A Lutheran Seminarian's Thoughts about Syria on the Anniversary of 9/11

As I watched that second plane crash into the South Tower of the World Trade Center twelve years ago as a sophomore in high school, and everything that happen thereafter in the coming days, I certainly felt a sense of horror, confusion and anger, much like everyone else around me. I lived far enough north in Connecticut that I don't remember anyone having directly lost a parent or close relative that day, but the indirect connections were numerous and pretty hard to deal with. It was when first I arrived in church that Sunday (and worked hard to not cause trouble on such a serious day, as I usually did every Sunday), and saw the sanctuary packed like never before that I remember feeling odd but strong sense of optimism. I thought as horrible as the events of 9/11 were, that perhaps such a tragedy could change things, that people in a long term way could come together for something I vaguely thought of as a greater good. Even more importantly, it seemed like the United States had more goodwill from folks in nations around the world than they had since at least the time of the Marshall Plan. Perhaps, I thought, if this chance could be correctly utilized, some really good things could come out of such a tragedy.

Unfortunately, the exact opposite happened. Domestic goodwill was squandered by an administration that told us just as long as we kept buying things, paid attention to a color-coded fear index and sealed our windows with duct tape, we'd probably be fine. The Bush administration quickly overreached with the Patriot Act as well. On the foreign policy front, goodwill towards America was squandered in even a more drastic manner. In Afghanistan, a war that probably needed to be fought was mismanaged. In Iraq, our nation and our allies were lead into battle under a premise build upon lies. A US foreign policy of fear and vengeance, where everything was either black or white, where you were either with us or against quickly dissipated goodwill toward the United States of America. Empathy towards us frequently turned to impassioned hate, or at best, annoyance. An amazing opportunity was quickly squandered.

Now, twelve years later, in my final year of seminary studying to be a Lutheran pastor, I know idealistic notions of world peace or universal progress are rarely met. Could the goodwill following 9/11 have ushered in some new global golden age as I once thought as a young teenager?  Probably not... human sin, or from a secular perspective, human imperfection negates such a possibility. Yet, I also know human progress can be made, that as The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once paraphrased, "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." With God's help, things can be bettered in this world, perhaps minutely and unevenly, but they can be bettered, if only we can discern, at least some of the time, how to work together.

So where are we now? How does the lesson of 9/11 and its aftermath apply to the current crisis in Syria? Well, amidst such immense tragedy going on there, amidst the deaths of over 100,000 Syrians, 2 million refugees and countless more internally displaced persons, there is at least some semblance of good news, however meager. The Obama administration has certainly bungled up the US response to Syria crisis. Perhaps most notably, the over-reach of the Western allies in Libya turned away Russia and China away from even the possibility of supporting some sort of early intervention in the UN Security Council. There's definitely been too much loose talk by administration officials following the recent massive use of chemical weapons in Syria as well. That all said, at very least, the Obama administration, as we saw last night, has allowed for nuance, has allowed for the possibility of shades of gray and hasn't inappropriately painted this crisis as some sort of cosmic battle between good and evil, as was done over a decade ago. President Obama's speech last night was widely panned in the press as incoherent, but I strongly disagree with such accusations. Our president was simply portraying a complicated situation as what it is, complicated. Perhaps, at least, there is some good news in the fact that our society has moved past such a black and white of thinking about foreign policy.

Yaman Al Qadri

Even more encouraging has been the immense call for peace amidst the drums of war. More informed and more interconnected than ever before, our nation and our and global community has less to fear, and therefore can react more rationally. Thousands fasted this past Saturday along with Pope Francis, praying for peace. Despite my initial reaction to the contrary, my own heart was moved against a US militarily intervention in Syria once I heard from people of faith on the ground, including Rt. Rev. Munib A. Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and from folks at a well attended webinar yesterday organized by Presbyterian World Mission. Such technologies and connections were not nearly as strong twelve years ago, and I firmly believe the Spirit is working through such connections. The idea of Russia, a former enemy of the United States, perhaps being able to broker a deal that at least could take chemical weapons out of the Syrian conflict is profoundly good news and perhaps, an answer to many folks' prayers around the world. It's also important to note, because it's not nearly often enough discussed, the role that women, particularly the young Yaman Al Qadri, have bravely taken in working for peace in Syria, also provides the world with great hope.

On this day, as we look back upon 9/11 and all the lessons learned since then, let us continue to pray for peace in Syria. Even if chemical weapons are taken off the battlefield, there's still such immense suffering. Another rarely noted fact is that sexual violence has become commonplace in the conflict, to the point that rape is primary reason families are fleeing Syria. Let us also however, give thanks that our political leaders allow for nuance, for the possibility of partnering with former enemies to lessen the conflict, and for the immense power of the Spirit working throughout the world to bring peace.

God's peace,
Dustin

Dustin is currently in his final year of a Masters of Divinity program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, having recently completed a year as Vicar at the Lutheran Office for World Community and Saint Peter's Church in New York City. While seeking ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his focus is on the intersection between worship, service and justice in de-centralized faith communities unencumbered by a traditional church building. In his free time, Dustin likes playing frisbee, hiking and pretending to know how to sing.

...and God Has Even Chosen You (Easter 5C sermon video)

Figured I could take a break from polishing up my sermon for tomorrow and post video from last Sunday at Saint Peter's Church where I currently serve as Vicar.  The sermon is primarily on the appointed 1st Reading for the day, Acts 11: 1 - 18.  I ended changing a bunch of parts at the last minute and thus there was way too much reading, but I'd love to hear what you think.

 

God's peace,
Dustin 

Dustin is currently a vicar at the Lutheran Office for World Community and Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan, having recently completed his second year of a Masters of Divinity program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. While seeking ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his focus is on the intersection between worship, service and justice building in de-centralized faith communities unencumbered by a traditional church building. In his free time, Dustin likes playing frisbee, hiking and pretending to know how to sing.

We All Long to Feel Chosen (Easter 5C Sermon)

What follows is my (very rough) manuscript for a sermon I preached yesterday at Saint Peter's Church where I serve as Vicar.  It's primarily on the appointed 1st Reading for the day, Acts 11: 1 - 18.  I'd love to hear your feedback.
 

We all long to feel chosen. We long to feel chosen by others, even at a young age… we stand awkwardly in line at recess, praying that we’re not chosen last or not chosen at all for a sports team. And we don’t like to admit it, but that feeling never goes away… we want to be invited to happy hour by our coworkers, or phoned by an old friend, perhaps we want to rock an audition and be selected for the lead role in a performance or perhaps we simply want to be welcomed home at the end of a long day by a familiar face. We all long to feel chosen by others, we long to be included, and often for good reason.

On an even deeper level, we long to feel chosen by God. And no matter how hard we try to do otherwise, we can’t help but look to all sorts of things to indicate that God has chosen us. Whether it’s a great job, a great family, a vibrant social life or a great home, we can’t help but struggle and pray for such blessings, and often with good reason. We all long to feel chosen by others; we all long to feel chosen by God… we all long to feel chosen.

Looking back on what we know about his life, it’s easy to see that Saint Peter longed to feel chosen too, and often with good reason. In fact in today’s story from Acts, we find Saint Peter confronting everything he ever knew about chosen-ness in the previous chapter’s scene of how commanded by God, he spoke and then broke bread with Cornelius and his fellow Gentiles and how in turn, those Gentiles received the Holy Spirit. Peter reacts in shock to God’s command, and the disciples react in shock to Peter’s report, with good reason… Peter wasn’t just breaking antiquated dietary laws of Jews not eating with Gentiles, or non-Jews, here. Following Alexander the Great’s conquest of Palestine and the subsequent forced adoption of Greek culture a few centuries earlier, maintaining strict religious customs was a central way of insuring that Jewish culture, that Jewish identity, that the Jewish people themselves, would survive foreign domination. To insure that God’s chosen people remained a people at all, strict lines of who was in and who was out needed to be enforced.

As Peter discovered though, God was doing a new thing in Christ, and the Spirit was moving to make it happen. Ya know, in just a couple weeks it’ll be Pentecost, a festival that in its Christian incarnation celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles early on in the Book of Acts. But there are a number of Pentecost moments in the Books of Acts… in Acts 8 the Samaritans, even though they were descendents of the northern tribes of Israel considered impure, receive the Spirit. Later on in that chapter, an Ethiopian eunuch studying the book of Isaiah is baptized by Philip and receives the Spirit of God too. But in today’s passage an even more amazing thing has just happened, as Peter experienced not just some people, but in fact all peoples of all nations being brought into God’s ever-expanding covenant. It’s not that there are no longer a chosen people, but rather that all of humanity, in all its diversity, is chosen as well.

So what could all this Holy Spirit stuff have to with us today, in this time, in this place, in this city? Well, I propose that we can figure that out in only two steps: So step one: let’s reread the part of today’s passage where the disciples respond to Peter’s story: “When the disciples heard this, they were silenced. And then they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’ To put it simply, the disciples exclaim: “God has even chosen the Gentiles…” And then step two: fill in the blank, fill in the word ‘Gentiles’ with whatever words describe you in your situation: God has chosen even the lonely. God has chosen the addicted. God has chosen those who have made horrible mistakes. God has chosen the unemployed, the homeless, the destitute and the bankrupt. And God has especially chosen the oppressed of our society… those bullied kids never picked for the sports team… those folks still stinging from irresponsible news reports about “a dark-skinned man” in the aftermath of the Boston bombing. God has especially chosen those rejected by their families and their communities because of who they love and those who many of our political leaders still choose to label illegal. God has even chosen you, no matter who you are or what you are experiencing. God has even chosen you, to love you and bring you into Her ever-expanding covenant. God has even chosen you. My sisters and brothers, we all long to feel chosen, and in Christ, we all are. Amen.

Dustin is currently a vicar at the Lutheran Office for World Community and Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan, having recently completed his second year of a Masters of Divinity program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. While seeking ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his focus is on the intersection between worship, service and justice building in de-centralized faith communities unencumbered by a traditional church building. In his free time, Dustin likes playing frisbee, hiking and pretending to know how to sing.