Welcoming the Stranger
Thoughts on the Evacuees, the City of
Dallas, and events that may change us forever
Then the righteous will answer him,
“Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty
and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and
welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you
sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them,
“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are
members of my family,* you did it to
me.”
I attended an unprecedented meeting yesterday at City Hall. The Mayor and City Manager sent out the call for religious leaders to attend a summit to begin to think through how the City of Dallas can welcome and care for the thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina who are now, and soon will be, descending upon our city.
The first thing I should say was how gratifying it was to see such a diverse body of people of faith come together for this meeting. Clergy from all sectors of our city were there...Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. A large contingent of African-American pastors where there from the Southern sector of the city. The coming days and weeks will surely tax us all in ways we cannot possibly guess now. But, with all I am sure will not so smoothly, it was very gratifying to see that unified response.
I know that many of you are angry at the response of our government so far. So am I. The response so far has been unacceptable, and I was very glad to hear the President admit as much yesterday when he toured New Orleans. Saying that is not "bashing" the President or his policies. But it is acknowledging reality of poor response from everyone.
And, deeper than this, it seems to me that it's a failure to adequately understand the reality of poverty in our country. Yes, there is a racial dimension to it too, but the overwhelming failure is a failure to understand poverty. Yesterday, I heard a statement by commentator Rush Limbaugh that chilled me. He sincerely asked why there weren't enough cars to evacuate all those who needed it.
"Why can't they afford (cars)?" he said.
Of course, many of the poor in every American city do not have cars. And when the public transportation systems shut down, because the workers need to evacuate too, it means many will be left behind. Many others are sick, or infirm. The failure to understand this is a fundamental failure to understand what poverty is, and what the reality of many people's lives are. This is not a failure by Democrats or by Republicans, but a failure of all of us.
That failure to understand poverty, it seems to me, is the greatest continuing sin in our society that we all need to confront, and that we all need to ask forgiveness for.
One of the ways we can repent of this sin is to turn our attention to the guests that will soon come to our city. The African-American pastors were incredibly helpful to all of us yesterday, when they reminded us that we should not consider these persons "refugees." They are evacuees, but many of them will become our fellow citizens during the next weeks and months. Dallas has been called on to house as many as 25,000 persons. And, given the nature of poverty and the reality of what they left in the path of Katrina, many of them may never return to their homes.
So, the question for all of us is the question Jesus asks us in the scripture:
How will we greet the stranger?
How will we treat the guest?
What hospitality can we show them?
How can we help them rebuild their lives?
My concern is that not only will this need to welcome these guests and new friends will expose the truth of how our nation views poverty, but that it will also expose the unhealed wounds of racism too. Many of those who come to our city will be African-American, and the tensions of race still fester beneath the facade of our city, and of every other American city too. It is a time for all of us who believe in racial and economic justice to stand boldly with our arms open, and repent of the past. More than any other event in recent history, it's perhaps a test case for how we can where we truly are today on the issues of race, class, and economic circumstance.
The response is already happening. Many of the African-American pastors share with us that their church members have already taken in countless evacuees. Working beyond official channels, they have already found a way to assimilate many evacuees into their homes, living out Jesus' challenge to welcome the stranger.
The challenge has gone out to all of us, and on our Northaven blog, you can find ways that the City has asked us to help. (This link will be updated as time passes, to reflect the most current information available to us...)
At the end of our long meeting yesterday, we all joined hands, and Bishop TD Jakes led all assembled in prayer. He prayed for our new city guests. He prayed for our President and our government. And he prayed for each of us and our congregations.
I would invite you to prayer as well. Pray that each of us might discern the ways will can help in this tragedy. Pray for the evacuees. And pray that we might use this crisis to confront and better understand the problems of the poor in our world today.
See you at church,
Eric
I attended an unprecedented meeting yesterday at City Hall. The Mayor and City Manager sent out the call for religious leaders to attend a summit to begin to think through how the City of Dallas can welcome and care for the thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina who are now, and soon will be, descending upon our city.
The first thing I should say was how gratifying it was to see such a diverse body of people of faith come together for this meeting. Clergy from all sectors of our city were there...Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. A large contingent of African-American pastors where there from the Southern sector of the city. The coming days and weeks will surely tax us all in ways we cannot possibly guess now. But, with all I am sure will not so smoothly, it was very gratifying to see that unified response.
I know that many of you are angry at the response of our government so far. So am I. The response so far has been unacceptable, and I was very glad to hear the President admit as much yesterday when he toured New Orleans. Saying that is not "bashing" the President or his policies. But it is acknowledging reality of poor response from everyone.
And, deeper than this, it seems to me that it's a failure to adequately understand the reality of poverty in our country. Yes, there is a racial dimension to it too, but the overwhelming failure is a failure to understand poverty. Yesterday, I heard a statement by commentator Rush Limbaugh that chilled me. He sincerely asked why there weren't enough cars to evacuate all those who needed it.
"Why can't they afford (cars)?" he said.
Of course, many of the poor in every American city do not have cars. And when the public transportation systems shut down, because the workers need to evacuate too, it means many will be left behind. Many others are sick, or infirm. The failure to understand this is a fundamental failure to understand what poverty is, and what the reality of many people's lives are. This is not a failure by Democrats or by Republicans, but a failure of all of us.
That failure to understand poverty, it seems to me, is the greatest continuing sin in our society that we all need to confront, and that we all need to ask forgiveness for.
One of the ways we can repent of this sin is to turn our attention to the guests that will soon come to our city. The African-American pastors were incredibly helpful to all of us yesterday, when they reminded us that we should not consider these persons "refugees." They are evacuees, but many of them will become our fellow citizens during the next weeks and months. Dallas has been called on to house as many as 25,000 persons. And, given the nature of poverty and the reality of what they left in the path of Katrina, many of them may never return to their homes.
So, the question for all of us is the question Jesus asks us in the scripture:
How will we greet the stranger?
How will we treat the guest?
What hospitality can we show them?
How can we help them rebuild their lives?
My concern is that not only will this need to welcome these guests and new friends will expose the truth of how our nation views poverty, but that it will also expose the unhealed wounds of racism too. Many of those who come to our city will be African-American, and the tensions of race still fester beneath the facade of our city, and of every other American city too. It is a time for all of us who believe in racial and economic justice to stand boldly with our arms open, and repent of the past. More than any other event in recent history, it's perhaps a test case for how we can where we truly are today on the issues of race, class, and economic circumstance.
The response is already happening. Many of the African-American pastors share with us that their church members have already taken in countless evacuees. Working beyond official channels, they have already found a way to assimilate many evacuees into their homes, living out Jesus' challenge to welcome the stranger.
The challenge has gone out to all of us, and on our Northaven blog, you can find ways that the City has asked us to help. (This link will be updated as time passes, to reflect the most current information available to us...)
At the end of our long meeting yesterday, we all joined hands, and Bishop TD Jakes led all assembled in prayer. He prayed for our new city guests. He prayed for our President and our government. And he prayed for each of us and our congregations.
I would invite you to prayer as well. Pray that each of us might discern the ways will can help in this tragedy. Pray for the evacuees. And pray that we might use this crisis to confront and better understand the problems of the poor in our world today.
See you at church,
Eric
Posted: Saturday - September 03, 2005 at 08:18 AM |
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Published On: May 05, 2008 04:46 PM
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Published On: May 05, 2008 04:46 PM