Merry Christmas 2015

Not having written much this year (2015) I felt that at least I should wish the entire world a Merry Christmas.

The Christmas story tells us of the love of a God Who not only created a universe for His own pleasure, but having a desire to share that pleasure with someone, created beings in His own image. In the mystery of all of the reason for being, He provided a scenario in which His prime creation, Man, would lose that privilege and become estranged, requiring restoration.

I repeat, a mystery lies behind this. The Eternal One is described, in His own words, in Exodus 34, as

"The LORD, the LORD, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and unto the fourth generation."[JPS 1917]

In order for His entire character to be displayed, there had to be a reason to show mercy. Mercy cannot be shown to anyone who has not been condemned. The recipient of mercy is chosen by the Merciful One, who decided in His wisdom that the being created in His own image, who would also be capable of showing mercy, would transgress, and due to the utter holiness of the Creator, be eternally separated from the pleasure of His presence.

Now someone who has been cast down from the presence of the Ever-living One has no power to raise himself back up. The dead cannot come back to life by their own power. The holiness of God is so far beyond the imagination of men that no dead man can lift another dead man to that height. God will by no means clear the guilty; He says so Himself. A living substitute could effect redemption, but no offspring of a dead creation could pay the price.

In that was the wisdom of God brought to the problem. God Himself -- sinless, living, loving -- would take upon Himself the nature of His creation, a created body, and offer Himself as the perfect substitute. The Christmas story is the story of that endeavor. By the power of the Holy Spirit of God, a child was conceived in the womb of a virgin. Because His Father was God, He did not inherit the estrangement of Adam, and because His mother bore Him as a human, he took on the flesh of the creature. He would be the perfect substitute, accepting the guilt of men without Himself being guilty, and redeeming those to whom mercy could then be shown.

And so we have Christmas.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."[Is 9:6, KJV] (...פֶּלֶא יוֹעֵץ, אֵל גִּבּוֹר, אֲבִי-עַד, שַׂר-שָׁלוֹם.)

Misplaced Compassion, or Wells Without Water?

The feature of Christianity that is supposedly most attractive to people is the unfettered compassion that followers of Jesus are reputed to exhibit. For the person who claims to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, however, an important question that frequently rises is the question of God’s will for his or her life.

For some the search after knowledge of that will takes arcane twists and turns, almost on the level of fortune-telling or divination. It is not unusual to hear of people opening a Bible and attempting to do whatever first comes to sight, or the “Gideon thing”, i.e., “putting out a fleece” (without doing a thorough reading which would show that Gideon pleaded with God not to be angry with him for doing so).

Just a bit more research would reveal that God’s will for His people is really no great mystery. In Hebrews we read that it was His will that we be sanctified through the offering of Christ, in Romans we read that His will is that we be transformed by the renewing of our minds in order to serve others (a living sacrifice!), and in First Thessalonians we read that it is His will that we be sanctified, maintaining proper living in the face of temptation. Peter even goes so far as to say that His will might call for our suffering as a result of sanctified living.

Unfettered compassion has the appearance of performance of the will of God, even in the need to defy authority to carry it out. Many of the “peace movement” groups actively protest or violate Governmental restrictions on their desires to offer such compassion, citing Peter’s response to the Sanhedrin that “We ought to obey God rather than men.” It is always dangerous to quote Scripture out of context.

The following clips were carried on Friday March 6, 2015 by a number of news organizations and were eventually picked up by Fox News and other major conservative outlets:

“Max Villatoro, 41, was arrested by immigration officials when he left his house for work Tuesday after more than 16 years of legal complications and two denied appeals to stop his removal from the country, culminating in his now imminent deportation. But Villatoro's wife, Gloria Villatoro, 33, and others in the Iowa City community say the man has turned his life around since his initial charge in 1998, and they're fighting to keep him here.

Max Villatoro is a pastor at First Mennonite Church who has lived in Iowa since he left his northern Honduran town in 1995 and arrived in the U.S. without legal permission. Deportation would separate him from his wife, a native of Mexico who was brought here when she was 8, and his four children, ages 7 through 15 and all U.S. citizens.

In 1998, Villatoro was convicted of drunken driving. And in 1999, he pleaded guilty to record tampering for purchasing a Social Security number that he used to obtain a driver's license. His plea resulted in an order of supervision for the duration of a 180-day suspended jail term, but the convictions stayed with him until his recent arrest.

Gloria Villatoro said her husband's past doesn't reflect who he is. And Margaret Richer-Smith, a fellow pastor at the Iowa City church, described him as a 'person of great integrity and wisdom.'”

The story was even carried in the Daily Kos, and without doubt it will end up as one of those viral emails that circulates the Web forever. Before getting into too much of a lather over the story, however, it might be good to examine not only this family’s particular situation, but also the general conduct of what is popularly seen as evangelical Christianity. Let’s dissect the story as it appears in the news, and then look for the implications as regard’s the will of God. The facts:

- Max Villatoro is a Honduran citizen who has lived in the United States illegally for 20 years
- he has been convicted of identity theft, having used someone else’s Social security number
- since his conviction in 1999, he has apparently continued to work and perhaps drive, without legal documentation
- also since his conviction in 1999, he has married a foreign national and fathered 4 children (birthright citizens)
- he now professes to be a Christian pastor with the responsibility to teach others Godly behavior
- he is described by his co-pastor as “a person of great integrity and wisdom”

Assuming all of the above is true, I feel quite queasy. The same Peter who stated that “We ought to obey God rather than men” also stated “Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles; that, wherein they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well. For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”

If all of the Villatoro story is true as reported, we have a person who has openly defied authority. Reading carefully we can wonder at the pain suffered by some unfortunate citizen who was left with the complications from Villatoro’s use of his stolen Social Security ID, as well as being curious about whether the pregnancy of his teenage wife was an attempt to produce an “anchor baby”. He not only calls himself a follower of Jesus but is being held up as a good example of such. We also appear to have a great cloud of people with an opinion that his behavior is acceptable. There is something absurd going on here.

The March 25, 2015 edition of Mennonite World Review carried the news that Villatoro had indeed been deported to Honduras on March 20. The article contains this statement,

“‘This is utterly unfathomable,’ wrote executive conference minister David Boshart of Mennonite Church USA’s Central Plains Mennonite Conference in a statement the same day.”

Unfathomable? Jesus taught that “. . .whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.” If we are to understand that His will is inseparable from His character, we see a God who is not only merciful, but also scrupulously just. As Lord Jonathan Sachs has observed, it is not logically possible to have mercy unless first there is justice. While Sachs does not follow through with the resultant, that it was the Father’s justice that required our punishment for sin, and His acceptance of the sacrifice of His Son that made mercy for us possible, he has nailed the problem squarely. God is holy and just. He has established principalities and powers as an exercise of His will in order to maintain justice among men. For that reason Peter urges obedience to those authorities except where it contradicts the command of God.

There is no command from God to violate laws which we disagree with simply because they cause us discomfort.

What, then, should take priority? Our desire to feel like we are heroic martyrs of mercy, or our desire to uphold the justice of God, Who says, “You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the Lord your God.” and “You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: you shall not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.”? Should we be partial toward the foreign law-breaker, allowing things that we would not tolerate in a fellow citizen or even a foreigner who was respectful of our laws? How does that uphold God’s justice, and if it does not, how can it be said that encouraging a person to continue in sin (for “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft”) is a mercy?

Christianity that “does its own thing” is not following the teaching of Jesus. To the contrary, the Church in America is missing out on one of the greatest evangelistic opportunities that has appeared since the Great Awakening. There are hordes of people who have entered this country illegally who are prime candidates for the Gospel. The Gospel, however, (as presented by Jesus Himself) begins with “Repent!” —- which requires the illumination of sin and the turning away from such.

Unfortunately, Americhristianity sees success in spiritual things the same way it sees success in business — the bigger the better; quantity trumps quality. Americhristianity fears to label specific behaviors as sin, lest some potential convert be offended. We, however, need not fear to preach that sin in every form, including breaking the law, (yes, you speeders and stop sign runners, that includes you) needs to be repented from. Then, when the Spirit of God converts those whom He draws and convicts, they become the seed of renewed missionary activity.

If that leads the illegal immigrant back to the place from which he came, perhaps it is the hand of God which drew him here in the first place, fleeing the corruption due to sin in his own land, for the purpose of returning him to be a blessing in the midst of a crooked and corrupt land. To be sure, such a theme will be unpopular, because it flies in the face of “cheap grace” and pop gospel. Nevertheless, it is the way the Church has grown through the centuries. America may be ripe for judgment, but even in her last days the true followers of Jesus in this land can carry out the will of their Father.

So Peter states, “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”

Row Where You Are Supposed To Go

Mark 6:45-56

Jesus had blessed the 5 loaves and 2 fishes, with which the Disciples had fed the 5,000 men (plus women and children). They had then gathered up 12 baskets full of the fragments, one basket for each of them. According to John, at this point the crowd was ready to capture Jesus and forcefully make him their king. They had clearly realized that Jesus was the source of the food.

Jesus instructed the Disciples to get into the boat and cross the lake to Bethsaida, which is on the northeast corner of the lake. This put His physical location possibly somewhere on the west shore, in a hilly location; John hints that it is close to Tiberias. Then he went up into the “mountain” to pray, and the sun set on the Disciples rowing out into the lake.

The crowd may have lain down where it was, confident that they had Jesus trapped, but in the middle of the night He ceased his prayer and looked out onto the lake, where he saw the Disciples about 3-4 miles away. They were not making much progress toward Bethsaida — not quite halfway there, since the wind was blowing directly against them. It seems there were waves and wind, but no clouds or rain. A clear but windy night. Jesus walked out onto the lake toward them.

If the boat was built like a modern rowboat, the rowers would be facing the rear. Thus they might have seen Jesus coming toward them from a good way off. John mentions something interesting : they seem to have changed course, and were suddenly pulling toward Capernaum, on the northwest end of the lake! That they were afraid of what they thought was a ghost is in the text. Did they decide out of fear to disobey Jesus and head for safety? Mark says that Jesus was about to walk past them. He was headed for Bethsaida, where He had told them to go. If we disobey, will He continue to operate without us?

They seem to have been panic-stricken, but the immediate cause of their panic is not entirely clear. It may have been the idea of a spirit there on the lake with them. That seems to be the reassurance He is extending when He identifies Himself. Matthew says that at this point Peter challenged Jesus to prove who He is by asking Peter to come to Him, which He did, and Peter, dear boisterous Peter, jumped out of the boat. Matthew does not say how many steps Peter took before he realized he was in over his head. What we do know is that he was going down, and he cried out “LORD, save me”, just as so many other people do when they find themselves in trouble.

Based on the wording of the text in Matthew, it is quite possible that Peter did not really believe that it was Jesus until Jesus grabbed him and asked him why he had doubted. Then John says the Disciples eagerly accepted Him into the boat, and the wind stopped blowing as soon as He stepped in.

They were amazed for two reasons : [1] it had actually been Jesus walking on the water, and [2] the wind had stopped as soon as they were on the same course that Jesus was taking. Remember, they had been instructed to go to Bethsaida. Verse 52 says that their hearts were hardened to the point that they did not consider that the same obedience that had been so important in feeding the 5,000 was necessary even for a simple task like taking a boat ride to the other side of the lake. Despite the headwind, Jesus had ordered them to a specific task, which they had failed to complete because of their unbelief. The miracle of the loaves was important because they had followed instructions. By now, having been Disciples and having seen people healed, raised from the dead, and demons cast out, it would be anticipated that they would obey One Whom they would acknowledge, “Of a truth Thou art the Son of God.”

As soon as the wind stopped, they found themselves ashore at Gennesaret, which was not their original destination. But Gennesaret is about 2 miles southwest of Capernaum, 4 miles directly north of Tiberias. That is where the mob found him the next day.

Verse 36 is sometimes cited as a “formula” for healing, since it seems to have a counterpart in apostolic ministry in Acts 19:12. The woman in Mark 5:28 seems to have started something which followed Jesus about in His ministry. She may have been operating in faith, considering Jesus to be her High Priest, since the bells of the hem of the High Priest’s robe were there to preserve life (Exodus 28:31-35). Unfortunately, we have no description of Jesus’ robe except at the crucifixion, where it was described as “without seam, woven from the top throughout.” (John 19:23). Too bad we have no idea what color it was, or how its hem was decorated. Sometimes we think that because something “works”, it is the right thing to do, as the crowds did. Nevertheless, while God may honor “magic” or “superstitious” beliefs in order to eventually draw some to salvation, our calling is to faith without sight, that we might please Him.

Obedience is crucial. The wind may be blowing us backwards as we strive to obey, but His word remains, “Be of good cheer, it is I. Be not afraid.”

Slavery In the United States

One of the more interesting concepts which I have recently entertained is that of modern-day slavery in the United States. According to folklore, the Civil War and the Reconstruction Congress brought to an end the practice of human slavery. Not only did Lincoln issue his Emancipation Proclamation, but also, after his death, an Amendment, the Thirteenth Amendment, was added to the Constitution which states,

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

A very nice piece of work, that one. The only people who were to be legally enslaved were those who had been convicted of a crime. It seems reasonable on the face, but much hinges on the definition of a crime. Turn-about may have seemed fair play, in an age when participation by people of certain States in the War Between the States was a crime. Logically, then, once a person commits a crime, he is liable to be enslaved.

However, the politicians had grander plans in mind, and they then cooked up the Fourteenth Amendment. It begins,

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. “

Without doubt, those who voted to adopt that Amendment considered its language quite salutary. Bobby Burns, however, would have shaken his head sadly, thinking of mice and men, and the citizens thus made never dreamed that they had been Grubered, long before they ever heard of Gruber^[1].

Consider the concept of fiefdom, and the Divine Right of Kings. (Yes, that ancient doctrine which fanned the flames of the American Revolution, growing from the arrogance of King James to the haughty disregard for the rights of Englishmen by the German Georges!) In days of old, when knights were bold (supposedly) and serfs sought protection from various and sundry bandits, it was the practice to bind oneself to a local poobah for protection. He would provide the bodyguards, and the serf would serve him for life. Not only that, the serf would serve the descendants of the noble (weren’t they, though!) and the serfs descendants also would be bound by the oath of fealty. Eureka — citizenship!

Of course, it did not start in the Middle Ages. The system was at work from the dawn of history. All it took was one person with bigger muscles than his fellows, and the stage was set. In fact, I posit that slave-making is an older profession than prostitution. (Short course. Prostitution makes no sense in any society where women are chattel and can be had for the taking. Prostitution grew out of religious fertility rites; a man went to the temple of the fertility god or goddess, paid for the privilege of the rite, and that was that. Wherever the fertility rites were practiced, it made more sense to go to the temple than to engage a sole proprietor. Better benefits since the thinking was that society would be enriched by better crops, etc. More bang for the buck, so to say. Union rules, and all that. But I digress. My point is that slave-making is the oldest profession.)

Over time, the relationship formalized. Nation-states and kingdoms made extensive use of the principle of fealty. If you were born in a kingdom, you were a citizen (subject) belonging to that king. To leave the kingdom was an act of treason. You didn’t go visit faraway places without both an invitation (a visa) or permission from your liege (a passport?). Think Iron Curtain, with no West to run to. Even the English yeoman was a slave; those who attempted to leave the island without the king’s permission were imprisoned, and possibly tortured and executed, if they were caught. Merchant seamen voyaged under royal charters. It helps to explain why exploration of new lands was mainly left to barbarians like the Viking (fealty only to the boat captain). It also helps to explain why it was that the New World was seen as a good dumping ground for criminals and other societal rejects (like religious dissidents).

With that as a background, I come to the early 20th Century. In 1903, a young man of 21 years, my grandfather, left the province of Vojvodina in Austria-Hungary after apprenticing in Budapest as a tailor. He was fortunate in that he was able to afford an exit visa. He landed at Ellis Island with $2 in his pocket. As soon as he could (1908), he filed a Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States. In that declaration he states that he renounces forever “all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly to Francis Joseph, Apostolic King of Hungary, of which I am now a subject”. He had been born a liege subject of the Hapsburg family. He was still their slave. What is striking to me is that the Declaration which he signed, he signed as his own Declaration of Independence. Or so he may have thought.

Consider this. Every person born in the United States, whether to a citizen or non-citizen, becomes on birth subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. It does not require any effort; in fact, in order to become free from that jurisdiction, a person must file a renunciation of citizenship. Then, if the person has any possessions whatsoever (or even if he has no possessions whatsoever!), he must file with the IRS to see if he has to pay the exit tax. That’s right. The Expatriation Tax.

On the IRS website, we read, “The expatriation tax provisions under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) sections 877 and 877A apply to US citizens who have renounced their citizenship and long-term residents (as defined in IRC 877(e)) who have ended their US resident status for federal tax purposes.” Also, “The Internal Revenue Service reminds practitioners that anyone who has expatriated or terminated his U.S. residency status must file Form 8854, Initial and Annual Expatriation Information Statement, and its Instructions. Form 8854 must also be filed to comply with the annual information reporting requirements of IRC 6039G, if the person is subject to the alternative expatriation tax under IRC 877 or IRC 877A. A $10,000 penalty may be imposed for failure to file Form 8854 when required.” $10,000 for failure to file, whether liable for tax or not!

Just a few days ago, I read the interesting information that Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, England, had settled with the IRS over his inheritance taxes. Yes, it seems that Boris was born in the Land of the Free and never renounced his citizenship. Ergo, even though a citizen of Great Britain and Mayor of London, he had failed to file his annual tax returns.

So now you know. If you were born in the United States, Uncle Sam owns you. If you leave without filing the required tax form, you have committed a crime. Under tax treaties around the world, his long skinny arm can reach out to grab you by the neck anywhere you try to flee. Birthright citizenship is a scam. You are his slave. Welcome to Gruber’s world.

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[1]n.b. For those yet unenlightened, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, frequently referred to as one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act (aka “ObamaCare”) who stated that the health care tax created by the act would be collected through the insurance companies and passed on to the people in higher insurance premiums because "the American people are too stupid to understand the difference”.