Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Today is January 11, 2012 and a day set aside by the U.S. Congress to pay attention to the horror of human trafficking.  I received an e-mail today through our web site from She Is Safe.  (www.SheIsSafe.org)  They have produced a very nice video to introduce people to the problem.  It is nicely and tastefully done.  Check it out here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ughWb-W7OI&feature=youtu.be     I don't know much about this organization so proceed with care if you decide to donate to them, but the video is a great opportunity to begin the discussion of what we can do to help stop the practice of human trafficking.

The ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) web site also provides information about how the church can respond to this crime against humanity and offers links to several web sites where additional information can be gathered or where you can donate to help support the efforts of these organizations.  For more information go to:

The Polaris Project  http://www.polarisproject.org/

Cherish Our Children http://cherishourchildren.ctsmemberconnect.net/home-ctrl.do

The U.S. State Department http://www.state.gov/g/tip/

It is so incredibly heart-breaking to think that this crime is growing and is found nearly everywhere, even here in the United States.  The State Department web site notes that UNICEF claims that nearly 2 million children worldwide are subject to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade.  2 MILLION!  And that is only the children...

What can you do?  Learn about the problem.  Talk about the problem.  Seek to support those organizations making a difference.  Pray.

Have you ever encountered a person who was subject to human trafficking?  How did you react?  What did you do?  What should the Church do?  And what should our local churches do?

Would you want to be involved in a study of the subject?  Leave a comment below.


Join us for worship: 8:30 & 10:45 am
Christian Education: 9:45 am
St. Andrew Lutheran Church
335 Reynolds Ave., Parsippany, NJ  07054
(973) 887-6713
www.elcaAndy.org

Getting what we deserve is a matter of perspective

A lot of how we feel about life, our relationships, and what is “fair” has more to do with one word than most people give credit.  Perspective.

Today, in worship, we heard the story of the generous vineyard owner who paid all his workers the same day’s salary whether they were hired at the start of the day or at five o’clock.  (Matthew 20:1-16)

Whoa, this is an emotionally charged story for me!  It really messes with my sense of what is just or fair.

Yet what is just and fair is really a matter of perspective. 

Whose perspective is truly more just and fair?  Mine, based on the equity of work performed vs. pay?  Or God’s, based on the solution of daily bread for all?  

In this story, the vineyard owner calls to task all who question his generosity to do what he wants with what is his.  Did we not agree, at the start of the day, to the wages we were paid?  So what have we to complain about that the Lord saw to it that no one was left without the means to feed his family at the end of the day, regardless of the amount of work they did?  In the Lord’s perspective, everyone worked and everyone will be paid.  No one deserves more or less than another.

As Pastor Fred reminded us this morning, when we pray for God to “give us today our daily bread,” we are not asking for daily bread for 5 days, but for today.  If we trust in God to provide for our needs, we do not need to fear what is just payment… we all will have what we need.

The justice in this story, seen from the perspective of the owner of the vineyard, is a hard pill to swallow.

And yet, it is just this kind of story which can help us to see how abundant God’s love is.

For we will all find ourselves in the position of the five o’clock worker at some point in our lives…hoping for work and wages to make ends meet (or asking forgiveness, or some other venue in which we have been less than successful) and being given the riches of God’s Grace, completely and unabashedly undeserved, yet freely given to us. 

Human beings too easily fall prey to sin and selfishness.  We are incapable of creating a society where we can accept the perspective of the generous vineyard owner as a way of doing business. 

It is only in God’s house, where that perspective can reign and prosper.  In that, this story gives us a glimpse of the glory of what God’s heaven is like, and what we have been promised for our eternal life with God. 

It calls us up short for all the times we think we know what is right and wrong, and points out a different perspective of what is justice for all.

It’s all a matter of perspective.  Mine might prosper me now, but God’s will prosper all for eternity.

What do you think of this story?  Have you witnessed God's Grace in ways that initially seemed unfair to you?  Leave a comment and tell us your story of seeing God's abundance and generosity in action.

It’s probably a good thing God doesn’t give us what we deserve.  Amen.

Join us for worship on Sundays at 8:30 & 10:45 am.

Christian Education at 9:45 am

St. Andrew Lutheran Church

335 Reynolds Ave., Parsippany, NJ  07054

www.elcaandy.org

What will tomorrow bring?

Today is September 10, 2011.

Tomorrow is 9/11/11.  Ten years after the terrorist attacks on America.

What will tomorrow bring?

It’s tempting to dwell on the emotions, loss and grief associated with our remembrance of 9/11/01.  It’s also tempting to get caught up in the fear of ‘credible threats’ that our security forces have said warrant our extra vigilance.

In the big picture, September 11 is just another day in our lives.  In the microcosm of our lives, it is a day we will never forget, and shouldn’t forget.  Our lives were forever changed on that day.  

Jesus has some significant words for us on the subject of worrying…Matthew 6:25-34

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

As I write this there is a chipmunk sitting outside my window on my picnic table bench, munching on a nut. He knows nothing about what tomorrow means to Americans.  He only knows that this is the season of harvest… yippee, the acorns are beginning to fall!  God provides for His creation.

Some things will forever remind us of the events of 9/11/01.  For me, every time I see a sunny, bright blue sky (Crayola Sky Blue) with large white clouds and feel the cool September air against my skin, I am reminded of that day, forever seared into my memory with the scars of smoke plumes drifting across that same blue sky, and with the loss and grief of so many people. 

We are changed forever, but yet we are still the same children of God.  It is because God never stops loving His children, we can go forward into each new day without worry and fear.  We are called to live with hope and love.

I think it is an interesting thing to note that the 10^th anniversary of this date falls on a Sunday.  The Church (large C) is calling for us to think on this day as an opportunity to work toward forgiveness and peace.  Imagine the world-wide possibilities if everyone attended worship tomorrow morning and heard the calling for forgiveness and peace, instead of worrying about the things that cause us fear.

Those people whom we loved and lost on 9/11/01 would certainly want us to remember and honor them, but they also would not want us to live in worry and fear.  We can honor them best by living lives free of fear. 

Jesus gives us the antidote for the affliction of worry…

Trust in God.

I hope to see you in church tomorrow.  St. Andrew worships at 8:30 and 10:45 am.  We are located at 335 Reynolds Ave. in Parsippany, NJ  07054.  (973) 887-6713.

Come and see our community tribute tower display and help us share the news that we are ALL children of God.

11 Things I am Thankful for after Hurricane Irene

It’s been a wild year, weather-wise, in the U.S. , especially in the Northeast.  We had an unusual amount of snow and ice at the beginning of the year.  We had an unusually wet spring and summer.  The ground is saturated.  We had a 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia but felt up and down the east coast.   And now, we’ve had a hurricane….correction, tropical storm.  71 mph instead of 75 mph sustained winds.  Hurricane Irene.

St. Andrew cancelled worship services to ensure everyone was safely home during what was forecasted to be the windiest and most intense period of the storm.  Now we know that, although the winds knocked down a lot of trees and power lines, it was the flooding from the incredible volume of rain that has done the most damage.  Whole communities are underwater with flood waters from swollen rivers at 4-12 feet above flood stage. 

Once again, I reflect upon all that I am thankful for and on the blessings which I have been granted.

1.      I am thankful that I was raised by parents who trusted in God to provide for our every need.  I learned at an early age, when hot dog soup was a frequent dinner while my father was out of work, that “we can’t worry about everything.  God will provide what we really need and we just have to work hard for the rest.  We just have to have faith in Him.”  This mindset has helped me not to panic about events over which I have no control.

2.       I am thankful that God has gifted people with hearts for public service.  How different our recovery from this storm, and other disasters, if not for the dedication of firefighters, police, emergency medical technicians and ambulance drivers, electric and utility company personnel, disaster relief workers, military and National Guard men and women,  food pantry workers and emergency management personnel?

3.       I am thankful that God has given us the scientists and technology to improve our weather forecasting models.  The weather tracking systems apparently accurately predicted the track and intensity of this latest storm to within 10 miles along the NJ coast, enabling people to get to safer locations.

4.       I am thankful for the safety of my family and the comforts of my home…the electricity, flush toilets and hot showers, the gas stove and hot water heater, the refrigeration, the television, the telephone and Internet communications.

5.       I am thankful for the crickets that chirp outside my windows.  I could not hear them over the roar of generators during the past few days.

6.       I am thankful for neighbors who shared their electricity and generator power with those who did not have it.

7.       I am thankful for neighbors who offer the use of their freezers (to save us money and wasted food) and Internet to those who didn’t have them. 

8.       I am thankful for people who cared enough to check in on us and offer whatever we needed.

9.       I am thankful that I listened to my gut/smarts/Holy Spirit and refused to buy a cheaper home in a flood zone.  The anxiety, devastation and repair costs would never be compensated by the difference in the home price, no matter that “it hasn’t flooded here in 15 years.”   I pray for the people who have lost so much due to the flooding and hope they are helped to find ways to put their lives back together.  (Click here to see how you can help: Lake Hiawatha/Parsippany flood relief.)

10.   I am thankful that everyone I know has weathered this storm without a loss of life or injury, and I pray for those who have lost loved ones or suffered injuries in the chaos.

11.   I am thankful  that the 10 mighty oak trees that surround my home remained rooted to the ground and denied the urge to drop any limbs on my house.  They are beautiful, tall and provide an abundance of cool shade for my home, but even they might not be able to stand up to the forces of Mother Nature when she decides it’s pruning time.

There is a multitude more things for which I am thankful and about which I feel blessed.  These are some that I have pondered today.

Join us for worship this Sunday at 9:30 am (Labor Day weekend) and say “thanks” for your own blessings. 

We resume two worship services on Sept. 11, with worship at 8:30 and 10:45 am.

Ellis Island - Immigrant vs. Refugee

To find a better place.  Both the immigrant and the refugee put their faith in God toward this goal. 

This past Saturday I visited with friends at their home on Fire Island off Long Island (NY).  It was a great day and when we were in line waiting for the ferry to take us back to our cars, one of our group commented that we “looked like a bunch of refugees.”  There we were, sunburned, flip-flopped, carrying our minimum amount of “bare necessities” for a day at the beach and a day of visiting… chairs, coolers, umbrellas, beach bags, back packs, a cake carrier, etc.   I guess we might have looked a little tired, windblown or partied-out.  Certainly a far cry from looking like a refugee, we did look somewhat less put-together than our Sunday best.  (But at St. Andrew we’re not necessarily known for wearing our “Sunday best” anyway, so that’s par for the course I guess.)

We laughed at the analogy, but considering my recent visit to Ellis Island, it got me to thinking.

How many people who traveled through Ellis Island were not just immigrants but akin to refugees? Maybe they didn’t fit the strict definition of refugee, but many were fleeing the poverty, limited chance to prosper, or political hostilities of their home countries.

They came with just the bare necessities.  And $25 (if they had that at all.)

Yet, for all the hardships these immigrants faced in their journey to come to America, they had the hope of the promise of America.   They had faith in God to lead them to a better place. The Statue of Liberty bears a plaque with the sonnet “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus which reads, in part,

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

In America there was hope for the future.

The choice was America.

Refugees don’t often have choices.  They are running for their lives.  They also place their hope and faith in God to lead them to a better place.

The United States has an “Asylum and Refugee Policy” that, as of 1999 allowed up to 78,000 refugees to obtain asylum here annually.  Today’s global conflicts and political uprisings are numerous.  People cry out for freedom all around the globe.  According to The Voice of America , there are currently about 15 million refugees worldwide.  The U.S. State Department identifies six “protracted refugee situations.” 

1.       Liberians in West Africa
2.       Somalis in Kenya
3.       Croatians and Bosnians in Serbia
4.       Afghans in Pakistan
5.       Bhutanese in Nepal
6.       Burmese in Thailand

Since 1939, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service has helped migrants and refugees to find hope and a future in American communities.  By 2008, LIRS had helped to resettle over 315,000 refugees. 

Next time we think we look like refugees as we trudge our few “necessities” back from a day at the beach, I bet we’ll all think twice about what that really means.

Thank you God for all the blessings we have in the freedom and prosperity that comes with the birthright of being an American.  Thank you, even more, for the people who fight the legal, economic and political battles on behalf of those who flee oppression and for those who help to make refugees feel welcome once they are granted the asylum they so desperately seek.  Amen.

Join us for worship this Summer at 9:30 am on Sundays.
www.elcaAndy.org