By this point, my contractions were far more intense and had moved into my lower back.

About two hours in, the midwife on duty came in to talk about my options. The Kaiser doctor wanted to induce me immediately because he was afraid my high blood pressure would turn into pre-eclampsia, but she said I was free to go home if I wanted, I would just have to sign a waiver acknowledging I was acting against the advisory of a doctor.

Leading up to labor, I had decided to give birth non-medicated. Mainly because I was terrified of having a giant needle in my back, but also because I trusted my body and its capability to do what it was made to do. But feeling contractions to such intensity and being told I was I only in early labor, I was seriously contemplating induction and medication. I feared I would not have enough strength or energy to continue in labor if I was only in the beginning. My doula informed me what of would/could happen with each option so my husband and I were able to confidently process our next steps.

I decided to go home and continue with a non-medicated labor, partly because I was stubborn and partly because I wanted to prove the doctor wrong. However, on the drive home, labor quickly progressed. We were only home for an hour or two before Will decided we needed to go back to the hospital. I was hesitant because I feared they would keep me in triage forever only to send me back home again, plus the idea of riding in a car while experiencing crazy intense back contractions every three minutes did not sound appealing. But thank goodness Will was looking out for me because when we left for the hospital at 3:30pm we were only two hours away from meeting our baby girl.

As I was wheelchaired into the women's center, the nurses rushed me directly to labor and delivery. They obviously saw how far along I was and knew there wasn't much time left. I sighed a huge sigh of relief as we flew by triage and into the delivery room.

Around 4:15 pm I was 8 cm dialated and fully effaced. Almost go time.

A team of nurses and residents introduced themselves in the brief moments of awareness between my contractions. I was hooked to an i.v. and an external fetal monitor and everything seemed good to go. That is until Junia's heart rate began to drop.
The on-call doctor rushed in (because the doctor from earlier was in the middle of a c-section) and immediately took charge. She broke my water so they could place some sort of electronic monitor device on my baby's head to get a more accurate read of her vitals. The doctor calmly, yet urgently, said to me "We need to get this baby out now or you will need an emergency c-section." Looking back, the adrenaline kept me motivated and somewhat calm, but in reflecting upon that statement I am filled with tears. I could have lost my baby during birth.

By 5:15 pm the room was filled with upwards 15 people: doctors, nurses, residents, and a team ready to rush me to the operating room if necessary. With Junia's heart rate still dropping, they give me an oxygen mask and tell me it's time to push. My husband supporting one leg, my doula the other, I pushed with all my might. Yet Junia stayed put. The doctor quickly and gently informed me she would need to use forceps to help guide the baby out. So in a brief moment between contractions, she placed the forceps and with each push I gave, she pulled.

By 5:31 pm my baby was born with the cord wrapped around her neck. Due to such a traumatic birth experience, I was not able to immediately hold her skin-to-skin. Instead she was whisked to the side to ensure she was healthy, stable, and able to breathe. Will stood by her while I delivered the placenta and received stiches for a third-degree perineal tear. After what seemed like an eternity, I was finally able to hold my beautiful daughter. And after one glance I realized everything I had just experienced was worth it.

I would not have been able to endure a non-medicated birth with forceps of it wasn't for the incredible support and constant encouragement of my husband, doula, and team of nurses. During our entire stay at the hospital, the nurses commended me for being a super warrior woman because they had rarely seen such strength and courage. It is amazing what the female body can do, and thanks to this experience I will never doubt my strength again.

It has now been a week since we welcomed our daughter into the world, and although the transition has been difficult at times, the joy of watching her discover the world far outweighs the frustration of explosive poop and late night cluster feedings. I love being a mom and I can't wait to watch Junia grow into the empowered, creative, and beautiful woman she will be.

The Road Not Taken: The Nature of Decision-Making

My dear friends,

I apologize for the six month hiatus, I'm sure many of you have forgotten this blog even exists. (To be honest, there were many times that I did.) These past months have been a season of reflection, formation, and seasonal depression, and I have simply been too drained to write. But now that the sun is out and stays awake for most of the day, life is seeping back into my soul again and I feel energized to write again.

I thought about presenting a "vague life update" in which I vaguely described what is going on in my life and the decisions my husband and I are presently facing, but I decided against it. For now, I will simply write about decision-making itself and hopefully later write a "not-so-vague life update" once we know where our life is headed.

Spoiler alert: I am not pregnant, nor plan to be anytime soon. 

Vincent Van Gogh: Undergrowth with Two Figures

I am sure many of you are familiar with Robert Frost's poem, The Road Not Taken. 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair, 

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day! 

Yet knowing how way leads on to way, 

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I–

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference.

Many of us like to skip to the end where individuality is prided as the traveler declares "I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference." But if we read every other line of this poem, we see that is not what this is really about. 

Frost paints the picture of a traveler who happens upon two roads diverging, and being only one person, he is pained he cannot travel both. So he looks down one as far as he can see and decides to take the other, hoping to someday come back and take the first. Yet he knows the nature of traveling, he knows the road he chose will take him to many other roads, leaving a grim chance he shall return to the other. The poem closes with the traveler pondering of how he will tell the story. In hopes to assure his decision of the road he chose, he triumphantly claims, "I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference." 

Frost eloquently captures the inner turmoil of decision-making. Most often, life presents us with two equally desirable roads. We long to travel both to see where they lead so we can make our decision with full knowledge of the future. But we lament, because we are one human with one life so we cannot. In our limited state, we must choose which path to take before we start walking. So we pick one. Sometimes we feel instant relief, certain this was the right road. Other times we still feel unsure half way down the road, but we keep walking because there is no turning back. Regardless of what happens, we tell ourselves that the road we chose changed our life forever, it has made all the difference. 

No matter how greatly I desire the simplicity of decision-making, I know from experience it is much more complex. I have found there are two giants standing in the way of progress: immobility and regret.  

When faced with a fork in the road, we can stand for hours, days, months, even years debating with ourselves the pros and cons of each road. But the immobility that comes from indecision is much more detrimental than choosing the "wrong road." We allow this decision to consume our entire being and suddenly we stop contributing to society. We become paralyzed by fear and hope that eventually the road will decide for us. 

Once we have chosen which road to take, it is all to easy to feel regret. What if I had chosen the other road, how would my life look different? What if I took the other job, would I have more money? What if I transferred schools, would I have a more marketable degree? What if, what if, what if? Remorse, like indecision, keeps us from living in the present. If our heads are constantly turned back, gazing on the fork in the road, how will we be able to see what is put in front of us? If we are constantly wanting to go back to where the roads diverged, we wouldn't truly see how great the path is we are on now. 

I want to conclude with an encouragement. When two roads diverge, odds are they equally lay. Either road can have the better claim. As a professor of mine once said,

When God presents us with choices in life, 

we're usually not choosing between good and evil, 

we're choosing between good and good. 

WWJD @ MOA & MSP?

"If you're going to beat me with a baton, you might as well look me in the eyes." -Vanessa Taylor

Photo credit: Patience Zalanga 

On December 23, 2015 the Minneapolis chapter of the national Black Lives Matter movement staged a peaceful protest that disrupted thousands of holiday shoppers and travelers at the Mall of America, the Minneapolis city light rail, and both terminals of the Minneapolis airport. On the busiest shopping day of the year (two days before Christmas), BLM released an official statement declaring December 23 as "Black Xmas."

"Black X-Mas is here and there will be no business as usual until we get accountability
for our dead, and justice for the living. Instead of buying gifts to fuel this system,
Black Xmas is a day of action to reject the degradation of Black families and communities by police, politicians, and predatory companies, and declare our inherent worth.  We will disrupt business as usual until city, state, and federal budgets stop funding Black death and start funding Black future."

This is an incredible step forward for BLM and their fight for justice, but as you can imagine, the white community was in an uproar.

"You people are causing so many problems and you are ignorant racists." 

"You all are a bunch of uncivilized fools!! Why don't you get off the tax payers dime, and get a job!! This is for all the lazy blacks and whites that spend their time whining about everything like children. Grow Up if you want respect!" 

"You guys are a joke, get jobs, clean up your hoods, educate your children. Be a fucking father." 

I pulled these off the BLM Minneapolis chapter's Facebook page, where hundreds of similar hateful and racist posts exist.

The main issue people opposed to these protests have is that the actions at the airport caused people to miss flights home for Christmas. While I understand the inconvenience, the underlying message they are sending is that travel plans are more important than the continual suffering, oppression, and death of the Black community.

Protests in their very nature are meant to disrupt "business as usual." In addition to their demands for the release of the tapes of Jamar Clark's death, the prosecution of the police involved in his murder, no grand jury in that case, and the charging of white supremacists who shot five black protesters at the 4th Precinct shutdown, BLM protests so that those on the outside can understand how injustice disrupts their everyday. If you miss a flight you can catch another, but if your son, father, daughter, mother, sister, brother, husband, wife, cousin, aunt, uncle, grandpa, grandma, friend is murdered by unchecked police brutality, then that is a life lost that cannot be given back.

This is a legitimate organization with legitimate demands, actions, and protests. As a Christian, I cannot help but ask the question: what would Jesus do in this exact circumstance?

.......

Let's turn to Luke 10:25-37.

Just then an expert in the law stood up to test [Jesus], saying, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 

"What is written in the law?" He asked him, "How do you read it?"

He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.

"You've answered correctly," He told him. "Do this and you will live."

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Jesus took up the question and said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him. When I come back I'll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.'

"Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?"

 "The one who showed mercy to him," he said. 

Then Jesus told him, "Go and do the same." 

In order to understand the cultural significance of this story, let's explore the three men who travelled the road.

• The Priest and the Levite: these are two religious leaders within Jewish society. Many who were listening to this story would have initially identified with or aspired to be like these two characters. 
• The Samaritan: the Jews and Samaritans had a less-than-friendly relationship. With cultural, religious, and ethnic differences these two people groups were taught to hate each other. 

So when Jesus challenges the Jewish audience to be like the merciful Samaritan, they were probably initially defensive– because these are the people they were supposed to hate, right? And when he dared to present the religious leaders in a negative light, they were probably initially shocked– because these are the people they were supposed to admire, right?

Let's move this into our own context. 

The Black community is continually being beaten and killed by the police community. Yet many white Christians and Christian leaders are standing by the wayside, even moving further away, pretending nothing is actually happening. According to the story of the Good Samaritan, what does Jesus want us to do? 

BE LIKE THE SAMARITAN! 

There are many instances when Jesus was traveling and his journey was "inconvenienced" by the marginalized demanding justice. 

• The hemorrhaging woman who touched Jesus' garments as he was traveling to heal a dying girl: Luke 8:40-48
• The two blind men who followed Jesus on the road crying for mercy: Matthew 9:27-31
• The blind man who cried out to Jesus as he was traveling to Jericho: Luke 18:35-43
• The Canaanite woman who demanded the healing of her daughter as Jesus was withdrawing to Tyre: Matthew 15:21-28

The list could continue. Jesus never turned away from cries of injustice, even if it inconvenienced his travel plans. That being said, if Jesus was in a taxi on his way to the airport and missed his flight because of BLM demanding justice, I believe he would have gotten out of the taxi and stood in solidarity with them. 

Jesus' very life was a peaceful protest to the unjust power systems of his day. Why do you think the majority of his followers were tax collectors, prostitutes, fishermen, women, and many other members of marginalized groups? Because the message he was teaching was one of justice, equality, mercy, and love. The religious elite were threatened by his movement because their power and privilege was threatened. 

But guess what? In the rule and reign of God, there is no power structure, there is no privilege, and there is no oppression. All of humanity is one. So perhaps we should stand with the oppressed now, because one day "death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away." (Revelation 21:4) Some day, all will be made new– the valleys will be raised and the mountains made low.

.......

I am still learning how to be an ally, and I will always be learning how to love others and stand for justice. Yet the song Us For Them by Gungor has been very encouraging on this journey. It speaks to the solidarity and equality that the people of God are called to, and the life of love we ought to lead.  

We reject the either or

They can't define us anymore

Cause if it's us or them

It's us for them

Prepare the way of the Lord

Wielding mercy like a sword

Every mountaintop will be made low

Know, He holds the earth like dust

And His judgement comes to us

And His judgement is love

May our judgement be love

True peace is not merely the absence of tension,

it is the presence of justice.   

-Martin Luther King Jr. 

Jesus Loves the Immigrants and Refugees

It has been an incredible and humbling experience to journey through the nativity story through the lens of the marginalized, and I am excited to wrap it up with a conversation on immigration. I have been looking forward to this post from the beginning, but now that the time has come, I do not know where to start.

In conversations such as these, it is important to be aware of our social identities. I am a white, 22-year-old Christian woman attending seminary. I am straight, married, have healthcare, and earn enough money to live relatively comfortably. I was born and raised in the United States and have never been persecuted for my faith. I am not scared for my life, I have an American passport, and all members of my immediate family are alive and in good health.

That being said, I am no expert on immigration, nor do I claim to relate to the experiences of refugees. I do, however, believe that within my context, this is something I need to care about. Jesus was a refugee, and the Bible is flooded with commands to love the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner.

This is a picture of Syrian refugees. I am sure you have all seen heart-wrenching images of Syrian families floating on the coast of Greece, scared, cold, wet, alone, and barely alive. But that's happening over there, not over here. So we keep scrolling through our news feed onto more important matters, like Star Wars.

So if you would, pause with me for a moment and take the time to read this post dedicated to the story of Jesus as a refugee and what that means for us.

After [the Magi] were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, 

"Get up! Take the child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. 

For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him."

So he got up, took the child and His mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. 

He stayed there until Herod's death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet 

might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called My Son.

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. 

He gave orders to massacre all the male children in and around Bethlehem who were two years

old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.

Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

A voice was heard in Ramah, 

weeping, and great mourning, 

Rachel weeping for her children;

and she refused to be consoled,

because they were no more.

Matthew 2:13-18

Egypt traditionally provided refuge for those who were fleeing the deathly power of rulers: Jeroboam from Solomon (1 Kings 11:40), the prophet Uriah from King Johoiakim (Jeremiah 26:21), the High Priest Onias from Antiochus (Josephus, Ant. 12.387). While this story also invokes similarities to the story of Moses delivering Israel out of Egypt. In fact, there are many similarities to the flights of Jesus and Moses in Exodus 2.

• The ruling power issue attacks on male children
• God's protection through exile
• Returning from exile after a revelation of the ruling power's death
• Saved in order to save God's people

Meanwhile, Herod is paralleled with Pharaoh as both portray pervasive oppressive and destructive ways of rulers misusing their power. So when Matthew's Jewish Christian audience heard this story, they undoubtedly recalled these stories from the Scriptures and made parallels between Moses' deliverance of Israel and Jesus' deliverance of Israel.

This is easily the most overlooked part of the story, yet it is the most important. Jesus was not born into a peaceful world, rather a tumultuous and corrupt world riddled with oppressive power systems. Jesus was born into a genocide dictated by a fearful and corrupt ruler. So this poor family leaves its homeland, crosses borders, and lives as foreigners in a foreign land. Like many other immigrant before and after them, Jesus and his family are political refugees seeking asylum wherever they are welcome.

This changes the Christmas story a little bit, doesn't it?

Immigration happens for two reasons: there is a PUSH or a PULL. Most often it's the former. Refugees and immigrants are pushed out of their home country due to abuses of power and the unjust systems that sustain them. In other circumstances, they can be pulled out of their countries by the promise of a better life, money, and more opportunities for their children. 

For Jesus and his family it was a push: genocide of all baby boys around Bethlehem under two. 

For the Syrian refugees it is a little more complicated. 

• Violence: According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, since the Syrian civil war began hundreds of thousands have been killed and upwards 1.5 million have been injured and/or permanently disabled. Foreign powers becoming involved has only escalated this violence. 
• Collapsed Infrastructure: Within Syria, the economy, healthcare, and education systems have all crashed. 
• Children's safety: Syrian children no longer have access to education, they have witnessed great cruelty and violence, lost families and loved ones, and are being abducted to serve as child fighters, humans shields, and prostitutes. 

This is messy and dangerous, and people are becoming desperate. Yet what are we doing? Allowing our fear and bigotry to inform our praxis. There are people within our country advocating for closing our doors to these refugees!

How the hell can this actually be happening? Have we become so calloused and comfortable to not welcome those who desperately need safety and shelter because we are afraid of them?

To my Christian brothers and sisters, JESUS WAS A REFUGEE. Our story would probably look a whole lot different if Egypt decided to close its doors to the Israel refugees because they were afraid of them.

To my country, THE FIRST SETTLERS WERE RELIGIOUS REFUGEES. Granted, they later performed unspeakable acts of violence and genocide on Native Americans, but stop using the excuse that this is "our country." We are immigrants just as much as the Syrian, Mexican, Somalian, Hmong immigrants are immigrants.

........

In the wake of immigration debates and movements to close our borders, and in the midst of racist and fearful social media posts, let us remember the words of Jesus.

For I was hungry and  you gave Me something to eat;

I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink;

I was a stranger and you took Me in;

I was naked and you clothed Me, 

Sick and you took care of Me;

I was in prison and you visited Me...

Whatever you did  for the least of these brothers of Mine,

you did  for Me. 

For I was hungry and  you gave Me nothing to eat;

I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink;

I was a stranger and you did not take Me in;

I was naked and you did not clothe Me, 

Sick and in prison and you did not take care of Me...

Whatever you did not do for the least of these,

you did not do for Me either. 

Matthew 25:35-36, 40, 42-43, 45

Jesus was a refugee, how does that change the Christmas story for you and what are you going to about it?

........

Here are a few helpful links to peruse if you are interested in engaging with this topic at a deeper level.

• Refugees are not dangerous, and in fact, the US legislation process of attaining refugee status in America is ridiculously tedious and difficult
• A website dedicated to petty much everything you need to know about the Syrian refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe
• The crisis and its impact on refugees and children
  

Jesus Loves the Agnostics, the Atheists, and the "Spiritual but Not Religious"

Happy third Sunday of Advent! We have another guest blogger today, the one and only Will Lee.
Not only is he my husband, but he is also an intelligent theologian with heart for the marginalized.

Before you read, just watch this acapella Beach Boys cover of “We Three Kings”….crazy good.

Let’s be honest…

When anyone talks or sings about the magi/wise men/three kings during the holidays, you nod your head in agreement and think to yourself “Yea, I know who those guys are.”

*mind floats to nativity scene of men in kingly attire bowing before a white baby Jesus*

Regardless of what we think we know about the magi (e.g. there likely weren’t 3 of them and they likely weren’t kings - seriously folks, do some Google-ing and Wikipedia-ing, it’ll help ya), most of us probably haven’t given much thought to the magi’s role in the incarnation or why modern people should even care that some men traveled across Asia to bring a baby gold and spices.

For starters, Matthew’s Jewish Christian (people who are Jews ethnically and have chosen to follow Jesus) audience would have immediately viewed the magi negatively. Divination (including astrology) was strictly forbidden in the laws of Israel (Ex. 7-9; Deut. 18:9-12; Lev. 19:31 to name a few), *one red flag for Matthew’s audience*. Not to mention, the only other time magi are main characters in the scriptures is in Daniel 2:2-10 where they are depicted as selfish and incompetent in comparison to Daniel, *another red flag for Matthew’s audience*. Lastly, there was deep rooted and hateful xenophobia among 1^st century Jews, for they held the notion that all the Gentiles (non-Jews) stood in opposition to God’s purposes for Israel, *the 3^rd red flag for Matthew’s audience*. Yet, immediately upon their introduction, they ask “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we have observed his star at its rising and have to come to pay him homage [or worship him].” (Mt. 2:2) Matthew’s audience likely would have met these Pagan astrologers’ desire to worship the Christ child with deep suspicion, but as the narrative moves on, we see it is not the magi who they should be suspicious of.

We soon find out that “King Herod…was frightened” (Mt. 2:3) and in his fright he calls the religious leaders of the Jews together. It is important to note that during Herod’s reign, he was often referred to as king of the Jews which stands in direct conflict with the magi’s declaration that the king of the Jews has been born. On top of that, in the ancient world a sign in the stars was often indicative of the changing of the guard among a nation’s leadership. The Christ child’s birth causes deep fear within Herod for it means he will lose his power and authority, his only sense of security. The Jewish Christians in Matthew’s audience surely would have identified Herod as standing in the place of Pharaoh from the Exodus story: one who denies and fears the advance of Israel’s coming deliverer.

In calling the religious leaders together, they beautifully tell the prophecy of where the Christ child will be born, quoting Micah 5:2 and 2^nd Samuel 5:2. Shockingly, the religious leaders disappear from the narrative after that, but perhaps more importantly, they fail to go worship the newborn Messiah. Matthew’s audience would surely expect that the Jewish leadership, with their piety and deep knowledge of the scriptures would quickly travel to Bethlehem to worship. In a great twist, the people in positions of power stand in direct opposition to God’s purposes, while the Gentile, Pagan, magi are the ones who give the Messiah the proper and worthy response: worship (Mt. 2:10-12).

What I love about the story of the magi is that it forces the reader/hearer to identify and follow the story from the position you would least expect. Even though you have deep suspicions about the magi and their motives, you must reject Herod’s fear and rejection of the Messiah as well as the complacency of the religious leaders in not recognizing or responding to what God was doing. Being forced to identify with the magi and see the birth of Christ from their perspective, is certainly an uncomfortable place to be in. But I think that’s the point. Some scholars like to talk about Matthew’s congregation having just split with “the synagogue down the street”, meaning that they are fighting each other for membership. Matthew’s Jewish Christian congregation needed some encouragement, even convincing that this movement they decided to be a part of, really is the fulfillment of the story of Israel. What better way to encourage your people that the Jesus movement is legitimate, than by showing how the religious and political elite of Israel completely missed out on what God was doing?

Now, in forcing a reader/hearer to be uncomfortably identified with Pagan astrologers, Matthew not only legitimizes the Jesus movement for the Jewish Christians, he also forces them to consider the “other” as worthy recipients of the good news. There’s a good chance that in having a congregation that was ethnically Jewish, Matthew’s people didn’t have a positive relationship with Gentiles and were not actively spreading the contagious good news to all people. The story of the magi forces them to see, this isn’t just your story and your good news…it’s EVERYONE’S! What still strikes me is how this story doesn’t just encourage Matthew’s audience to spread the good news, it actually claims that the Gentiles understand what God is doing in the world better than the Jews! After all, a magi’s duty to his own ruler was to make their own king famous, which they certainly failed at. Not to mention, they spit in Herod’s face by calling this newborn child the “king of the Jews”. For the magi, the kings of the world don’t deserve worship or honor. They understand that it’s this newborn child in Bethlehem who is worthy of the utmost worship and is the true king.

In the same way, those of us who call ourselves Christians have a tendency to monopolize the market of God’s good news. Last year while in my work at a café, I was continually amazed by the depth of conversation about God I had with my co-workers. To be clear, these weren’t “Bible-believing, church attending Christians”. They were agnostics, atheists, “spiritual but not religious”…people who Christians (myself included) tend to view with a lot of suspicion and a general sense of “they don’t really get it.” Yet, the more I conversed with these people, the more I realized my suspicions were unfounded and untrue. These new friends of mine had profound capacities for understanding what God was up to in the world (even if they would never use that language). The Kingdom of God has a rhythm to it, and these people had that rhythm beating in their chest, and they were trying to figure out how to name and live in step with that rhythm. I would have been a fool to dismiss them as “less than” me, for I would have missed out on opportunities to experience and live out the good news of Jesus.

For Christians, the story of the magi puts us in a place of vulnerability, where we must acknowledge that not only is the good news for everyone, but everyone has the capacity to understand this good news (and the “other” understands it better than we can!). We are not the only ones who experience God, we are not the only ones who can see what God is doing in the world, and we certainly are not the only ones who can worship Jesus properly. (I still think some people expect that baby Jesus should have jumped out of his swaddling cloths and told the magi that they need to repent, but that detail is strikingly absent from the story). Get your head out of the sand, and look for the people on the margins who you undoubtedly have something to learn from about the Kingdom of God.

If you find yourself reading this and you’re not a Christian, you’re spiritual but not religious, agnostic, atheist, etc., you’re one of those people who Christians lump into that horrible “other” category, I just need to tell you that I’m sorry. I truly am. I’m sorry that I along with my brothers and sisters have dismissed your spiritual life and your gifts (like the magi) that you have sought to bring before God. This story tells you and me that Jesus accepts you and your offering just as you are. Maybe you find yourself groping, searching, longing for God that you might find God…I believe the Apostle Paul’s words are appropriate: “Indeed, God is not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:27)

Grace and peace to all of you as you seek to experience and embody the good news of Jesus.

Jesus loves the Social Outcasts

Happy second Sunday of Advent! Today's reflection comes from my dear friend Molly Mathers. She's super smart and insightful, so congratulations to you for getting to reading her words.

“Baby Jesus was born in the dark of night, surrounded by his teenage parents and a handful of dirty animals as the instrumental sounds of ‘Silent Night’ filled the manger. Joseph took a selfie of the new family and posted it to Facebook— ‘And baby makes three!’ As the world heard of Jesus through social media, many made their way to Bethlehem to see the new family and offer unsolicited parenting advice.”

Luke 2 (2015 Translation)

Or maybe God took a slightly less conventional route when it came to announcing Jesus’ birth.

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.”

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as he lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Christ. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Luke 2:8-20 (NRSV)

We associate shepherds with Old Testament heroes such as Abraham, Moses, and David, but by the time of Jesus’ birth shepherding had devolved from a noble calling to a job for second-class citizens. Shepherds were near the bottom of the social food chain. They were assumed thieves, for many allowed their flocks to graze off the produce of others’ land. The religious were forbidden from buying products from shepherds because they had most likely been stolen. Rabbis banned shepherding in Israel except on desert plains. Shepherds couldn’t hold government positions or even serve as witnesses in court because they were considered untrustworthy.

Think of the practical reality of life as a shepherd. Have you ever been on a camping trip longer than a weekend? How did you smell after a few days sleeping on the ground without a shower? Now add in a couple hundred sheep to the picture. Unfortunately most sheep don’t look like the cute little lamb pictured below. Sheep are notoriously dirty and stupid animals. Shepherds lived most of their lives outside away from society, constantly watching over and protecting their sheep from April to November. (Spoiler: scholars agree that Jesus’ birthday wasn’t December 25th.) All of this kept shepherds from holding to traditional Jewish laws of cleanliness, further alienating them from society.

These are not the kind of people I want coming to my firstborn’s baby shower. So why, after 400 years of silence from God, was “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3) first revealed to a bunch of dirty, thieving social outcasts instead of to kings or important religious leaders? What does this reveal about the heart and character of God?

1. The good news is good for everyone. In the ancient world there was no one more important than Caesar. Each time a new Caesar was born, it was proclaimed as “good news” throughout the Roman Empire. Everyone had to celebrate, even though for most people this meant continued oppression through an unjust system. The angel’s proclamation that Jesus would bring joy to all people, including these marginalized shepherds, was unprecedented. Jesus would not perpetuate the system, he would deliver everyone (not only the Jews) from it. In this we see a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ministry and the message later proclaimed through the the New Testament. Jesus has come to deliver and redeem all things, beginning with a group of lowly shepherd boys outside Bethlehem.
2. The marginalized have a voice. Remember that Israel had been waiting for hundreds of years for their deliverer. The shepherds delivered the news that Jesus was to be this savior, Christ the Lord. “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name— it is a title meaning “anointed one,” the Messiah who was sent to deliver Israel. The angels could have come to anyone, but God entrusted this glorious announcement to shepherds, giving them a voice in the story. This is significant: the powerless and voiceless were given the task of proclaiming the most important and most glorious news that has ever come to humanity.
3. Stereotypes do not limit one’s place in God’s Kingdom. While some shepherds earned their poor reputation, others were victims of stereotypes and prejudice. The religious leaders generalized them into one category and re-enforced their ostracization. Despite this (or perhaps because of it) God drew them into the story and gave them a role to play in expanding the Kingdom. No matter how negatively society or religious leaders classify a group of people, they are not beyond the reach of what God can and will use to expand his Kingdom.

In light of the radical nature and announcement of Jesus’ birth, we must become introspective. Where are there parallels between shepherds and today’s society? Who is unexpectedly proclaiming good news today?  How do we let our prejudices limit the Kingdom? What people groups make us so uncomfortable or fearful that we simply tune them out?

Applying biblical truths of justice, equality, and love will help the Church navigate the thick layers of injustice that exist today.

Jesus Loves Women

Happy first Sunday of Advent!

Today we are going to talk about women. That's right, women: the role they play in the birth narrative of Jesus and the significance of their inclusion.

This is a topic near and dear to my heart, if you have not already figured that out.
So much so that this semester I wrote a paper entitled:

Jesus and Feminism:

Putting Women in Their Place

(I hope you can appreciate the note of sarcasm.)

In this paper I conducted a close exegesis of four passages throughout the Gospels that recount interactions Jesus had with women. In noting the cultural significance, I argued Jesus was in fact a feminist. Yay! 

DISCLAIMER: Everyone in the world has different experiences with feminism: some good, some not so good. So when I say "Jesus was a feminist," I am using the following definition from Sandra M. Schneiders:

A comprehensive ideology, rooted in women's experience of sexually-based oppression,

that engages in a critique of patriarchy as an essentially dysfunctional system,

embraces an alternative vision for humanity and the earth,

and actively seeks to bring this vision to realization.

Not all feminists are angry women who burn bras, just like not all Christians are conservative racists who love guns. 

(Stereotypes, am I right?)

So, for this post, and for posts to follow, please read with an open mind. Who knows, perhaps you might even learn something! 

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  O N  T H E  I N C A R N A T I O N

Ah yes, the incarnation. What does this intricate concept mean? Well, as always, let's begin with the dictionary definition.

In-car-na-tion:

noun

a person who embodies the flesh of a deity, spirit, or abstract quality.

Thanks again, Google. We could not do this without you.

In the context of Christian faith, this word incarnation bears great significance. From the reign of King David around 1000 BCE, Israel expectantly awaited a king to reign forever, a Messiah.

When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, 

who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 

He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 

I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me...

Your house and kingdom will endure before Me forever, 

and your throne will be established forever. 

II Samuel 7:12-14; 16

Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him–

He will judge the poor righteously and execute justice for the oppressed of the land...

On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. 

The nations will seek Him, and His resting place will be glorious.

Isaiah 11:1-2; 4; 10

After centuries of awaiting the Messiah, the incarnation of the God of Israel is easily the pinnacle of Christian history. Yet instead of being born into riches and power, like most rulers of that time who claimed divinity, YHWH takes on flesh in a most scandalous way: through a poor teenage girl.

 Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you...Do not be afraid Mary...

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call his name Jesus. 

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High,

and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.

Luke 1:28, 30, 31-33 

The Son of the Most High chose a lowly, humble birth through a young, unmarried woman. The all powerful God could have chosen any other miraculous way to enter the earth, yet God chose vulnerability through a messy and risky birth.

God became entirely dependent upon a WOMAN for life.

And this woman, Mary, responded with exuberant gratitude:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,

because He has looked with favor on the humble condition of His servant. 

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed

because the Mighty One has done great things for me, 

and His name is holy.

Luke 2:46-49 

In a religious society that hinges on honor and shame, this was a bold act by Mary. She viewed the cultural shame that would be placed upon her and her family as far less than the honor of this invitation to participate in God's mission of redemption.

Because she was already in a position of powerlessness, she was more willing to accept the honor of carrying the Messiah. And by choosing natural birth through a woman, God chose humility so that all women may be dignified as worthy of inclusion.

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T H E  S I G N I F I C A N C E

Often the incarnation has been used to argue that God is a male, thankfully that is hardly the case! 

Jesus took on the male gender not to reveal the sex of God, 

rather to subvert the patriarchy and heal the divide 

between men and women. 

Within a patriarchal society, a man is granted greater privilege, authority, and opportunity than a woman. Knowing this, God took on the male gender as the most effective denunciation of justice.

Unfortunately, if Jesus came as a WOMAN, she would not have been taken seriously and perhaps her ministry might not have been as effective. Not because God is limited, but because of the confines of a fallen human society. 

If we look at the ministry of Jesus, he continually went out of his way to include the marginalized and lay down his privilege to the lift up the oppressed. 

He humanized the Samaritan woman by giving her a voice and credibility to testify.
He humanized the woman caught in adultery and treated her equal to the religious leaders. 
He humanized the hemorrhaging woman by seeing her not as "unclean," rather as a human in need healing.  

The list could go on! Each and every way Jesus includes women in his narrative speaks not only to God’s heart for the marginalized, but the necessity for women and men to fight for gender equality together. 

For all of humanity was created in the image of God: male and female. Therefore, humanity is not whole if one oppresses the other. Rather, we must learn to lift up, respect, and encourage one another.

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T H E  T A K E A W A Y 

It cannot be one sex versus the other. 

Those who benefit from an oppressive system must lay down their privilege to 

provide opportunities for those whom the system oppresses. 

Men and women need to work together.

Man cannot seek justice without woman, 

just as woman cannot seek justice without man. 

May we humble ourselves to say to the other, I need you as my equal partner. 

And may we see the other as created in the image of God. 

Together, woman and man reflect the likeness of God. 

Thank you for reading, and as always, I would love to engage in conversation if you have any questions on this topic. 

- - O V E R  A N D  O U T .