Uncle Dick, a retired theologian in my Lutheran congregation once said, "if you draw a line in the sand, you can be sure Jesus is on the other side of it."
There are a lot of sand lines right now, and two are breaking my heart.
Close to home, we are approaching the day on which we vote on the marriage amendment. The state is drawing lines in the sand about who has the right to marry whom. How did we get here? Haven't we learned? This is a civil rights issue, like equality for all races, like women's rights, like slavery. This is a self-determination issue - allowing people to choose their own path in life. Why should the state get to decide who or whether a person marries - for generations to come? And if you're one to bring the Bible into the discussion, well then now we're talking about the separation of church and state and isn't that just one more reason to not have the state decide? Truly, we don't even have to get to discussions of theology - government just shouldn't have its fingers in this one.
I heard an interview with Chris Kluwe, Minnesota Vikings punter, standing up on this issue. Wow! Bravo! And I THINK Senator Amy Klobuchar is for the ability for all people to choose who they can marry, but I haven't heard her, a leader with strong influence, take a strong stand on the issue. Leaders, stand up! It's your job!
A little farther away but even more heart breaking is the world-wide unrest because of a video that right-wing Christians created exclaiming their distain for Muslims. These Christians drew a rather bold line in the sand. Were they being the hands and feet of Jesus in their actions? NO. Jesus is grace and love for ALL people. Jesus walked this earth with ALL people. Jesus loves ALL people. Christians are called to act as Jesus acts. To anyone who's been offended by the actions of a so-called Christian, in this incident or another, I'm sorry. My heart breaks for you, and for Christians who believe those acts are sin.
No more lines in the sand. I'm quite sure Jesus' heart is broken every time one is drawn.
