Immigration is Great

Thinking about immigration in the context of the Phoenix Mennonite Convention next week, I wanted to offer my thoughts from a Christian perspective. In short, I agree with Open Borders. Morally, all Christians everywhere ought to support basically open borders between countries, such that anyone who wanted to live and work in a different place would be allowed to.

Why? Because open borders helps people around the world, most of whom are not me. Open immigration, from the American perspective, is a key example of loving one's neighbor as one's self, and the kind of self giving love that is core to the Christian vision.

If you live in a developing country, open borders mean:

a roughly 4x increase in income.
an opportunity to escape places of violence, corruption, and natural disaster.
significantly increased life expectancy.
A better life for your descendents for generations to come,
and the chance to experience freedom of choice and human liberty, by getting to live in the place of your choice.

If you live in this country as an undocumented immigrant, open borders mean

the chance to work publicly.
the safety to protest unjust working conditions.
Increased income.
Freedom from fear of deportation, and years of detainment without trial.
Allow you to become a full member of society, with both the obligations and benefits of legal status.

If you are already a United States citizen, open borders mean
a bigger economy
little impact on wages
a changing cultural makeup of the United States
increased global carbon emissions.

When we weigh costs and benefits, why would we not open borders to everyone in need?


http://www.cgdev.org/publication/place-premium-wage-differences-identical-workers-across-us-border-working-paper-148
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/if-people-could-immigrate-anywhere-would-poverty-be-eliminated/275332/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/14/immigration-economy_n_3437482.html
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/report/2013/04/03/59040/the-facts-on-immigration-today-3/
http://qz.com/95665/the-us-immigration-bill-is-the-economic-reform-weve-all-been-waiting-for/

Reflections on Phoenix Resolutions

Every two years, Mennonite Church USA gets together for a convention, an opportunity to worship, meet people, play games, and talk about the church. Another task is to make resolutions guiding the executive structure of the church.

As part of preparation for the PhoenixMennonite Convention this summer, our congregation took time to read and reflect on the three resolutions before the Delegate Body of Mennonite Church USA at the Phoenix Mennonite convention over the 4^th of July.

I wanted to share my notes from the conversation here, so if you have other thoughts our ideas, you can add them to our gathered discernment.

June 16th sermon 2 Kings 21:1-21 Naboth's Vineyard

2 Kings 21:1-21

Galatians 2:15-21

In the story of Naboth's vineyard, we are reminded of the abuses of power, and how the system that is society renders many complicit in acts of evil. We are reminded that it is our calling to act as Elijah, and proclaim the good news that God stands against broken systems of racism, injustice, and environmental degradation, and calls us to new life. 

Pregnancy is a lesson in Faithfulness

A few lessons on Christianity, from being married to a pregnant woman.

1) "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" can be paraphrased "if you do not want to have your belly rubbed without permission, do not rub other people's bellies without asking first"

2) After picking up extra chores around the house, sometimes I feel like the Good Samaritan, stopping to help someone beside the road. Then I remember that my wife is providing sustenance to a helpless baby all the time, and I get a better sense of what it means to really be self sacrificing.

3) Paul uses the image of creation groaning like a woman in labor in Romans 8:22. Watching a pregnancy gives a new understanding of the already/not yet-it's possible to be very ready for something to be over with, and also understand that it is an amazing journey, and that the time is not yet nigh.

Galatians 1:11-2:5

My sermon this week is a reflection on the Apostle Paul, and how this convert to the faith was willing to upset many traditions because of his understanding of God's will-maybe we should be willing to do the same!

Good morning friends!

It is great to gather in worship with all of you this morning.

I hope that this summer day finds you filled with the Holy Spirit.

As we work with the early church after Easter and in the season of Pentecost, we naturally spend a lot of time with Paul, the major figure in the New Testament after the time of Jesus. After all, Paul is the major driver of our understanding of grace and salvation, he recorded the communion liturgy we still use, he set out the moral guidelines for behavior in the church.

So what I find fascinating is that when Paul told his own faith story, here in Galatians, he clearly saw himself not as the center of Christianity, but as an apostle on the outside, fighting to support his vision of how Christ was leading the church in contrast to the power structure in Jerusalem.

In our text this morning, Paul explains that after his Damascus Road experience, he went off into the wilderness, traveling to Arabia, rather than returning to Jerusalem to repent or get guidance from the Christian leaders he had been persecuting. It's unclear what he did there, but I expect it was a time of preparation and prayer, like Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness or Elijah's visit to Mount Tishbah.

Sermon June 2nd Christian Formation

Deut 6 and mk 10

Good morning friends, it is good to gather in worship with all of you this morning!

We've got a busy morning today-

We are having a congregational meeting where we will discern how to add classroom space to our building-dividing the fellowship hall, or renovating the front of the sanctuary, or a couple of other options. We have a potluck where we will honor the Sunday School teachers among us-those servants of the church who are doing what is probably the most important work of the church, every Sunday morning. We've given Bibles to 3^rd Graders-an act that resonates back to the beginnings of the Anabaptist movement, and the fundamental belief that each of us can read the Bible for ourselves, and interpret it in the church. Finally, after my sermon, we will be dedicating four children, celebrating their presence in our congregation, and committing ourselves to watching over them in the journey to adulthood, to be the priesthood of all believers in their lives.

I am excited about all of these projects, and I notice that they all have something in common-they are all tasks that we take on as a church because of our commitment to Christian Formation- our commitment to finding ways to walk with people as they deepen their discipleship and come to know Christ more. There are lots of things that the church does that are important-worship and service and stewardship and pastoral care. But at it's foundation, our task is Christian formation-growing in the likeness of Christ. When we asked delegates at the Mennonite convention in Pittsburgh what is the most important task of the Mennonite Church, the answer, far and away, was Christian formation. As the Denomination's Purposeful Plan reads, “this first and highest priority commits us to fashion and mold our lives after that of Jesus Christ. As the sent One of God, Jesus sends us into the world. As missional communities, our congregations, conferences, and agencies will ensure that people are invited to make a commitment to Christ, discipled in the way of Christ, taught to engage with the scriptures, helped to develop Christian identity from an Anabaptist/Mennonite perspective, and given the capacity to cultivate their vocational calling.”

So too, today, do we consider these tasks of invitation, discipleship, and scriptural study, as we reflect on all the steps of faith development.