Note: Moral Mondays are a regular movement to speak moral principles to matters of community and national interest. They were begun by Rev. William Barber (wiki).

“I and Thou”, was Martin Buber’s famous appeal to a heightened sense of commonality among all humanity. I came to this idea through Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He used I and Thou to raise the American conscience to a more responsible and communal attitude. Having been raised in the “me generation,” I am still feeling the counter-cultural beauty of the “I and Thou” campaign. It is in even more stark relief given the “America First,” policy of our current government. Never mind that the slogan is dishonest and misleading. My main conclusion is that America First is incompatible with the Christian faith as it divides neighbors by arbitrary means and ignores the imago dei that we all have in common. By dividing us from each other, America First is really a campaign of domination.

So on this Moral Monday, I refuse to treat my neighbor, whom I am called to love, as an enemy. Of course, Christians are called to love their enemy as well. The story of the gospel is ripe with examples of divisions being crossed to form a new relationship: The syro-phonecian woman who seeks healing for her daughter, unclean lepers and bleeding women, the centurion needing healing for his servant, the Samaritan woman at the well, etc.

The people of God are to be defined by their love for others, love that overcomes divisions. We shall not be defined by singing songs of redemption in a plantation of oppression and hate. Those who take the scriptures seriously, those who know the teachings of Jesus, can see through such charades. Let us always be people who have eyes and can see the truth behind the photo op.

What has been most joyous for me in this season of ministry is what happens within my spirit when I do as Jesus did and discover the image of God in people different from me. This has been a common thread in my life and ministry: once I find something to love and admire in a people, I defend that love with all that I have. Most recently, I have been growing an agape-level relationship with people of Hispanic/Latin backgrounds. This has probably been the most surprising element of my ministerial career. Surprising because I just haven’t had much interaction with Hispanic people and because the interactions have been so pleasant and moving. It is my strong witness that there is a spirit that can bring people together that goes beyond mere proximity. Through the gift of the church and the power of the Holy Spirit, I have discovered a strong agape-level love that no law, policy or executive order can break. And because I have such a love, I am becoming very protective of these neighbors. Their nationality matters zero to me. Their status does not diminish the imago dei in them. These people have become like angels to me: very close to God.

Having gone from I to Thou with my H/L neighbors, the final piece for today is how my concept of God has become both bigger and more sophisticated. Bigger because I can see that God is as active on the other side of the world as God is in my own particular corner. Sophisticated because I can see God painting in different human colors, speaking in different human accents, blessing us with new flavors, new rhythms and new harmonies. It is no longer comforting to think that God is a lot like me. That idea has become an indictment, something that convicts me for thinking too narrowly about God. The blessing is that now I am starting to expect God to wow me with humanity and creation. I feel my eyes, ears, mind and heart opening more and more to the immensity and complexity of God.

How sad, therefore, to see people stand in the halls of power and sing songs to a god who they think wants them to expel people based on their language, birthplace, skin color or accent. Who think it’s good and proper to exile a citizen because her mother was born elsewhere. Who thinks that scribbling a Bible verse on your arm means you are holy and moral, as if God is swayed by superficial human devices. No wonder their faith leads them to anger, bitterness and shame. I only wonder when they will see how they have followed a false god of power and domination, when the real God of grace and agape has been here all along. Even acknowledging the offensive ways they bastardize my faith and twist the scriptures, even to the devastating harm of my friends and neighbors, I just find it sad that until they confess sins and repent of their current ways, they will never know the immensity and complexity of God. This is knowledge that can only be found through humility, curiosity and grace. We know that arrogance and power are drug-like forces that can entrap people in their own devices. It leads me to another level of complexity: how people can acknowledge the immense power of God while also abusing it for their own puffed-up ego. Do they really think this will end well for them? Their actions and demeanor just look so vacant and lost. If that’s not a warning to everyone (self included) I don’t know what is.