“SIMPLY UNACCEPTABLE!”
Dear Christian Friends!
My words for the December Equipper, written in November … you
might expect a theme tied to one of the holidays: Thanksgiving or Christmas. And,
had I not gone to the movies a few days ago, you would be right – but it wasn’t
just any movie, and I’m still sorting thru my emotions. The movie in question? “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.”
It won’t be divulging any
of the plot to tell you that it is a Holocaust film, and I will be careful not
to let any of my words ruin your seeing the movie for yourself. Just let me
tell you this: this story of two young boys in Nazi Germany – Bruno and Schmuel
– who strike up a friendship separated by barbed wire is an intense drama, a
very intense film. It’s that intensity that has me still sorting thru my
emotions.
We are all aware of the
history and horror of the Holocaust, and yet the story begins with the
innocence of Bruno, his mother and sister. One brief scene caught my attention,
and it was reinforced later: a bedtime prayer, and a graveside burial. Not only
(as you might guess) was Schmuel’s family Jewish, Bruno’s was Christian … and
given the time and location, perhaps even Lutheran.
With my mind already wandering
in the dark theatre, I thought of the brief poem by Pastor Martin Niemoller (a
German Lutheran, who survived concentration camp imprisonment) – you may
recognize them:
“In
and then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t
speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
and then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up
because I wasn’t a Jew;
and
then . . . they came for me . . . and by that time there was no one left to
speak up.”
That no one would speak up in defense of another strikes me as simply
unacceptable. What about you? Would you have spoken up? Admittedly, I’m not
sure what my response would have been had I been a Lutheran pastor in Nazi
Germany. Yet, as one today, as a Christian, there is something else that I find
simply unacceptable: “the fact that we are surrounded by people who do not know
and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior from sin.” [You’ve heard me quote
LCMS President Jerry Kieschnick many times – if you want to have his complete
quote, just let me know.] “Today is the day to begin to refocus our efforts on
the mission that Christ has given His Church on earth, and to do so with
renewed vigor, energy and passion.”
Today, in the approach of Christ’s birthday and in the advent of His second
coming … there is no better day than today! I feel compelled to speak up for
the lost: begging that you join me in focusing our efforts on reaching them
with the Good News of what God has done for them through Christ. I’m wearing a
button this month, you may want to pick one up from the entry-area at church to
wear as well: “It’s OK to say Merry Christmas!” And, those words may just give
you the chance to share your faith with someone who has none!
That’s not only OK … that’s profoundly acceptable!
Blessings,
~ Pastor Ed