Donald Trump and Balaam's ass

O Holy night!

The stars are brightly shining

It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Truly He taught us to love one another

His law is love and His gospel is peace

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

And in His name, all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

I love that song.  The past couple of years- it has been my favorite.

It has been so encouraging as of late.  Can you imagine a world where all oppression ceases?

Wow.  I wish I could.  

I know I have been quiet for awhile. I haven't had the words, to be honest.

My soul feels assaulted with despair.

Homelessness in Seattle, orphans all over the world, the DAPL situation in North Dakota, politics, all the crap that goes with politics, overt racism, hate and misogyny.  

Aleppo.

I would have despaired

unless I had believed 

that I would see 

the goodness of the LOrd

in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord

Be strong, and let your heart take courage

Yes, wait for the Lord

Psalm 27: 13-14

So I wait.

In her essay, Genealogy and Grace, Gail Godwin speaks of the geneology of Jesus in the beginning of the book of Matthew.

Named in that long list are liars, cheats, adulterers, murderers, prostitutes...and a bunch of people we have never even heard about.  Names that mean nothing to us except that they are hard to pronounce whenever we read that passage.

Names of vastly imperfect people doing incredibly stupid and sinful things.  People who we think should be there aren't, and vice versa.

And why Judah instead of Joseph?

Where are Sarah, Rachel and Rebekah?  The women named are outcasts- Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba...Mary.  

Ms. Godwin goes on to say: 

If so much powerful stuff can been accomplished

down through the millenia by wastrels, betrayers and outcasts,

and through people who were such complex mixtures

of sinner and saint, 

and through so many obscure and undistinguished others, 

isn't that a pretty hopeful testament to the likelihood that 

God is using us with our individual flaws and gifts,

in all manner of peculiar and unexpected ways?

I find that a pretty hopeful testament indeed.

How can we matter so much, and yet still be so small in the universe?

That is one of the greatest mysteries of all time, I think.

I am having a hard time lately- focusing, being still, trying to whittle down my constantly growing to-do list.

Part of it is just being burned out from a long, hard season at work, I am sure.

I have contracted a bad case of the "dumb."

Although, I face extremely first world problems in my life- I am well aware of that.
Part of it is weariness- facing a world that is loud and in my face all the time.

Facing a world where injustice and hatred is in my face all the time.

I want to go hide, but I know that is not the answer.

Love is the answer.

Giving is the answer.
But to what?  So many organizations clamoring for my attention, my time, my resources.

SO many- some worthy, some not.

Where can I go to find peace?  To find quiet- so I can hear God?
We all can't do everything- as much as we want to.  But I expect most of us can do more than we are doing.  But how do we know what to do?  

We ask- and we make space to listen.  Then we obey.

It sounds so easy, doesn't it?
Sigh.

Every week at our company meeting, we pray.

Everyone can make their requests known, and then we pass them out and pray through them.

The other day- someone requested we pray for Donald Trump- rightfully so.

When the time came to pass that request out....crickets.

I am sure it's because here, in very liberal Seattle-it is hard, it is very difficult to wrap your brain around what seems to be the utter insanity, instability and overall general ridiculousness that surrounds that man.

Seriously.  WHAT THE FACE is up with that dude?

But this is what the Bible says:

Matthew 5:44- But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. 

(that is Jesus speaking, by the way)

1 Timothy 2:1-3- First of all, then, I urge that entreaties, and prayers, and petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a good and tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.  This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.

Jeremiah 29:7- But seek the welfare of the city, where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare.

So- I took that prayer....for Donald Trump.  If I am honest, it is not an easy thing to do.

But God loves him, so much, in fact- Jesus chose to come to this hot mess of his creation, He chose to get murdered and defeat death for Donald Trump.

Truth.
Weird, huh?
God is waaaaaay bigger than we can imagine.  Certainly bigger than I am- I might have smited...smote(?) that guy by now.  But I had to get over myself, and pray.

And I thought- we were created for such a time as this- just like Queen Esther- who saved a people from genocide.  Our prayers have power.  Prayer and faith can move mountains.

So I prayed- imperfectly- with stuttering and for real, a mention of Balaam's ass (Numbers 22:21-39 for those of you unfamiliar with the story- if God can speak through an ass, He can use whoever he wants, just sayin')

Yep- that donkey is chatting up a storm.

 If God can save Saul of Tarsus- who murdered Christians- and then ended up converted and writing most of the New Testament, no one is beyond God's reach. So I prayed my prayer- and we moved on....

A few minutes later- a whisper of a scripture popped into my head.

God uses the foolish things of the world to confound(or shame) the wise.

1 Corinthians 1:27

In all honesty- I don't know how that bit works in conjunction with the rest of the verse where it talks about how He uses the weak against the strong etc. etc.  

But the Bible also talks about how we will be lovers of self, slanderers, liars etc. etc.... And I thought- who seems more "foolish" than Donald Trump?

Seriously- think about it.
He appears to have no interest in being a responsible leader, he has no interest in learning how to do the job of  POTUS, he is appointing as his cabinet- I don't know- Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar? It's bonkers!  He is unqualified, to say the least- ask yourself- could he be any more....foolish?

Just a thought.

Romans 13 says that there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been established by God.  Sweet fancy bananas- that's a heckuva thing to wrap your brain around isn't it?

GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING?????

God is bigger than Donald Trump.  Trump may not think so, but that's his problem.

Those of us who claim Christ as our savior are called to pray for and honor our authorities.

It doesn't say AGREE with them.  It doesn't say stop loving, stop fighting injustice, we must champion the oppressed, we must free the captives, we must feed the hungry.  In fact- some authority will require us to do MORE of what God has called us to do in those areas because of their wickedness. I believe with all my heart, we are entering a season of opportunity. 

We will have an opportunity to be humble, and loving- and to truly care for and love one another- in spirit and in truth.
We should not, by any stretch of the imagination, bury our heads in the sand.  But we should remember that legislation is not what saves us. Christ saves us- and through the change He brings in our hearts, and how we love- that love that flows through us is what actually changes the world.  We stand with one another, carry one another's burdens, fight for each other and love one another.

There will always be despots and terrible rulers and awful politicians- always.

But God is bigger than any of them.  

You are of God, little children,

and have overcome them;

because He who is in you

is greater

than he who is in the world.

1 John 4:4

Overcome the world with love.

That is the call.

On Christmas day, on Hanukkah, on Easter, on Passover, on Arbor day, on Mother's day, on July 17th, on August 22nd...every day, for as long as we are on this earth.

Overcome the world with love.